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Author's Chapter Notes:

I admit this story isn't the most exciting thing i've ever written but I felt like it needed to be there. Enjoy!

 

Like Riding a Bike

 

 

 

Brian

 

 

 

I loved being in the studio. It was really the only other place, besides being with my family, where I felt at home. That’s why I built the perfect studio right inside my house. It was an extravagant expense but well worth the money. Spending time in there with my wife and son are some of the best memories I will ever have.

 

This studio was nice, nothing overly special but nice just the same. The only bummer about it was the fans. I know it probably sounds bad of me to say that. Don’t get me wrong, I love our fans to death, I really do. I am well aware of the fact that without them we’d be nowhere, but still, we were all kind of surprised to see them waiting for us outside.

 

“So much for secret locations.” Howie muttered under his breath as he posed for a picture with a few fans.

 

It really shouldn’t surprise me anymore how the fans always manage to know where we are at any given time of day. No matter what city, country or continent, I don’t believe we’ve ever been able to just skirt by without anyone noticing. This is something I should not take for granted because I’m sure one day it’ll go away and I’ll find myself longing for those good old days, but for now, not so much.

 

It always seemed to be the same familiar faces too. I always want to ask them if they have a job, or go to school. Following us around seemed so time consuming I’m not sure how anyone could have the energy to do it all the time. I don’t think I’ve ever been into an artist to put in as much effort as they do. It makes me sad that I’ve maybe missed out on something fun, although standing outside a building for hours in not always the best weather, hoping for just a few seconds of someone’s time didn’t seem like fun. To each their own I guess.

 

Just one of the things that happens when you’re famous and fame doesn’t always sit well with me.

 

I like being a homebody. This is not a secret to anyone who knows me. I’ll take staying home with the family over going out to a club or party any day. Being away from my family for an entire month was going to be rough but it’s all part of the job, just like dealing with fans outside of a studio and when the time came, touring for months on end.

 

This is my favorite part of the job right here.

 

The adrenaline rush of being in the studio together again hit me. I couldn’t wait to test the waters. It was nice seeing everyone as excited as I was. Over the years when it was just the four of us, there was anticipation but something was missing.

 

This felt different. It felt right.

 

We sat around the huge area, just bouncing ideas off of each other. It was only day one, which meant mostly just experimenting with harmonies, sound, and some of the songs we had written so far.

 

The other exciting thing was the amount of material we all came in with. In past years we all had our fair share of songs and ideas to work with but there was also a general lull where we knew we’d have to use other people’s songs to make a decent album. This time around, we each had about an album’s worth of songs to share ourselves. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make an album from start to finish with just our own stuff? Now that we didn’t have to worry about Jive anymore, it was a possibility.

 

I looked up from my stool to see Nick staring at me and smiling, “What?”

 

He shrugged, “I don’t know, just happy I guess.”

 

“Me too!”

 

I glanced down at the stack of lyrics handed to me by my band mates and began reading through them all. This was step one. Just reading the lyrics we all came up with and seeing if anything screamed out to us for immediate attention. Out of all of us, I had the best ability to pick out what I felt like would be a hit song from the pack. If I was reading lyrics and I suddenly heard the music underneath I knew it was a keeper. That’s how I would go about picking. We all were doing the same, compiling our lists of keepers. The only rule we had was that we weren’t allowed to pick our own stuff, yet anyway. That would come later.

 

We agreed a long time ago, that as long as at least three of us had the same lyrics in the keep pile, we would hold on to it and work with it. Another thing we did was not put our names on them. That was Nick’s idea way back in the day. He said, he thought it was fairer if we all started from a level playing field and at that time he was certain his things were being tossed aside because we were just seeing his name and assuming he was a kid and his stuff sucked. His words, not mine. They did suck because he was a kid, but that’s beside the point.

 

I found myself keeping more than tossing, which was another good sign. That never really happened much either.

 

I stopped and looked around at the rest of the guys to see how far along they had gotten. Most of them seemed to be doing what I was, reading then putting some stuff aside. Kevin, however was just looking out the window with a goofy grin on his face. I could tell he was so happy to be back. I often wondered after he left, if he really regretted his decision the second he had made it but was just too stubborn to ever admit it. Someday I’ll ask, but today is not that day.

 

By the time we got through all our piles of lyrics about an hour and a half had gone by and my butt was starting to get numb from sitting on the uncomfortable stools. I stood up, stretched and grabbed my keepers pile. I also enjoyed making a game in my head of who I actually thought wrote which songs, I was pretty good at it! If I was correct most of my favorites were by AJ and Howard this year.

 

“Let’s go to the break room and go over what we have.” I suggested as everyone stood and followed my lead.

 

It seemed like everyone’s pile was as big as mine.

 

“Must have coffee.” AJ said as he grabbed a mug and filled a cup.

 

We started step two by naming the songs we had in our piles. If at least three of us had that same song, we put it in the middle of the table. All others were put aside for a later date. Whenever one of my songs came up, I felt a little flutter in my stomach. Rejection is not my favorite thing. I don’t take it well. It’s not easy to have something you’ve worked on so hard just suddenly tossed aside, but I knew it would happen today and it would happen a lot since I had brought about sixteen songs in for consideration. I think this was the hardest part for all five of us and usually this was where the fighting would occur.

 

When all was said and done, out of my sixteen songs, seven made the cut, which was a little less than I was expecting, but still doable since my favorite ones were in the running. We had a collection of over thirty five lyrics saved between us, normally if we had half that we’d be lucky.

 

“Well, before we try some of these out, do you guys want to take a lunch break?”

 

I looked over at my cousin, “Let’s just keep going!” Nick said standing up, “I want to get this show on the road!!”

 

I laughed; I bet a lot of these songs were his.

 

Step three was the big reveal. When the person who wrote the lyrics would sing or play or explain what they intended the song to sound like. At this point we had a few of our musician friends join us to play the piano and guitar when needed.

 

We would start with songs we all liked, and then move on from there. Today I knew we’d only get a few done but for our first day back in the studio, that was pretty good.

 

I was especially thrilled to see one of mine as the first up so when Kevin asked, “And who wrote this one?” I jumped up and acted like I had won the lottery.

 

I handed Joe, our piano player, the simple chord progression for the song and started to sing the very simple melody I had mapped out for it. This one was a ballad and one of the best thing’s I have ever written. Of course I had my eyes closed as I sang the song for them. It was a habit but also something I needed to do to avoid eye contact, again that feeling of rejection always looming if I glanced upon a look of dissatisfaction on any of their faces.

 

When I opened my eyes, they all seemed pleased with what they heard and started bouncing around ideas about harmonies and how we can make the song even better. AJ chimed in with where he felt like the main focus should lie and we started to sing it together as if we knew this song like an old friend. It sounded great and it gave me chills.

 

Backstreet was back…. Alright!

 

We did it for at least four other songs and just as I expected out of the four young Nickolas belonged to two of them. One I was certain Howie had written. My bad, it’s getting harder and harder to tell these days.

 

We spent a total of about eight hours in the studio and it went by like a flash. We got so much done but the most important part about the whole process is there was not one single argument. Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t agree on every single thing, but instead of yelling at each other and storming out of the room, we talked it out. Imagine that?

 

Things were different in our world and this homeboy liked it.

 

“It was kind of like riding a bike, wasn’t it?” I overheard Howie say to my cousin as he pat his back.

 

Kevin nodded and then turned to smile at me.

 

It was nice having him back.

 

Chapter End Notes:

I will be posting an AJ story this weekend!