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Dear Sister, Here's Some Advice

"Way Back When"

I was setting up my camera in the living room so that we could record a video. No, I wasn’t back in Baltimore yet, I was still in LA with my boys. Although, it wasn’t much longer until we got to go home. Just a few more days to go. Our demos were finished--they weren’t completely finished when I came back, but it was just a matter of adding all the recordings together--and the songs that still belonged to Cam, which we found on John’s laptop, were out being mixed, so that was going to be out in no time. However, we didn’t really have anything to put out just yet, let alone with me singing on it. So, what better way to get people excited by creating some covers and posting them online?

We had to take advantage of freely being allowed to make covers. It was the reason why we had actually turned down so many record deals. Some explicitly stated that they didn’t want us to have our own youtube channels, or at least things that were controlled by ourselves. Other social media was fine, but they wanted our covers and videos to go through the label. It also meant that my channel with Jack would also be taken over. None of that sat right with us, so those labels got turned down immediately despite the other great things they offered.

Now, since we didn’t have much better to do, we just decided to make a random cover. The only thing was, we were still trying to figure out how to do it all. While some might say it was better to plan it all out and then film, I decided to get my camera ready. It was best if we recorded any ideas so we could get back to it. Oh, and there was another small problem. Charlie was literally the only one helping me out, the other two having disappeared somewhere else in the house.

At one point the doorbell rang, signaling that there was actually somebody here to see us. I didn’t know at all that we were going to have company, and as far as I knew none of us had ordered something. So, Charlie and I just looked at each other in surprise, unsure if we were supposed to open without knowing who was on the other side. It wasn’t like either of us could actually open the door though, we were each holding a part of the tripod that still had to be screwed together. However, it did bring John and Carter out of their hiding places.

“Who is it?” Carter asked as soon as he left his room and entered the living room as he locked his phone and put it back in his pocket.

“Does it look like we know?” I rolled my eyes, nearly dropping the camera that I was holding in my left hand. If it wasn’t obvious that I couldn’t open the door just by looking at the position I was in, then this definitely was.

John shook his head at Carter and went down to the front door. “I’ll get it. It’s like I’m the only one that isn’t afraid that it’s a murder or something.”

“Thanks, dad.” Charlie grinned, carefully turning the piece that would stabilize my tripod. Whenever John did anything remotely responsible, we now often called him ‘dad’. But what better nickname was there? He really was the dad of the band. Well, he was actually more like the mom while I was the fun dad, but you get the gist.

We all stared at the front door while John opened it, too nosy to see who was waiting on the other side. It would have been a very anticlimactic if it was just the mailman in the end. That was how life usually went. But just for once, it wasn’t as anticlimactic, you could even consider it climatic. Because, right there at our doorstep was the one and only Pete Wentz. Yeah, we had met him before when we signed our contract, but none of us was expecting to see him soon after that. He had a whole team working for his label, why the hell would he interact more with us than necessary? Yet, here he was, unannounced.

“Hey, guys.” He gave a little wave, seeing us all looking at him from inside the house as well.

It wasn’t that we were starstruck, because we really weren’t. I just didn’t manage to get starstruck around these people since I never really had been in the music scene, and the guys already had gotten their moment before. Yet, we were still surprised by his presence. Hell, it could have been my parents and we would have acted the same. It was just the surprise of somebody dropping by without there being any plans.

John let him in and closed the door after. Pete slowly walked further into the living room, taking a look around. I was just happy that we had cleaned up the mess today so that we could make the video. If he had decided to come one day before, it would have been horrible. There were literally boxes and clothes and other items everywhere. Now, that didn’t mean it was a good idea for him to enter any of our bedrooms. My bedroom as a teenager wasn’t even as messy as mine here.

“I was close by and decided to come pick up the demos you said you were going to have ready for today,” Pete continued, making us all release a breath we didn’t even realize we were holding. Maybe there was some tension surrounding there being a possibility of something being wrong. “I texted you, but that was five minutes ago and nobody replied. So, I just decided to check if you were here.”

“Ok, before anybody here says that they know I was on my phone the entire time, which is one-hundred-percent true,” Carter interrupted, putting up his finger to show he was making a point, “I was actually on the phone with my mom. While knowing how to properly brush of mushrooms for no reason is a bit less important than knowing somebody is coming over, I couldn’t do anything about it.”

“We’ve been trying to figure out this tripod,” Charlie gave as an excuse for us, carefully removing his hands from the object and seeming satisfied when nothing fell over.

“Don’t look at me.” John raised up his hands in defense. “I lost my phone this morning when we were moving everything around.”

“Guys,” Pete laughed in a friendly manner, “I’m not saying that it’s your fault. It was five minutes, for goodness sake. I don’t expect you to answer to fast. I’m just trying to save my own ass by telling you me coming here wasn’t completely unannounced.”

“You’re just lucky one of us opened,” I went along with his laughter and clipped the camera into the tripod. “As for the demos, we started transferring them to an external hard drive yesterday morning. Last time we checked, which was like half an hour ago, there were still two songs that needed to be transferred, so I’m pretty sure it isn’t exactly done yet.”

“That’s ok,” he brushed it off. “I’ll just wait here if you guys don’t mind.”

“There’s no point in coming back later or us having to go out if you’re here already. I’m sure it won’t take too long.”

“Awesome. So, what are you guys doing? Planning on taking some photographs?” He asked, pointing at what Charlie and I had been working on.

“Not exactly,” Charlie shook his head and explained, “we were planning on doing a cover for now since we don’t have much else to put out.”

“Oh, yeah, about that. So, I was thinking we switch around the release of your new album and the release of the two extra songs you found. I don’t want to rush you guys or anything, and we’ll leave it be if you need more time, but it would be great if the album can come out before you play on warped tour.”

“That’s in, like, less than two months…” John gasped his eyes going wide.

Pete agreed with his shock, “I know, it’s way too soon. It as just a suggestion, since it might be nice to play some stuff with, you know… Ireland on it. It’s a great opportunity to gain new fans, but it might be confusing if they only find the older songs.”

“I think we can do it!” I tried to hype the other up, who all seemed so skeptical. “I know I have no experience, but we can always try. If these demos are as good as you guys constantly assure me they are, then all we have to do is tweak things. We’ve been working on these songs for quite some time. Otherwise, we can at least get some singles out.”

“Most bands take at least a year and a half to make an album, Ireland. It’s only been a few months. Half of the time, many songs will be scrapped and new ones have to be written. We only have exactly ten songs and no more ideas,” Carter tried to reason with me using his negative energy.

“But what’s the harm in trying?”

“And there’s no problem in pushing the release date back if it really needs to be,“ Pete added. At least there was somebody as optimistic as I was. “What if we just don’t announce a release date? You guys signing to my label hasn’t even been announced yet since the paperwork is still being processed. We can just keep this all quiet and announce the signing with an album release?”

“Just like Jack did, only they did it with a single, not an entire album.”

“I don’t know…” Charlie also still seemed skeptical.

“Stop being so pessimistic!”

“Ok, what the hell,” John decided to speak for all of them, being the wise dad he was, “we’ll try it. But if this doesn’t work out, it’s all on you.”

“Deal.”

After seeing that the tracks were going to take another while before they were all transferred to the external hard drive, we told Pete what our plan with the cover we wanted to record in our living room was. However, there was one problem. We had five instruments and wanted to do it live and in one take. The only one that could play the piano was Charlie, but that meant that John had to play the guitar, which meant nobody was playing the bass. So, when Pete said ‘why don’t I play the bass?’ all our problems were fixed. Our excuse for him being in the video for when we uploaded it without having announced the record deal was that he had seen the cover the guys had made with me featuring in it and that he liked it so much, he wanted to now join in with something.

So, after many failed attempts and re-recording, we finally managed to do it in one take. The frame started with just me and John sitting on the living room couch claiming to do a ‘small cover’ for the viewers. I played the rhythm guitar while John playing the lead as I started singing:

We never had that much to do
So we just lay around in someone’s house

Someday I’ll have it all again
Just like way back when

In the next verse, Carter came ‘accidentally’ walking in before snapping along with the song and dancing-slash-walking around weird in the background.

Back then we’d sleep until the afternoon
Then we’d just get up and go outside
Open a window, let the breeze blow in,
Forget everything

And then Pete joined in in the chorus with the bass he borrowed from John. He did the usual light rocking thing most bass players did while playing a song all while Carter kept up his act.

Yeah, those will be the days that I'll be missing
When I'm old and when I'm grey and when I stop working
I hope that I can say
When all my days are done
We were just having fun


Halfway through the last verse, Charlie started setting up the keyboard, actually having it ready in time for once. When the verse ended, Carter stopped his snapping to quickly grab his cajun that was just out of frame and create the beat with that instead.

Well we’d go drinking in the afternoon
Lie out on the grass and fall asleep
Oh will I ever see that girl again?
The girl from way back when

Yeah, we used to share a cigarette
And throw together everything we had
And then go driving in my parents' car
We never strayed too far

Oh, yeah, those will be the days that I'll be missing
When I'm old and when I'm grey and when I stop working
I hope that I can say
When all my days are done
That I had my fun

We let Pete have the honors of shouting out, “1, 2, 3, 4” while I tried my best to hit all the high notes.

Those will be the days that I had my fun

Then we all sang the bridge together, just like in the actual song.

Yeah time can move so fast
Some things aren't made to last
So here's to you, my dear old friend
From way back when


For the last chorus, though, they only got to do the background ‘oh’s while I sang the actual words.

Yeah, those will be the days that I'll be missing
When I'm old and when I'm grey and when I stop working
I hope that I can say
When all my days are done
That I had my fun

We all finished off the song by creating an ordered mess of all the instruments that kept getting louder and louder until it ended with one last stum. That was when they all just left me there, leaving their instruments behind. I just looked around me and back at the camera, shrugging before I took off as well.

Notes


So, the song used is 'Way Back When' by Kodaline. Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZYxVfVDpzA

Comments

@settle for me.
I usually just post a chapter a day or every other day. Sometimes less, sometimes more frequently. No need to force it in a short amount of time.
Well, two stories are close to finishing, so a new one will arise. It's based on an idea I got years ago, but I made it a bit more sophisticated. If a story about an age gap intrigues you, keep your eye out for it.

@aweirdkindofyellow
I remember you saying and I did say I was going to do the same but I just honestly never got around to it.
I have been told nothing about any of your new ones, just that you have lots on the go.

@settle for me.
I've been transferring everything to Wattpad and AO3 for quite a while now. Given up on Mibba though. Never liked that interface and layout, so couldn't be bothered.
I'm going to start another story soon (after I finish some that I am currently writing). And I'll still post it here, but you'll just have to actively search for it yourself if you want to read it. I don't know if you've been told anything about it yet, but you might like it or hate it.

@aweirdkindofyellow
Same! No one else updates anymore and I need to start on another site but I just... don't have the energy?
I'm going to be absolutely lost when you finish the ones I'm subscribed to. I honestly won't have anything to do.

@settle for me.
I've also really been missing reading other people's new stories. Seriously, the only story I still read right now is yours. I just can't find anything else.
I've actually been trying to figure out a way how to change the sequel to this story so it's not as long and officially ends there as well.