the tolerance wars - 26
know any tunes?
every week
until it’s done
begin at the beginning—chapter 1
the tolerance wars
26.
know any tunes
“you’re done. go home. oh look, you are home.”
tony was right. of course. took one look at me and decided we were done for the night.
actually, she called break. and she wasn’t wrong. i settled after a few days. and we got into a flow of working again. though somehow we never got back to the thought of playing through everything we already had. new good lines and warm grooves just kept coming. so we’d run with that for a while. sometimes just a word phrase that dropped just right and we’d hit it until we’re happy. sometimes get a handful of sections that said something if we thread them together so let’s run ‘em a bunch of times and see where it feels like we’re getting at the truth in it. if yeah that’s the order that feels best, now run it again until we feel like we’re really sayin’ it.
sometimes just riff a gentle thing and stay there for a while, feel what it means.
because we could all use some of that.
right now.
what i didn’t understand was that we were making a whole universe of sounds. that we would grab parts of and turn them into something else again later. i think tony knew. sampling ourselves. she’d got us into doing some of that live. repeating a heavy later, only now it was different. yeah played different. but also saying something different, just from the new setting. so of course my friend the genius would head towards being able to create some of that in a studio.
what i also didn’t know was that the live mix of ‘alright!’ that i’d given tony because it made us both laugh ‘cause it felt like a party, good one too, seems she’d sent it to a friend who sounded like she needed her day a little brighter. and that friend loved it so much she shared it with a dude who boosts good things to one of the stateside blogs.
and it blew up.
in a modest ‘what is this and how come i didn’t know about it already?’ kinda way.
none of which any of us knew. we’ve been busy.
and now we’re done.
tonight is the last night with all the gear. tomorrow we tear it down, mixer goes on to next project, gear goes home to where it lives, rentals go back to rental-land. we’ll never be in this space again. so tonight we run everything. with a few friends, including the ones we played with. not so many it feels like an audience. just enough to vibe the room.
“so this too is where the magic happens.”
marcus. of course. wandering through the old-school office jumble that we’d turned into a control room. admiring each cable and connection for the thing of beauty it is. then out the door and turning into the big shop floor space for the first time.
a pause to take it all in. nothing special for the night. but a month in and i guess it looks like we own the place. and we’re there to get work done. pool of light on the bass amp. another on the drums. a mic on a stand and same lighting making a clear space for the singer. my guitar beside my rig just shadowed by a small worklight. mcshane’s instrument on a stand in its own lightfall over in that space he’s made his own. and still plugged into the car. in the loading dock. because some of my ideas can be useful.
“clearly a greater magic.” he’s seen all of this before. in other places. other gigs. but tonight this feels like somewhere that magic actually lives. not something you need to call down from above, or haul in from elsewhere. it’s here. part of the air.
and so we breathe.
josie swings an intro. three four and. hadn’t talked about where to begin, but we’ve been touching on this for a couple of weeks. it’s become one of our favourite things. and this’ll be the last time we play it in the space where it was born. so let’s do it up right. waits picks it up. easy and fine. he’s standing in the shadows, now there’s a dark edge to his tone. you can hear his fingers whispering on the neck of the bass. a small phrase echoes josie’s pickup as it comes around again, then he lands firm and warm on the downbeat, with just a little vibrato as the note develops, tells you there’s a human being there, fully engaged. now it’s drums and bass. hit it just long enough to set up what’s going on. sounds like something’s coming. but instead of guitar, that we’d loved so much the last few times we ran it, tony leans into her mic and turns the early hook into a vocal line. “will you still be beautiful?” so we begin with a moment of genius.
and we’re off.
“whatcha gonna be when the lights go down?” i can hear tony’s smile as she’s singing it. one of my favourite sounds. “will you still…”
three minutes of perfection.
and we come to a natural ending. so we take it. there’s a pause while we take in what just happened. then mcshane hits a note. bends it twice. and a third time. josie immediately understands what he has in mind, catches it and comes down on the drums, waits of course right there with her. a groove that we caught early on and kept coming back to. by the time they’ve set it up i’ve joined them at the heart of what’s coming down. tony’s nowhere near the mic. so we can stretch out. and we do. small band tight. love it for just long enough. now run it around one more time. lay down a natural for the singer to step in.
and stop.
“there ain’t nothin’ in the way you do…”
she’s looking off into the darkness. though you feel you can see who she’s talking to. and that the lady means every word. we spark off the attitude. run the verses. keep it tight and lay it down fine. this is why we’re here. this voice. and what she has to say. give her just enough support she’s got something to work with. she leans into the thought. “and i’ll take nothin’.” leaves a pause so the twist is clear, “any day.”
no re-takes, tonight we are one and done. say what we need to say then move on. as we’re playing i can feel the people here with us. but there’s no applause between, just nodding of heads. in the spillover of light towards the near corner marcus is beaming. over by the window to the control room archer’s reminding me of the first time i saw her. at the club. transfixed.
last tune. mcshane and i are laying it down, forming a solid guitar rhythm section. while waits and josie are making it impossible not to dance. then the drop. “just be.” we hit it again. only now mcshane spins out a line. tony backs away from the mic. nods her head. yeah, this is fine. spin it again. just long enough to get to the hook. and another drop. then we pick it up and groove it home. run it for a while. but instead of the long fade out we’d recorded last time, waits looks at me with a question, i think it’s a fine idea, make sure josie’s in on it. mcshane’s looks up and i let him know. tony’s been paying attention, so she gives me the nod. we loop the hook again. and there it is.
one last drop. funny how some silences are louder than others.
“be wonderful.”
we hang there. nobody moves. i look around. mcshane’s smiling and nodding slowly, waits looking serious and still, josie’s leaning back letting the moment sink in. and tony’s looking off into the dark. like she means it. she’s there for a few beats. then blinks it off. gets a funny smile. a small breath. i see her take in everything around her. smile gets wider as she connects to josie, then all of us in the room.
“yeah we’re done.”
just like that.
nobody disagrees but nobody moves. eventually i unstrap my guitar and head for the control room. only slightly because i’m hoping we got that. computer’s an iffy medium on any given day. pass by archer on the way, bright eyes and smiling. beside her is a woman, small, dark hair. looks familiar, don’t know why. also digging it. sparechange has been hanging with them but heads for tony looking like a hug. yeah, felt like we got something.
we’re about an hour into a gentle teardown. tomorrow we’ll unhook it all and box it up. tonight we mostly stash instruments. me and tony are having a be with. beers in hand. having a plan is the last thing on my mind. i figure anybody’s. then marcus comes over. been talking with archer. who comes with.
“coincidences are opportunity.” i have no idea what he’s talking about. tony same. archer clearly has been doing science. means there might be something in it. “i’ve been asked to do some catering.” whatever it is. “the location is interesting.”
“they found it.” archer. “same place.”
ah. “the hat?”
“indeed. and there is a need for entertainment. i’ve been asked to assist.” he looks a question at all of us together. “so i find myself wondering what might be done.”
“about…?”
“whatever it is needs doing.”
sparechange joins us. with tony. “it’s a party.” though i can’t tell whether he’s talking about here right now or whatever marcus has in mind. where the hat is. a party?
“more of a gathering.” the dark-haired woman. “looking for like-minded people.”
“and when they find them?”
“same as usual.” she shrugs, “only now they have a hat.”
i wasn’t sure what that might mean. but it didn’t sound good.
“and they have a copy of your notes.”
archer’s disappointed but not surprised. sparechange is back with another thought, “you’ve seen all that?” dark-hair nods. “how’d you get in?”
“everybody needs cleaners,” she levels him with a look, “we all have different talents.”
“now what?” archer beats me to it.
“well,” marcus says, “rachel has something that might be of interest.” i remember the last party. someone walking the guy with the knife away from the scene. that disappeared. small. dark-haired. apparently perfectly capable. different talents.
she has a small shoulder bag. set down by her feet. checks in with marcus. who nods. she picks up the bag and opens it. pulls out. a something.
“you got it!” archer.
“no.“ rachel shakes her head as she hands it over to the scientist. wires. and parts. in a small harness. “but i had a little time.”
“it’s identical.”
“was hoping you’d say that. but no. i’ve swapped-in parts with different values.”
i’m taking that in. but sparechange is back at another thought. “you made a copy of the notes.”
“i had a minute.” there’s obviously something going on between them. “re-coded and painted the parts to look like the original.” that i clearly don’t understand. “in case it might be useful.”
marcus, “rachel is an artist.” as if that makes any of this normal.
“between projects. but i’m always looking for inspiration. and this looked interesting.” she turns the thought to archer, “especially once i got into the notes. though i didn’t have a chance to hook it up to anything. so i don’t know, really, if it…”
but the scientist was still busy admiring the artist’s work. “this is amazing.” she’s unrolled the jumble so now it looks like the hat i remember. or hairnet. though i’d only seen the first one for a little while. but if the original maker says it’s identical i’m gonna go with that.
“and so,” marcus looks around, like tony before we play, “is this an opportunity?”
sparechange looks over at the new hat. then at the maker. dark-haired. competences. “boost the original. leave ‘em with this one. only find out when they go to use it. and it doesn’t work.”
“use it?” tony.
rachel shrugs, “recruitment. whatever.” looks at sparechange, “and works less. it’s actually wired.”
i try to figure out whether it’s better to leave things where they are. but maybe this is into slowing down the not good stuff from happening. i’m around competences. they’ll know better. usually.
but sparechange is onto something, he’s got that look. “check it out. use the hat. see what it does. invite a whole bunch of people to share the experience. and it’s nothin’ but a so what.”
rachel nods, “i had wondered.”
“not a good look.” marcus clearly sees something he wants to like much less than he does.
sparechange makes the ask. “and all we have to do is deliver the so what.”
i’m about to call it the hat of meh, but i let it pass.
“as close to the event as possible.” marcus apparently looking for reasons to hate this. not finding them. finally, “do not draw attention.” both sister and buddy take it in and nod. “there is no reason for them to think there is anyone working against them.” he’s making sure they hear this. “do not give them a reason.”
there’s a pause. “though it would be good to have people there. getting a sense of the… response.” also no reason to hate it, he gives in. “so, we cater the event. with as many ears open as we can.” then he looks at tony, “i’ve been asked to contribute some entertainment.”
tony looks at me.
“know any tunes?”
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