Chapter 3

For the third time that morning, Adam reviewed the resume of the potential new member of Against the Storm We Stand. He seemed promising, the most promising actually, though technically he was not a professional musician. He had never released so much as a single or been a part of any band before, but the kid had talent. Gavin Hedge, his name was. He had sent in a few of homemade demos; minus the horrible sound quality, they were phenomenal. 

The kid not only had a mastery over his voice and the piano, but he could 'feel' music. It was clearly evident by his seemingly divine lyrics and by the way he expressed them. He did not just sing, he delivered a vessel of emotion. 

People often have the misconception that music is math, this is simply not true. Yes, there is math to music, on the technical level, but there is much more to it. Music, is something that is meant to be felt, not just heard. Real music, is a piece of art, a bridge that connects the feeler to a realm of otherwise unobtainable emotion.

It saddened Adam that most people could not see this. They were simply blind to the beauty uncovered by song; excellently crafted music, that is, not this mainstream garbage. 

Adam got out of his daze and surveyed the studio. Everything was in place and ready to go: The guitars and bass. The pedals and amps tuned to their appropriate settings. The drum kit, shining brightly against the wall, and the sleek black grand piano, topped with a microphone. It would be a long day, good, but long. Hours of playing and many brief interviews, the usual as far as auditions go. 

The most crucial part of the auditions at this point however, is not the musical talent. All that made it this far are worthy to be a part of ASWS. But they aren't just looking for a fellow musician, they're looking for a friend.

That could be tricky though with their drummer Zach, all pissy and pessimistic as he was.  Where was he? Adam got up, went into the adjacent room, and an unbidden smile came to his lips. Zach was on the computer watching auditions sent in by some of the other contestants , shacking his head and mumbling. Zach never seemed to understand why he was so funny. 

Josh, the bassist, was sitting on a counter across the room, stuffing his face with Cheetos . He had a bemused look on his face, he understood exactly why Zack was so hilarious.

"This is horrendous, this guy can't hold a high note well at all, hear how shakey it is." Zack rewound the clip back a few seconds and pressed play. Yes, there was a slight tremor, but only noticeable to someone with a trained ear. Josh couldn't help it, he just started to laugh.

Adam decided to pitch in "Zach, chill out man, that wasn't bad at all" trying to hide his amusement. 

In response, Zach got up and threw a pen at Josh, completely missing, which of course made him laugh all the harder. 

"Shut up!" Zach roared. This brought Josh's hysteria and his Cheetos to the floor. Zach could no longer contain himself, he pounced onto Josh and started beating him, not to hard, it never got out of hand. Josh continued laughing. 

Adam thought he heard a knock at the door. 

"Hey guys, cut it out, I think the first one is here!" Immediately, they came to , and started nonchalantly wiping orange crumbs off of their clothes. 

Adam listened again, sure enough, there was a knock. "Clean that up, I'm going to go get the door."