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Charlie

“Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice”—EM Forster, A Room with a View

The screech of an electric guitar grated like nails down a chalkboard, but it was slightly better than the off-te off the studio walls The lackluster sound wasn’t norh one fro a minor curiosity to a rock and roll band on the rise with a steadily growing fan base Every one of their LA-area shows sold out in advance lastOne offbeat practice and a bad review didn’t change anything

Fine One scathing review

I reread the last few lines fro piece in Sound Cloud by Nelson Cormer

Zero is a mediocre facsimile of a 1980s hair band They’re proof, if anyone needed it, that manufactured sound and contrived formulas are alive and well The foursome lacks chemistry and the panache of seasoned musicians like Declan McNamara…blah, blah, blah

Utter bullshit

And if you asked me, it was rather suspicious that the reviewer praised Declan McNamara It seemed contrived Everyone knew there was bad blood between Zero and Xena’s foruitarist Obviously Nelson hoped a hint of discord would draw attention to his publication…and to Declan I wondered as pulling the strings there It had to be so frole No one worked for free As Zero’s er-slash-promo-director, I had to keep an eye out

However, I also had to keep perspective A lot of people got off on tearing down artists who moved into the public eye too quickly My experience with Instagraht me that for every ten people who loved you, ten others wanted to pull you apart Haters were always gonna hate; popularity only made it worse And Zero was popular Okay, so they were popular in an “LA indie band” kind of way, but it was a good start The buzz surrounding the band grew daily, while most people had no idea who Declan was or why he was persona non grata with Zero Truthfully, I wasn’t one hundred percent clear about what happened, but I figured it had to do with sex or money Or both It always did

I studied the band froether officially for six months, but they each shared a history of soether; Justin and Johnny had worked at Aromatique, an adorable West Hollywood coffee shop until a h school I was the newbie here, but in souys than I did to friends I’d known my whole life They felt like the cool older brothers I never had They worked hard, but they kne to have fun And I appreciated that theyme in their silliness

They were all good-looking twentysowriter and a chariser with a san rocked on drums, and Ky was…

Well, in my opinion, Zero’s bassist was the weak link

Ky was lean and lanky with green eyes, sun-kissed skin, and longish dark-blond hair that always looked like it needed a good wash His personal style and demeanor screamed laid-back California kid Ky paired board shorts with old T-shirts advertising skateboard, surf, or ski gear every day In cooler weather, he ht throw a plaid shirt on and switch out his flip-flops for his ancient Vans

Usually I was a huge advocate for ee presence mattered I took the promotional part of my job very seriously I couldn’t represent a vision I kneouldn’t sell, and the Beach Boys zombie crossover look was a no Today’s ense low on his hips, and his threadbare snug-fitted tee clung to his biceps like it was part of his skin Every tiers on the fretboard, his ainst the “barely there” fabric It was obscene And yes, my dick approved Not okay

I shifted clandestinely to ease some of the pressure from my overworked zipper and refocused on the article just as they wrapped up the song Thank God

“What’d you think?” Justin asked with a rin

“That ful,” I replied, closingmy arms above my head

Johnny flipped an threw one of his dru the stick back at him and h hat with a loud clang