Triple Threat Omitted Scene 4.5 – Singer Auditions

It had taken us two weeks to decide how to go about finding a new singer, once Rosario had shipped out. The consensus was to hold auditions. Between an ad in the online classifieds and a post on our website, we received about thirty candidates.

I sat on Chad’s couch early that Saturday afternoon, sorting through the pictures they were required to provide on my laptop. “Hey, I like this one,” I shouted to Giovanni and Chad across the room as I held the screen up, hoping they could see. With a first name like Tristan, he had better be hot. That name always reminded me of Brad Pitt.

Chad shook his head. “We’re not choosing him just because you think he’s hot.”

“But he is,” I relayed, biting my lip. His looks alone could bring girls to our gigs. “I’d like some eye candy too,” I mumbled.

Giovanni sat next to me. “If he can sing, we’ll invite him to audition.”

“Cool.” I scanned the stats he had put in his entry, 23, 6’2”, 180lbs, plays guitar and drums, likes beautiful women and romantic evenings. He sounded like what I wished I could have in my life. “Hope he’s not married,” I quietly commented. Although I still pined for Giovanni, he kept me at arms length so often.

“I’d hate it if you dated him,” Giovanni suddenly whispered.

Startled, I almost dropped my laptop.

“Sorry.” His mouth was next to my ear and his breath tickled my neck. “We need to talk about something. It’s pretty important.”

I put a hand on his knee, dying to hear what he had to say. “Tell me.” I turned, and his lips almost met mine in the process. My pussy clenched, and my breath caught. How did he affect me so deeply? The urge to say I love you, grew with each second I stared. “Please,” I croaked, my voice giving away my desire.

“I don’t want you to date…”

Chad interrupted with, “Baby, you gotta hear this one!” He unplugged his headphones. “I hope this ain’t digitally enhanced.”

I sunk into the couch and listened. The voice was clear, strong… and incredible. “How is this guy not in a band already?”

“Look him up,” Chad suggested. “His name is Christopher Bradley.”

First, I searched for his picture among the ones I had. A sly smile passed my lips. “He’s cute. Love the hair.”

His shoulder length, wavy, light brown hair and hazel eyes added to his appeal. The picture was a full profile, so I could see he had a slight build, but was not too thin. There was also a hint of decent biceps peeking out from his short sleeve dress shirt. It was a professional looking picture. Then I scrolled down to the information he gave about himself, 25, 5’10”, 165lbs, formerly of Mass Attack. Never heard of that band. He played guitar as well.

Next I googled his name. I came up with two bands and a few videos. “He’s played in a band before. I wonder what happened.”

“I got my picks,” Chad announced. “You guys have a few?”

Giovanni turned to the kitchen. “I got three I like.”

“I got four,” I shouted.

Chad moved the chair he was on. “Come here and let’s compare.” He looked at my list first. “Hell no!” He shook his head with the hottest man in the set on his screen. “No one’ll take him seriously.”

“Give him a chance.” I frowned; unhappy he just axed him. “At least listen to him.”

With a scowl, Chad did as I asked. He played the mp3 Tristan had sent. Half of it, he was off key. “Uh-uh,” Chad shook his head. “He sucks.”

Giovanni looked over Chad’s shoulder. “We picked the same guys.” I leaned over and noticed so had I, minus Tristan, “Looks like we got three to contact.

“OK, I’ll make the calls.” Chad pulled out his phone. “You two make some lunch or something.”

While Chad walked away, Giovanni stared at him and mumbled, “Since when is he in charge of everything?”

I ran a hand down his arm. “He doesn’t mean to be a dick. He’s anxious to get the band playing again.” A pained expression crossed his face and I regretted my words. “Hey,” I threw my arms around him. “It’s not like we fired your brother. He decided to leave.”

“I know,” he sighed. “Sometimes, I really wish he didn’t.”

Not letting him go, I added, “I feel the same way.” Rosario might have been a pain in the ass, but his excitement and energy were contagious at times. Minutes later, I heard heavy footsteps and jumped back.

“OK. I gave them three hours to get here,” Chad relayed. “If they’re serious, they’ll find a way to be here and prepared to bring the house down.”

Several hours later, we had three possibles standing in Chad’s garage, our instruments set up. The garage door closed to keep out the cold. Phil had shown up to lend a hand and stayed to see who we hired. Of course, he stood right next to me, rubbing my arm with his.

“So,” he leaned down and whispered in my ear, “After this, you wanna come back to my place? My roommate’s away for the weekend.” He slid a hand down my back and over my ass. “I wanna help you relax.” He grabbed my ass and I elbowed him. “Oomph! Damn, girl.” He paused; breathing hard then came back for more abuse. “You’re so tense. I can ease it, fast.” He squeezed my shoulder.

Without turning, I mumbled, “With your dick?”

“That too of course, you’re too sexy not to fuck.” Phil put an arm around my waist. Suddenly he went backwards. “What the fuck, man?”

I glanced back and Giovanni had him by the throat. “What’d I tell you?” He growled, “Hands… the fuck… off.” He held on tight, until Phil was gasping and pulling at his arm. Then he let him fall. “If she says no, its no, got it?”

“OK, OK. I got it. You need to relax,” Phil rambled as he got back on his feet. “Sorry, Crystal.”

Giovanni walked away, fuming mad. It seemed he was angry with himself as well as Phil. He needed to learn not to flip out when something pissed him off.

The three men waiting to audition were sort of staring at us. I walked over to them. “Who wants to go first?”

“I will.”

Chad checked his laptop, which was on a table nearby, “Christopher, right?”

“Just Chris, OK?” Chris gave me a wide smile. “Only my family calls me Christopher.”

I lifted my bass strap over my shoulder. “What song’re you singing?”

“Um, I’d like to do, “Life is Beautiful” by Sixx AM.”

We all looked at each other. That was a great song, although mild, but it had a wide vocal range. Chad admired Nikki Sixx, so he knew the song. I didn’t know the baseline, but I was good at catching on.

“Giovanni, can you play that?” Chad shouted at Giovanni who was pacing.

Walking back, Giovanni replied, “No, but if you got it on your laptop, I’ll figure it out.”

That made it easier for me also. Chad got it queued up and waited for quiet. We all listened intently as the song played. It was a mix of amazing vocals and great guitar riffs along with soft and hard rock. It was a unique song. One I could not imagine many doing well. Chris looked confident though.

“Um, did anyone else notice the rhythm guitar is really prominent?” Giovanni pointed out. “It’s gonna sound weird with just Chad.”

Chris turned around. “I didn’t bring my guitar, ‘cause I sing better without it, but if you need me to, I could go home get it. My place is like a mile away.”

“Nah, don’t worry. We always find a way.” Chad glanced at Phil. “You wanna step in?”

Phil grabbed Chad’s backup guitar and grinned from ear to ear. “I know that song.” He missed playing with us.

After playing it a second time at Giovanni’s request, we were ready. Chris closed his eyes and soon was belting out the song. Then my mouth dropped. He was on par with Sixx AM’s singer, possibly even better. I stared as I played, astounded. He was the real deal.

When the garage was silent, and I mean silent, everyone gaping at him, he smiled. “How was that?”

“Fine,” Chad glanced at the other two singers. Without making another comment about Chris, he checked the list. “OK, Anthony, you’re up next. What’re you singing?”

All I could think was, did he not hear Chris sing?

Anthony stood up. “How about “Bat Country” by Avenged Sevenfold?”

Chad looked at Giovanni and I. We both nodded, as did Phil. It was an older song that most people knew, even if not by name. “OK then, “Bat Country” it is.”

Anthony growled the opening lyrics then the rest of us started playing. It was a very fast paced song. Within seconds, my foot was tapping and my head nodding to the quick beat. Phil was moving around as well, in sync with the rest of us. When I turned to Giovanni, he was so into it, he had his eyes closed. He loved playing something complicated.

By the end of the song, Chad was smiling widely. “That was cool,” He told Anthony. “You’re voice was perfect for that song.”

I didn’t agree. He did have a good scream and growled well, but when he just sang, it was sub par, although better than Rosario. I didn’t complain, just waited patiently.

“Do you guys know “Dying Breed” by Five Finger Death Punch?” Nicholas, the last vocalist asked.

“No.” Giovanni stood up. “How about ‘The Bleeding?’”

“Yeah,” Nicholas grinned. “That’s a good one too.”

Chad tossed his hair, “Baby, do you remember that one?”

“Sure do.” We had played it when we were doing covers in the beginning.

Phil stepped forward. “I do too.”

Chad and Phil began the soft notes of the intro. Then Giovanni came in, the beat slow. Phil suddenly switched to cords, while the tempo sped up. Once Chad started playing louder notes, we all braced for the change. Then Nicholas half-screamed half-growled the opening word.

The beat slowed again while Nicholas sang. When Nicholas shouted the chorus, I realized he was a better fit than Anthony. At the end of the song, it looked like we all agreed.

“OK. You guys wait out here,” Chad announced. “We’re gonna talk it over.” Giovanni, Phil and I followed Chad to the kitchen, leaving the garage door open. He leaned against the refrigerator. “I say we pick Nicholas.”

Phil chimed in, “Me too. That guy can scream.”

“But he can’t sing so great,” I offered. “I like Chris. He could help us move in another direction. Imagine his vocals on “Where Is She.” It would be amazing.”

Giovanni countered, “But, most of our songs are metal. You can’t just sing metal. You gotta have grit and scream sometimes.”

Frustrated by their resistance, I folded my arms over my chest. “I say we let him try a song like ours.”

Chad shook his head. “I told them one song, that’s it.”

“But what if she’s right?” Phil waited for a response, but got none. “If we let him try something different and he sucks, we take Nicholas. If he nails it, we go with Chris.”

Giovanni’s eyebrows rose, “Sounds fair. Chad, come on. Bend a little.”

“Fine, one more song,” Chad looked anything but happy. He stomped back to the garage. “Do you know any harder songs, Chris? We play heavy metal, you know.”

Chris seemed to be thinking. “Do you know ‘Devil’s Boy?’”

“Holy shit,” Phil muttered under his breath. “He just said the magic words.”

Chad slowly smiled. “Fuck yeah we do.”

Before my guitar was even on, Giovanni was pounding his bass drums. Chris shouted the first line and I was glad I was right. As I continued to play, I was sure Chris was going to change it all for us.

“Damn, Chris!” I cried out after laying my bass on its stand. “Why the hell did you leave your last band?”

Chris looked away, blushing slightly. “It’s a really long, boring, shitty story. Let’s just say I needed a change.”

I turned to Chad and Giovanni who were most likely discussing who to choose. “So?” I moved so I was next to them. “You like him now, don’t you?”

Chad whispered, “Yeah, but Nicholas is better at our style of music.”

“But both of you bitched about Rosario’s voice holding us back,” I reminded them. “With Chris, there’s no stopping us. We can play whatever we want.”

Giovanni tilted his head. “True.” He glanced over my shoulder. “He would bring in more ladies too, unless he fucks ‘em all like my brother.”

“Chad?” I stared at him, waiting for an answer.

He shrugged, “Fine, baby.” He took a deep breath and strode over to three anxious contenders. “OK, it wasn’t easy, but we made a decision.” He paused. “Anthony and Nicholas, thanks, but we’re going with Chris.” He waited until the others left then addressed Chris. “I hope you have a lot of free time, because we need to get back to clubs, pronto.”

Chris’ smile was almost wider than his face. “I’ll make time. I brought some lyrics and music if you’d like to see them.”

That peeked Chad’s interest. “Really? Soft stuff?”

“Nope,” Chris assured him. “Mostly punk or alternative in a way though. We can change them. Add distortion or just speed them up. I’m versatile.” He jumped up. “I’ll grab my portfolio out of the car.”

More magic words. Versatile is what we needed. “Phil, give up the guitar so we can hear Chris.” I put my hands on my hips until Phil reluctantly set it on its stand.

As soon as Chris had guitar in hand, he started to play. His first song was excellent. The next needed work. The third, Chris stopped halfway through it. “I don’t like this one too much. Maybe we can take the lyrics and write new music for it.”

“That works.” Chad headed to the door to the house. “I’m gonna get the songs we’ve been working on so we can see how they work with your voice.”