“I suppose I can, I’ve been at it since five so I’m more than due for one. Let me grab a drink. Why don’t you snag us a table and I’ll meet you there?” I looked around the mostly empty room, smiling. Yeah, people in this lifestyle were night owls not morning people so it’ll be a couple of hours before he has a mad rush of patrons to feed.
A few minutes later, Ely joined me. “Here, I grabbed you a bottle of water.”
“Thank you. Is it bad that I want to lean over and kiss you right now?”
“Yes and no. Yes, because I’m technically on the clock and no because I’d love nothing more than to have that happen.” His honesty was refreshing. In an industry full of secrecy, Ely was a refreshing breath of air.
“Duly noted.” I winked, and that delicate shade of pink returned to his cheeks. “So, how’d you sleep last night?” I asked, taking a bite of the ham and cheese omelet he put on my plate. “This is good.”
“Thanks. I slept okay. The sound of the generators is a little hard to drown out. Does that hurt?” Ely asked, pointing to the bandage on my arm covering the new piece.
“Nah, not too bad. Do you have any ink?” I asked?
“Your boy here slept pretty damn good,” Seltzer teased, taking the seat on the other side of me. At that point, Ely quieted.
“Dude, no,” I begged. He better not say anything about last night. I’ll fucking die if he does. Hope they have another drummer lined up.
“Why didn’t you wake us up?” Chase asked as he and David joined us.
“Sorry,” I said to Ely. “Maybe we can get some alone time later tonight?”
“Maybe,” he said, running his fingers faintly along my arm., “Text me.”
“You guys are serious cock blocks,” I said once Ely was out of earshot.
“Really? Could’ve sworn you were the only one of us who came last night,” David replied. My fucking face lit up like a bonfire.
“Let’s hurry up and eat, we need to get back on the bus,” Chase said, breaking the intense stare David and I had going on. “Ryan will be there soon.”
The interview with Ryan went extremely well, none of his questions were invasive. The only personal one he asked was about my dad. I shared what I knew of him and Ryan surprised me when he said, “I know your dad is proud of you.” I actually teared up. The whole interview lasted less than an hour, then security told us to stay put that the guy from the radio station was coming here instead of us seeking him out. That interview did not go well. Once Chase called him out saying, “It’s funny how all the people who slammed the doors in our faces are now the ones wanting to meet with us.” The guy packed up his shit so fast you would have thought his ass was on fire. As soon as he left, the four of us doubled over, laughing our asses off. That dickwad damn near tripped over his own feet rushing out of here. Fucking epic.
“Alright guys,” Sikes said. “Time to head over to the main stage for your last interview of the day.”
We were still cracking up over it when we got to the stage. Jose was already there waiting for us. A table with five chairs, equal sets of headphones and a console with more lights on it than I’d seen before was in the center.
“Hey guys, nice to finally meet you. I’m Jose Mangin,” he introduced himself.
“The Metal Ambassador,” Chase added, Jose laughed at his infamous radio call name.
“We’re gonna go live for the interview. The playback will be delayed by a few seconds over the PA system here for the listeners to avoid feedback,” he informed us. “Have a seat and put on the headphones. There’s a microphone built in them. You know how we roll on Octane, not much is held back. I won’t ask anything too personal, mostly just want to hear from you guys about your journey. Ready to start?”
While Jose got things going, I glanced out at the rapidly filling floor area on the other side of the fencing that separated us from the fans. Security was lined up along it and our band logo was showing across every screen. Then, it switched to our shocked faces, instantly morphing into smiles. Whoa, mind blown. We slid the headphones on after taking our seats, when the red light on the dash came on, we were live.
“Hey everyone, this is Jose The Metal Ambassador Mangin coming to you live from Rocktoberfest in the hot as fuck Nevada desert,” he began. The crowd whooped and hollered. “I’m here today with a band that’s fairly new to the circuit, Embrace the Fear. Let’s give a warm welcome to their drummer Rhone Horne, guitarist David Jordan, bassist Seltzer Newell and lead singer Chase Prescott. They just got off a three-month European tour with Social Sinners and Maiden Voyage.”
“Thanks for having us, man,” Chase said.
“Happy to be here,” I added.
“So guys, give us a little background about your journey to get here and how the tour went. I bet it was insane,” Jose said to us.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” I started, recalling the whirlwind of events. “One minute you’re scrubbing some drunk’s puke off the bathroom floor and the next you’re on a plane with two of the biggest bands in the metal world heading out of the country for the first time. I keep waiting to wake up from the dream.”
“No joke,” Seltzer said.
“I sent in an audition tape to the Battle of the Bands contest in Seattle. After a couple of weeks, I figured we ended up in their recycle pile. Then in week three, I received a FEDEX envelope telling us where to go and when to be there. We packed up our shit, jumped into our piece of crap van and headed to the great Pacific Northwest,” Chase told him.
“Wow, that’s some rock ‘n roll Cinderella shit right there, man,” Jose said. “How did you guys get started, I mean aside from you Rhone since it’s in your DNA, what about the rest of you?”
Chase took a deep breath. “For us music is all about feeling. The four of us have known each other practically since birth. Once Rhone started pounding away, the music bug kinda hit us all. Watching him transform from a rowdy brat—” The guys laughed, shaking their heads. “—to this like peaceful creature had us all picking up an instrument. Well, except for me. Going through puberty and trying to sing wasn’t a good idea, but once I got through that growth spurt and my voice deepened it was like wow. Joey Hayes, the lead singer for Social Sinners, has been a huge mentor for me. Derek Masters from Maiden as well. While we were on the road in Europe, they shared the techniques they use to not only perfect their voice, but to keep it healthy. I’ve found a balance between the two and it’s been working well for me.”
“What about you, David?” Jose asked.
“About the same story. Rhone’s always kind of been our leader with this. I can play both bass and guitar. My dad was in a garage band in high school that died once they all graduated. When I started showing an interest in music, he was up and out of his chair — literally. We were sitting at the dinner table when he bolted out of the room and came back with his acoustic. I’m a huge fan of Fieldy from Korn and wanted to emulate him. That’s how I switched from guitar to bass.”
“Right on, love how your families support your art. What about you, Seltzer? I’m sure there’s a great story behind that nickname.” Jose smiled. “What’s your story?”