Survival Of The Fittest

Daniel Wolfe lugged the amplifier into the music room set it down, and retreated back outside to grab his bass. He flicked open the security latches on the case, and opened it up to reveal his natural wood finish Ernie Ball Stingray bass. It was his pride and joy. It played beautifully for any style, and the low action made it perfect for the few times he had to play slap.

Slap if for chumps in the music store, trying to look cool.

Dan quickly found a plug for the amp, and put it at about mid volume. With the door to the room closed, it was a good volume because only the people in the drama room next to him would be able to hear him playing, and he doubted anyone was in there.

Having heard some Guns N' Roses on his way to school that morning, Dan withdrew a mix CD from the backpack he had also brought into the room and popped it in the CD player. A blast of sound came through the speakers in the room, that was anything but GnR. Smirking at how loud the opening riff to Ruby Soho by Rancid had been, Dan turned the volume down a few touches and changed it to song 4. The incredibly recognizable intro riff to Sweet Child O'Mine came over the speakers, as Dan adjusted his bass strap, and played the bass intro.

Harry Tsai had stopped by his locker to grab his guitar and head home when there was a sudden blaring tone from inside the music room, just across the hall. Startled, Harry wheeled around (nearly dropping his gig bag in the process) and froze as the room became silent again. He scratched his nose with his free hand, wondering who was behind the momentary commotion.

Again music came on, quieter this time, and easily more recognizeable. Harry finished up with his locker and headed towards the music room door, opening it and taking a look inside. There was a guy with an amp set up playing along to "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns 'N' Roses. Said California rock band wasn't really one of Harry's favourites, in fact the only thing he really liked about them was their lead guitarist, Slash. He was very talented, and Harry also liked his style. He couldn't stand their frontman, though. Axl Rose. He was irritating.

Harry let himself in, nodding at the other boy and grabbing a seat close by to listen. He was actually in the market for a session bass guitarist, seeing as he'd given the previous one the boot for skipping practices and other general negligence. In all honesty he'd be happy with someone who could hit the notes competently and show the hell up.

The second verse started up and Rose began singing in that godawful dying cat voice of his. Harry decided he wanted in, so he went about hooking up his guitar to the school's only guitar amp (piece of trash that it was). Fortunately he always kept a patch cord in his bag. Harry adjusted the volume carefully and kept an ear open to time his entrance. He wanted to give off a good impression, and this was a good opportunity seeing as he'd played the rather intermediate guitar part so many times.

'Wait for it...'

There was his cue, the second chorus. Harry got a bit of feedback as he turned up the volume on his guitar and took a step away to compensate, picking along with the high eighth notes and getting a good crisp sound from the black Epiphone. That was the stuff. When the solo rolled along he changed keys accordingly, but had never bothered to learn it note for note so he just improvised. From there it was a straight jam until the end of the song.

The boy who had come in and started playing along impressed Dan. While he didn't do Slash's solo note for note, his improv skills were off the charts. The song ended, and Dan rushed over to the CD player to hit the pause button, getting there in time to stop the opening chords to Killing in the Name.

"Dude, well done. I didn't know anyone at this school knew that song on electric, and that improv solo was fuckin' ridiculous. Where'd you learn to play like that?"

Do da do da do..

Walking around, like she usually did looking for something to sketch, Tricia found herself in the the door way of the music room where two boys were playing. She had just caught the last part of the song reconizing it as Guns and Roses - Sweet Child O'Mine. Being a music nut, that's mainly what drew her in. The two looked like they hadn't really known eachother previous, but that didn't stop the one with the bass from turning to another song so the two could jam to it again.

Quietly taking a seat furthest away from the boys, Trish opened up her sketch book and removed a number 2 pencil from her box. Her book (which never left her sight) was full of pictures and sketches and just things she'd scribbled in class when she didn't want to pay attention. From the angle she was at, the asian boy had his back towards her with his hair in his face.

That'll do...

Not bothering to wait for the boy's answer, Dan quickly said, "Ah screw it, lets keep going." He switched the song to 96 Quite Bitter Beings by CKY. It was one of his favourites, minus the bass intro which was decently complicated. Mid-way through the first verse a girl entered the room, sat down on the far side of the room and began to sketch something in her book. Smirking slightly, Dan continued to play, possibly playing up some of the typical rock poses a little more than he normally would.

Harry was about to reply, but he didn't get the chance seeing as the bassist didn't wait for an answer. Instead he started a new song up, one that wasn't the least bit familiar. It sounded interesting enough, even if it wasn't quite his style; the lead guitar was overwhelming from the get-go and it was catchy. Harry shrugged and just jammed over the track seeing as there wasn't enough time to piece together the melody.

Harry was confused for a moment as to why the other boy was posing like a rockstar, then he turned and realized that there was a third party in the room. A girl had come in, someone he knew from his visual arts class. Trish. She was rather odd. Very interesting though, and friendly too...and on top of that a talented artist. He'd shown her some demos before, but she'd never seen him actually play. Harry nodded at her to say hello and went back to--

--oh, that was unexpected. The time signature on the song switched suddenly to an awkward 3/4, and Harry shredded rather clumsily (according to his standards anyway) to mask that he didn't quite know if it would switch back or not. Trish was sketching the two of them, and instinctively he began playing up the posture as well without moving around too much.

Dan quickly picked up on the fact that the boy did not know the song, but once again, he picked up the riffs well and his improv. was astounding in the parts. The 3/4 switch caught the boy off guard, but hell, it still caught Dan off guard sometimes too. The song ended, and Dan once again killed the noise.

"This time I won't be an ass and crank it up on you. I'm Dan, Dan Wolfe." He said to the guy. Dan then turned his attention to the female with the sketchbook.

"I've seen you around this wing, when I've come to jam before. You're Trish...well I completely forgot your last name, and I apologize for that," He said with a smile, "Do you mind if I take a look at how my new found friend and I look in black and white?

((Continued from Ringo's Records))

Adwin Green stalked the halls of the Fine Arts building, heading quickly to the music room to try out her new guitar. It had taken many months of saving to buy it from that crazy old rocker down the street, but he parted with it willingly (called it bad luck, yeah right).

As she neared the classroom she heard some magnificent sounds floating from inside and smiled at the fact that some people had the same idea as her today. Truthfully she loved practicing alone but from time to time she enjoyed playing with others (this being the main reason she joined that band which never really got off the ground). She peered into the room and smiled, recognizing the faces inside. Daniel Wolfe, Harry Tsai, and that shy girl, Tricia something or other.

Now she knew Danny-boy was a rocker, one of those the future belong to the youth types. Harry however was a little closer to home for her, coming from another country (he was absolutely crazy for anything Japanese, a real heritage guy). She quietly entered the room and waved to the small group, as much as she was trying to keep her calm she still had a bit of a hard time interacting with people (she tended to say the wrong things, or generally make things awkward).

"Hey there, mind if I join in this jam session with you?" She asked, preparing to leave if rejected. "I just got this kickin' new guitar and I'd love to see how it sounds along with yours."

"My name's Harry," he replied, brushing hair from his face. Dan's attention turned to Trish, and Harry fiddled around a bit with his fine tuning, taking a seat next to the guitar amp. He wished he'd brought his FX pedal, then he could've really shown off.

Adwin Green appeared in the doorway, a guitar case in hand. It looked as if she'd finally saved up enough cash to make that purchase she was talking about. She had been a little skimpy on the details though, and he still didn't know what model it was or condition it was in. Maybe he could try it out if he was patient, but he didn't want to seem grabby. After all, he'd never appreciated it whenever any of his gradeschool friends back home had seen him practising and immediately asked to play it themselves. It was rude.

Adwin asked if she could join them, and Harry didn't really mind. It's just that there was only one guitar amp, and he wasn't confident it would sound that great if both of them plugged into the same one. The school had spared nearly every expense when it came to musical equipment. Harry decided to leave it up to Dan, and cast him a glance as if to say it was his call.

Harry gave Dan the "you decide" look. Dan actually hated these situations, because if he were to say no, it effectively turns him into the bad guy. Noticing that there was only one amp, Dan decided to use this as his arguement, and to sort of turn it around on Harry.

"Well, we only have one guitar amp, so unless you have an amp in the trunk of your car, or unless Harry doesn't mind sacrificing sound to let both of you plug into what is already a shitty amp, I'd have to have the best bet would be just switch off with Harry from song to song."

"Well, I have like two amps in the back of my van I could go grab." Adwin responded, motioning towards the windows through which the nearby parking lot could be seen. "That means one each, right? And while I do that I'll leave this here to be ogled!"

Adwin set her case down on a nearby table and undid the latches to reveal her new pride and joy. A 1970s Gibson SG revealed herself (Adwin believe all guitars were girls, something just clicked that made it so) and she was a beauty, not a scratch on it, perfect in every single way. It was Adwin's new pride and joy, and if anything happened to it she would do horrible things.

"Feel free to look until I get back, I'll grab some of my FX Pedals too so we can make some proper noise!" Adwin laughed as she bounced out of the room. Filled with self doubt she reached her van and took a moment to ponder what to take, she muttered to herself reassuringly that she didn't make an ass of herself as she grabbed two of her easiest to carry amps, cords (wrappedaround her arm), and some precariously balanced Pedals. She turned and headed back to the building, slowly and carefully making sure not to ruin her equipment.

"No that's okay." Trish replied. "I'd rather have it done before I show it."

Another girl entered the room.. wanting to jam along with the boys. She wouldn't have remembered her name unless she said it, which thankfully she did. If there was one thing Trish hated, it was looking like she didn't know what she was talking about.

Grabbing her cookies she snatched from her fridge earlier that morning, Trish continued to sketch along with munching, just listening to the guys play and enjoying the sounds around her. With the new girl out to grab her amp, Trish quickly edited part of the picture to be sure she could fit her in.

Do da do da do da dooo

"Whoops! Late for class!" And with that, Adwin packed up her shit and left.

((Continued in Life is a Crowded Hallway))

After what seemed like a month and 4 days of time, Dan noticed that it was already 2:20, hockey was at three, so he had time for one more jam.

"Okay, my friend. You pick the last song. If I don't know it, I'll improve a bit. "

Maybe even slap a little...nah, that still makes me a chump.

Adwin was barely through the door again when she sputtered that she was late and left. Harry didn't really care much, in fact he was a little pleased because jamming with even one other person besides a drummer was usually difficult and annoying (drummers barely needed to be competent for a casual jam session of course). Why was it always so hard for musicians to function as a unit?

Daniel was ready to wrap it up, and turned to Harry to pick one more song. He didn't think there would be many songs up his alley that the bass player would recognize, but he gave it some thought anyway. It couldn't be anything Chinese or Japanese; he hadn't met anyone in the States yet that listened to Asian rock, although British artists were popular here and on the rare occasion someone would have a remote idea what Scandanavian metal was. Harry tried to place Dan's musical tastes based on what they'd played already, which would have been easy if both songs had been popular American rock.

"Umm..." he droned, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "Do you like Rage Against the Machine?" Tom Morello was talented, although highly unconventional and very hard to imitate. It was a guess of course, but a lot of his ex-bandmates had been into Rage. Popular band, they were. Always political in some way, which was fine, but Harry didn't write songs about overthrowing government and GIs in the Middle East. He'd never written anything political, all of his subject matter was Japanese horror and fantasy. Record companies didn't like that kind of stuff...it was ironic, but the American record companies really liked the rebellious anti-government anti-corporation bands.