Categories > Celebrities > Metallica > Lion's Share
1981
“Listen, I understand that you hate talking to people at phone, or talking to people in general or interacting with people at all, but you're gonna do it anyway.” Cathy said.
Maria picked up the phone and looked at the various numbers on the notebook, fidgeting. “Why can't you do this? I mean, there are other things I can do to help.”
Cathy groaned in frustration, “Listen, we are the founding members of this band, it's only natural that we sort out this shit. You need to lose this pet peeve of yours.”
“But you...”
“I know that I'm usually the one doing the talking, but I'm not going to do every thing that involves social activity. You need to help me.” Cathy said sternly. “Now call these clubs and book us the gigs.”
Cathy was very resolute that both she and Maria had to take care of the band business and share the responsibilities. Unluckily, Ron and Steve weren't the most reliable people, so they couldn't be much help. They were absent minded and kind of careless and needed to be constantly reminded of everything concerning the band, otherwise it would slip from their minds.
Maria called the club owners, trying not to stutter, and booked the venues for the band. She sighed in relief once she was done. Working as a waitress had given her the opportunity to improve her people skills, but still, if she could avoid interacting with strangers, she would gladly do it.
Now that Hybris had a complete lineup and a few songs under their sleeve, it was time to go out in public and play live shows. For a start, Cathy said, they would play in a bunch of clubs in Manhattan, and see how it went. According to her, it was better to play shows with other bands, possibly better known, so to attract a bigger audience.
The gigs went great and Hybris was well received by the public; not many people attended the shows, but those who did were very appreciative.
Given the good reaction, the band started to toy with the possibility of recording their songs; the first idea was to make some tapes to pass around, but Cathy had bigger plans, she wanted to record a real EP and sell it in record stores. It took a lot of convincing to get the other guys to agree, as they had many doubts about it.
“I mean, who the hell is gonna buy it? We have played live for only two months, never outside Manhattan and for small audiences.” said Steve.
“There are some people who like our music, and I'm sure they would gladly buy a record of ours. Of course I'm not talking about big numbers, we just have to think small.”
“All right, but how are we gonna do this?” pressed Ron.
“I did some research and found a record pressing plant that makes a minimum of one hundred copies, which is perfect for us, for a cheap prize. We send them the reel-to-reel tape and the artwork and they do the job.”
“Okay, fine, but what about the distribution?”
“It's one hundred copies, we can give half of them to some record stores by ourselves and sell the others after concerts.”
“Wait, can we just do it? I mean, what about taxes and stuff like that?” asked Maria.
“Are you afraid of the IRS?” Cathy laughed. “The best thing to do is start a label; it won't be too complicated, as we won't be managing any other band but ours. We can do it, trust me.”
Cathy's idea was accepted and the band got down to work; they started an independent label called Urban Suffering (the name was Steve's idea), collected enough money to rent a studio and hire an engineer and recorded their songs. They couldn't afford a producer and had no idea how the whole process of production worked, so the recording was as raw as it comes, but they didn't care.
Steve and Ron took care of the artwork, since they both had talent as illustrators; the two boys were art school drop-outs who had first met at college and bonded over their shared passion for punk and hardcore music, to which they listened constantly. Cathy and Maria weren't too thrilled by it at first, but eventually learned to like its energy and power and respect the huge influence it had on the boys.
Hybris released 'Grind', their first EP, in mid April. A couple of months later, the band was invited to play at a festival hosted by Sonic Youth, an upcoming group they had befriended after a gig. Since many of the seventies' bands that had kick started the whole movement were disbanding, everybody involved in the scene felt like it was undergoing a transitional period. The idea of a festival starring newly formed groups was very welcomed because it demonstrated that the legacy had been picked up and the scene wasn't over.
To promote the concerts, the various bands spent the weekend before flyering around Manhattan; for the day of the Noise Fest, the entire SoHo neighbourhood was covered in posters.
The venue was relatively small, but it was packed for all the nine days of the festival; Hybris played on the fifth day and managed to sell all of the twenty copies left of their EP.
To celebrate the event, Ron proposed to go to The Deuce and find some good film to watch. The other band members didn't unanimously share Ron's preference for exploitation movies, but they all accepted his proposal without complaining anyway.
When they reached the 42nd Street , filled with all its grindhouses, the guys started to laugh and scream and run down the dirty road. They were happy; for the very first time, they felt like were true professional musicians and not a group of overgrown kids playing just for fun. It didn't matter to them that they were making little money out of their music; things were getting real, it was thrilling and exhilarating.
In August, Hybris released a second EP called 'Dogs+Pigs' in five hundred copies and played gigs all over the city. Not every audience was as responsive to their music as the ones in Manhattan, but the band still managed to find new fans and sell their records.
In the meantime, Maria was becoming more and more acquainted with her duties to the band and grew not only to accept them as part of the whole package, but to genuinely enjoy them. She had discovered the joy of having something to be passionate about, a project that required attention and devotion in every aspect and she put her heart into it.
Cathy had decided to call a young photograph named Paul to take a picture of the band for the back cover of the record. He was a sweet, caring guy, just a little shy, who instantly took a liking in Maria; she was surprised to discover how easy it was talking to him, and how much she liked his company. For the first time in years, Maria found herself longing for a romantic relationship and Paul was more than happy to satisfy it.
Their feelings never evolved in anything more than a tender fondness, and their connection never became very deep, as they both had bigger passions -music and photography- that came first and foremost and consumed much of their time. Nevertheless, Maria appreciated the enthusiasm Paul put in everything he did, his considerate nature and waking up next to him after a night of lovemaking. It wasn't love, but it was perfect that way.
“Listen, I understand that you hate talking to people at phone, or talking to people in general or interacting with people at all, but you're gonna do it anyway.” Cathy said.
Maria picked up the phone and looked at the various numbers on the notebook, fidgeting. “Why can't you do this? I mean, there are other things I can do to help.”
Cathy groaned in frustration, “Listen, we are the founding members of this band, it's only natural that we sort out this shit. You need to lose this pet peeve of yours.”
“But you...”
“I know that I'm usually the one doing the talking, but I'm not going to do every thing that involves social activity. You need to help me.” Cathy said sternly. “Now call these clubs and book us the gigs.”
Cathy was very resolute that both she and Maria had to take care of the band business and share the responsibilities. Unluckily, Ron and Steve weren't the most reliable people, so they couldn't be much help. They were absent minded and kind of careless and needed to be constantly reminded of everything concerning the band, otherwise it would slip from their minds.
Maria called the club owners, trying not to stutter, and booked the venues for the band. She sighed in relief once she was done. Working as a waitress had given her the opportunity to improve her people skills, but still, if she could avoid interacting with strangers, she would gladly do it.
Now that Hybris had a complete lineup and a few songs under their sleeve, it was time to go out in public and play live shows. For a start, Cathy said, they would play in a bunch of clubs in Manhattan, and see how it went. According to her, it was better to play shows with other bands, possibly better known, so to attract a bigger audience.
The gigs went great and Hybris was well received by the public; not many people attended the shows, but those who did were very appreciative.
Given the good reaction, the band started to toy with the possibility of recording their songs; the first idea was to make some tapes to pass around, but Cathy had bigger plans, she wanted to record a real EP and sell it in record stores. It took a lot of convincing to get the other guys to agree, as they had many doubts about it.
“I mean, who the hell is gonna buy it? We have played live for only two months, never outside Manhattan and for small audiences.” said Steve.
“There are some people who like our music, and I'm sure they would gladly buy a record of ours. Of course I'm not talking about big numbers, we just have to think small.”
“All right, but how are we gonna do this?” pressed Ron.
“I did some research and found a record pressing plant that makes a minimum of one hundred copies, which is perfect for us, for a cheap prize. We send them the reel-to-reel tape and the artwork and they do the job.”
“Okay, fine, but what about the distribution?”
“It's one hundred copies, we can give half of them to some record stores by ourselves and sell the others after concerts.”
“Wait, can we just do it? I mean, what about taxes and stuff like that?” asked Maria.
“Are you afraid of the IRS?” Cathy laughed. “The best thing to do is start a label; it won't be too complicated, as we won't be managing any other band but ours. We can do it, trust me.”
Cathy's idea was accepted and the band got down to work; they started an independent label called Urban Suffering (the name was Steve's idea), collected enough money to rent a studio and hire an engineer and recorded their songs. They couldn't afford a producer and had no idea how the whole process of production worked, so the recording was as raw as it comes, but they didn't care.
Steve and Ron took care of the artwork, since they both had talent as illustrators; the two boys were art school drop-outs who had first met at college and bonded over their shared passion for punk and hardcore music, to which they listened constantly. Cathy and Maria weren't too thrilled by it at first, but eventually learned to like its energy and power and respect the huge influence it had on the boys.
Hybris released 'Grind', their first EP, in mid April. A couple of months later, the band was invited to play at a festival hosted by Sonic Youth, an upcoming group they had befriended after a gig. Since many of the seventies' bands that had kick started the whole movement were disbanding, everybody involved in the scene felt like it was undergoing a transitional period. The idea of a festival starring newly formed groups was very welcomed because it demonstrated that the legacy had been picked up and the scene wasn't over.
To promote the concerts, the various bands spent the weekend before flyering around Manhattan; for the day of the Noise Fest, the entire SoHo neighbourhood was covered in posters.
The venue was relatively small, but it was packed for all the nine days of the festival; Hybris played on the fifth day and managed to sell all of the twenty copies left of their EP.
To celebrate the event, Ron proposed to go to The Deuce and find some good film to watch. The other band members didn't unanimously share Ron's preference for exploitation movies, but they all accepted his proposal without complaining anyway.
When they reached the 42nd Street , filled with all its grindhouses, the guys started to laugh and scream and run down the dirty road. They were happy; for the very first time, they felt like were true professional musicians and not a group of overgrown kids playing just for fun. It didn't matter to them that they were making little money out of their music; things were getting real, it was thrilling and exhilarating.
In August, Hybris released a second EP called 'Dogs+Pigs' in five hundred copies and played gigs all over the city. Not every audience was as responsive to their music as the ones in Manhattan, but the band still managed to find new fans and sell their records.
In the meantime, Maria was becoming more and more acquainted with her duties to the band and grew not only to accept them as part of the whole package, but to genuinely enjoy them. She had discovered the joy of having something to be passionate about, a project that required attention and devotion in every aspect and she put her heart into it.
Cathy had decided to call a young photograph named Paul to take a picture of the band for the back cover of the record. He was a sweet, caring guy, just a little shy, who instantly took a liking in Maria; she was surprised to discover how easy it was talking to him, and how much she liked his company. For the first time in years, Maria found herself longing for a romantic relationship and Paul was more than happy to satisfy it.
Their feelings never evolved in anything more than a tender fondness, and their connection never became very deep, as they both had bigger passions -music and photography- that came first and foremost and consumed much of their time. Nevertheless, Maria appreciated the enthusiasm Paul put in everything he did, his considerate nature and waking up next to him after a night of lovemaking. It wasn't love, but it was perfect that way.
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