Chapter 13

The next morning, all the talk was about the possible tour, with a few moments when the subject was Marcus and his patina of respectability and expertise. Willow had shown her parents the email from Jill that morning, and they had been happy to see that she would be home quite a lot between shows. Lunch was a lot of discussion with the rest of the band, and the Gees, about having a multi-city tour, especially one that ended in London for one, or more, nights.

When they got to the farm, Racheal and Rick were there to give them hugs before the girls carried on. On the way, Sebastian asked why there was so much excitement about.

“We’re going on tour in the summer. It’s staggered so we get a lot of time at home, unless the bookings demand extra shows. The Coventry City show has been blended in with some before and some after, ending in London. Before that, we’re all going to Abbey Road to properly record our Other Side albums. It’s going to be busy, we know, but will be something exciting.”

“That’s good. I’ll talk to our boss about talking to your manager so that we can continue to support you. If it’s all eleven, plus your kit, we would need three vehicles. How far away are the venues?”

“All Midlands as far as Liverpool until we go south, then just Southampton and London, with plenty of time to go by road.”

School was normal as could be, except for a pair of big photos of the two winning teams in the main entry, with the cups on stands in front of them. There were lists beside the pictures, with the teams and the coaches named. Every member of the two teams were tempted to stand in front and get their friends to take a picture, Jacob took several of Willow as she smiled for the camera.

Lunch was a bit quieter, but still very happy. The afternoon dragged and then it was time to go home. Sebastian told them that his boss was negotiating with Peter about being their transport for the tour. That evening, Willow took her laptop into the club, let Gina handle the keyboard duties, and started making lists of things involving the Leicester property.

She looked at the area on Google Maps and saw that there was a supermarket just around the corner. Not only would it be good to get supplies, but also good as a parking spot if you were only a few of you in a single people mover. She sent Wilhelm an email asking him if he had bought a minibus yet, and, if not, get a seven-seater people mover instead, telling him about the parking area. She also found a fish and chop / pizza place down the road, with a chicken place a couple of doors further on. The websites both showed that they took on-line orders.

When she was back at home, she found the cards that have been given her, and sent the door specialist an email to ask if they would like to quote for a pair of high-security double doors and specialist doors to a recording studio, designed to minimise sound escape.

She also sent one to the specialist builder and invited him to talk about a project to convert a cool store into a recording studio. With both emails, she noted that it was Sebastian and his fellow workers from the security company who had given her their details, and cc’ed Wilhelm.

On Thursday, she told Sebastian that she had made the enquiries, and the three talked about the project. Lunch was a lot quieter, everyone seemingly now used to having gold record holders in the room. Willow asked Xavier if he knew of good builders of recording studios, and he told her he would give her a name on Friday. PE was very different, as the coach allowed them an easy session, with just a friendly game of netball, where the winning team were allowed to just watch and make notes for her afterwards. She, like the other coaches, were now looking at the following year with anticipation of more cups.

On Friday, Xavier gave her a piece of paper with the name of a company that specialised in recording and TV studios, who were also sound baffling specialists. At lunch, she went to see the nurse first with the packet of injections. The nurse gave her the shot and put the packet away. After lunch, they had a lot of fun in the music session, starting to get the hang of what you can do with gamelan. Mister Jamieson told them that they had another session before needing to play something for the marking. After that, several of the class looked at Willow and Gina for inspiration. Dianne suggested that they try to incorporate ‘Her Day’ into the beat, with it a little slower being a bonus. They worked on that, with Willow singing the words, and the drummers and bellringers following the notes.

That evening, she emailed the studio specialists, telling them that the site was in Leicester, and that she would like to talk to them about a complete set-up, sound studio, comprehensive recording suite, rest room and post-production facility.

Saturday morning, she received a phone call from the studio builders. The man said that he would like to visit the site to see if it was possible before he would commit to a quote. She said that she would ring back. She rang Mervyn to see if it was possible to come to have a look with a specialist, and then, after being told ‘anytime’, rang Xavier.

“Xavier, Willow here. The guy from that studio specialist wants to have a look at the site. Is it possible for you to organise someone to take us there, this afternoon?”

“Sure thing, Willow. I’ll get Frank’s dad to bring us. We can pick you up about one. You have a sing-along tonight, don’t you?”

“We do. I’ll give him a call and tell him the address, with a two ‘o’clock meeting. I’ll ring you back if it’s anything different.”

She rang the man and he confirmed that he would meet her there at two, leaving Manchester soon. She got herself some lunch and told Wendy that she was being taken to Leicester for a meeting that afternoon and should be home in time to be ready for the club that evening.

Just before one, Frank’s father stopped outside and she went out to sit in the back, next to Xavier. Frank was excited, as he hadn’t seen the site yet. They talked about the sort of equipment that they would need on the way. At the site, they parked and waited for the specialist. Willow went to see Mervyn and got five hi-vis vests. He was smiling and told her that he had been advised of the lower lease costs and said that it would make a big difference to his bottom line.

When the specialist arrived, they all stood in the carpark and Willow made the introductions as she gave out the hi-vis.

“You’re Willow Rose. I’m so pleased to meet you. We don’t often get asked to create recording spaces for established stars, usually commercial sites. Where’s the studio going to be?”

“Follow me and watch out for fork-lifts. They’re electric and very quiet.”

She led them into the storage area, and then into the workshop. Xavier grinned as he hit the button to lift the roller door. Willow went inside, switched the door-lock on and then turned on the lights. Frank said something that his father frowned at him for, and then laughed.

“I totally agree with you, son. This is amazing.”

The specialist pulled out a small voice recorder.

“Tell me what you want as we walk down to the other end. First, tell me what we’re standing in.”

“OK. This was a cool room, and there is a cooling system on the roof. I would think that the main walls are all brick outer, insulating inside a frame, and heavy board on the inside. Where we’re now standing, we’ll copy the wall construction to leave a single wide door, with a labyrinth entry to minimise external noise. This will be a rest room, with toilets that will be piped into the factory next door. As you can see the roof is presently flat for the middle section, where I guess the cooling ducts come in. There are no power outlets that I’ve seen. If we move forward, we come to the recording and post-production area. The outside is forty feet wide, and we just need to keep enough space for the studio itself. I guess that it’s about a hundred feet long.”

He turned off the recorder and pulled a big tape measure out of his bag. They measured the space, with the internal width actually thirty-seven feet and the length a hundred and ten. He noted the sizes in a notebook and then held the tape up to the wall to record the minimum height, which turned out to be just over thirteen feet. At the other end, Xavier opened the other roller door. Willow explained that this would be the access point for the equipment and any building supplies.

“The outer door will be changed to a more secure design before you start. This wall will be a good one to test for the amount of baffling needed to ensure no sound loss. The roller door will need the same work as the one at the other end. We have a contact with a specialist builder for that, leaving a double door with a sliding soundproofing door when everything is in. We will be only using the outer room for storage, the lane at the back isn’t big enough for parking, so everything will have to be unloaded inside the building.”

“How much do you have in the budget?”

“How much do you think your part in it will cost?”

He grinned.

“I expect that it could be between six and nine hundred thousand, depending on what you want installed.”

“We’re planning on recording a group of up to twenty strong, at the very top, with it usually being around a dozen. If you’ve heard us, you’ll know the sort of stuff we play, but will be moving towards stadium rock with bigger amps. I expect that we’ll bring in some hundred, or two hundred, watt amps, but you can get all the sounds you need from fifty watts with some of the effects boxes these days. That figure is well within what we have on hand, if we wait a while to buy anywhere else.”

“You own this?”

“The whole site, with the distribution company as our tenants.”

“Anything else to show me?”

“We do have use of the upper level of the office block, if you want to use it as a design office or a clean room.”

“When are you thinking of starting?”

“As soon as the building work is finished. If you test the walls for asbestos and the amount of baffling needed, you can start your part as soon as we agree on a price. It will, of course, include the windowed wall between the studio and the rest, with a soundproof access door.”

“How big do you want the studio to be?”

“I’ll let you advise on that; you know how much space the recording and rest space usually takes up.”

“We could possibly put the post-production on a mezzanine floor to save space. Same thing with your rest area, a place for your file storage upstairs is always handy.”

“Sounds good. Xavier was the sound man on our DVD, with Frank as one of the cameramen. If you share contact numbers, they are both more with the details than I am. Can you please keep the location within your company. It’s not going to be a studio for hire, just a hidey hole for us and some friends.”

They shut the end roller and walked back to the entry point, with the man taking pictures on his phone. Back outside, Willow collected the vests, and they all went to see Mervyn to give them back and have a look upstairs. There were some handshakes, and then they went back home.

Frank was a chatterbox on the way back, keen to help. Xavier told him that he could help when they looked at the mixing board and the recording units. They decided that, although the old tapes had a better sound, it was mainly because of the ‘noise’ that was generated, and that it was possible to add that noise digitally if needed.

When they dropped Willow off, she offered to pay for the fuel and told not to even think of it. She went into her home with a feeling that something had been achieved. She sent a group email, reporting on what had occurred that afternoon. She worked for a while on the emailed songs and then got herself ready to go to the club.

The sing-along was just the three of them, with Willow letting Jacob have a big share of the show, which pleased him. After he had left, with his parents, Gina was sitting beside her.

“Something different tonight, friend. You seem withdrawn.”

“I’m having a small problem, Gina. It’s that I’m starting to think that Jacob is the man in my life, and that he should be the leader.”

“So, what’s the problem. He’s the top dog except when we’re on stage with the band. You’re the one with the good ideas, the quick thinker who steers the ship. You’re the one who writes most of our songs.”

“With the move to stadium rock, that will change. What did you think of Viv’s idea around the Magic Flute?”

“One word – quirky, but we can work on it. It does tell a story, but the original lyrics don’t resolve it. Also, it will need to be sung by more lead singers than we usually use.”

“What if we work it like a choral piece? It doesn’t have to be one song. We could break it up into the different stories and get several songs out of it, a bit like telling a story. That way, we could expand each character. If we do that, it could end up as a complete concept album.”

“That might work. We can talk to Viv at school about that. She might go for the idea. How did you feel about what you did this afternoon?”

“It was positive. Xavier acted as if it was going to be his kingdom and Frank was bouncing around like a puppy. We were taken seriously. I looked at the company’s website and they do very good work, probably more luxurious than we were thinking, but it’s all created to suit the site. We took measurements, and the interior walls are eighteen inches thick. That’s some serious insulation, even if you take off the width of the brick. Mervyn’s happy about the situation, and that’s going to be helpful in future.”

“Getting the lease dropped by twenty percent would make anyone happy. Have you thought about what you’re doing with all that extra money this month?”

“We paid off the mortgage on the house. It makes me feel better grounded. What about you?”

“I’ve drawn most of it and started an interest-bearing account. You know, one where you put money in and get a bonus but lose the bonus if you take some out. I’m thinking about a nice house of my own in the future. With Brent as a boyfriend, I’m starting to consider life beyond school. After our birthday party, it was if a switch turned on my thoughts about growing up. Maybe that’s what is happening to you.”

“I can honestly say that I had never had thoughts about what I was going to be doing as a woman before. Besides playing music. The thing is that now there are things that need organising in the real world and I’m beginning to enjoy that side of it.”

“When you organise, my friend, everyone benefits. Please don’t stop.”

Sunday was Gina’s turn in the church. Willow sat with her parents and listened to the voices. There was a new one, that was quite good, that she hadn’t heard before. When she looked around, she noted that it came from the producer that had been with Clive at the school. After the Reverend had left the building, she followed him out.

“Excuse me sir, but you’re the producer with Abbey Road, aren’t you?”

“I am. Willow. I came along to hear for myself the organ that launched a pop group, to hear someone else playing.”

“That’s Gina Summer, she’ll be out soon when the bells finish. I believe we’ll be seeing you on the weekend.”

“You will. I’ve spoken to your teachers, and we’ve decided to record you playing the ‘Seven Variations’, the Grieg Piano Concerto, and the ‘Danse Macabre’. Then the Rodrigo guitar concerto and the ‘Bolero’. It will be the Blue Coat Orchestra playing classical favourites. That’s what I love doing. The week after, I’m scheduled to record some big rock group that I’ve never heard of. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to that.”

“Here comes Gina, you may remember her on the piano playing the Grieg. Gina, you remember our anonymous Abbey Road producer. He’s just told me that he’s not looking forward to recording The Other Side in a couple of weeks.”

“I’m sorry that I haven’t introduced myself, I’m so used to being in the background. I’m Harold Withers. How did you know the name of the band? I’ve been told that they haven’t had anything on the market.”

Gina laughed.

“It’s good to meet you outside of school, Mister Withers. I’m Gina Summer and this is Willow Rose. We’re the original members of Summer Rose, which you may have heard of. The band that you’ll be recording is The Other Side of Summer Rose. Which is the two of us, six other members of the school orchestra, and three others from the school.”

“I had no idea. I have the DVD for the ‘Journey’ album at home. My daughter is a fan.”

“Would you like to see where it was filmed? It’s just across the road, where everyone else are going. You’ll get a free hot drink, if nothing else.”

They took him into the club. Jacob was there with Racheal and Rick. Gina took over the introductions.

“Friends, this is Harold Withers, who will be the producer at Abbey Road next weekend. Mister Withers, this is Jacob Epstein, who will be the soloist on guitar with the Rodrigo. The lady is his sister, Racheal, and the guy is Rick Saxon, who, in another life, is Rick Sacks with the Hikers.”

“My word! This is amazing. That’s two-thirds of this new Coventry Sound. What else do you have to surprise me with?”

“Come on through to the back.”

They led him to the back room.

“This is where that ‘Journey’ album and DVD was recorded. We’ve never been into a studio to re-record it. It was all done on a limited budget with a portable digital unit.”

“I can see it. That’s the stage in the video. How on earth did you get the sound so good?”

“Our sound and camera guys are old hands from recording school concerts, and Willow paid for the best equipment to do the job. The sound man has a Platinum Record for his work.”

Harold got them to stand with him by the stage for a selfie.

“My daughter will tear her hair out when I show her this. At the school, you were all gifted musicians. I never realised how gifted some of you are. It will be interesting to have you in the studio. I’m told that you’ll be recording two entire albums in a day. That’s unheard of! I know some bands who would spend a month doing one, let alone two.”

Willow grinned.

“The day we recorded ‘Journey’, we also recorded one of the albums that we’re re-recording. I’ll pop home and get you a copy. You can show it to your daughter as a hint of where we’re moving.”

He got a drink and looked at the Gold Record behind the bar, while she popped home and got one of the DVDs and a pendant on a chain. When she got back, she gave them to him.

“Look, Mister Withers, we’re all looking forward to recording in your studio. If you treat the orchestra as reasonable adults, we’ll be able to nail the lot in a day. I believe that we’re leaving here very early on the Saturday, and have a night in a hotel, with another session Sunday. If we have time to spare, there are others that we’ve worked on for our concerts in the Cathedral, so we might be able to lay down a couple more before we come home.”

She was sitting with the others when the Reverend came in, followed by Jim, from G-Force. They came over to the table.

“I think you all know Jim. He came along to hear the service today and has volunteered to play the organ at odd times. I know that you girls will be busy some Sundays. I showed him the organ. Can you pop back into the church and show him where things are?”

“Welcome to the League of Stoneleigh Organists, Jim. We’ll both be in London for the next two weekends recording, so we’d better show you the tricks. Church organ is very contained, so no embellishments are allowed. Come with us for a few minutes. We’ll be back soon.”

They took him back to the church and up to sit at the organ. The music for that day was still on the stand.

“Did the Reverend describe what the procedure was?”

“He did. The only thing I haven’t done is play.”

“Right! First thing is to have something that you can play at the start and at the finish. You would have heard us play Bach at the school assemblies. It just needs to be something that you can fade out without it being noticeable. When the Reverend leaves and you’re playing him out, there will be the electronic bells. You can stop playing when the church is empty, but if some are hanging around, we generally stop with the bells. You’ll find it easy after you’ve heard them a couple of times.”

“OK, It sounds good. What about the hymns?”

“We come in on a Friday evening or a Saturday to see what’s on the board. We both usually play the full set all the way through. The Reverend will often put the music up here for you. Now, during summer, you’ll be with us on tour, so we may have to find another organist.”

“A tour! I haven’t been told about that one.”

“Write your email on the notepad, there, and I’ll send you the information. It’s still early days. Now, this is how Old Betsy’s gets turned on.”

They coached him through the procedure, and he played one of that days hymns to get the feel of the instrument.

“This is really different. You feel as if you’re part of a living beast. I love it!”

“If you like it so much, you’re welcome to the next two weekends. We’ll be in London with the orchestra and then with the band.”

Back at the club, they stayed for lunch and the talk was happy and wondering about good things to come. Rick had been contacted about the likely tour, so was able to fill Jim in on what little he knew. Harold stayed and talked about the studio set-up where they would be on the weekend and was able to give them some pointers on what to do, or not to do, inside a studio. When he left, he was more of a friend, and not someone to be afraid of.

Back at home, Willow emailed Jim with Jill’s message and a note that the Gees may have not yet been contacted. She wrote out the existing lyrics of Vivienne’s song and split the verses into four sections, then seeing what she could do to expand the story for each section. She thought hard about what the resolution was, as it had been left up in the air. If the one who professed to be a loser ended up on top, there had to be a satisfactory reason. In the opera, the clown wins the hand of the fair maiden.

She saved her notes in a word document and composed an email to Vivienne. She said that she had been thinking about the song suggestion and the attachment was her notes. She said that it would make a great concept album if it was expanded to about ten songs, in whatever form decided on, whether original Summer Rose or the Other Side. She noted that great works come from humble beginnings and if Vivienne needed others to help her work on it, she need only ask.

Marianne Gregory © 2025