The Devil's Tattoo (6 page)

"Since always."

He had a point.

CHAPTER FIVE

ZOE

The next six months went by in a blur. I'd
gotten past the first gig, but it was only the first. Once Dee had me going, he
went full tilt booking gigs, getting our name out there. He'd even gotten me to
sing a few songs with him on the street. He told me it wasn't a coincidence
that he earned more money on those days than the ones without me.

The next thing on the list was to get
something down in mp3 form. Frank knew a guy out in
Footscray
who'd set up a recording studio in his shed. Knowing the kind of people Frank
knew, I had been expecting soundproofing to be gaffer taped to the wall and the
mower in the corner, but it was a really tight outfit. The guy had helped some
other local bands record some songs and we had a really great time with it.

Everything we'd done up until now had
been just for kicks. Dee had promised me black and blue. That was, until he
posted our EP online and went on a marketing binge in his spare time. I hadn't
realised
what he'd done until I heard our song on the
radio.
On the bloody 
radio
.
I was mad for
two seconds until I heard what people were saying about it. Then the phone
started ringing. People wanted to know what I thought and people actually
listened.

All the time we'd been playing, not
once did I see one of my old friends and not once did I think about them. Once
I'd faced my fear at that first gig, it was straight ahead and no looking back.
I felt more confident now than I had in my entire life.

Then Chris hooked us up with a guy he
knew who was a film major at RMIT. He needed a project for his finals and we
were it. We had an EP and a music video for
Walls
, now all we
needed was the contract and it wasn't long in following. With a label at our
backs and royalties starting to come in, I quit my job in the mailroom and
started busking with Dee for a little extra cash to put into savings.

We played a lot of gigs around
Melbourne and even went to a few regional towns and came out of it breaking
even and sometimes with a little more. We did photo shoots and interviews and
people were downloading our self-released EP in droves, but we still didn't
have enough money between us to go further afield. The label was working on it,
but these things took time.
Dee's dream was coming true, but
deep down
,
mine was as well
. For the first time
in two years, I was
happy
.

Truthfully, I was expecting to feel
overwhelmed by all the attention, but I felt strangely calm. I felt like I
finally fit in somewhere and I owed it all to Dee.

Today was the first day our single,
Walls
was available for sale. It wasn't on our EP and it was the one thing people
wanted to hear. Anything could happen now and I was feeling a little sick about
it.

I was still asleep when the phone rang.
It was my Mum.

"I brought your single on the
computer just now," she told me. I gathered she meant from iTunes. I gushed
at how technological and modern she was and I could tell she was proud she
figured it out without having to call me first. "Are you nervous?"

Of course I was nervous today. I told
her as much. Our first single was released ten minutes ago according to the
clock on my radio. "I’ve got to go, Mum. They want to interview me and
Frank for the radio later."

I pressed the red phone button and made
sure the line was disconnecting before cursing out loud.
The
phone rung again.
Unknown Number. I picked it up anyway.

"Hello?"

"
Walls
 has gone to
number fucking eight on iTunes!" It was Dee on the other end.

Shit.

"Are you there, Zoe?"

"Yeah. Shit. Already? Guess we
better
organise
a show or something, huh?"

"That’s the other thing I was
calling you about. Simone is about to call you
anyway,
I just got off the line with her. We have been offered a co-headline tour.
You’ll never guess
who
with!"

Simone had become our sort of manager.
She came on with us a month ago when things started to take off and was happy
to work for next to nothing. I guess we're her lucky break. I'd gone from
hanging out with Dee, to hanging out with the guys, to hanging out with Simone.
She was the first genuine female friend I'd had in a long time.

I'm not sure
who
the label has chosen us to tour with and took a wild stab in the dark.
"Prince. The Pixies.
Powderfinger’s
comeback tour.
AC/DC.
Kings of Leon.
Don't tell me there's an Oasis reunion."

"Not quite," he laughed.
"It’s the fucking
Stabs
."

I sat up then. "No way." I
hadn't listened to them since the awkward eyebrow incident a few months ago.

"Remember when we went to see them
that time? What did I say about being better than them! I have dreams about
showing them up."

"What? This whole time?"

"No, just for the last ten
minutes." 

"Oh my god," I paused. This
was happening way too fast. 

"Zoe, they asked for us. The band
asked for us."

"Why?"

"Because they know something shit
hot when they hear it."

I think about Will Strickland and my
stomach churned, the thought crossing my mind that he had something to do with
it and I shook my head. In what twisted reality would Will Strickland do over
his band's record label to get us on tour?
Someone who'd only
spoken one word to me.
I tried to forget it. "I better go, Dee.
Frank will be here soon for the call in for the radio interview."

"Say something nice about
me."

Simone called as Dee said she would.
The thing about Simone is that she's the total opposite of me. Blonde, bubbly
and talks a mile a minute about nothing and everything all in the same
breath
. Give her something to
organise
and she's happier than a kid in a candy store. Over the last few months, we've
become friends and I'm glad she's along for the ride.

"Tour dates are confirmed February
through March, nation wide. We’ve just got to get the okay from you and Chris,
everyone else has agreed to it. The record company is prepared to foot most of
the expenses since the single is doing so well. They're cutting the same deal
they do for The Stabs."

"Even though it was only released
today?"

"They are prepared to take a risk
since sales have gone through the roof in the first few hours. The national
radio play has helped too, you know."

I sighed, "Why are we even
discussing this? Of course I agree. It’s 
The Stabs
 after all.
It’ll be good for us." What I didn’t say is that I could
perv
on Will Strickland for five weeks straight and watch
Dee lose his mind trying to stay between us. Not that
Will
would go for it. I wasn't exactly the warmest of people. It was better as a
fantasy in my own head than in reality.

"Brilliant! Hey, good luck with
the interview this
arvo
. Dee tells me you’ll be
rehearsing tonight so, if you don’t mind I’ll stop by and give you
all the details for the tour. Kick off is just over three weeks!" Simone
squealed a little and abruptly hung up.

I grimaced at the phone and threw it on
the bedside table and rubbed my eyes. My earlier thought echoed around my
head like a coin in a tumble dryer. This was going way too fast. I almost felt
sick, but I rolled out of bed and dragged myself into the shower. Thank god
radio doesn't mean I have to look presentable.

I'd just managed to get dressed when
there was a knock on the door. I opened it up, hair still dripping, and found
Frank standing outside, looking all handsome and buff in a red flannel shirt
and a Devil's Tattoo shirt he got one of his mates to make up.

"Self advertising,
Frankey
?" I asked, letting him in.

"I love tooting my own horn,"
he declared proudly, then
realised
what he'd just
said. "Oh man."

Shutting the door behind him, I
laughed, pushing him onto the couch. "Make sure you toot that behind
closed doors. Some things people don't need to see."

Frank opened his mouth to shoot
something back, but thought better of it and hid his face behind his hands.

"Drink?"

"Please."

I got him a glass of water as he pulled
out his phone and dialed the number the radio station gave us for the
conference call. Butterflies fluttered around my stomach as I sat across from
him. I wondered if this would get any easier. He placed his phone on the coffee
table and turned it on speaker. As we listened to the hold music, Frank patted
me on the knee.

Hugo was the host of the afternoon
drive show on the nation wide alternative radio station, Absolute. When he came
on the line, they're still playing
Walls
.

"
Hey guys
." He sounded
really friendly. Professional.

"Hey," Frank replied. 

"
Ready? We're on in a minute
."

"Give us your best."

The song came to an end and Hugo took
the
mic
and I'm jealous of his ability to fill the
silence with his words.

"
You're listening to Absolute
and that track was
Walls
from a new and exciting band out of Melbourne
called The Devil's Tattoo. Hey. I'm Hugo taking you right through to five. But
really, wasn't that an awesome song? And right now, as promised, I've got two
of the members from that exact band, The Devil's Tattoo on the line. Frank
and Zoe. How are you guys?
"

"Great, thanks," we both
echoed.

"
Latest reports are that
 Walls 
has
gone to the number six spot on the iTunes chart. That is absolutely phenomenal.
How are you guys dealing with that?"

Frank took the lead. "We have been
blown away by the response to 
Walls
 already. It really has
been quite amazing and unexpected."

"
You guys only decided to form
a band together a few months ago?"

"Yeah," said Frank. "I
was drumming in a punk band at the time and this particular night Dee, Zoe and
I were at a Stabs gig at 
The Corner
 in Melbourne and
Dee decided it was an awesome idea. I don’t think we had a choice."

"He conned us into it," I
said.

"
So Zoe, is it true that this
is the first band you've been in?
"

"Yeah. I’ve known Dee since we
were twelve, so even though I had never sung in front of anyone, he knew I
could, even if I didn’t. I picked up guitar almost three years ago now for
something to do, but I never thought about being in a band before. I guess I
was content in watching others and enjoying their music to contribute
myself."

"
That's crazy! Three years?
We've had comments coming through on the text line saying that you play like
Jack White. Another says that you put Jimmy Page to shame.
"

"I wouldn't go that far," I
laughed. "When I first started it was like a puzzle. I had the time to nut
it out."

"So, it's like
maths
equation?" Frank asked.

"I wasn't that great at math’s in
school."

"
But you could look at it that
way.
"

"I guess. Music can be very
mathematical. It probably depends on how you approach it."

"
Enough talk about math’s
,"
Hugo laughed. "
What I'm dying to know is who your influences are? What
went into deciding on how
your
sound played out?
"

"I came from a punk
background," Frank started. "So, I was listening to stuff like The
Clash, The
Adicts
, GBH and newer stuff like Rancid
and
NoFx
. The band I was in was playing a lot of
reggae and loud
shouty
punk. I don't think we had a
song that lasted more than two and a half minutes."

"I'd never thought about writing
before," I said. "I was just playing for kicks, but I was listening
to a lot of stuff from bands like Alberta Cross, Band of Skulls, Black Rebel
Motorcycle Club, The Dead Weather… You know, gritty rock and some mellower
stuff as well. We all have our influences and they all meld together. It's a
very collaborative effort."

"How would
you describe your sound? We’ve heard everything from dark and dirty to face
melting
rock’n’roll
. How would you guys describe it?"

“Waking up after an amazing night on
the booze with a sexy woman and not knowing how the fuck you got there.” Frank.
Always so astute.

“Wow,” I drawled.

"Wow, indeed.
What about you Zoe?"