“Well, I mean it,” I told them. “You have complete freedom to do whatever you want in that room.”
“Is that why you’ve literally given us no guidance so far?” Summer challenged.
Good; I liked that they were willing to challenge me.
“Yes. It is. I’ve given you a couple of weeks to get used to the feeling of freedom. To get comfortable in there and warm up, get used to being in a room together. No one breathing down your neck, including me. And I’ll talk to Brody. Any further commentary from Trey or anyone else at Brick House about the music needs to go through me. But I’ve got guidance for you, if you’re ready for it.”
“We’re hungry for it, man,” Matt said.
“Okay. You guys put together those vortex playlists, and you listened to each other’s. I listened to them too, and now I’ve sent you mine, so have a listen if you want. I listened through the list of your favorite bands that you gave me, their entire discographies, actually. And I’ve listened through your discographies. You’ve all got different influences and overlapping tastes, different but complementary styles, and you’re all incredible writers. Artists. So. Now I want you to forget about everything you’ve thought about so far. Everything you thought this band would be.”
No one said anything, but Summer smiled.
“Everything you thought this band might sound like when you came together… forget about it,” I went on. “Forget about your vortex playlists and your influences and the bands you’ve played in before. The music you’ve written before. Forget all of it. I’ll say it again. There are no rules in that room. No limits. I don’t want you to think about genre. Don’t think about the album. Don’t think about if or how the songs will fit together, or where they’ll get played after they’re released. Forget about what you think your fans want to hear. Forget about what you think I want to hear. Forget about what you think Ashley wants to play or Xander wants to play or Matt wants to play or Summer wants to play. Forget about how some new guitarist might or might not fit into the mix. This isn’t the Penny Pushers or Steel Trap or Dirty or DJ Summer, or any of your other previous projects. This isn’t any of you. This is all of you. Forget about what Dirty is doing or what Breakneck is doing or what anyone else is doing out there in the market right now. And forget about Brick House Records. I don’t want you to think about Trey Jones or anything he’s told you. Trey Jones no longer exists to you. Just write. Write without thinking about it. Make music without thinking about it. I want you to write like every song you write could be your best song, because it is your best song. That’s your only job in that room.”
Summer was still smiling.
Matt looked kinda stunned. Xander looked relieved.
Ash looked fucking stoked.
“That all sounds great,” Xander said after a moment. “But we have a deal with Trey.”
“I’m aware of the deal. And I’m telling you not to worry about it. Me and Brody will deal with Trey.”
“And when do you come into the writing process?” Matt asked.
“When you need me to. You’ll know when that is.”
No one said anything.
“Are we good? I’ve given you something to think about, and you guys are gonna get writing?”
“Yeah,” Xander said, looking around at his bandmates. “We’re good.”
“Good. And anytime you start thinking about any of that shit I just told you to stop thinking about… Just remember, you are who you are and that’s why you’re in that room. No one else can do what you do.”
“We love you, Cary,” Summer said. Actually, she kinda sang it. I knew she was the one who wanted me to produce this album more than anyone. I was planning not to make her regret that.
“Let me know when you need me,” I told them. “I’ll be here.”
“Cool. Thanks,” Ash said. “Feel like I wanna go write some killer shit now.”
“Good. Talk to you later.”
I nodded at Taylor and after we said goodbye, she disconnected.
“Well,” she said, “I think you just inspired the crap out of them. I’ve never seen Ash so speechless.”
“Yeah, that or I just terrified them.”
She smiled. “So that’s it? You won’t come into the writing process until later, when they ask you to?”