The Beauty & The Tragedy

Anywhere But Home

Chapter Five

The thing about fame is it happens all at once. You don't get a chance to ease into it. It punches you in the throat and expects you to react gracefully. Once we wrapped up the California tour we returned home only to find an opportunity to tour with an already established and very popular band. The lead singer saw us play in San Francisco and he insisted that we open for his band. Like I said, it was offer we couldn't refuse. It wasn't everyday an unsigned, anonymous band had an opportunity like this land in their laps.

From that moment on, I became their manager. I had no clue what I was doing so I made it up as I went. It turned out my unconventional methods would contribute to their success over the years. I focused on social media and the fans. I could care less about record labels and publicists and all their bullshit. The fans would end up bringing this band all the way to the top.

The first few shows were insane. They were playing in front of tens of thousands of people. We were gaining fans so fast, we had to contract with a company to mass produce merch in an effort to keep up with the demand. We also independently released the ep's in a digital format. It wasn't long before record execs started showing up at shows and introducing themselves to the guys and Demi.

About halfway through the tour, they started introducing themselves to me. At first I didn't really pay them much attention until I realized they were looking to negotiate possible contracts. I wasn't exactly experienced in all the legal garbage that comes with contract negotiation so I got a friend of mine to agree to help me with it. He owed me big time and I decided to collect on that debt. He still represents the band to this day and probably always will.

I'll always remember the night they signed their first record deal. They had just played the Palladium in LA and they had a couple days off before heading to the east coast to finish the tour. I had spent the better part of the week negotiating a deal that would give them their big break.

I patiently waited inside their dressing room after they finished their set. I could hear them as they came down the hall. It was always easy to find them, you just had to head toward the all the noise and chaos. Demi's laugh was usually also a very dead give away. They burst through the door an I couldn't help but smile at them. Steve Sullivan, the record exec, also had a smile plastered on his face.

"Who the fuck is this?" Johnny asked. "Is there something you need to tell Sel?" He teased.

"Nice suit bro." Joe smirked.

"Guys." I said loudly trying to get their attention. It didn't work.

Demi and Matt were slapping each other in the face while Nick hit Johnny with his drumsticks. Joe mean while was harassing Steve. It was chaotic. Thankfully, Steve seemed to be amused by it all. I was slightly embarrassed.

"Guys!" I said again this time yelling. "Please?" I sighed.

Surprisingly, they all calmed down and took a seat.

"What's up babe?" Nick smiled. "Who is this dude?"

"This dude is Steve Sullivan from Capitol Records." I explained.

"Oh shit." Matt mumbled.

"Hi." Steve smiled as he leaned forward in his seat. "Lets cut to the chase shall we?" He asked.

Everyone nodded.

"We want to sign you." He stated.

"Holy fucking shit!" Johnny said excitedly. "Seriously?"

"Yes." Steve laughed. "Seriously."

Once again they all got loud and rowdy. They started hugging each other and talking loudly and every single one of them was smiling. It took a few minutes for the initial shock to wear off, but once it did they sat down and discussed business. It was a pretty reasonable deal that gave the band some lead way and artistic freedom. They signed the contract that night. A month later they were recording their debut album.