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Heart Beat
“Tuning their instruments, changing their strings, testing the mic, vocalizing, adjusting their straps a million times, fighting over dumb issues, and then doing all of it once again. And here I am, I just grabbed my pair of drumsticks and I’m ready to jam, as always…” Tico was thinking. It was the same for him during every session. His bandmates were always arguing over which song they should play next, or about which tuning they should use, but Tico was always ready to go. “Man, I’ve told you a thousand times, this song is played in standard tuning” Izzy, the lead guitarist, said to Steve, the bassist. “And I’m telling you we should play it on drop D, It will be easier and the sound will be heavier” Steve said.
They continued to argue over the tuning for some minutes until Tico finally spoke up and said “You know what? I’m tired of this, I’m-” and when he was about to quit the band, Bobby, the lead singer, interrupted him by saying “That’s it. I’m out”.
“Say that again?” Izzy said.
“Are you deaf? I’m leaving, it’s over, adios”
“No, you ain’t leaving, I am!”
“Well I was about to do it before you idiots thought about it” Steve said
Tico was amused, he wasn’t able to pronounce any word. His brain couldn’t process what was going on. A minute before they were just having their daily discussion and all of the sudden they are no longer bandmates. When Tico finally came back, he was the only one left inside the studio. Nothing but the static coming out of the amps could be heard. Tico stood still for some minutes, with his mind in blank, just watching the instruments lying on the door. He suddenly started to feel his right leg trembling. It started to spread all over his body, as if he couldn’t control it. He started to hear his heartbeats getting faster and faster, then the sound of a tom, then the bass drum, the hi-hat cymbals started to make noise, and in a blink of an eye, Tico was shredding all over his drum kit. He flowing with the rhythm, being as imaginative as John Bonham was. He felt his body loose and without control. Not even the sweat getting inside his eyeballs could stop him, his body was on fire.
He wasn’t aware of how time he spent shredding. When he took a break to rest his forearms, he felt as if someone was watching him. He looked up just to see the figure of 3 guys standing in front of his kit, just contemplating this drum freak. They were his bandmates, Izzy, Steve, and Bobby.
“Man, what was that. We’ve never seen you do that stuff before” Bobby said
“What do you mean?” Tico asked back
“Man, you were in fire! Imagine that solo in our new album, it would be freaking awesome!”
“O man, are you serious? I’m in!”
“Alright, it’s on. But next time make sure to tell us about your hidden skills”
“Well, I would if you guys could fight less and-“
“Are you using my strap?” Steve interrupted Tico. “No, I’m not!” Izzy said.
“Of course you are, I’ve told you a thousand times not to use my strap, man!”
“It ain’t your strap, stop complaining!” Izzy said. Tico just scratched his head, closed his eyes and went along with it.
