Applying Pressure

Compared to the original, this music video on the television was naturally unrecognizable. There were some similarities, such as Song Ya's suggestion that Old Joe wear a pink suit, the overall upbeat atmosphere, and the fact that Little Lowry and Old Joe were rarely on screen together. Indeed, the rap and chorus sections of the song Thrift Shop were severely disjointed; it seemed that both directors from different timelines had identified this issue.

After the music video finished, it was followed by a short interview with Little Lowry.

"Thanks, I've been promoting this song for a long time. Yeah, I've been almost everywhere in the U.S. I really didn't expect to have a day where I'd be picked up by MTV. My god, you know what I mean, this is MTV! I feel like all of this is so unreal, like, like a dream come true. I have to thank MTV, and SBK..."

"Yeah, you know, I'm from the South Side of Chicago. As a poor kid, the thrift shop was a place I frequented growing up. I love it there; it solved a lot of practical problems in my life, and I have a special attachment to it."

"When I got the sheet music, I happened to be in a thrift shop. I hummed a couple of lines right there, you know? Sometimes, inspiration just strikes in that instant. I wrote the lyrics down on an old T-shirt... Hahaha, yeah, the white kind..."

"Snap!"

Song Ya turned off the television, feeling that all of this was just too damn "real." He understood that what Little Lowry was saying was a promotional tactic, and he was clear that the lyric copyright transfer agreement he had signed at the time was a case of both parties getting what they needed. But seeing that scene just now still left a bad taste in his mouth. What irritated him most was that Little Lowry should have been a flop who sold seven thousand copies, yet he had hit the jackpot, and even in his daily dealings with Song Ya, he acted as arrogant and insufferable as could be.

"I will never allow this to happen a second time!"

He secretly made up his mind, and as he turned his head, his eyes met Eric's, who was looking at him.

"Uh... APLUS."

Eric stammered, "I... can I hang with you from now on? Like how Tony and the others follow Little Lowry?"

"Why do you have that idea? I'm not a singer; I don't need to be in the spotlight," Song Ya said, very surprised.

"I want... to have better opportunities by following you, like this..." Eric gestured toward the advanced mixing console, "And you definitely need a hand. We Black people can't make it in such a 'white' place without help."

SBK was indeed a bit "white." The management, staff, signed artists, and even the hip-hop artists they were pushing hard were all white. "Fine." Song Ya thought about it calmly and agreed. He did need a hand right now; if nothing else, he at least needed a wingman. "But it can only be temporary. I have to go back to school after I finish this song. By the way, can you recommend some reference books on mixing? It's too hard to be a producer without knowing this stuff."

He had told Hayden earlier that he hated the feeling of not being able to control everything, but if he were a layman who understood nothing, how could he hope to control anything? It was like watching people film a music video earlier; Little Lowry's first music video was simple—a group of people dancing, with Little Lowry and Al singing in the front. He had watched from the side and could imagine the general final product. But when it came to the Thrift Shop music video, it didn't work. In reality, it was just a low-budget production completed in three days, but while watching the filming, it had been like reading a heavenly book to him. He couldn't guess the director's intentions at all until he saw the broadcast effect, at which point he finally realized the logic hidden behind those fragmented pieces of footage.

He urgently needed to learn now. All difficulties turn into studying hard and making progress every day...

"I understand."

Eric's attitude toward him was completely different from before, soft-spoken, "Thank you, APLUS." He buried his head in the cabinet under the mixing console, rummaged around, found a thick manual, and tossed it over. "Take a look at the user manual for this mixing console first. This thing is usually kept not far from the board."

Song Ya flipped through it casually, feeling dizzy from the explanations of the functions for a pile of buttons. Not long after, Lisa knocked on the door and came in; the daily audition work was about to begin.

Generally speaking, those who came to audition in the morning had no background and their vocal conditions weren't high, but these girls were also the most "driven." By the end of the morning, Song Ya had collected a pile of slips of paper with phone numbers, and some even left hotel room numbers. His palms had been scratched red.

"Are there any who can make it to the second round?" Eric asked while eating pizza.

Song Ya shook his head.

"...Not even her?" Eric mentioned a name. That girl had left a deep impression on both of them; she wore a small camisole and had boldly taken off her coat the moment she walked in.

"Don't get any ideas," Song Ya warned him.

"I know, I know," Eric said, not without regret.

The situation in the afternoon was completely different. The lyrics and music Song Ya had released were only a small, clean segment of the song. Theoretically, all auditioning singers should only have received that sheet music, but many of the girls who came in the afternoon had obtained the full song through other channels. They read the room, and if they felt Song Ya wasn't satisfied, they would immediately take the initiative to "add to their performance," singing the rest of the song relentlessly, and frequently taking the initiative to bring up equality issues to curry favor with him.

Song Ya had only given the complete track to Daniel, and besides his own connections, Daniel had only brought it up for discussion in an SBK executive meeting. It seemed these girls all had some background. For some of them, middle-level managers from within SBK would drop by during the audition to "take a look," and their casual conversation with Song Ya was full of hints.

"I'll probably offend everyone at SBK by the time I finish recording this song," Song Ya thought helplessly.

After working until past five o'clock, Song Ya circled the name of a girl whose vocal timbre was very close to the original singer, and then, the "main event" arrived...

Mira was wearing a baseball cap, and large Ray-Ban sunglasses covered half her face. She wore no makeup. As soon as she entered the recording studio, she stood there with her arms crossed, expressionless.

"APLUS, right? We've met before." Her mother followed her in.

"Uh... agents can't..." Song Ya put on a business-like face, not even looking at Mira.

"Sorry..." Lisa gestured to Song Ya from the doorway and mouthed the word "please."

Song Ya sighed theatrically and stopped talking.

Lisa closed the door from the outside.

"Hello..."

Mira's mother reached out her hand. Unlike the last time they met, today she was wearing a perfectly tailored high-end suit with a heavy string of large pearls around her neck, exuding an air of nobility. After introducing herself, "I first want to apologize for what happened last time." Although she was apologizing, her tone was very forceful, "Mira is still young and doesn't know any better."

"Hmph." Mira tossed her long hair and pouted, looking angry.

"Last time?" Song Ya played dumb.

"Mira, you go in first."

After chasing Mira into the recording booth and closing the door, "I know you care a lot about that matter, Mr. Song." Mira's mother changed how she addressed him, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have insisted on putting my Mira in the first round, right? Mira spoke out of turn, and I apologize for her."

"Mrs. Jovovich, right? You don't think a young man who traveled all the way from Chicago to New York, and is recording this single that is extremely important to him personally, would go out of his way to cause trouble over such a small grievance, do you?"

Song Ya smiled at her, "And you overestimate me. At SBK, I don't have that much power."

"I..."

Mira's mother wanted to say something else, but Song Ya didn't give her the chance. He turned his head and said to Eric, "Start the audition." The pressure had to be applied.

"Okay." Eric pressed the talk button and said into the microphone, "Miss, the audition is about to begin. You have the sheet music for this audition on the stand in front of you. Please prepare."

Mira sulked for another half minute, but finally took off her sunglasses, picked up the sheet music, and pulled the microphone closer.

Eric began to play the recorded accompaniment track.

After she sang a short segment, Eric offered a few suggestions and played the accompaniment again.

After singing it twice, the second time was significantly better than the first. It seemed the young girl was quick to learn, and her singing foundation wasn't a problem either. Song Ya had received the revelation from her, so her vocal timbre went without saying, especially when she pinched her voice a little; it was remarkably similar to the original.

"Make it a bit lighter and more cheerful, let's go again."

After three takes, "That's good." Eric said into the microphone, and Mira put on her glasses and walked out of the recording booth.

"Alright, Ms. Jovovich, Madam, SBK will notify you of the specific results in due time." Song Ya reached out his hand.

Mira ignored him, but her mother shook it, "Can Mira make it to the second round?"

"Hmm... that's hard to say. I can only say the audition went okay, but there's still a lot of room for improvement." Song Ya recited the standard polite script.

"Can you... can you give us a hint? What exactly should we do to get..." Mira's mother still refused to give up. She was somewhat of an insider, and the impression Song Ya's performance had just given her was that there wasn't much of a chance.

"Mom!"

Mira suddenly shrieked, "If I'm not singing, I'm not singing, let's go!" She opened the door directly and stepped outside.

"Sigh." Mira's mother sighed and took her leave.

Not long after the two left, Song Ya followed out of the recording studio and peered down at the street through the hallway window.

Hayden had been poking his head around near the car of Mira's mother for a long time. As soon as he saw the mother and daughter walking and arguing, he hurried over, pretending to run into them by chance.

After they talked downstairs for a long time, the mother and daughter turned around and walked back into the building, with Hayden following behind them, stealthily giving a thumbs-up in Song Ya's direction.