Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the first time many of you will hear the studio version of Tally Hall’s new song “You & Me” — thanks to Ann Arbor’s 107.1 for broadcasting it on the morning of 3/9/10.

In an effort to stay legal, I’m only playing a portion of the song and removing the links to download this. I hope you enjoy.

NOTE: Please disregard any skipping you hear. It’s the fault of the recorder and NOT how the original sounds.

As Tally Hall fans, we’re obviously pretty smart people.  But we don’t always know too much about the other bands Tally Hall is playing with, despite the fact that many of us became fans by way of seeing Tally Hall opening up for others.

So I’ve agreed to do a little interview with with Jukebox The Ghost (JtG) in order to better acquaint ourselves with them.  A Philadelphia-based band, born out of Washington, DC;  They’ve played with Tally Hall in the past, at a show here in Philly, actually.  But I agreed to this on one condition… I could let the Tally Hall fans, The HITS Community, ask the questions.  Luckily, some of these fans were already acquainted with Jukebox The Ghost.

Tommy Siegel (guitar/vocals) fielded the questions posed by the fans of Tally Hall.

 

 

This tour marks the 2nd time you’ve met Tally Hall. What do you think about them as a band and as individuals?

Ben was actually a big fan of Tally Hall before we were even called Jukebox the Ghost — He somehow caught wind of them in 2006 while he was studying abroad in college and brought us all out to one of their shows in DC later that year. As a band, they’re excellent — And as men, they’re manly. Very, very nice guys and very funny.

Tell us where the name Jukebox the Ghost comes from and were there any other names you were considering calling yourselves?

We were called ‘The Sunday Mail’ in college for a couple of years, but we all hated the band name and were dying to find a new one. We all spent awhile poring through books, lyrics, and anything else we could think of for band name ideas. Jukebox the Ghost is really a team effort — I got Jukebox from a Captain Beefheart lyric, Ghost came from a Nabokov passage that Ben liked, and we put them together with ‘the’. The ghost logo came to me as soon as we thought of the name.

You hail from Washington DC but moved to Philadelphia. As someone who grew up and lives in the Philly area, why in the world would you choose here?

It’s cheaper than DC! Well, that IS the original reason we moved there — But now we actually love the city on its own merits. Its status as a perpetually underrated and ignored major city on the east coast means it’s incredibly cheap to live in, there’s a great art/music scene, and lots of like-minded 20-somethings with beards wandering around with crappy jobs and bicycles. Plus, it’s a short drive from NYC, DC, and Baltimore, which is great for touring.

You’re preparing to release your follow-up to 2008’s Let Live & Let Ghosts. What sound is JtG going for on the new album? Does it have a name yet? Definitive release date?

It’s a bit more mature than the last one, but we definitely still sound like the same band. The first album was recorded in a rush in college since we didn’t have any budget, so we didn’t get to do a lot of things that we wanted to do. This new album took a full month to record, so we had a lot of time to make sure we were proud of the arrangements and production. No title yet, no release date — But we should know more about that in a few weeks.

Is songwriting more a collaborative effort with Jukebox The Ghost or is it more individually powered?

Ben and I both write songs separately and then bring them to band practice for arranging. Generally, if you see one of us singing lead on a song, that means that person wrote that song.

Getting back to LL&LG… the finale was a 3-part rock opera and there were at least 2 other instances where songs flowed into each other. Was this a preconceived notion going into the studio or did the idea evolve during the recording process?

It was a pre-concieved notion — I spent my junior and senior year of college working on an ‘end of the world’ rock opera — Beady Eyes, Miss Templeton’s, Static, and the last three songs on the album are all part of that sequence. Eventually, we ended up splitting up songs and making it a little more digestible for a pop format — But if I ever have extra cash to throw around, I’d love to record the whole song sequence by itself as its own album just to see what it would sound like with the addition of the material that didn’t make it onto Let Live and Let Ghosts.

How’d you score the Ben Folds opening slot? Tell us about that experience.

Lots of well-executed manager-to-manager pestering by our manager, Seth. And a little bit of luck.

What’s your favorite…
Tally Hall song? Spring and a Storm.
Breakfast Cereal? Cheerios. But I’m dull in the morning.
Venue? The Paradiso in Amsterdam. Just played there on our last tour — it’s a beautiful church with multiple side-rooms. Plus, being in Amsterdam helps.
Day Of The Year? Thanksgiving.

What do you think the most important factors are for a new, original band to be able to rise up above the throngs of cover bands and other original acts out there all competing and playing the same venues around their respective town?

I really think that if you have a strong local fanbase, the rest will follow. If you don’t have a solid local base, I’m not sure how you can feel confident enough in the music to attempt a national breakthrough or something. For us, it was a long time of perfecting our sound and working up a DC fanbase before we even tried any serious touring. And I think that’s for the better — We became a much better band from trying to make fans in our own city. “The Sunday Mail” would have sucked on a real tour, most likely.

Just before this tour with Tally Hall & Skybox, you were exhaustively touring Europe, which seemed like quite an adventure. Would you say it was worth it at this point in JtG’s career?

Absolutely worth it. It’s incredible to me that we have the germ of a fanbase in Germany — And that the next time we go there, we could actually have a small crowd. Not to mention, touring 14 countries in Europe in a Fiat was an experience that will be hard to match.

What do you think of Tally Hall’s fans?

They seem kind of similar to our usual fans (read: a little nerdy like us), so we love ‘em. Two thumbs up.

 

 

Thumbs up, indeed!  Thanks everyone for your suggested questions.
Jukebox The Ghost is currently on tour with Tally Hall and Skybox. They’ll be making their way around SXSW shortly, too. Check their SXSW dates and listen to some songs over on their Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jukeboxtheghost

“Who’s ready for a completely awesome night?” Joe booms out at his friends.

“Nice costume,” Rob is the first to comment.

“Thank ya, Thank ya very much,” Joe poses to show off his red jumpsuit.

“I like yours,” Ross compliments Rob.

“Who doesn’t love bananas?” Andrew adds.

“That’s some crazy hair you have there. Who are you supposed to be?”  Zubin says as he joins the other boys.

“I am clearly the great composer Beethoven during his deaf years,” Andrew musters as much indignation as he can.

“Did he wear a green suit?” Ross asks.

“Don’t make me poke your eye out,” Andrew play threatens while waving his baton like a sword.

“Where did you get those pants?” Zubin suddenly notices what Ross is wearing.

“Dude, I got this all from a trunk in my attic. Isn’t it great?” Ross beams as he exhibits his bellbottoms, grey band shirt, and tie-dye headband. His costume is kind of like the clothes were meant for someone older and the name of the band is not something any of the boys has ever heard of.

“I didn’t know they made blue fedoras,” Joe comments about Zubin’s costume.

“Fly me to the moon,” Zubin warbles to add to his costume’s effect.

The five boys take off down the driveway of the first house, toting their pillowcases. The lady that answers the door takes them all in and tells them how dapper they look. Scrambling from house to house the boys collect all sorts of things in there makeshift bags. The fact of the matter is that each one of the boys had put a lot of thought into their choice in candy collection bags. The cute, plastic containers do not hold as much loot as a pillowcase.

“Jackpot!” they all shout together after leaving a house that was handing out full-sized candy bars.

“This night has been great! I mean, look at all the stuff we got,” Joe riffles through his bag.

“I loved the house with the strobe light and the scarecrow that grabbed your hand when you reached for the big candy bowl,” Zubin smiles at the memory.

“Don’t forget the house with all the tombstones in the front yard. Did you see the one for a pigeon? Who would even think to bury a pigeon?” Andrew shakes his head.

“I liked the guy juggling chainsaws,” Ross excitedly shouts.

“Uh, Ross, did you go trick or treating before you met up with us?” Rob sounds suspicious.

“Nope, why?” Ross’ confusion is evident.

“Your pillowcase is way more full than ours,” Rob persists.

“No it’s not,” Ross looks around to compare sizes.

“Hey, it is,” Zubin accuses.

“It’s a miracle on Halloween!” Ross announces when he realizes that his bag is, in fact, the most full.

“There are no miracles on Halloween,” Zubin sighs.

“Look at my bag. We went to the same houses and my bag is fuller. What else could have happened?” Ross demands.

“Uh, I think that I ate too much candy,” Joe moans.

This will be the third time I’ve written this. My computer has some sort of power issue where the battery is becoming unseated. This is scary and I’m buying a roll of duct tape.

ANYWAY I WENT TO A SHOW AND IT WAS FANTASTIC:

• Skybox played first and they were incredible – highly energetic, lots of newer dancey things (and newer shoegazey things), a lot better than I anticipated (I only previously knew just two of their songs).
• Jukebox the Ghost played next and were also incredible – every 16 year old girl in the venue was there for them, because all three of them are adorable. The drummer tossed sticks away mid-song to pick up tambourines and shakers (and later replacement sticks) and it was impressive. They also brought out a (barely audible) trumpet player named Tim who easily got the biggest applause of the night.

HERE ARE ACTUAL WORDS ABOUT TALLY HALL:

• No more fake moustaches for soundcheck and setup, just street clothes and their actual face-beards. A bunch of people called out for Ross, but I can’t really blame them. A bunch of people were audibly distressed that there was no Joe, but I can’t really blame them. One person told Zubin to shave, and that is inexcusable.
• Tally Hall opened with Out In The Twilight, a real song by Tally Hall. It’s a great little Rob pop-rock jumpy thing, with Andrew on vocoder.
• Joe was indeed out (as he will be for the whole tour), and a black-tied man named Casey filled in for him (I think the black tie means JOE IS DEAD) – no one could ever replace Joe, but Casey did a fine job emulating him: he nailed the megaphone verse in Ruler Of Everything (which pleased the hard-to-impress Zubin), but screwed up a line in Good Day (which was hilarious, and Zubin scorned him).
• The Gap is now The Trap, but still a slow acoustic guitar and synthesizer song – the lyrics have developed nicely, but the melody is less symmetrical and the extended synth outro now has words. I’m only saying tihs because I LOVE The Gap, and to see it differently at all eats at a part of me, but this was a good extrapolation of the original and I think I can live with/enjoy it.
• Misery Fell was pretty hilarious: the crowd started clapping with the kick drum and bass intro, but Zubin told us that this particular song calls for quiet clapping – clapping to ourselves. He still wanted us to actively clap to ourselves, though, and we obliged, but Rob noted that he didn’t know what that means and he’s in the band. Furthermore, Andrew emitted a falsetto flourish during the second verse that I saw come out of him and I still can’t believe happened – it was hilarious and unexpected.
• There was one other new song, quietly sung by Andrew, with Ross on Hi-Hat And Hi-Hat Alone and Zubin on glockenspiel. It had a little “ooh-oo-ooh” motif, but I don’t recall any lyrics.
• Minor alterations to songs: Cannibal has been toned down, with the Joe figure on acoustic guitar; the verses in Misery Fell were mostly just sung by Zubin, and the chorus had some slightly different chords (more major-y, and I liked them); Rob on sleigh bells in Good Day (“Merry Christmas!”) You and Me is actually sung by Rob now.
• Rob announced that Never Meant To Know would be their last song, and when the crowd cried, Zubin told us to relax, because they had planned more- indeed, after they left, a recording of a harpsichord rendition of A Lady played, with Rob’s English-accent narrator voice informing us that Tally Hall will be playing a set on the floor, and that we were to sit down. Vested assistants came around to hand out “souveneir butt protectors” (I’ll scan mine once the library opens), but Rob reminded us that our true butt protectors are our hearts.
• Semi-acoustic (keyboard, [quiet] electric bass, some almost-electric guitar) set! Rob and Zubin led us in snapping our fingers, and Casey started singing The Bidding. Oh man, it was so great. The second Joe verse had two trumpets played from the back of the venue, surprising everyone on the floor (as opposed to the top level – so most of us) – I don’t remember the trumpeters names (sorry!) but I don’t think either was Tim. Taken For A Ride also had horns and everyone in the room singing during the final secondary smile.
• There was a new Rob song played acoustically too – a quiet, slow and building thing with keyboard accordion. Ross played a harmonica – actually, Ross owned that song: by the end, he had discarded his brushes for a maraca and a single drumstick, with which he worked wonders. It was beautiful.
• The Whole World And You featured Casey on kazoo and Rob on ukulele, but no searing kazoo solo like the last (first) Tally Hall show I’d attended. I don’t think I’d noticed how brilliant the line “please don’t just laugh and clap right now, this is serious” is until I was laughing and clapping while singing it.
• The show ended with most of the band (and the invited-up drummer and keyboardist from Jukebox The Ghost) playing tambourines and singing Simon and Garfunkel’s Cecelia with EVERYONE IN THE ROOM – well, except me, because I didn’t know it (I had actually chatted on the bus over to a Pepsico employee who berated me for being young and inable to name a James Taylor song) – but it was still a great end.

SETLIST: (from memory – probably out of order and incomplete)

Out In The Twilight
Ruler Of Everything
You And Me
Good Day
The Trap(!)
Misery Fell
(mystery Andrew song)
Cannibal
Never Meant To Know

The Bidding
Greener
Taken For A Ride
(mystery Rob song)
The Whole World And You
Cecelia

OTHER WORDS:

• Multiple times throughout the show (most often during Skybox’s set), a man shouting “REMARKABLE” came up to the stage and loudly professed his adoration for the band of the hour and asked for four bars over which to freestyle – no cursing, two chords. Each band bantered with him, and we learned that his name is Bobby, but his homies call him Remarkable Butter. The bassist from Skybox noted that “butter IS remarkable.”
• I went alone, and considered befriending other solitary patrons, but quickly discarded the idea. A girl came up to me and engaged me in conversation during the momentary lull after Skybox, and I politely humored her and then started wishing/pretending she was not there. MORAL: I am a social hypocrite. HOWEVER, I thanked a tall reddish-haired Tally Hall fan for filming Twilight and The Trap; I told him about HITS and he assured me this would not be his first post and that videos will be on Youtube the day after. I didn’t get his name, and I don’t think I told him mine (in case you went to this show, reader, I was wearing a yellow shirt and singing loudly, but I tried to shut up and keep still while this guy was filming).
• This is the best show I have ever seen (not quite the best night ever, though – I saw Andrew WK play [with actual people I actually know] for free inside America’s oldest art museum two weeks ago, with the PA set up in front of four Picassos).
• After my battery fell out the second time, I got kind of pissed off and started doing other things before deciding I should write this down so I don’t forget. I found this, though, which I understand is pretty accurate:
  

  The elephant (a trunky leathery leviathan), the manatee (a decidedly aquatic lump that wanders into danger), and the hyrax (a little furry guy) are each others’ closest living relatives! That’s crazy! I can’t even begin to imagine what the hell they evolved from!

• I understand that Michael Gregory went to this show. I didn’t look very hard, but I saw someone who vaguely resembled him filming the acoustic set with a flip camera. He left before I could ask him if he had to buy his kids a piece of bread.

Last night was really incredible. A few hours before the show, I had gotten a phone call from Rob asking if I could help pass out papers for people to sit on during their set. I ended up not needing to because sitting on the ground is against MA fire code laws.

JTG was pretty great, though 2/3 of the band were sick and/or jetlagged and you could tell. Tally Hall did the whole first half of their show at the back of the room playing “quiet” songs. I had snagged a stool right at the front. They had lamps and it looked like a living room. It was an incredible moment. I’d forgotten how much I loved the band. They played two brand new songs during this half and also Casey’s “Life in a Cube,” which happens to be my favorite song of his. I don’t remember much about the two new songs, but I do remember that both of them were GORGEOUS and sounded a lot like the rest of the songs we know are going to be on the album. The second half of the show was back on stage. It was mostly “new” stuff (stuff you’ve heard if you’ve been paying attention at all for the past year or so). There were a few technical difficulties and it was weird to not see Joe up there, but it was such a unique show that I was very glad I went. It’s like owning a copy of M4 with the typo on the spine- it’s a mistake and it’s not how it should be, but it’ll never happen again, so you can appreciate it.

After the show I got a picture with Casey and talked to Zubin and Rob, both of whom were very friendly and gave me a hug. I asked if they knew anything about a release date and they said that there were going to be a few people from the label at tonight’s show (3/5) and would get some kind of answer after (which is awesome but also kind of scary because of the missing Joe). I asked about Joe (I didn’t ask why because I figured it was something fairly personal or they would’ve told us) and Zubin said that he wouldn’t be back by tonight but that he was alright.

Set list:
****First “quiet” half****
The Bidding
Greener
Taken for a Ride
Who You Are
The Trap
Just Apathy
Life in a Cube
Whole World and You
****Second Half****
Out in the Twilight
Good Day
You & Me
Never Meant to Know
Misery Fell
You
Cannibal
Ruler of Everything
Cecilia (Cover/sing-a-long)

Okay, so for this part, I don’t think it’s as good as the first, but I decided to post it anyway. Plus, this one is longer. Since I write romantic fiction, of course I had to put something a tad romantic in it.

“Come on, this is our only chance,” Rob said in a convincing tone.

“I don’t know. I just started playing bass,” Zubin said.

“But you’ve gotten really good,” Andrew said, encouraging him.

“I still don’t think we should,” he said. They were talking about the Battle of the Bands competition that was happening that weekend. They had just gotten out of school after their last midterm exams. They were walking around downtown A2. First place in the competition won $125 per member and studio time, “even if we did, we still need a band name.”

“We can come up with one while we practice,” Joe said after looking up from the flyer he had in his hand. The deadline was in two days.

“What about a song? I don’t write lyrics or anything to that extent.”

“Joe, Rob, and I have each written one song,” Andrew said while they turned at a street corner. They finally find their favorite Jewish delicatessen in all of Ann Arbor, Zingerman’s Deli. Zubin remained quiet, thinking carefully. The rest of the boys began to shiver from the cold winds of December outside of Zingerman’s.

“Fine!” Zubin exclaimed, relinquishing his stand on the subject. They all high-fived before entering the deli.

After eating some hot food, they braced themselves for the blistering cold again.

They hurriedly ran the few blocks to the theatre to enter the competition.

“Do you have a band name?” The lady at the front desk asked. They looked at each other, realizing they needed one fast.

“Well… we’re called… umm,” Joe stuttered.

“Tally Hall,” Zubin finished for him.

“Like the old mini mall?” She asked while writing it down.
“Yes.” They let out a silent sigh of relief.

“Okay, you guys are all signed up. The competition is on Sunday. You’ll each get nametags and such when you get here.”

“Thank you.”

“You know, you guys are the youngest people by far who have entered this?”

“Really?” Rob asked stunned.

“Yeah. Before you, it was two really talented boys named Zach and Mark who are at least twenty.” They all looked at each other with nervous eyes. Really talented?

“Well, thank you again,” Ross said while they exited.

“How are we going to compete with twenty year-olds? They’ve probably been in music longer than us,” Joe said, worry coloring his tone.

“Don’t worry we have something they probably don’t,” Zubin said.

“And what’s that?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t think you would ask.” They all chuckled while heading to Joe’s van.

On the way to drop Ross of at his house, they decided to play Joe’s song, I’m Gonna Win.

Over the next few days, they practiced for long periods of time. Zubin learned so much that he even made a bass line for the song.

Finally, the day arrived and they were ready. They each wore a specific color shirt. Joe wore red, Zubin wore blue, Rob wore yellow, Ross wore gray, and Andrew wore green.

As they packed their instruments in Joe’s van, Joe began telling them some information about Zach and Mark.
“I’ve been asking around and Zach and Mark met through the same guitar instructor when they were both six. Zach plays guitar and Mark plays bass. So, basically they have fourteen years of practice prior to this.”

“We are going to lose,” Rob said while they climbed into the car and rode away.

“Don’t be negative, Rob. We could still have a chance,” Andrew said, trying to stay positive.

“Only if they get struck by a meteor or something.” Ross practiced a drumbeat on his legs for the rest of the car ride.

Downtown was crowded. They found spot close to the theatre and quickly unloaded the instruments.

After getting their nametags, they went to their assigned dressing room and waited. Zubin and Rob paced while Zach and Mark did their sound check. Their improv was awesome.

“You guys will be going on last, okay?” A woman said while popping her head in the door.

“Thank you,” Zubin said while picking up his bass. It was a right-handed version of Paul McCartney’s. Zubin then began to play the chords to Twist and Shout.

“Why are you playing?” Rob asked.

“It helps me relax.”

“Ahh.”

Soon enough, the show started and they stayed in the dressing room, able to hear it from there. When Zach and Mark went on, which was right before them, they became tense, filled with nervousness. They played a cover of Freebird that sounded just like the original, including Zach playing the solo. After ten minutes the song ended.

“Thank you everyone for coming. We have one more band, but we just need to take a little break while they set up,” a woman’s voice said. They gathered their instruments and went onto the stage. They acknowledged the fact the theatre looked bigger from there. They helped Ross set up after doing a quick sound check.

Finally, it was time. People were coming back in. The woman who was onstage with them began talking.

“You guys ready?” She asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good luck.”

“Thank you.” The lights shut off and a solo light surrounded the woman. She grabbed a mic.

“Now, I would like to introduce to you, the one and only, Tally Hall!” She said and the crowd applauded as the lights came on and they began to play.

Halfway through the song, people were bobbing their heads along to the beat.

They end the song, bow, and get a big round of applause as they exit.

“Now, our judges are going to decide the winners, so we’ll be back with the results in a few minutes.” Tally Hall waits patiently for the anticipated results.

Minutes later, the crowd calms as the woman and the judges enter the stage.

“In third place, winning $50, is Hannah Gerard,” Hannah goes up and grabs the check, “in second winning $75, is the Dynamic Duo,” they do the same, “and in first place, winning $125 each and a record deal is… Tally Hall!” The boys stood in awe for a few seconds before going on. They get the death glare from Zach and Mark, but they don’t care for them.

After loading their instruments into the van, Taylor approaches Zubin, holding a blue tulip. She hands it to him and gives him a hug.

“You did awesome. Congratulations,” she says while looking up at him.

“Thanks, Tay,” he responds, then gives her a quick kiss on the cheek and jumps in the van.

“We did it,” Joe said while putting the car into drive.

“Yeah, but I’m wiped out. It’s late,” Rob agreed tirelessly while leaning back in the seat.

“Me, too,” Zubin says.

“Me, three,” Ross agrees.

“I’m hungry,” Andrew states. They chuckle and head to the nearest 24 hour restaurant. They celebrate with a feast of burgers and fries at a popular diner. It was the perfect end to the perfect night.

“How sure are you that this thing will float?” Andrew looks at the ‘boat’ with concern.

“Oh, it’ll float,” Ross responds confidently. Joe, Rob, and Zubin seem to share Andrew’s concern about the seaworthy-ness of the run down row boat before them.

Ross hops on. There is some questionable back and forth action that leave the other four in a quandary as to whether or not to join their friend. Well, of course none of them wanted to be labeled a scaredy cat. So, one by one, they join their friend. Ross pushed off of the makeshift dock. Prayer suddenly became a huge part of all of the boys’ lives. The boat rocked…a lot. But soon their fears were left behind and the friends started singing a pirate shanty. Okay, they mad up a pirate shanty as none of them actually knew one. They did use the word shanty though and ahoy and other words that any pirate should know.

“How much longer are we going to be on the water?” Andrew asks. He looks a little green around the gills. He also just found out that he gets a tad motion sick and the rocking of the row boat is making him want to blow chunks all over the place.

“I can see the other side,” Joe assures his friend.

“I think you mean land ho,” Rob corrects him while strumming on Joe’s guitar.

“Is that my guitar?” Joe’s frustration colors his tone.

“Guys, I think I’m going to be sick,” Andrew leans over the side of the rowboat.

“Not on my guitar!” Joe cries out as he snatches the guitar from Rob and shields it.

“We’re here!” announces Ross as the boat jerks to a stop.

“Thank goodness,” Andrew sighs as he hurries to be the first one off.

The boys decide to explore a bit to give Andrew a chance of feeling better before they shove off again and head home. They assume that they are on what could only be an island that no one has used for years. Everything looks overgrown.

“Wow! Look what I found!” Ross calls out.

“Look at all those old drums,” Rob comments when he gets there.

“Aren’t the amazing?!” Ross’s excitement seeps into his every word.

“They are all dead,” Joe looks at Ross like he has grown an extra head.

“Nuh-uh. If you pick parts from the different sets, then you could get a whole one,” Ross insists.

“A whole, rusty set,” Zubin quirks an eyebrow at Ross.

Undaunted by his friends’ skepticism, Ross rushes into the area. In his imagination, this is a wonderful place where drum sets go to die and he is saving pieces of them. Shaking their heads, the other four boys join Ross in sifting through the drum sets, looking for usable pieces. About a half an hour passes while they do this. Finally, they assemble one, sort-of okay set for Ross.

“Um, how are we going to get all this back to Ross’s house?” Andrew suddenly asks.

I myself am a writer and mostly write romantic fiction, but I decided to take swing at writing a fan-fiction for this. Please note that I got the idea for this story from the author of Tally Tots. I continued with the theme that they all grew up together. Hopefully, more to come.

“How the years have passed,” Joe contemplated while plucking a few strings on his guitar, referencing to the time when they were all toddlers.

“I still remember the day clearly when you got your first guitar,” said Zubin in agreement.

“But we had no clue how to hold it.” They all laughed at the memory. They were all in high school now, Joe being the oldest at 16 and Ross being the youngest at 14. It was a Saturday morning in November and they had all collected over at Ross’ house for some sort of surprise.

“So, do you guys remember my mom saying that if I wanted a drum set, I had to get really good at it?” Ross said while making their way up to his room.

“Yeah,” They all responded. They stopped in front of his bedroom door.

“Well, she saw how good I was and got me…” he said while opening the door to his super-organized room. In the middle of it was a black Pearl drum set, “… this.” They all stared in awe.

“That’s awesome!” Rob stated while running over to it. He, along with Andrew, began to examine it closely. Ross approaches it, sits down in the chair behind it, picks up the drumsticks, and begins playing a simple four-beat rhythm that involved the kick drum.

“Sweet!” Andrew said excitedly.

“Can I try it?” Zubin asked with curiosity.

“Sure,” Ross said while handing him the drumsticks. Ross then proceeds to teach Zubin an easy rhythm and they all laugh when he hit the snare and the drumstick bounced off.

After half an hour of jammin’ out on drums, they begin to get a little bored.

“Well I believe I must go. I have a friend I need to meet up with soon,” Zubin said while heading towards the door.

“Would this “friend” happen to be your girlfriend?” Joe asked teasingly.

“Maybe,” Zubin said while blushing.

“Zubin and Taylor sittin’ in a tree. KISSING!” They all said in unison.

“Oh knock it off,” Zubin said with a smile.

Andrew, Joe, Rob, Ross, and Zubin all excitedly scramble through the entrance to the zoo. Each grabs a map of the place and immediately set about figuring out how to see everything in one day. The possibilities seem endless and leave the boys a little dizzy with ideas.

“I want to see the leopards,” Ross announces proudly.

“We have to see the monkeys,” Joe states that like it is a fact.

“Elephants are always fun to watch,” Rob comments confidently.

“They have giant snapping turtles in the reptile house,” Zubin informs the rest.

“I have always liked the penguins,” Andrew quietly says.

They all look at each other in disbelief. There was not one suggestion that more than one of the friends had in common. This was a crucial moment in their friendship. They could only see one thing at a time. How would they ever choose who would go first? The silence stretches on and the tension grows.

“Since Ross spoke up before the rest of us, we should go the big cat area first,” Andrew cautiously tries for a peaceful resolution.

“I guess,” Joe, Rob, and Zubin mumble in unison.

With a direction to start in, the five boys start off their zoo experience. Ross bounds ahead of the others who drag their feet. In the face of seeing that there was an all black leopard, Ross becomes exuberant. His excitement is too infectious for the others to hold their grudges about not seeing what they wanted to first. The reptile house was close by so Zubin gets his wish. While the snapping turtles are amazing, the real draw of the boys’ attention was the sign next to the habitat. It was an x-ray of one of the turtles that showed change and a key that had gotten thrown in or fallen in and gotten eaten.

The monkeys were next on their tour. Joe leans so far over the outer fence that he looks like he might just tumble over it. Rob jumps towards his friend with a loud shout to try and make him fall. Joe jumps, but stays firmly on his perch. Rob leads the way to the elephants. All the way there he makes elephant noises and flaps his arm like a trunk. After some light teasing, the other four join in.

Towards the end of the day, they finally make it all the way to the penguins. Andrew has been very patient all day long and now he gets to see what he wants. All five of the boys race there. They settle into the benches to watch the swimming area. Soon, Andrew is the only one awake. He watches the penguins and hums a little tune that he is making up as he goes. Rob is flopped out on the floor. Joe is drooling on a bench. Zubin and Ross prop each other up while they snore in harmony. Andrew looks around at his friends and smiles as he switches to whistling his tune.

“I had to go to the music store today,” Andrew explains his tardiness to Joe, Rob, Ross, and Zubin.

“Was it fun? I bet it could have been fun,” Joe asks.

“It could have been fun, but it wasn’t. We had to look through all the old pianos. Apparently I need something constructive to do,” Andrew rolls his eyes.

“Old pianos?” Ross looks very confused.

“Yeah, the ones that other people used to own,” explains Andrew in a knowing voice.

“They don’t own them anymore because they died,” Rob adds.

“Or, they could have been stolen by the music store’s owners so they could make money without buying the pianos,” Ross enthusiastically throws in.

“Or they just didn’t want the piano anymore for some reason,” Zubin tries to be the voice of reason to Ross’s imaginative option.

“My idea is possible,” Ross sounds indignant.

“In what world is that idea possible?” Zubin pushes for realistic ground. The two boys go back and forth a bit before they are in danger of shoving each other to the ground. Like all little boys do, Rob, Joe and Andrew tell each other who they think would win an actual fist fight between their two friends.

“Did you get a piano?” Joe interrupts their fighting.  Zubin and Ross stop just short of tackling each other to the ground in order to prove their respective points.

“Yes. It comes next week,” Andrew laments.

“Practicing an instrument isn’t so bad,” Rob assures his friend.

“Especially if that instrument is actually yours,” Joe gives Rob the eye. Rob shrugs and avoids eye contact.

The boys stumble across an old, dented can in the street and subsequently forget about the piano discussion. They play a version of kick that can that involves kicking the can as hard as you can at the others in hopes of whacking them on the head before they can duck out of the way. The next day, Zubin brings a brand new Frisbee for them all to throw on each other’s roofs and see how long it takes to get them down. The kid whose house takes the longest to get the Frisbee down from wins. Ross’s house won as they never retrieve their toy. Similar distractions take up the remainder of the week.

In what seems like no time, the five boys are crowding in Andrew’s living room, starting at the newly arrived piano. Careful not to actually let anyone see them touching the thing, they creep around to get the whole effect. It is a natural wood colored, grand piano. They go on top of it. They crawl underneath it. It was there, on the underside of the piano that they found writing. While the inscription is partially faded away, there is still some letters that the boys can make out. Those letters read J. E. _ _s_u_ _ s.

“Dude! Your piano’s name is Jesus!” Ross shouts out in excitement. The five friends all collapse in a fit of giggles over the piano’s new name.