Introducing Our Music Meets Prose Series

Music Meets Prose is our weekly bite-size prose feature on fictional stories inspired by real life behind-the-scenes events in the music industry. Our first prose is The Audition - a three-part short story. Look out for our prose features every Friday.

The Audition

Written by Bemi

Abstract artwork by Zaahira

Part 1

The private investigator handed me a brown envelope with the surveillance pictures enclosed.  “You sure you wanna to see these?” he asked in a husky voice and pronounced Brooklyn accent. I took the envelope from him responding with a reassuring smile, “It’s okay….thanks for all your help.” I turned from him and heard his footsteps dwindle as he walked away from the poolside of my Beverly Hills home.

I lounged by the pool contemplating whether to open the envelope or swim a few laps, I felt tense - swimming always put me in a relaxed mood and the water looked quite tempting. Opting for the former, I opened the envelope slowly as my hands trembled. Picture, after picture revealed a very happy Mike with another woman – they were having dinner together, they were on holiday in Paris, and there were pictures of him dropping her children off at school. My eyes closed, as I remembered vividly how we got here, to this place, living separate lives - these events were triggered by the audition.

The boy bands, girl groups, singer-songwriters, pop singers, accompanied by stage mums, and dads; and the obligatory hangers-on who hoped to one day be part of the entourage - true to form, it was just another day at a New York City audition. This was a third stage audition, and only three artists would make the cut. The artists selected in New York would be featured on a television talent show filmed in Los Angeles, California. The cash prize wasn’t my focal point, my goal was to make a debut television appearance, and meet power brokers in the music industry – just what was needed to jump start my budding music career.

A year ago, I was in my sophomore year in college – a pre-law undergraduate. I gave that up in the quest for my passion - music. It had been one audition after another; a gig here and there but no major breakthrough yet. My coping mechanism for auditions seemed to help deal with disappointments. I no longer came to auditions with friends and family members as I found it easier to fail alone than with people whom I felt emotionally attached present. My new audition strategy was simple – adequate preparation but never get my hopes too high. The judges at this audition had described me as “quirky” and supposedly “quirky was the new cool”. I was aiming for a mainstream pop artist image, hence I wasn't quite sure what to make of their comment – some sort of backhanded compliment?

We were summoned by the judges, and it was time to find out who made the cut. The three artists selected were announced, and my name was not called. As I headed out of the audition hall and made my way to the elevator, one of the judges announced there would be a wild card – they were going to select one more artist within a week. My chances were pretty slim considering the number of artists who auditioned, I wanted to get away, it was just another audition, and life must go on after a failed audition.

The elevator doors opened, I walked in, and as the doors closed a hand reached inbetween the closing doors. “Sorry, I’m heading down too.” said the middle-aged man. He looked familiar, but I was not in the mood to recall who he was. “Great audition,” he said and looking straight ahead, he whispered, “I’m David Luvas and I could get you the wildcard.”  That face – I knew it was familiar! David Luvas was a music industry executive and the Creator/Executive Producer of the talent show I just auditioned for. The elevator stopped on the second floor, he discreetly put something in my hand and said “This is me.” as he walked out of the elevator.

My heart raced, I uncoiled my hand to reveal its content. A hotel name and room number were written on a piece of paper, along with a message scribbled: “Check-in 8 pm.”

Propositions were not unusual in the music industry. As long as there were artists willing to sleep their way to the top, it would remain an industry norm. Usually when I encountered requests of sexual nature, I objected in disdain. However, for some reason I held on to the piece of paper, perhaps because I had never been approached by anyone remotely close to Luvas’ calibre.

My phone began to vibrate - it was Mike, my boyfriend. He probably wanted to know how the auditions went. I switched off the phone. I couldn’t speak to him, not now – not until I had concocted a lie about the outcome of the audition.

Many thanks to our volunteer abstract artist Zaahira. Look out for Part 2 next Friday (September 12)