Groovy Tunes, Tuesday

[furnaceface]

Today at the Groovy Tunes saw the return of Jonothon and his guitar. And Jonothon and his guitar were going to be playing whatever the bloody hell they felt like.

Unless people were to happen to stop by and make requests. And then Jonothon and his guitar might be convinced to deviate from what, for the most part, seemed to be very angry and more-or-less antisocial-sounding music, indeed.

The Groovy Tunes is open.

[And I think the OCD has been permanently buried under the unstoppable weight of the treble clef of laziness. Or sommat.]

Comments

[living_endless]

"Hey, boyfriend," Didi greeted as she came in on her lunch hour. "How's the exciting world of music?"

[furnaceface]

//Afternoon, girlfriend,// Jono greeted, pausing in his playing long enough to raise his pick toward her in a bit of a salute-turned-wave. //The exciting world of music continues to be well and truly without Christmas carols, and so I've nothing to complain about. And th'wonderful world of most other assorted bric-a-brac? How's it treatin' yer?//

[living_endless]

"Quiet," Didi returned. "No Christmas Carols there, either, and I think I had time to read every single gossip magazine the store stocks. So, you know, productive workday."

[furnaceface]

//Oh, absolutely.// Jono gave her as close to a smile as he ever had, and then put his pick to the strings and played something short and fast, that he'd been poking at for most of the morning. //That would be about the extent of my productivity today.//

The quick little tune stopped at a point that seemed... only about halfway there. As though somebody had shot the musician partway through, and nobody knew where the rest of it was supposed to lead.

Including, apparently, the musician.

//Needs work.//

[living_endless]

"I like the" -- she hummed a vague approximation of a bit of the melody -- "part," she said, stepping closer. "It'll be good once it's finished, right?"

[furnaceface]

Jono lifted one shoulder slightly, giving her a wry sort of look.

//Theoretically. We'll see if inspiration decides to rear its head for me, I suppose. Otherwise, it'll be another half-written song to sit on an increasingly large heap of half-written songs.//

Jono's problem was that he gave up too easily when anything he did didn't quite manage to measure up to his own expectations. Could you tell?

//I suppose I could just staple th'pages together and see what comes out. Cohesiveness is just a suggestion, right?//

[living_endless]

"Or you could try to just write the other half without inspiration and see what you get," Didi suggested. She hated sounding like somebody's mom, nattering on about work, but it seemed to her that that was what Jono needed. "Even if it's not all that cohesive, it might be ... you know. Good."

[furnaceface]

Sometimes, what Jono really needed was a swift kick in the posterior. But this would do in a pinch.

//What I'm worried about is sticking to some sort of formula when all else fails,// he shared. //Picking at the same thing that everyone else picks at. I don't want to re-imagine Pearl Jam. I just want something... Jonothon.//

He wasn't going to add the note that was lingering under it all, where if his music was only half-there and he was going for something that was uniquely him, then he was apparently well on the right track. Because the moment he pointed it out, that would be the note he'd stick with, and it was all downhill from there.

//Maybe yer right, though. Maybe I'm just fighting with it too bloody much.//

[living_endless]

"Jonothon?" Didi echoed, vaguely amused. "Okay, first, I refuse to date a one-name pop sensation."

She had a last name! It was on her ID! Just -- good luck getting her to remember it.

"Second" -- she reached to touch his shoulder -- "I think you're absolutely fighting with it too bloody much, until you start not fighting with it at all."

[furnaceface]

The day Jono became a one-name pop sensation would be a very interesting day, indeed.

//At least if I was a pop-star, nobody would ever be able to accuse me of lip-syncing during performances like most do,// he offered, before relenting and leaning over to flick off his amp. //Either way, I need a break from it. Clear my head some, stop bein' so damned frustrated with it. Try again later.//

Next, he was going to set down his guitar. And then he was going to stand up and reach forward to put his hands on her hips.

//Hello, luv.//

[living_endless]

She leaned back and tilted her head up to look into his eyes, happy to change the subject. He sounded like someone who needed a break, and she was on her lunch break, and wasn't that convenient?

"Hi. Glad you didn't freeze during the blizzard. Hi."

[furnaceface]

//I'm not particularly easy to freeze,// he pointed out, in that 'almost paying attention to the conversation' way that went so very well with eye-contact with one's girlfriend from this particular proximity. //Good to see that yer made it through alright as well.//

[living_endless]

"Yeah, I was fine," Didi confirmed, also with her attention not entirely on the conversation as her hands went to rest on the back of Jono's belt. "One of the new ones, Nobody? He wanted to know if I'd be immune to cold. I told him no such luck."

[intraspective]

Lunch breaks were made for finding the time to go out and shop, yes?

Absolutely! Besides, there was a CD she wanted.

"Hi Jono!" Ino carolled as she shook snow off her boots.

And utterly ignoring the way his music kinda screamed 'go away'. Pffft.

[furnaceface]

//Afternoon, gel,// Jono replied, looking up from his guitar. His guitar was a large part of his world, sure, but he could possibly cope with the odd conversation now and again, as well. //To what do I owe the pleasure?//

Aside from the whole fact that he worked in a shop, and people commonly entered such establishments in order to buy things? Duh, Jonothon.

[intraspective]

She grinned at him. "Well," Ino mused, "technically, I suppose you owe it to a group I like releasing a new CD? Not that you're not neat to talk to anyway, but you did ask for a specific reason this time 'round."

[furnaceface]

//Well, of course, now I have to ask yer what th'group is,// Jono replied, standing and leaning his guitar against its stand.

Yes, he'd hauled his guitar stand to work, too. Shut up.

//Because I'm a nosy bloody bastard that way.//

[intraspective]

"Puh-lease, that's not nosy at all. And--Ikimono-gakari," she answered lightly, eyes lighting up with amusement at the fact that he'd dragged a stand to work. That was way too much effort, seriously. "Japanese group."

[furnaceface]

Look, it made sense, when you'd be up and down all day, to have your guitar stand! Especially when you'd gone through all the trouble of hauling your guitar and your amp, as well!

... Jono was a special snowflake.

//Sounds Japanese,// he agreed, mulling over the band name for a moment before practically perking and making his way over to the international section of the shop. //I've never heard of them before, but if we've got their newest, it'll be over here, gel. Mind if I give it a listen before yer leave, or are yer in a hurry to get anywhere?//

And there he went, rummaging through the titles on the shelf.

[intraspective]

A very special snowflake, yes.

"I don't mind," Ino said, raising her eyebrows and following him on light feet. "Going from what you were playing when I got in here I don't know much 'bout how you'll like 'em."

[furnaceface]

//It's music, innit?//

And there, right there, was Jonothon's general mindset on the whole issue, yes. And that was why he was surfacing with a small handful of CDs.

//I'd hardly be a right fit for th'job if all I listened to was angry grunge, would I? Looks like we've got a few singles releases, and then some actual albums. What's the title of the one yer lookin' for?//

Not that he was going to wait. He was flipping them over and going over the copyright dates on the back to see which was the most recent.

[intraspective]

"The one I'm looking for is Hajimari no Uta," she said helpfully, "and albums are totally better than singles. I like having a full CD to listen to, if I'm going to spend money on it."

A beat.

"Should I be wondering if angry grunge is meant to scare away the easily intimidated, then?" Ino teased.

[furnaceface]

//Most of what I do is meant to scare away the easily intimidated,// Jono pointed out, turning the CDs over to look at the titles.

... Which were written in hiragana. But that one with the mostly white cover with the December release date looked promising, he hoped. Maybe?

//This it?//

We have a winner!

[intraspective]

"You've got it," she said, fingers inching over to try and kidnap it from him so she could squee over the pretty.

...shut up.

"Meant to get it earlier," Ino said, almost sheepishly, "but things kept coming up, you know?"

[furnaceface]

//I sympathize,// Jono replied, not even bothering to hide how amused he was at the girlish glee mojo that Ino had going on, there. //Imagine how I felt when I wound up here, only to discover that I had bloody near fifteen years of Pearl Jam albums to catch up on.//

That had been one very expensive music shopping spree, yes.