1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 136



Only Noblemtl

136. LA Metal (2)

Since I fell into the past and jumped into the history of music, everything has been speeding up a little bit. We showed up at Woodstock like a comet, Queen debuted early, we made the Filton Festival bigger, and we created a culture of merchandise.

We brought the young Van Halen brothers into the company, and Judas Priest will be here soon, and they will debut before actual history.

I will take good care of Edward Van Halen since he was young so that he can be healthy and continue to make music for a long time. But I met Freddie Mercury when he was already an adult. Since his ego has already been formed, I don’t know how much I can do. But I will do my best to help him.

And as I was showing off the technology of the future, someone came forward to steal my sound. Now that I’ve come this far, I’m going to release this technology to the world. Of course, the core technology that’s one step ahead will only be used by my band and our CW family.

After the equipment technology has developed to a certain extent, it is ultimately a battle over how to design sound. Such intangible technology is a know-how that is difficult to imitate without the accumulation of field experience in numerous cases.

I came to Garage Brew to formally share with the world a technique I had previously used.

“Effector?”

The eyes of the ten EGO members widened.

“Yes, we are planning to start a musical instrument brand business at our company. So we are asking you to be both musicians and researchers.”

Anyway, except for Miguel, who is an art student, they are all engineering students. Being a musician can be an unstable job, but being a researcher is a relatively stable job with flexible working hours. And I dare say that you will make a lot of money in the future.

“Then are you going to the NAMN Show too?”

Brad asked.

“Of course. We’ll start with effectors first and then gradually develop other instruments. The company will also support the research costs for the keyboard you’re developing. We’ll also open a store next to the club. People who come to see the performance can also look at the instruments.”

“That’s great! Then what should we name our brand?”

Everyone’s attention was on me.

“I have to ask you guys this. I really like Garage Brew. Can I use it?”

The members unanimously decided to name the first effects brand Garage Brew.

* * *

Today, the Van Halen brothers came to the practice room under Raju’s protection. Eddie’s face looked much more relaxed, but he was still not as bright as before.

I wanted to see Eddie’s old self as soon as possible.

“Eddie, what do those people look like? Can you describe them to me in detail?”

“There were always three of them hanging around. They were all skinny. The one with the knife and threatening expression had long blond hair and a white face.”

“But I told you that I kept asking you about the equipment here?”

“Yes, specifically, he told me to find out how James sets it up. I wasn’t going to say anything, but he hit me in the face, snatched my guitar bag, and went through it and took my booster······.”

“You’re not taking the guitar, just the booster?”

“Yes, as you know, my guitar isn’t something that anyone would want.”

Eddie was in the process of changing and modifying parts on his guitar to create his own Frankenstein, a strange setup and design that no ordinary guitarist would ever want.

“And this.”

Eddie handed me a piece of paper. It had three faces drawn on it.

“Did you draw this yourself?”

“yes.”

Eddie, who designs his own guitars, is also quite good at drawing.

“Raju, I’ll make a copy of this and give it to you, so please notify the security team and the protection team.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. They’re not that bad. Samir and I will look for them. We were a fantastic duo back when we were mercenaries. Leave it to us.”

He folded the picture and put it in his pocket.

“Then, may I ask you a favor?”

“Okay, while the kids practice, I’ll go look around with Samir.”

“Thank you, Raju.”

I gave Eddie a new version of the booster with noise cancellation technology from Garage Brew.

“Thank you. I’ll have to keep this in the practice room.”

“Don’t worry, Eddie. Raju will definitely find them.”

“And this.”

“What is this?”

“It’s an effect called a phaser. It’s similar to a wah pedal, but it repeats at a certain rate. You can adjust the speed with this one knob.”

This pedal would become a key effector to Van Halen’s sound going forward.

“Wow, I love that sound!”

The guy smiled brightly.

“Brother James.”

“huh.”

“I like that guitar so much that I want to focus only on the guitar. I think it would be better to have a separate vocalist.”

“As my brother always says, do whatever you want. If you want to sing, do it. If you want to pick someone, pick them.”

You just have to grow up healthy, Edward.

“I like Andrew’s powerful voice.”

“Oh, Eddie, you too? I was thinking about Andrew, too.”

Alex agreed with Eddie’s words.

Wow, this looks like it’s going to be a great team.

* * *

Sunset Strip.

As usual, as the sun set, this place began to come alive. Many young people flocked here to see the performance.

Unlike the smoke-filled entrances of other clubs, people lined up in an orderly manner in front of The Age of Rock and went through a simple security check before entering.

The same system was introduced at King’s Club, which opened in the next block. The front of the club was always clean and well-cleaned, the inside of the concert hall was pleasant as it was non-smoking, and there were no drunk customers due to the limited drinking.

The upper and lower blocks naturally began to diverge from each other around the Sunset Strip. Those who liked a more wholesome atmosphere went to Kings and The Age of Rock on the north side, while those who wanted to enjoy a night out went to The Devils and the clubs next to it on the south side.

Today, too, Samir was guarding the entrance after completing the security check for visitors.

“Hey, Samir.”

“Raju, what are you doing at this hour? Haha.”

“I was just looking around to find out something.”

Raju told Samir a story about the Van Halen brothers.

“What? Are there really such bad guys? Judging from the fact that they approached the youngest Eddie, they must be cowardly and worthless.”

“You can tell they’re neighborhood thugs just by looking at them. They’re skinny and shaggy. Their hair is long, so I couldn’t see their faces properly, but Eddie drew their faces. Take a look.”

Raju took out a drawing Eddie had drawn from his pocket and showed it to me.

“Hmm, three of them? Oh my, that’s pathetic. Three of them bullying a kid······.”

Samir looked closely at the painting and furrowed his brows.

“Wait a minute, these guys······.”

“Have you seen it?”

“I’m not sure, but I think I saw them hanging out across the street. There was this one blond, skinny guy who looked like a girl.”

“Really? Then I guess I’ll have to search all the clubs across the street. Thanks, Samir!”

Raju ran across to the other side without hesitation.

* * *

I left Broken Combs’ practice room and went to Andrew’s room.

dripping.

Andrew opened the soundproof door.

“Brother James!”

“Can I come in for a moment?”

“Okay, then. Come in.”

Andrew never neglected his practice while going around to rescue members.

A note appeared on the desk.

“Are you writing songs consistently?”

“Yeah, I just play around with it whenever I’m bored, haha.”

“Are you still looking for members?”

“Um······ I went to various clubs with Hugo, but the members I liked were already in a team, and I didn’t like the people who came to me after seeing the club bulletin board. I guess I became too picky because I only listened to his performances, haha.

“Have you ever thought about working with the Broken Combs guys?”

“Eddie is already singing there.”

“Eddie said he wanted to focus on playing guitar. Why don’t we go to their practice room together? Bring your song sheet music with you.”

I went back to the Broken Combs practice room with Andrew.

“Hey, Andrew!”

The kids usually liked and followed Andrew well. And if Andrew hadn’t told me about Eddie’s incident, I might have overlooked it.

“Guys, come here.”

I showed him the sheet music for the song Andrew wrote, ‘Good Times’. It was easy to use with only a few chords. With these guys’ skills, they should be able to play this kind of music without much difficulty.

“Instead of sheet music, why don’t you just have Andrew sing a song?”

Oh, right.

Edward Van Halen is famous for having hated looking at sheet music, even though he received classical piano lessons from his parents when he was young. Even after becoming a super guitarist, there were rumors that he couldn’t read sheet music, and he preferred to play by ear rather than reading sheet music.

Andrew hummed the first verse of the song.

“Okay. Let’s go!”

As expected, haha.

“Eddie, can you play guitar and sing backing vocals?”

“sure!”

“Then, when Alex gives the signal, we start.”

Tsk tsk tsk tsk.

Zaaaang—

Eddie quickly adapted to the effects I gave him. The guitar tone, which was much richer due to the phaser, was even more fun to listen to. He even created an intro solo using his unique tapping technique using octaves, showing how much he had practiced.

– On a quiet snowy day.

(It was a day when snow was falling quietly.)

– Poverty fell with the snow.

(Poverty came down with the snow.)

– Christmas was coming.

(Christmas was coming.)

Although Eddie only played one guitar, he played it leisurely, adding brisk riffs and short solos here and there.

Andrew and Eddie looked at each other and smiled.

– When I see the snow falling quietly.

(When I look at the snow falling quietly,)

– I’m reminded of good people,

(good people,)

– Good songs.

(Good songs.)

– Good times.

(Good times come to mind.)

– Before I knew it, I was smiling.

(Before I knew it, I was laughing.)

The three members were all backing vocalists in the band from the beginning. The blending with Andrew’s voice was excellent.

Eddie’s signature guitar sound, combined with Andrew’s pop melody and lyrics, created the perfect pop rock song.

Eddie returned to his original mischievous face as he played along. He started playing the guitar while jumping up and down in his seat.

After finishing the ensemble, everyone looked satisfied.

“Brother Andrew! Come form a band with us!”

Even after Eddie finished playing, he continued jumping around in place.

“Andrew, let’s do this together! We’ve already agreed on a solution.”

Alex also thought it would be nice if his friend Andrew joined the band.

Bassist Mark thought the same.

Everyone waited for Andrew’s answer.

“As long as you guys are happy, I’m grateful!”

“Wow! This is exciting!”

Eddie jumped higher and spun around.

That bright look suits you.

“Then, with Andrew joining us, shouldn’t we change the band name and start anew?”

Alex suggested.

“Well, Broken Combs was kind of funny, haha.”

Broken Combs was a name given to them by two brothers as a joke.

Anyway, the name was going to change several more times in the future.

then,

“How about Van Halen?”

“In my brother’s name?”

“Yeah, I think it sounds really good.”

“I like it!”

Andrew and Mark both agreed.

“Happy New Beginning, Van Halen!”

As everyone was celebrating Andrew’s joining, the practice room door opened and Kevin came running in.

“Gona, I think we should go to Sunset Strip now!”