#so in a last ditch effort alex takes him to the beach and they just lay in the sand together until willie starts to calm down

[heyiwrotesomethings]

Test Run

Maru (Stardew) x They/Them Reader

A/N: Four down, two more bachelorettes to go! No warnings should be necessary but let me know if you think there is something I should mention. Hope y’all like this wild day! Word Count: 3,532

“Morning, (Y/n).” Robin greeted as soon as (Y/n) tromped through the door, wiping their feet off on the doormat before stepping fully inside.

“Morning, Robin!” (Y/n) waved. “Maru’s in, right?”

“She sure is. She’s tinkering in her room, head on back.”

“Thank you!” (Y/n) practically skipped as they made their way down the hall before quickly turning and detouring back at Robin’s desk, causing the woman to raise an inquisitive brow. “I almost forgot! I got you this,” (Y/n) ruffled around in their sack and produced a bag of peaches, handing the precious cargo to the eagerly awaiting carpenter.

“Thanks, kid! The fruits that come from your farm are to die for.” Robin praised, already digging into the bag for a fresh picked peach.

“Hey, I’m glad you like them!” (Y/n) beamed. “I’ve started growing strawberries in the greenhouse too as a surprise for Maru. Demetrius seems to be really looking forward to it too.”

“I’ll bet.” Robin laughed, “what else ya got there?”

“A carton of void eggs for Seb. Make sure he paces himself. I still don’t see the appeal of them beyond aesthetics.” (Y/n) said, placing the eggs on the desk.

“Don’t worry, I gotcha.” Robin promised. “Better get moving now. Don’t want to keep my little engineer waiting now, do you?”

“Right! Thanks Robin!” (Y/n) hummed as they made their way to the back of the house. They knocked on the door and called out in a singsong tone, “Maruuu, I’m here!”

“Just a minute!” Maru called.

After some clattering and clanging, Maru’s door opened, the highly intelligent girl wasted no time pulling (Y/n) in before closing the door once more.

“I’m glad you could make it.” Maru said as she gave (Y/n) a warm hug.

“I can always make time for you,” (Y/n) glowed, “so what did you want to show me?”

“First, did you bring the batteries I asked for?” Maru asked.

“Oh yeah! Just a second,” (Y/n) dug into their sack once more and produced a large handful of batteries, “I couldn’t remember how many you needed, so I just brought a bunch.”

“Aw, (Y/n), I only needed two. You can keep the rest.” Maru said.

“Oh don’t worry about it. You always have a use for these things. It’s been storming a lot lately anyway so I’ve got plenty. Take ‘em, I insist.” (Y/n) pressed the batteries into Maru’s hand.

“You are too sweet.” Maru said, kissing (Y/n) on the cheek, leaving them a giggly, lovestruck mess as Maru walked past them to put the extra batteries away for later. “Now for the main event,” Maru turned back to (Y/n), her eyes gleamed behind her glasses.

“Oh boy! What is it?” (Y/n) bounced on their toes, excitedly waiting for their partner to reveal her newest invention.

Maru walked past her vast array of scrap metal and tools to grab an old shoe box that was sitting on top of the schematics that littered her desk. She popped the lid off and showed (Y/n) what laid inside.

“You made shoes? Neat! You are so talented, I wouldn’t even know where to start on a project like that.” (Y/n) praised.

“These aren’t just any shoes,” Maru explained, motioning (Y/n) to sit with her on the bed as she popped the batteries in place, causing the shoes to faintly glow, “these babies are speed enhancers.”

“Woah, cool.” (Y/n) gasped.

“And I would be honored if you would test them out for me, my busy bee.” Maru smiled, tapping (Y/n) on the nose.

“It would be my honor.” (Y/n) laughed.

The couple exited the bedroom and made it to the front of the house just in time to see Sebastian shove a whole void egg into his mouth, shell and all.

“Dude, I didn’t even boil those!” (Y/n) exclaimed.

Seb took a long pause to chew and swallow the egg before answering with a shrug, “It’s the best way to eat them.”

“I’m so concerned about the decisions you choose to make.” (Y/n) grimaced.

“Come on, (Y/n). Let Sebbie enjoy his eggs. We’ve got a trial run to start,” Maru took (Y/n)’s hand in her free one, the other carried the shoe box.

“I have got to see this.” Seb said, cradling his carton of void eggs as he followed the couple out of the house.

Outside, Robin and Demetrius were staring out over the mountains, enjoying the fresh summer air.

“Hey (Y/n),” Demetrius called upon noticing the trio exiting the house, “how’s that erm, special specimen, coming along?”

“Just a few more days I think.” (Y/n) grinned, “I’ll be sure to give you a fair share of the first harvest.”

Demetrius did a little fist pump, “Yes!” he grinned, “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Dad, you can talk plants later,” Maru said, presenting (Y/n) the glowing shoes from the box, “(Y/n) and I are kind of in the middle of something.”

“What did you come up with this time?” Demetrius asked, already circling (Y/n) as they took off their boots.

“Shoes?” Robin cocked her head.

“Speed enhancing shoes, mom.” Maru added.

“Ah yes, should have guessed it wasn’t that simple.” Robin chuckled.

Once (Y/n) finished strapping up the shoes, they stood up, looking at Maru expectantly.

“So, what do I do?”

“Press those little buttons on the sides of the shoes and then start jogging.” Maru informed.

“You got it, boss.” (Y/n) bent at the waist and pressed the small buttons, causing a humming noise and a slight vibration to power through the shoes. Then they started a jogging pace, amazed at how light their feet felt.

“Wow, this is really neat Maru!” (Y/n) said, easily running to from the house, to the lake and back in under a minute.

“Nice work, honey.” Demetrius praised, squeezing his daughter’s shoulder affectionately as they watched (Y/n) make another lap.

“Thanks dad.” Maru smiled, after a few more laps Maru called out to (Y/n), “Okay (Y/n), you can stop now. This was a great run. And just to think, this is only the prototype!”

“Actually Maru, I can’t stop.” (Y/n) called out as they made another lap, sweat rolling down their face. “I’ve actually been trying to stop for a couple of laps now and I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

“(Y/n)!” Maru slapped a hand against the side of her head. “You should have just told me, here let me help you.” Maru jogged after (Y/n), trying to catch up with them but failed miserably. “Sweetheart, if you could slow down just a tick, I’d really appreciate it.”

“I really can’t.” (Y/n) said. If anything, they only seemed to move faster. “Oh Yoba, Maru, I’m losing control of my coordination!” (Y/n) yelled as their clean, circular laps became squiggly and erratic bursts of speed.

“Hang on, (Y/n)!” Maru breathed heavily as she tried to catch her partner. She turned to her family watching in stunned silence and called out to them. “Can you guys help, please?”

“Oh, right. Of course!” Demetrius and Robin immediately began running after (Y/n) as well. Seb took his time carefully placing his void egg carton of the ground before joining in to try to cut (Y/n) off only for the shoes to juke him and send (Y/n) running the other way.

This went on for a few minutes, leaving the family short of breath, yet still they persisted. Things got more complicated however, when the glow of the shoes began to blink and (Y/n) began running even faster, sending them barreling down the mountain path into town. Maru made a last ditch effort to grab them but ended up falling into the dirt.

“Maru!” (Y/n) screamed, as their body disappeared down the trail.

“Oh damn.” Seb blew out a breath, helping his half sibling to her feet.

“Oh damn indeed.” Robin agreed as she caught her breath.

“Well, can’t just stand here. We got a farmer to catch.” Demetrius spoke up, wiping sweat from his brow.

“I knew I should have made a kill switch.” Maru groaned, dusting off her pants before jogging off after her partner. “Don’t worry (Y/n), I’m coming!”

“Oh Yoba, oh Yoba, oh Yoba!” (Y/n) chanted between breaths as they zoomed past the community center and into town.

“Ey (Y/n)! New training regiment?” Alex called from Dusty’s pen.

“Alex, I can’t stop! Help!”

“What, like you need a spotter or something? I’ve got your back.” Alex said as he began jogging behind (Y/n).

“No Alex, like I literally can’t stop!” (Y/n) called back before screaming. The shoes were sending them straight towards Evelyn, happily watering her plants and unaware of the danger behind her. “Oh my Yoba! Granny, look out!”

“Hm?” Evelyn turned and smiled, still unaware of the very real danger her brittle body was in. “Oh, hello dear. I made some cookies this morning, please help yourself.”

“Oh no!” (Y/n) squealed, covering their eyes with their hands, but luckily just before impact, the shoes took a hard left and spared granny from serious harm.

“Oh, goodbye then dear! Always so busy.” Evelyn shook her head and returned her attention to her plants.

(Y/n) kept running with Alex keeping pace a few yards behind them. They almost ran into Haley as she left her house.

“What the hell, farmer? Watch where you’re going maybe.” Haley grumbled, holding her precious camera close to her chest.

“Sorry Haley!” (Y/n) yelled back. “I have no control over my legs at the moment!”

“Come on, Haley. Help me catch them.” Alex called over his shoulder.

“I don’t run. You know that.” Haley stated plainly. “Good luck with... whatever’s going on there.” She watched the two run off towards the Cindersaps, hummed and shrugged. She positioned her camera and took a few photos before walking off to the beach only to be stopped moments later by the Mountain Road family huffing and puffing in front of her.

“Haley,” Maru wheezed, adjusting her glasses, “did (Y/n) run through here?”

“As a matter of fact, they did. Nearly ran me over too. They and Alex are sprinting to the Cindersap Forest as we speak.” Haley jabbed a thumb behind her shoulder, lazily pointing down the path (Y/n) had disappeared down. “Now I’ll be going. You might want to fix your hair by the way.” She added before continuing on her way to the beach.

“Damn (Y/n), you’re really booking it!” Alex yelled after (Y/n), the distance between them had started to grow.

“Less talking, more sprinting!... on your part, not mine!” (Y/n) yelled back. Their leg muscles were burning and tight as they continued to book it through the forest. As they steadily approached the pond in the distance, squinting, they could see Leah sitting on the dock with sketchbook in hand, enjoying her day.

“Leah!” (Y/n) yelled, startling the artist.

“(Y/n)?” Leah squinted back, using her sketchbook to shade her eyes from the sun.

“I can’t stop running! Do you think you could maybe catch me or push me into the pond when I get there?” (Y/n) asked between gasps of air. But between the distance and the heavy breathing, Leah had no idea what (Y/n) was saying.

“...What?” Leah called back after a moment.

“Push me into the pond!” (Y/n) yelled again, they were already passing Marnie’s farm and the time for Leah to get into position was slipping fast.

“What, why?” Leah was very confused but carefully, she set her art supplies down before hopping to her feet and jogging around the pond to meet (Y/n).

“Wait, no! Don’t stand in front of me, I’m coming in too hot! To the side! To the side!”

Leah was standing like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide and hands out in front of her as she fully took in just how fast (Y/n) was moving.

“Leah bro, move!” Alex shouted from behind (Y/n).

But it was too late, (Y/n) collided with Leah head on, sending the poor artist into the water, but somehow (Y/n) managed to stay on land, their shoes immediately began working backwards, taking them back a few feet before sending them in circles around the pond.

“Leah, I’m so sorry!” (Y/n) called hands over their mouth.

Leah coughed and pulled a stringy mass of algae out of her hair, looking down at her soaking wet outfit.

“Why did you do that?” Leah asked, not so much angry as just annoyed, confused and inconvenienced.

“It’s the shoes! Maru made them.” (Y/n) puffed, trying to rub their aching thighs as they kept running. “I can’t stop running!”

“Oh, I see what you’re going for now, you want to try to short-circuit the shoes with water, is that right?” Leah grunted, pulling herself out of the pond. She then futilely wrung water out of the bottom of her shirt.

“Yes!” (Y/n) nodded.

“Don’t worry, (Y/n). I’ll tackle ya if I have to!” Alex shouted, running to meet them head on.

They chased around the pond for several minutes. They had a bit of a strategy going that had Alex on one side of the pond and Leah at the other so they could conserve some energy, yet they still couldn’t catch the farmer.

“(Y/n)!” Maru cried out in relief as she and her family jogged tiredly towards the pond.

“Maru!” (Y/n) called in return, narrowly missing another attempted tackle by Alex. “Please for the love of Yoba, make it stop! My legs are burning so bad!”

“I’ll bet, sorry!” Maru huffed, coming to a stop at Leah’s side and looping arms with the drenched artist while motioning her family forward. “Come on, let’s make a wall!”

“This is kinda like an intense game of red rover, huh?” Leah commented wryly, shivering a bit as a gust of wind came through.

“Just hold on tight! Don’t let go for anything!” Maru said, digging her heels into the dirt.

“Incoming!” (Y/n) gasped, turning sharply around the bend of the pond with Alex tromping behind them.

“Oof!”

(Y/n) struck Maru and Demetrius’ interlocking arms and nearly got the wind knocked out of their lungs. Their legs were still moving, fighting against the obstruction.

“Wrap around!” Robin ordered, pulling Seb inward so they could wrap around (Y/n)’s back to prevent a backup escape. Leah met them on the other side, grabbing onto Robin to lock (Y/n) inside.

Even with this dogpile-esque formation, the group still struggled to rein the farmer in and keep their footing. Alex caught up, hands on knees, and let out a low whistle.

“Not even my gridball coach’s drills make me sweat this much.”

“So, where do we go from here?” Sebastian grunted. He’d have really like for (Y/n) to stop stepping on his feet.

“Yeah, we can’t exactly stay in this weird group hug forever.” Leah added.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Maru, wrapped her arms tightly around (Y/n)’s waist and Alex filled in behind her, between Leah and Demetrius, “Shuffle to the pond, then make an opening. Trip (Y/n) up, and I’ll rush us in.”

“Maru, you’ll get wet too!” (Y/n) exclaimed.

“Water’s fine. Trust me.” Leah said with a half smile and playfully rolled her eyes.

“It’s okay, we do this together,” Maru nodded and tightened her hold. “Start moving!”

“Alright sweetheart, let’s go!” Demetrius rallied, starting to shuffle in the direction of the lip of the pond.

Everyone joined in, making sure not to leave an opening for (Y/n) to unwillingly escape from. Being the closest to their watery destination, Seb and Robin loosened the death grip between them, ready to break apart completely on Maru’s command.

As soon as Maru felt a lull in (Y/n)’s movements, she pushed the farmer forward with a yell.

“Now!” She cried.

Robin and Seb managed to whip their arms away quickly, and watched with mouths slightly agape as Maru tackled (Y/n) into the shallow pond, almost as if they hadn’t expected her to actually go through with it.

The couple surfaced and sputtered, coughing and gasping from the intake of water as well as just plain exhaustion from running around all day.

“Ow, ow!” (Y/n) yelped, their hands moving beneath the water’s surface before reemerging with the pair of sparking shoes. Just as they threw them back on to the shore, a huge plume of smoke burst from them. The scene made those still standing on land back away considerably from the flashy footwear.

“Well,” Maru sighed, still hovering hands and knees above the farmer, beads of water clinging to her glasses, “safe to say that experiment was a bust.”

(Y/n) snorted and sat up to hug Maru, laughing earnestly and breathlessly. “Better luck next time. I suppose. I’m sure you can uh, work out the kinks.”

Maru smiled, hugging (Y/n) in return. Everyone else on the bank watched with little smiles of their own. Even Demetrius who had been wary of (Y/n)’s interest in his daughter initially, was warmed by the sight.

“Well, I think that was enough excitement for me.” Leah clapped, “I’m gonna just grab my stuff and get home to wash this algae smell off of me.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna head home too. Yoba, I’m gonna be feeling this tomorrow. Great workout, see ya around (Y/n).” Alex waved before heading off after Leah, splitting off in the direction of town.

“Are you two going to get out or...?” Sebastian let the words hang.

“I honestly don’t know if I can.” (Y/n) laughed despite themself, chuckling into Maru’s shoulder.

“I don’t know if I can either.” Maru joined her partner’s giggles, “Think we could get a little help?”

“You got it.” Robin said, already kicking off her boots n’ socks and rolling up her pant legs. The carpenter carefully waded into the pond and helped her daughter up first, passing the girl on wobbly legs over to Demetrius’ waiting arms. Next came (Y/n) who got to their feet with a painful moan. The farmer stumbled to shore and hung onto Maru for support.

“Thanks for the help guys.” (Y/n) grinned.

“You’re family,” Demetrius explained, “we weren’t gonna leave you like that.”

“Aw, Demetrius!” (Y/n) cooed, slightly embarrassing the scientist, “I love you guys. Y’all are the best!”

“Even after I made you test those shoes?” Maru asked.

“Yeah!” (Y/n) answered with no hesitation. “Even though I feel like every muscle in my legs have atrophied and turned to jello, I’d happily take on whatever else you need a test subject for. I just love spending time with you.”

“I think we’ll take a break from testing for awhile, though I’m both concerned and touched that you are still willing to be my test subject.” Maru said, picking a stray strand of algae off of (Y/n)’s shoulder.

“Hey, for a pretty genius like you? I’ll be forever at your disposal.”

“(Y/n)!” Maru pushed at their shoulder with a laugh, heat crawling up her cheeks.

“Alright, enough with the love fest.” Robin turned to Demetrius and Seb, “lunch at the Stardrop sound good?”

“Sounds good, hun.” Demetrius nodded, “It’ll be nice to rest before having to trek back up the mountain.”

“Yeah, I was supposed to meet up with Sam and Abi there anyway.” Seb shrugged, though he wished he could at least bring his void eggs back inside the house before hanging out in town.

Robin turned back to Maru and (Y/n). “And you two? Think you can make it?”

“Is it alright if we meet you there? I can take Maru back to the farm to borrow some dry clothes first if that’s okay. And I’m not sure what Gus’ policy is on shoes.” (Y/n) said wiggling their wet, socked toes in the grass.

“So long as there isn’t any funny business.” Demetrius leveled a protective fatherly gaze at the couple. Old habits die hard apparently.

“Dad, don’t be weird!” Maru admonished, already pulling (Y/n) towards the farm, “We’ll, meet you there. An hour tops!”

“Sounds good!” Robin called back, drowning out whatever retort her husband was going to come up with.

Maru stopped for only a second, asking her mom to take the sprinting shoes with her to the pub before turning her attention back to (Y/n) as they babbled on about their pigs as if nothing more substantial happened to them today. Their hands swung loosely between them, fingers intertwined. Maru smiled softly, listening to (Y/n)’s every word about hay and truffle oil. A lull in (Y/n)’s flow provided Maru an opportunity to lean in and give the farmer a chaste kiss.

“Ooo!” (Y/n) beamed before eagerly returning the favor. “Where did that come from?” They asked after a few more kisses were shared.

“I just wanted to kiss my sweet farmer. Much like when you think it’s cute when I talk about my projects, I think it’s cute when you talk about the farm.”

(Y/n) covered their face with their free hand, “Stop, you’ll make me blush. I can feel the blood rushing to my head already.”

Maru grinned, pulling the hand away from (Y/n)’s face to catch their bashful expression. Another quick kiss to the farmer’s cheek and Maru pulled them down the worn path to the farm, careful to watch for anything on the ground that could harm (Y/n)’s stocking feet.

#stardew valley x reader #stardew valley oneshots #sv Maru #stardew valley Maru #maru x reader #sdv #sv #stardew valley

[sjw-publishings]

Wassup Beach!

“Wassup, FAGS!”

Alex and Liam uncomfortably gazed away from the homophobic asian, who taunted them sarcastically like one of those bullies from college...than again, Cohen Wang was one of those bullies.

The 5 year boyfriends were looking for their friend Caleb...or at least they think that was his name, but it didn’t matter anyway, especially if the surfer jock was around.

“This is a QUEER-FREE BEACH, Beeeetches, get the Fag out!”

Even without insults from the douchebag, the two of them planned on carrying their stuff and heading a less crowded around, with clearer sand, a better view of the ocean, and no homophobia.

After all, there were Two lesbians embracing each other lovingly by the ocean. This was a safe space.

“No worries babe...I got popsicles!”

Alex smiled, glad Liam isn’t taking those insults too seriously, knowing how his boyfriend would usually be fighting back.

Setting up the umbrella, mat, and cooler box. Liam surprisingly did most of the work and pretty quickly, maybe he didn’t want to ruin their 1 year anniversary of when they started going out.

“Red bean and green tea?”

“They’re pretty good. Got the last two before they sold out.”

Liam sat on the matt, taking up most of the space on the mat as he munched on the red bean. Alex smiled, his boyfriend was so cute, even if he was acting more dominant. He proceed to pop the green tea one in his mouth...and wow...so good.

“Mmm, this green tea is good ...Liam?”

“Pretty cool...so good...”

Liarom immediately fished out for another red bean, his boyfriend of one month always seemed to be a huge Asia fan.

Though he won’t deny the....the speed at which Liarom was eating seemed to be quite excessive-

“What the fa-?”

RRIIIIIIIP!

Shredding the Hawaiian shirt, the man exposed his bare chest on display as he ate.

Large grabbable pectorals shining on display with a handsome coating of hair which made him all the more handsome.

But wasn’t his boyfriend body shy? No...that’s not right. The pan-asian man always loved displaying his body openly to the public. Wearing revealing clothing to accentuate his giant back muscles, his muscular arms which always seemed to be in the mood for a flex, his wonder abdominals which hid a six pack underneath, ready to pop out in a matter of days.

But...he was his right? As he glanced at those toned feet wiggling in their asian tanned splendour, thick sausage trunks which are begging to be massages. Especially up his thighs, to the large snake poking out his red beach trunks....weren’t they rainbow...? But that’s not right.

After all...his boy...friend always aimed to be manly...wait no-

“Li...Lierom!”

“Chill Fag~”

His friend always seemed to be quite the homophobe, ignoring what he says and always aiming to be chill and not caring about anything else.

It wasn’t before long that the necklace of...some gay couple, twisted into a simple silver chain of the bisexual jock’s chest. Though its questionable if the man was bisexual even...as he more than often teamed up with jock bullies to torment-

“FAG! Ooooooooof~”

Jerking from behind, like a huge stick pulled up from his arse, shrinking to an unpiercable bubble butt. Grabbing a hold of his manhood within those shorts, the man started panting, deep masculine groans emerged as a prominent apple stuck on his throat. Tossing the last of the red bean popsicles into the cooler box, the man grunted, begging for release.

It was...so hot. As Alex kneaded below, watching as his asian bully grunted in front of him. The hot tanned complexion bathing his skin, as those long hair chops sliced off and got carried away to the wind.

Sides buzzed off to the back as a stylish gelled top rested on the man, grinning like a doofus as a well groomed goatee donned his chin. A tasty moustache rested above his upper lip, and pearly whites shone from within him.

He closed his eyes, beaming his goofiest smile as the handsome surfer jock just went-

“OH!”

Splurt

“OHHHHHHH!”

As his body rested completely flat on the sand, completely entranced by the sound of the waves and-

“What a stud~”

“Tee hee~”

The asian hunk got up in an instant, ditching the strange stalker...whoever he was, behind him. Because all he cared about now was-

“Wassup Beeeaaaches~ the LEROY’S IN DA HOUSE!”

Leroy Wen swaggered to the ladies hanging over at the ocean, who instinctively swung his muscular arms over both of them like an Alpha, as the asian beach babes clutched onto him like the hunk he was.

The three of them fading of into the distance, like strangers as the confused gay SNAPPED out of his trance. His legs man-spreading on the beach mat, left hand digging into his trunks, the other fishing out for...for-

“Da Faaaaaack man?”

Alex slurred, almost uncharacteristically but he was kinda drunk wasn’t he? At least he recalled. Noting a couple of used beer cans, and popsicle sticks? Oh right...that green tea was great.

BUT WHY WAS IT ALL OUT?

Getting up, the man drunkly walked on the sand, still in a daze. But he had to get more...it was his vacation, right? His SOLO time.

Though he felt that everyday was his vacation.

“Huhuh... cool.”

Walking down the clear sands, making his way to the rough jagged Beach with crowds of people. Normally the caucasian would stay away from caution, but he felt pretty chill...

Walking with a swagger, making big steps as his footprints got larger, and larger as he made the transition. His legs certainly stretched like taffy, before solidifying with tough muscle. Swift moves, like surfin’.

“Surfin’~”

He slurred, lugging his thick calves towards the wavy rough ocean, size 12s sinking into the sand-but his height remained unchanged. Tall at a 6ft 3, like the chill dude he was-

“CHILL OUT FAG!”

SPLASH!

A huge tidal wave came crashing down on him, yet he still had a dopey grin...

The water engulfed his shirt away, dissolving until he was shirtless. It too had bathed the previous colours away, from those shorts, BEACH shorts they were, stretching with navy blue elasticity, with white rings at the edges and waist. A string tied itself from the front, which got pushed out further due to his thick manhood.

His buttocks clenched, preventing any water from entering in...but that’s not just it. He was gay, but he was not into that kind of intimacy...felt that it was a little too QUEER for him, he had a firm butt too...wouldn’t want to get spanked by a sissy.

Speaking of ‘sissy’, that sarcastic voice...and the word Fag really got to him. He was a Fag, but that didn’t give anybody the right to call him fag...but then they were right that he was a Fag?

Confused by the train of thought, he simply blurted-

“Shaddup Fag!”

This got the attention of a familiar looking douche, Cohen. Who pushed down his specs, got down his surfboard, and had a staring contest with the slightly taller male.

“No you shaddup Fag!”

“No you shaddup Fag!”

Mimicking the man’s voice, it was simple, and confused the heck out of the surfer jock.

“YOU SHADDUP!”

“YOU SHADDUP!”

He smirked, watching his dumbass rival trying to outsmart his dumbass and LOSIN’. After a moment of a heated glare-

“HAHAHA!”

Antolex laughed stupidly with his surfer bud, and frat roomie as the two grinned dumbly at the other. It always was fun questioning the other’s masculinity...cause it just made themselves-

“YOU GAY?”

MANLIER!

Stretching his wide traps, he arm hugged his bro. Hs lean but strong arms were a marvel to the ladies on the beach, alongside those wide traps exposed to the ocean.

“NO YOU GAY!”

Of course, the insult now stung harder than before, considering he WASN’T GAY. Duh, just look at his tanned bod, the effort he made to tone out his chest and pecs just so he can impress the ladies! Wasn’t as defined as his bro, but wasn’t bad since he mostly just started going serious last month, and used to always just party and get wasted in the frat house.

“YOU DA FAG!”

He grinned dumbly, his voice rumbling in a dark baritone drunken stupor.

Course he wasn’t the brightest tool in the shed, but he knew how to insult like his Frat Bro. Especially at the queers that gawk at him, this Asian Surfer was for DA LADIES ONLY!

“OH YEAH WELL-Bro...Bro!”

“What Bro?”

“Ladies...2 o clock!”

The men almost turned upon radar, spotting a couple of asian chicks who giggled and blushed at the men. Their gorgeous super model bods revealed...was just too much for this drunk dude.

“So...hot!”

Almost like time froze, as the man palmed himself without restraint. Kneading his hard member as he grinned his dumbest grin. A lust dusting of stubble over and under his lips, as a handsome gust of wind shaped his hair to a stylish short cut like his Bro.

His legs swaggered to the middle of the Beach, almost like a spotlight reserved for him. Except it was bright daylight, as his facial features had that dull but attractive charisma. Kneading himself as he grinned his widest grin.

Anthony Chang was ready to party.

PSSSH!

“WASSUP BEACH!”

#gay to straight #g2s #mental change #jock #asian #racial change #dumber #gay #lib to cons #to #surfer #straight #personality change #wassup #beach

[dcwdrops]

shut down.   (    self para.   )

It was like her life was falling apart all over again. 

When Jillian had returned to the Valley, she’d been in a lot of pain: physically, sure, but the rug had been pulled out of her so suddenly. The physical fall might have ended her skating career, but the emotional tumble she took tore her up from the inside out. Everything she’d been working towards, the one thing she had loved and finally, truly, been the best at — it was stolen from her. And the only person she could blame was herself. 

But she had been trying. Really, really. She had been. Even if it looked to everyone else that she took one step forward and two steps back — even just daring to take those steps forward was a feat for her. An immeasurable one. Waking up in the morning, talking to people, showing any semblance of kindness. There had been nights where she’d spent so long in the saloon, she didn’t remember crying herself to sleep in her bed. There had been moments where it felt like life couldn’t possibly get worse for her, where she couldn’t get out of bed, where she didn’t even talk to her family. 

And then, inch by inch, things had gotten better. It was marginal at first: she took on more hours in the store as she got off her crutches, she started eating meals with her parents and brothers again. She’d adopted Brioche, and sunk time and money into caring for him. She didn’t hide in the back room as much when people came to the general store. It was like she could breathe again, no matter how labored, how slow. She was breathing. She still spent too many nights drinking too much, she still was too quiet even around the people she knew too well to remain silent beside. She was still mean and argumentative and quick to anger. She still isolated herself. 

But each day, at least, didn’t feel like a life sentence. 

And then Joja came along. 

Things hadn’t been bad at first: they’d been an annoyance at best, stiff competition at worst. But then Joja had lowered their prices, and the Mercers had to raise theirs to stay afloat. They had to fire Alex. They had to cut her salary, they had to reduce store hours. They couldn’t compete: with variety, with convenience, with low prices. Even the promotions for JojaMart, and she knew they were just promotions, painted the store in a good light. The summer concert series, the raffle to fix the bus, even the stupid gift basket she’d gotten and burned. Joja was painting themselves as the good guys, getting involved with the community. And Mercer General store was dying a slow, painful death. 

And Joja had finally put the last nail in the coffin.

She stands in her room now, staring at the posters on the wall and the clothes in her dresser drawer, and she doesn’t know what to do anymore. The store beneath them will be hollowed out by the end of the week: soon to be nothing but empty shelves, all their goods packed already or sold away in a latch ditch effort to make some money. The sign that hung in the door felt taunting every time she passed by it: CLOSED. They hadn’t been able to do it. They were gone. Closed. 

There were a million things rushing through her head, ideas of what more she could have done. What she should have said, what she could have done. She knows it had been her fault, at least a little. It wasn’t like Jillian had given them the best publicity. Even with what Jillian considered to be the moral high ground taken ... she’d regressed again. All the vitriol she’d spat at Alex, the fight with Sasha on the beach in front of everybody, Alex’s house. Jillian had become a ticking time bomb, one that reset and exploded again and again and again. Of course she blamed herself. Of course it was her fault. She’d failed, and there was nothing she could do about it. 

She had failed. 

She’s supposed to be packing now — Jillian isn’t preparing to leave the Valley, not yet, but her parents are. Archie’s house in Cindersap forest is her next destination. Her brothers, save Stanley, who is venturing into Zuzu City with their parents to live with her uncle as they hunt for work, will be there. She won’t be alone, she reminds herself, but without her parents by her side, working for the store, it feels like she will be. She’ll go with them eventually, when they find an apartment and jobs there. She’ll leave Pelican Town, leave her home. They want her to go to college now that she can’t be supported by the store anymore. It’s time we move on, Jilly Bean. Her mother had told her quietly, almost ashamed. She knew that we meant her. It was time for Jillian to move on. 

Sitting atop her dresser, waiting for another day protesting outside Joja — SHOP LOCAL; SUPPORT MERCER GENERAL STORE painted neatly atop cardstock and cardboard — was the poster she’d made, the one that she’d thought would make a change. Evidently: it hadn’t. It had done nothing, and standing there with empty boxes all around her, she feels so stupid and childish for ever thinking she could do anything. Like if she stood tall and proud enough, she could stop Joja from destroying what she loved. It wasn’t a fairytale, where the good guys won in the end. She knew that now. 

Jillian Mercer just wasn’t cut out for happy endings. 

So she takes that poster and she rips it to shreds. She takes it and the tears it into little tiny pieces and she throws them across the room until she can’t read the words on it anymore and then she kicks her dresser hard, once, twice, three times, until the bottom drawer slides open and some of the trophies on top topple over, taunting her. She grabs the back of it then, and in one furious, heaving motion, tips it over with a dissatisfying thunk — the drawers sliding out, trophies and papers and everything else fluttering and flying across the room. She’s so angry that she wants to scream, or throw something, or hurl one of those stupid, stupid trophies out the window.

Instead, she sits on the floor, and she weeps. 

#depression tw #jillian / self para. #WELL

[coldsoupy]

The Deadly Desert - Interview Transcript, December 2016

The following is an interview transcript with Chris Stern of The Deadly Desert and The Sterns for an upcoming feature in Providence Monthly. He said some great stuff in great length and I wanted to let his full words and thoughts be heard. Enjoy.

The Deadly Desert

Providence Monthly: There's so much going on with your new album in terms of instrumentation, percussion and vocal arrangements, what was your writing process like? How do you compose your music?

Chris Stern: Songs, for me, always start with a melody or a lyric. Some people write at the piano or with their guitar and actively ‘work’ at a tune by fiddling with chords until something happens. I get easily frustrated if I sit down to write and I can’t connect all the dots right away. Great songs sound effortless, so if you’re pulling your hair out to write something magical, the effort shows and the song suffers. The best tunes come when you’re not expecting them, so melodies and lyrics arrive throughout the day. I might start humming something in the car. If I’m still humming it the next day, I know it’s a tune worth working on. If a melody or a lyric is really special, I’ll rush to the piano to start mapping it out immediately.

Home recording is where the bulk of ‘composing’ happens. Once I have a melody and a few chords, I’ll record a demo with just acoustic guitar and vocal to the 8-track. I might do 3 takes or a dozen, and every take, I’m changing the chords, editing the lyrics and fixing the structure. Once there is a solid form, the fun part begins: I’ll add keyboard drums, vocal harmony stacks, lead guitars, piano or organ, maybe a bass line. While I’m building the arrangement I’m evaluating the song and editing, mostly just ditching stuff that doesn’t work. After maybe 10 hours recording and rerecording parts, I’ve seen what’s possible within the song and I can be confident it’s finished.

I am a sucker for big, bold arrangements. Give me horns and strings and back-up singers, 4 pianos, triple-tracked guitars and 3 tambourines and I’m happy. In The Sterns, I was notorious for over-arranging and over-producing. Our third album ‘Savage Noble Steals The Ancient Riffs,’ had a few songs in excess of 100 tracks in pro-tools, which can give you a certain sound, or it can be an awful mess, especially in the mixing process. Tambourine is my favorite instrument, so almost every song has that jangle. Most of the songs were written on piano instead of guitar so I challenged myself to play all the keyboards, which is a joke because I am a terrible keyboard player. I set out to make this album ‘stripped down’ and almost completely failed. ‘Sob Story’ has female vocals, a horn section, vibraphone, timpani and 3 pianos to give it the Phil Specter ‘Wall of Sound’ so ‘stripped down’ went out the window but it’s probably my favorite song on the album and the most fun to record, so go figure.

Chris Stern

PM: There's a big range of influences on your album as well, I hear some Bell & Sebastion, Weezer, some Brit-pop...who inspires you?

CS: I worship the crazy geniuses: the guys who literally drove themselves insane and ruined their lives in pursuit of music like Brian Wilson, Daniel Johnston, Andy Partridge, Sly Stone and Syd Barrett etc. There is something so romantic and relatable about that obsession. I am a disciple of The Beatles and The Beach Boys specifically because those guys wrote songs designed for the studio. All the innovation and all those classic albums happened because they were writing music that didn’t have to be performed in concert. 4 guys on stage can’t play ‘A Day in the Life’ and do it justice. Andy Partridge of XTC quit touring due to crippling stage fright while XTC was still up and coming. They never got the fame they deserved, but they wrote ‘Skylarking’ which is my all-time favorite album. So that ethos of limitless studio creativity and crafting albums that are lush and carefully orchestrated with a broad palette of sounds and colors is important.

Lyrics are so crucial and I think they’re overlooked by a lot of musicians. My favorite artists combine a beautiful melody with meaningful and resonant words. Most lyrics in pop music are garbage; I’ve always been a bit of a snob about this. Some of my favorite songs have dumb or dull or lazy lyrics. Maybe they are bubble gum or just undercooked, I can still love the song. But great lyrics make a song three-dimensional and it’s that intersection of compelling melody and meaningful words that birth real emotions. Some of favorite lyricists are Paul Simon (my musical hero), Ray Davies of The Kinks, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Morrissey, Michael Stipe of REM, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp and Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian. Belle & Sebastian is my favorite current band, maybe my all time favorite band. Morrissey, in spite of his obvious faults, is unparalleled as a lyricist.

Films and books are a big inspiration. David Lynch, Woody Allen, Hal Hartley, Stephen King and Kurt Vonnegut spring to mind. 2 songs on this album even have lyrics ripped from television comedies, but I won’t divulge which songs or which shows. Many songs on this album were actually inspired by specific musicians and I name them in the songs: ‘The Best of The Dead Composer’/Morrissey, ‘Flames’/Daniel Johnston, ‘Stay Out of The Sunshine’/REM, ‘Are You Staying The Night?’/Bruce Springsteen. ‘The Assassination of Love’ is actually a murder ballad about me killing Mike Love of The Beach Boys. Mike Love is, honestly, the greatest villain in pop music history, if you’ve followed the saga between him and Brian Wilson that started in the 60’s. The song is upbeat and tongue-in-cheek, but I’m dead serious, Mike Love is the worst person. Total Trump voter. I’d love if he heard the song and hated it.

Jarod Cournoyer

PM: Tell me about The Sterns, I noticed some "Sterns" appear in the credits. You were featured on Rock Band? What have your other musical endeavors been?

CS: In high school, all I wanted to do was play jazz saxophone. In 1998 friends asked me to join a ska band called Shanty Sounds, which was my first introduction to the Providence Music scene. We played The Met, Lupo’s, The Living Room, The Ocean Mist etc. and did pretty well for a bunch of 16 and 17 year old white French kids from Woonsocket. Our finest hour was playing the final Providence Payback, which was a mini festival that The Amazing (Royal) Crowns hosted every year. I still think The Crowns are the best Providence band of the last 30 years. That show was a really big deal for me. After Shanty Sounds broke up, I saw Westbound Train at a Slackers show at The Wetlands in NYC and was blown away. They were based in Boston and when their sax player quit I was asked to audition. It’s hard to forget because I auditioned on September 12th 2001. They hired me and I spent over 2 years with Westbound Train. We toured with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and I learned how to sing and front a band.

Westbound Train released an album and our guitarist was robbed of all his gear so Alex Stern was hired to replace him for a three week tour. We hit it off almost immediately. I had just started trying to write songs and Alex already had a full-length album with his ska band Mass.Hysteria and his songs were just brilliant. We were both obsessed with British pop. We wrote our first song together on that tour. Later that year, I joined Mass. Hysteria on sax so Alex and I were now in 2 touring bands together and we were basically joined at the hip. By the end of 2003 we had a bunch of songs we were really proud of. We formed The Sterns with Emeen Zarookian (Spirit Kid), Andrew Sadoway (Bent Shapes) and Michael Gagne. I took the stage name Stern because I wasn’t fond of my dull very French last name and Alex and I wanted to show Ramones-esque brotherly solidarity. (Adam please don’t use Brunelle. I am using Stern, you can say it’s a stage name but just don’t use Brunelle to avoid confusion )

We self-released our first album ‘Say Goodbye to the Camera’ in 2005 and shockingly, it cracked the CMJ top 100 albums chart which was sort of unheard of for an unsigned band. We started getting a lot of good press around Boston. Music writers liked the album. We weren’t going to succeed on our looks; we were a critics band. All my favorite bands were critics darlings, so we were in good company. The Boston Herald included the lead-off track from our album, ‘This Will Only Hurt for a Minute’, in a round robin reader’s choice of the top 100 Boston songs of ALL TIME! We had no business being in there, but amazingly, we made it through the first round but lost in the second round to ‘Hangin’ Tough’ by New Kids on the Block. I still think that is fucking hilarious.

This Will Only Hurt For A Minute by The Sterns from the album, "Say Goodbye to the Camera"

We were courting some record labels when we started recording album 2. A local startup media company and label approached us while we were in the studio. They had a lot of money and they were going to focus on us and one other artist exclusively. We needed tour support and a van and we were swept off our feet really, but we signed our first record contract in the summer of 2006 and the label released our second album, ‘Sinner’s Stick Together’ in March of 2007. We were nominated for 2 Boston Music Awards (we didn’t win, but I did meet Bobby Brown at the ceremony) and AllMusic.com called the album “a pop masterpiece” which was very flattering. After that, it was touring, for what seemed like forever. Some highlights were opening for Apples in Stereo at SXSW and a string of tour dates with Meat Puppets, who are best known for playing 3 of their songs with Nirvana on the legendary ‘Unplugged’ album.

Touring became exhausting and we came off the road and went right back into the studio to start album number 3. Our record deal turned out to be too good to be true: they were very generous and gave us tons of tour support but they were very controlling in the recording process. Alex and I started to fight and I hated it, because I was living out every rock and roll cliché, and I saw it happening, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. They hired an outside producer for the sessions. Alex and I had produced the first 2 albums alone with Richard Marr and I was skeptical. I was constantly at odds with the label because they weren’t giving us the freedom we earned in the studio. I didn’t like how the album was shaping up at all. I refused to record the lead vocals until we resolved our issues with the label, but the band was falling apart. I was under contract but I was miserable and I thought about quitting the band. This was the hardest decision of my life and I went slightly nuts in the process. The longer I refused to sing and continued to postpone recording sessions, the worse things got. In March 2008, I tried to bargain with the label; I would record the vocals and release the album but I needed 6 months off from touring. I was burnt out, completely, and my health, mental and physical was suffering. Alex and I were barely speaking. After a show in Boston, Alex and I had words that escalated into the lamest fist fight that you’ve ever seen. Bouncers pulled us apart. I quit The Sterns that night via email and I didn’t speak to Alex for nearly 3 years. Album cancelled, band broken up, Rock and roll cliché complete. The kicker, of course, was that we didn’t know there was already a deal to include our song ‘Supreme Girl’ on Rock Band 2. Millions of people were going to know our song and our name but now there was no band.

Alex and I reconciled in 2011 and we were both haunted by the unfinished album. The record contract had expired but the label still owned the work we started in 2007 so we went back to Galaxy Park and started the whole album from scratch. Life had pointed us in different directions, so we weren’t back as a full time band but we chipped away the album in 2012 and 2013. We finished album 3, ‘Savage Noble Steals The Ancient Riffs’ in the spring of 2013 and that is when my mom got sick. My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in late June of 2013. A few weeks later in July, my girlfriend of 7 years left me amidst all the stress and turmoil of my mom’s illness. My Mom died unexpectedly on August 2nd , 7 weeks after diagnosis. So The Sterns were back but everything else in my life collapsed at once. That is the story of ‘Poor Me and The Pity Party…’ This was the darkest time in my life and I started writing music again for the first time since the Sterns breakup in 2008. I needed music to deal with the grief, the depression and the anger. I listened to all the great records about breakups and death and loss: ‘Rumours’, ‘Sea-Change’, ‘Automatic for the People’, ‘The Queen is Dead’, ‘Armed Forces’ etc. Most of my favorite music is somber or melancholy anyway, I am sort of a closet goth. But I found that during this horrible time, I didn’t really want to hear the sad songs that would let me wallow. I was seeking out upbeat music. And I found the self-consciously gloomy stuff that I loved (The Smiths, The Cure, Joy Division etc.) to be almost comical. As I wrote tunes, some were very heavy emotionally but there was something almost lighthearted about writing something so gut-wrenching, so I was sort of laughing at my own misery as a way of coping. 

As the songs started happening, I knew I had the makings of a great breakup record, a great death record but weirdly, also an upbeat pop record. The music was too personal to bring it to the Sterns and attempt to resurrect that band. So that was the first time I thought about a “solo” project. I hate the term “solo project”, nothing about it is solo except that it’s my first full-length apart from my established band. The original idea was to record 3 ep’s, each on a theme and create fictional bands for each of the ep’s. The darker, heavy tunes were going to be released under the name “Poor Me and The Pity Party”, a dig at the self conscious gloom rock bands, but also at myself. But after recording commenced, I started feeling like all the songs would work together really well as an album. So instead of releasing them cryptically under false names, I decided I was ready to start an actual band again and that is The Deadly Desert. Ryan Tremblay and Jarod Cournoyer deserve a lot of credit for making this band a reality, because at the outset when we went in the studio, I had no real designs of coming out of musical retirement, but they loved the songs and gave constant support and we loved playing music together, so hats off to them. We have Kathleen Dona-Zavalia playing drums, so now the band is a real thing, and I’m still not quite sure how it happened.

Ryan Tremblay

PM: What brought you to PVD? What attracts you to the scene?

CS: Providence has always been home. Growing up in Woonsocket was rather dull from a creative standpoint. I love my hometown but as a teenager there were no all ages music venues, no bookstores, no cinema, no ethnic food, no decent record stores or music stores so it was very isolating and if you wanted to see a show or buy a certain record, you hopped on 146 and came to Providence. By the time I graduated high school, I was spending most of my time in Providence, working at an east side record shop and going to school at URI downtown. I think we’re all incredibly lucky to live here and most of the time we don’t realize it. Culturally, we have the best features of

Boston or New York without the hassles of big city life. I lived in Boston for 3 years and it’s a beautiful city, but personally, Providence is more my speed.

I think one benefit of the compactness of Rhode Island and Providence specifically is that the music scene is very incestuous. Everyone knows everyone else so I think it helps foster a stronger sense of community without the competition. The music scene is Boston for example is more fractured and there are so many musicians vying for the attention of a dwindling live music audience that it becomes a competition. And I don’t think art should ever be competitive. A band that gets a buzz in Boston starts thinking nationally very early because Boston, like Austin, New York, Seattle, Nashville and L.A. is viewed as one of the big music towns where young bands are plucked from obscurity and vaulted to stardom. So there is a lot of posturing and jockeying for status within the music scene. There is none of that pretense in Providence, it’s more about the show, the record, the song. The focus is on the audience, not starting a career as a pop star.

PM: Where did you record the album? What was the process like? Are you very hands on?

CS: The album was recorded at Galaxy Park studios in Watertown, Massachusetts by my close friend and collaborator Richard Marr. He recently relocated the studio to downtown Salem. This is the fifth full length album I have recorded with Richard so we have a process in the studio that revolves around a lot of goofing around, drinking coffee and gossiping and then gradually we get down to work. He recorded all 3 of the Sterns albums so we communicate by osmosis because he knows what sounds I like and which sounds I don’t like, so we are able to skip a lot of hand wringing and debating because he instinctively knows what I’m hearing. It helps that he was raised on gloomy 80’s British guitar rock that I love because if I tell him, “You know that guitar tone on ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’?”, he’s already twisting knobs and dialing in the sound we need.

I am a control freak in the studio. Richard and I have been making records together since 2003 so he gives me free reign, like any good engineer or producer should. Most of what I know about recording comes from Richard anyway, so I am intimately involved in every part of the process. Richard runs pro-tools because I am somewhat computer illiterate when it comes to recording. It’s necessary, but it’s my weakness, so I focus on the sounds and we limit the use of digital tricks. We will spend a few hours finding the perfect combination of room sound, amp, microphone and analog effect rather than fishing around the computer for a digital plug in. I insisted that we record to tape, because, apparently, I like burning studio time and money. Richard hesitated but we did it, putting drums, bass, some acoustic guitar, piano and even some vocals to the tape machine. This only works because all the parts, including overdubs, are mapped out in advance. There is no composing or arranging in the studio. All the parts exist on the home demo, so when I’m behind the fancy studio mics, it’s about executing the parts and finding the sounds I can’t get in my bedroom with my 8 track and one mic. There is some improvisation, but not much. I pushed myself to learn theremin because I was fascinated by it and I wanted to use it on 2 tracks. I practiced for a few weeks before the session, went in and recorded theremin tracks for 6 or 7 hours. We ended up using maybe 10 seconds of theremin on the entire album, mostly because I performed it terribly. So ideas don’t always pan out, but we don’t experiment with parts, just sounds.

PM: Where would you like to see this album go? Why record it now? How will you translate the lush instrumentation live?

CS: I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I would love to sell a million copies of an album. That’s not going to happen. I always thought that The Sterns were sort of a cult band. We had a very small audience, but maybe 10 or 15 years later people would rediscover the albums and we’d be the great lost indie band that time forgot. I think anyone who is serious about music and works hard at it craves the validation and adoration of an audience, whether that’s 50 people at a concert or 1000 downloads on iTunes. But there is really no point doing the real work of writing, recording and releasing records if you don’t absolutely love to do it. If only 20 people hear this album, that’s alright, I’ll make another one. If we play shows and only 5 people come, that’s ok, we’ll book another show. So the album doesn’t have to go anywhere, it can just exist. On the other hand, I know it’s very trite, but in 2016, you can name your life a success if you can make a living doing what you love. So, of course, there is still that elusive dream of doing ONLY music and still paying my bills. I haven’t figured out that trick yet, but if I do, I’ll let you know.

I can live without playing live. I enjoy it, but it’s temporary. And honestly, as an introvert, playing live can be utterly exhausting. A recording lasts forever. I have great memories of my favorite concerts, but there is nothing like putting on your favorite song or album when you NEED to hear it. After years of touring, playing 100-150 shows a year, I realized the writing and recording process was my greatest strength. I don’t need “success” to spur me on. We started recording this album in September of 2014 and finished it in October. It took over 2 years, not because I was unmotivated or scrambling for ideas, but because the studio is expensive and I would work my day job, save up and then schedule a block of sessions every 6 weeks or so. I self-funded the recording because I love being in the studio and building the songs. Nothing for me is more fulfilling than starting with a tiny notion of a song and watching it blossom over time. So regardless of how this album is received, I already have another albums worth of songs that I am slowly working out. I’ll save up and when we’re ready we’ll go back into the studio and do it again and always try to improve on what came before.

-Cold Soup

#the sterns #providence monthly #interview #writing #indie #music #boston #providence #local #hipster #chris #stern #britpop #belle and sebastian #rhode island #live #album #the deadly desert #band #show #poor me and the pity party