The meeting between Matt Tisdale and the owners of KVA Records was scheduled for 11:00 AM at the KVA office where the rehearsal studio was located. Jake, Celia, Pauline, and Nerdly had all arrived by 10:00 so they could have a pre-meeting and discuss their various opinions on the matter at hand. This pre-meeting took place in the same place the meeting itself would: in the studio itself, which was currently not being used by anyone in the KVA organization. There was no drum set on the platform, no piano or keyboard set on the floor, no guitars or violins hanging on the racks. The microphone stands and the amplifiers and the effects pedals were all clustered together in the corner of the room, looking lonely and disused. Pauline had set up a large folding card table and some folding chairs just in front of the drum platform. In these chairs is where everyone was sitting currently.
“I am still mostly inclined to tell him to take a flying fuck,” Jake opined to the rest of them. “I don’t care if there is money to be made by signing him, he’s burned all of his bridges with me.”
Everyone nodded, having no problem whatsoever understanding Jake’s point of view. Matt had, after all, accused Jake of murdering Darren on multiple occasions. And even though those accusations had softened a bit over the years, he was still very much on public and private record as expressing the opinion that Jake, Nerdly, and Pauline were strongly responsible for Darren’s death.
“That is a very strong possibility,” Pauline said. “We have no reason to believe he has changed in any meaningful way. The very fact that he tried to push demands for production on us before we even agreed to talk to him about a signing strongly suggests this.”
Nods were exchanged all around. What Pauline was talking about was the offer that Matt had given to Nerdly initially, when he had first made contact. He had told Nerdly that he (Matt) would be willing to sign with KVA for his next solo album provided that he was given full control over the recording and production of the album—with maybe a little help from the Nerdlys in the mixing and mastering process— and as long as he did not have to meet with or have any interference from Jake, Pauline, or anyone else. Jake’s response—which he had given without even bothering to check with Pauline or Celia—had been to tell Nerdly to tell Matt to take that flying fuck. And Nerdly, being Nerdly, had done just that, using Jake’s exact words. Matt had hung up with a few choice words of his own, but he called Nerdly back the next day and, though he did not apologize in any way, asked if they could start over. It was then that he requested to meet with all of the owners of the label so they could talk the matter over. Nerdly had called Jake back and Jake had called Pauline and Celia at that point. Celia had been reluctant to agree to the meeting, as had Jake, but Pauline suggested that they at least hear him out. Perhaps there could be some profit they could pull in if they could agree to terms.
“I have never liked the man,” Celia said now. “From the very first moment I met him, he was rude and condescending to me. He insulted my musical talent, my family, my heritage. He has done nothing to redeem himself in my eyes since. I do not think he would be a good fit to the KVA family of acts. I think he would be nothing but trouble.”
“You are undoubtedly right,” Pauline said with a sigh. Of the four of them, she was the only one who was the least bit enthusiastic about the thought of signing Matt. And even she was not
“He was respectful to me when Sharon and I helped him with his sound at the Tsunami Sound Festival,” Nerdly said. “He even thanked us for our efforts. I am not sure, however, that his gratitude and acceptance would extend into the recording studio. Matt has very strong opinions about how his music should be recorded, mixed, and mastered.”
“That’s the truth,” Jake said, remembering the endless arguments with him back in the
“Agreed,” Pauline said without hesitation.
“Agreed,” said Nerdly.
“Agreed,” said Celia.
“All right then,” Jake said with a nod.
“Do we even know
“Does the reason matter?” Pauline asked.