“Alright, I think we should run that one again.” Spenser said. Band practice this week seemed to always be boring and tedious. But they had another gig in about three weeks, and if they wanted to move onto bigger venues, they had to start small.
“Aw, can we take a break?” Conifer, who was already sitting on the floor, whined.
“Sure, five minutes.” Spenser set his bass down and pulled out his phone. There was a text from Abigail.
“Whew, alright, I gotta get some water.” Jaclynn, the lead guitarist, said as she walked out of the room. “You want anything?” She turned around to Derek, their drummer, who was the most exhausted of all of them.
“Nah. I got this.” Derek said as he held up an energy drink.
“That’s not water but whatever, man.” Jaclynn knew she couldn’t convince him to stop drinking poison, so she’d just given up at this point.
“Woah wait!” Spenser called everyone’s attention. “Guys, we’re… being offered a record deal.” He sat staring in disbelief at his phone.
“No way.” Derek stood up as the rest of the band crowded around Spenser. His phone displayed a text from Abigail with a screenshot of an email she’d received.
ABIGAIL: Look! Offer from Sparrow Records!!
“Holy shit.” Jaclynn bent down to take a closer look. Spenser opened the door and called out to Abigail. Within a few seconds she came bounding down the stairs.
“Hiii, did you get my text? I didn’t want to disturb your band practice.” She peeked in and smiled at Jaclynn and Derek.
“Are you kidding, is this real?” Spenser held his phone up to her.
“Of course it’s real!!” She smiled at him.
“Well why did you get the email and not one of us?” Derek asked.
“Oh, it’s cause she runs our Instagram and Facebook pages. All the contact info goes to her.” Conifer said.
Abigail looked back to Spenser. “Have you not heard of Sparrow Records before?”
“That’s the one that recruits a bunch of people at a time and like… moves them in together, right?” Conifer asked.
“Mhm!” Abigail pulled out her own phone and began to read out the email.
To the members of The Pumpkin Patch,
I hope this email finds you well! My name is Alexzander Amour, and I’m the owner of the independent label Sparrow Records. My team and I have noticed your outstanding musical talents and I’d like to offer you a record deal. We are constantly on the lookout for young, new artists like you with the potential to change the music scene.
Signing with us will give you nearly unlimited access to many of our own recording studios, a broadened reach among other people of your age, more exposure, bigger boosts on streaming platforms, and contact with similar artists. Production, mixing, and backup bands are also offered at a discounted price to anyone signed with us. There are only a few conditions we ask of you.
One of the most unique traits of our record label is the ability to offer free housing to our artists. We believe that being able to live with other musicians inspires a greater creative drive, and leads to better production from everyone involved. We’ve provided a fully furnished room for you in addition to fully paid transportation and moving fees. Please read the attached document for more information.
We are looking forward to hearing from you! It’d be an honor to work with you.
There was a pause as everyone took in this new information.
“No way. That can’t be real.” Spenser said.
“It is!! Look it up!” Abigail insisted. Spenser rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone again. Upon a quick search it seemed to be true: Sparrow Records was a legitimate record label, and they’d produced some of the most famous pop artists of the last ten years.
“This isn’t something we can turn down.” Jaclynn said, reading over his shoulder.
“Well, as your unofficial band manager, I think you should take it!” Abigail announced. Spenser looked back down at his phone, which was sitting open on the Sparrow Records home page.
“You’re official now, baby.” He said. “Alright, I guess let’s accept.”
