Thunderbowl - Lesley Choyce [0]
Lesley Choyce
orca soundings
Copyright © 2004 Lesley Choyce
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now
known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Choyce, Lesley, 1951-
Thunderbowl/Lesley Choyce.
(Orca soundings)
ISBN 1-55143-277-3
I. Title. II. Series.
PS8555.H668T48 2004 jC813’.54 C2004-900487-5
Summary: Who needs school when
you’re going to be a rock star?
First published in the United States, 2004
Library of Congress Control Number:
Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its
publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the
Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry
Development Program (BPIDP), the Canada Council for the Arts,
and the British Columbia Arts Council.
Cover design: Lynn O’Rourke
Cover photography: Getty Images
In Canada:
Orca Book Publishers
1030 North Park Street
Victoria, BC Canada
V8T 1C6
In the United States:
Orca Book Publishers
PO Box 468
Custer, WA USA
98240-0468
Printed and bound in Canada
on New Leaf Eco, 100% post consumer waste paper
06 05 04 • 5 4 3 2 1
For my daughters,
Sunyata and Pamela
—L.C.
Other titles by Lesley Choyce,
published by Orca Book Publishers
Refuge Cove
(Orca Soundings)
Chapter One
“I’m nervous,” Drek complained as we drove toward The Dungeon, a local nightclub famous for its live music. It was going to be our first real public performance. Al was driving the old Dodge van that his grandfather had left him when he died. The floorboards were so rusted out that you could look down and see the road.
“Be cool,” Al said as we turned a corner and two mike stands fell over. “Forget there’s anybody out there.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just pretend we’re still back in your basement practicing.” We had practiced until we were perfect.
Steve Drekker plays synthesizer and Alistair Cullen is on drums. My name is Jeremy, but Drek and Al call me Germ. I play a mean guitar. I started out playing air guitar in my bedroom. Now it’s the real thing. My old man is still kicking himself for buying me the guitar. He saw me in my room one day. I had on the Walkman, cranked wide open. I was jumping up and down whaling on my guitar. The only problem was that I didn’t have a guitar. I was just pretending. But I could feel it. It was me playing those riffs. So my father went out and bought me this dumb nylon-string guitar.
I took lessons for three months. The dude who taught me thought I should get into country music. I told him, no way. So I sold the nylon, sold my bike and a bunch of CDs. With the money I bought an el cheapo electric and a crummy little amplifier. It drove my mother nuts. She started going out to the movies with my old man just to get away from the noise. Even my dog stopped hanging out in my bedroom.
And then one day I saw this ad posted in the music store. “WANTED: Lead guitar for new band. Must have experience and be into alternative music.” Hell, I had experience coming out of my ears. I’d been listening to music for years. And I was into any kind of music they wanted me for.
Fortunately for me, Thunderbowl wasn’t into rap or country or oldies. I knew just about every song they threw at me. And suddenly I was one of them. What I didn’t know was that the band was going to get me into so much trouble.
There are only three of us but once we crank up the amps and start rocking, you’d think we were an army. Drek has all sorts of tricks with the keyboard. He has patches and loops and an orchestra packed up in there and a jungle full of animal noises. If you want to hear what it sounds like to be taking off on the space shuttle, just ask Drek to play it back on a digital loop at full volume.
Drek is a tall, nervous guy who wears glasses. He’s probably an electronics genius, but he’d