SPEAK for a year: October

“They’re good friends of mine. They’re gonna do huge things this year. Their EP “Hear Here” is out now... ACL, make some noise for SPEAK!”

Shortly after that introduction, I watched Troupe, Joey and Nick walked up the steps of the BMI stage for their first ACL appearance (Jake was already seated behind his drums on stage). The crowd who gathered to catch this band for their 12:40 p.m. set cheered louder than I’ve ever heard before at a SPEAK show. That whole experience was surreal to me and I’m not even in the band.

This was a special month for SPEAK for a Year. No lie. It’s not only amazing that the guys had the opportunity to play at ACL in the first place, but they allowed me to come along for the ride. I got to break the barrier between the band, me and the stage and saw more of a behind-the-scenes look of SPEAK this month.

It was the first time I saw the guys before 9 p.m. In fact, we met at Nick’s parents’ house at 9 a.m. that morning. Yes people, they really are just like us. They’re sleepy and in desperate need of caffeine that early in the morning too. I was surprised when I rang the door bell and Nick’s mom answered the door. I also apologized profusely for arriving 20 minutes early (I rode the bus), but she was more than generous and even made me a cup of tea. Plus, it was nice to geek over the experience I’ve had with this SPEAK project with someone new and someone other than a friend of mine that hasn’t heard me talk about them over and over and over again.

After Troupe arrived fashionably late, we all hopped in two cars and off we went. If I said it felt great to be there, I would be lying. Don’t get me wrong. I was ecstatic and blown away I was given the opportunity to tag along with the guys for this show. But I was worried out of my mind that any moment, someone was going to approach me and realize I didn’t belong there or something and escort me out of the premises. Why did I feel this way? Who freaking knows. If you look back seven and a half years to the origin of how I got started, you’ll see that I started off as a “blogger” (even though our sites weren't called blogs back then. We had fanzines.) so there’s a huge part of me that still feels like an unprofessional noob. But to explain the reasoning behind that is for another therapy couch session for another day.

But I took advantage of my backstage access as I could. No, I didn’t steal anything (we did have access to a lot of free food, drinks and swag) or sneak away for a glance of any of the bands in their trailers near SPEAK’s. I merely took everything all in and was trying really hard to keep my cool (which was pretty easy considering how exhausted I was from my hard week), even though on the inside, I was a giddy little girl.

Somehow I ended on the same cart with the band when they went to load their instruments, which ended up being cool because we got a little tour of the grounds, glanced at their stage when they dropped off their instruments, and I listened to the band debate if that was really Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne who gave us (well more them) a fist pump when we drove by him (turns out it was).

Because they played an early set, there really wasn’t much downtime. They got in their trailer, grabbed some coffee, practiced vocals (which I learned they do A LOT. So that’s how they hit those harmonies every time.), and off they went to soundcheck.

Poor Nick was having technical problems during sound check which was an omen of what was about to come. But overall the show was great. I thought last month’s show at Beauty Bar was loud. I’m so glad I remembered ear plugs this time. Outside shows during a sunny afternoon are always a photographer’s dream. If I was closer to the stage, the photos would have been the best I’ve taken, but the lighting was great.

This was the largest crowd at a SPEAK show. There were people hanging by the stage after the previous band was done. And their stage was right there when people walked in so they attracted a lot of stragglers. People were dancing and cheering and clapping their hands. It was adorable to watch. As cheesy as it sounds, I couldn’t help but feel proud of them. It sucked that Nick had technical problems throughout his set but local producer Frenchie Smith (who also produced SPEAK’s “Here Hear” EP) saved the day and all was well. That man deserves a hug.

The cover of the show was Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive” which I happened to be there when they decided that was the cover and practiced the harmonies in the trailer. Smart move on the guys’ part too. The crowd ate it up.

After the show, we hopped on cart and headed to the Waterloo Tent for their signing. I figured we would be done and go our separate ways but they didn’t tell me to leave so I stayed around. I was peeking through the sheet to take photos of the guys signing t-shirts when Whitaker, their manager, told me “Sarah, get in there.” Done. That’s all I needed to hear. Sadly, there wasn’t much space between the wall and the chairs so I was a bit cramped and almost tripped but none of us cared or complained. But I got some good photos and footage.

We did go our separate ways, however, when we got to the media tent. They did some interviews with various media. I hung out with my media friends. I got their last thoughts for the video and then we said good-bye. This was around 5 p.m. So that was eight hours of SPEAK and you know what? It was pretty cool.

Two more months until SPEAK for a Year comes to a close. The guys are going on tour for November with a homecoming show at Emo’s on the 22nd. I can’t wait to hear how it goes.