Rocked Up

I make my way through a common area and down a little hallway. There’s a red light in front of the door that has the words Recording in process on it. It’s flashing on and off.

The door swings open and there she is. Lael looks at us, her eyes are bright and they shine with love just like her daughter’s. Lael is contorting herself so she can flick the switch from the control room and see if it’s working from the hall where Emma and I are standing.

“Success!” she says in reference to the newly installed light.

“Success,” I respond.

“Oh, look at you two. I love you so much,” she says as she rushes over and hugs us. She kisses me and Emma smiles at the sight of her mom. She takes Emma from my arms and holds her tight.

“Are you ready?” Lael asks with her fist clenched in excitement.

“Yes I am,” I answer.

In more ways than she can possibly know.

I check my pocket once again.

We walk into the control room and there it is. It’s slightly smaller than I thought it would be but I still can’t imagine how it got in here. The sides and top are beautiful old wood, there are more faders and knobs then I can compute at first glance. There are meters with needles and nothing about this is digital, it’s as analog and true as it gets. It’s the cinematic setting for a mad scientist and his time machine, or a maybe a wizard’s machine built to access another world.

The perfect mix of science and magic.

“We had a little technical difficulty but this is the moment of truth,” Lael says. I can tell she’s been working hard and it’s the excitement that’s keeping her going.

The room is full, most of the staff are here, in fact they’re all here. The excitement about the studio and especially the Neve Mixing Desk has attracted a crowd.

I didn’t plan for a crowd this evening.

Not for what I have planned.

“Come on, take a seat captain,” Lael says pulling out the chair.

I sit down at the desk. I don’t pull in too close because someone is underneath fumbling with some cables. I push up the master fader for fun. To think of all the creative energy that will be going through this machine, all the memories will be channeled through these tubes and cables. Maybe Emma will one day sing a song through this mixer.

Zap!

“Ahh!” The fella under the desk hits his head when he recoils from the shock. It smells like electrical burning. “I’m okay, I’m okay, nothing is broken, sorry about that. I am going to need some time here.”

I don’t recognize him and assume he’s the specialist that traveled with this particular unit. These old machines take considerable amount of care and there are very few people in the world that can handle them.

“Oh no! Okay, come check out the live room with me then,” Lael says to me, trying not let her enthusiasm waver, even though I can see the live room well from where I sit. Directly above the mixing desk is a soundproof window. You can sit at the mixing desk and look right into the eyes of whomever is performing in the live room.

“Sure, let’s check it out,” I get up and follow her through the large door. It feels like entering a bomb shelter because the door and walls are so thick. I clap my hands to hear the echo of the room.

“Perfect. This is perfect,” I say to her, walking around the room, exploring what’s lying around. There’s a leather sofa chair in the corner that sticks out. Lael notices me looking at it.

“It’s just there for now. It will be moved to the other room,” she says.

I chuckle over the fact that she’s so concerned about it and look through the glass to see all the grey-haired staff fussing over the mixing desk.

There’s something about being in a soundproof room, you can hear your own breath, your own heart beating in your ears. Mine is beating fast. I wasn’t planning on doing it like this. But I feel like if I wait for the perfect moment I’ll be waiting for the rest of my life.

“Are you okay?” Lael asks.

“Yes, I am. I’m more than okay.” I take Emma from her arms and place her carefully on the sofa.

“What are you doing? She can fall, I can hold her,” Lael says with some confusion in her voice.

“It’s okay, I’ll stay down here next to her,” I say as I get down on one knee.

I look up at Lael and watch as her confusion melts away.

She knows what’s happening.

And so I take a moment, I don’t rush. We look at each other with love. I have one hand on baby Emma keeping her steady and Emma has a silly smile on her face.

I think I might too.

“When you picked me up from the airport my life changed forever,” I tell her, clearing my throat. “We have had a wild ride, you and I, and looking around this place I feel like we are just getting started. We’re going to travel the world playing wild rock shows, we’re going to make music out of this studio, we’re going to do it together, the three of us. We’re going to live our lives exactly how we want to. I am in love with you. And I want to break all the rules with you. Lael Ramsey I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”



I steady giggling Emma again, then reach into my pocket, fumbling for a moment to find the ring.

Lael breaks down into tears,

“Yes,” she says, her voice choking.

I put the ring on her finger. All the hair on my body is on end, I don’t cry but but emotion is coursing through me in way I can’t describe. Lael looks at the ring then pulls me up.

“I love you so much,” she says to me.

I pick up Emma. I kiss Lael and hold her with Emma between us. We are one, we are family.

“Looks like you got it on the first take.”

We hear the words coming from the speakers in the corners of the room. Our attention goes to the control room behind the soundproof glass. All the staff are watching us. I notice a few of them have taken off their hats and are holding them next to their hearts. The fella at the seat is holding down the talkback mic, the crew begins to applaud. Then the fella at the desk releases the talkback button to clap his hands.

We watch the entire crew applaud in complete silence. It’s a strange sight, all of them clapping and shouting, and not hearing a sound.

Another fella reaches over and presses the talkback mic again, the sound of the shouts and applause make us jump.

“Congratulations!’ he says with a large smile.

Lael steps closer to the old-timey looking microphone in the middle of the room that has obviously captured my proposal.

“Thank you, I guess this means the desk works then,” Lael says into the mic.

“Everything looks perfect,” he says to us over the volume of the applause.

***

I’m in the theater tonight, doing the sound for the live performance and getting a young band set up for their show. They’re a simple trio, bass, drums and guitar. It’s an easy one but it’s been a long time for me and it’s not as second nature as it once was.