Interview 2000
And it was Clive Davis who flew Acid Reign to New York City and we auditioned for him…
September 1996
Spike’s hands grasped the arm rests tightly, eyes squeezed closed, as the plane hit some more turbulence. Bloody hell, he thought, how much more of this? He tried to distract himself, but his CD player ran out of batteries about half way through the flight, and he stupidly forgot to bring extra batteries.
Sighing in relief as the plane leveled out, he looked over at Angel. He was asleep. Of course, he was. Sighing again, Spike turned to his blank notebook in an attempt to perhaps write something. What, he didn’t really know. Anything to help keep his mind off the damned flight…
The plane hit another pocket of turbulence.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered, gripping the arm rests once again.
Spike never thought he’d be so happy to be on solid ground as he exited the plane and entered LaGuardia. “Thank the bloody stars that’s soddin’ over,” he said as he and Angel waited with the rest of their fellow passengers in front of the baggage pickup.
Angel gave a small smile, “You know we’ll just have to do it again in a couple of days.”
Spike glared at him, “Thank you for that, mate.” He snatched up his suitcase as it came near. “I’m gonna go find a pay phone and call Buffy. Let her know we’re here.”
Angel nodded, “Okay. Meet you in the front in a few.”
“Yeah.” He turned and looked for the closest phone.
Setting his luggage down beside him, Spike glimpsed at his watch. 9:05 PM. Of course, that was London time. But at least he knew she’d still be awake. He picked up the handset of the phone and connected to a long-distance operator. As he waited for one to come on the line, he busied himself with setting his watch for five hours behind…Here it was now 4:05.
An operator came on the line and he rattled off all the information she needed and waited for the call to connect. He idly watched the people rush by as he listened to the sounds of the operator speaking to Buffy and then connecting the call.
Then, “William?”
“Hey, pet,” he said. “Miss you.”
“Miss you, too,” he could tell she was smiling from her voice. “I take it you two got there just fine?”
“Yeah.”
“How was the flight?”
“Bloody terrifying.”
She laughed, “It wasn’t that bad.”
“To hell it wasn’t.”
“Poor baby,” she humored him.
“The soddin’ plane kept shaking.”
“You are aware that’s normal, right?”
He gave a small shrug, even though she couldn’t see him, “Yeah, well…still bloody terrifying.”
She giggled again, “So, what’s the plan?”
He gave a small sigh, “Not sure. We’re supposed to be greeted by some guy and I think he’s taking us to Mr. Davis. Or maybe we won’t see him until tomorrow.”
“Okay, well, I don’t want to keep you too long. So, I’ll let you go…miss you.”
“Miss you, too. Love you, pet.”
“Love you, too. See you in a few days.”
“Yeah.”
With the conversation now over, Spike bent over and picked up his luggage and proceeded toward the entrance where Angel was waiting. Wordlessly, the pair found a man in a suit holding a sign that held both of their names.
“Angel O’Connor and William Giles?” the man asked as they approached him.
“Yeah,” Spike said.
“Good. I’m Mr. Davis’ assistant, Steve. Unfortunately, Mr. Davis cannot meet with you today, but as arranged to do so tomorrow morning. He asked me to take you to your hotel. Let you get settled in.”
The men nodded and followed him to the car. They rode in silence as Spike spent the time looking out the window in amazement.
This was the first time in his life that he’d ever been to America. He listened to tales of the country from Buffy, but he’d never seen it before himself.
He found that he loved it. The modernity of the city. So different from his home in London. But, he still looked forward to leaving the place. After all, Buffy wasn’t here.
The Next Morning
When Spike and Angel arrived at the head office of Arista Records, they were led to a sort of recording studio, but bigger than the one they recorded at in London. While not exactly a stage, it suited them just fine. The two of them decided they would go acoustic for the showcase. Spike loved performing acoustically. It allowed him the opportunity to really show off his vocal talents. But, at the same time, he couldn’t hide if he screwed up. So, an acoustic performance took talent. And confidence.
Steve greeted them when they arrived and introduced them to the man who would decide their future.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Mr. Clive Davis said as he shook their hands. He seemed to be friendly gentlemen. Genuinely interested in being there. “How was the flight? Not too bad, I hope?”
“It was fine, Mr. Davis,” Angel said.
Spike didn’t argue to the contrary.
Mr. Davis introduced them to the man next to him, “This is Donnie Ienner. He works over at Columbia. He’s going to listen in today.”
More hands were shook and Spike and Angel took their places.
Spike stood quietly in front of his microphone, eyes closed, attempting to get in the zone, so to speak. He imagined this was just like any other performance. Except, Acid Reign never performed in front of an audience before. Just Wesley as they were recording their debut. But he couldn’t let himself go down that track. It would just make him more nervous. He and Angel had been rehearsing tirelessly for this for weeks since they learned of Clive Davis’ interest.
They were as prepared for this as they could get. His vocals were never better. Angel’s guitar playing was top notch. They had the talent. He knew they did. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t. Now, they just needed to make sure the confidence to pull it off was there. After all, talent alone was not enough.
A realization emerged. He was living his dream. He fought to get here. When things looked bleak and it looked like it was a pointless battle, he and Angel trooped on. Never giving up. And now, they were here. In front of one of the biggest music producers in the world. He was taking the time to listen, when so many turned them down.
And, so, it was with this thought, that Spike’s confidence swelled and he opened his eyes and sang.
Interview 2000
We were initially signed up to Sony by complete accident…
END CHAPTER TEN