Rise To Stardom - Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Electronica
Staring at Kyle as he finished performing the song in the small but well-equipped studio they had rented for his last hit song, Oliver couldn’t help but marvel in amazement.

Truly, at this point, maybe it was best that he began to expect anything and everything from Kyle.

That way, he wouldn’t always be so dumbstruck whenever his ward pulled off crazy feats like this.

“I can’t believe you wrote that in one night…” the agent folded his arms gently across his broad chest and said with astonished wonder.

Coming out of the rehearsal room, one that housed the musical instruments, Kyle replied with an infectious smile;

“Neither can I…”

“And if I’m being honest, the novelty of it hasn’t worn off by even, just a tiny bit…” he added while running his hands through his voluminous raven hair.

“I can only imagine.” Oliver shook his head with a satisfied smile.

“So, what’d you think of it? Like, in an overall sense? How would you interpret how you felt while listening to it?” Kyle then asked a slew of questions, curious about Oliver’s thoughts on the song.

Pursing his lips, this time trying to view it from a technical standpoint, Oliver mused.

Not that it was really his thing but still, the agent tried to properly arrange his words to get across how the song had felt to him.

“Well, first off, it feels very unconventional… In a good way…” the man began.

“But at the same time, it feels very dreamy, very ethereal-like, but also… whimsical. Whimsically appealing…” Oliver concluded his thoughts, causing Kyle to gently bop his head up and down in agreement.

That was the exact range of emotions he had been feeling when he was composing the song.

He was glad that the on-the-spur lyrics that he had added to it, did nothing to diminish that feeling but instead, amplified it even further.

“That’s very accurate.” he muttered to himself with a light smile.

“So, what’s the plan now? Will you be releasing it as soon as possible? Do you wanna shoot a music video for this too?” Oliver questioned with a serious expression, curious about Kyle’s plans for the song.

Usually, most agents or agencies would want to get their talents to release a song like this as soon as they possibly could while doing some heavy PR marketing if they could afford it.

They would try to make it the next big thing or next big project for their talents.

But Oliver… Oliver believed that kind of practice only served to burden the talents and might eventually hurt their efficiency and productivity.

For him, talents had to be in the best possible shape (both physically and mentally) and should be given a lot of free rein on how they should handle their creations and projects.

His job, according to his beliefs, was to guide and ensure that said talents, made the right calls.

Unfortunately, this was what so many of his previous talents took for granted, not understanding that he wasn’t bombarding them with projects because he didn’t have the resources to do so.

Far from that, he was doing it for their sakes alone.

Most of them unfortunately, ended up not realizing how much freedom he had afforded them until they switched sides and got to see the viciousness of the big agencies and wealthier free agents who managed their careers.

Kyle on the other hand though, was someone who genuinely appreciated gestures like that and because of that, he had decided that he was going to stick with Oliver till kingdom come.

That sort of unrestrained, unshackled freedom, was something he was sure he could never get from a big agency.

“Hmmm… Yeah, a music video would be nice… maybe. I even have a great idea for one if it comes down to that…” Kyle responded to his agent.

“But as for the song’s release date… I’m not sure becau-”

“You still want to improve upon it, right?” Oliver gave a knowing smile as he cut Kyle off mid-sentence.

“You read my mind Oliver.” the young man gave a small grin at his agent’s prediction of his exact thought process.

“And you know what’ll really make this song better?” Kyle suddenly questioned, his eyes twinkling with child-like enthusiasm.

“What?” Oliver asked, curious about his ward’s plans.

And then, with a Chesire grin, one that only served to pique Oliver’s curiosity even more, Kyle snapped his fingers for added dramatic effect as he said;

“Electronica!”

“Electronica?” Oliver’s raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise, his tone skeptical.

“Yeah. Electronica. It should really elevate the song. Make it even more distinct…” Kyle nodded, his head already swirling with ideas.

In his mind, the tune he had created would pair up exceptionally well with a dash of twinkling synthesizers and a sprinkle of electronic percussions.

In fact, Kyle already got down the tune for how the music was going to sound when all those things were put together and finalized, right up in his head.

Sighing, unable to understand the mind of a genius, Oliver whipped out his phone and said;

“Well, guess I’ll contact Jennie to help out with the song again.”

Not even hearing those words from his agent, Kyle, seemingly lost in a world of his own, kept mumbling a few things to himself as he slowly paced back and forth with his many ideas.

Oliver on the other hand, simply ignored him and made the phone call to the lady.

Speaking with Jennie on the phone for a few minutes though, Oliver nodded in understanding and after a few more seconds, cut the phone call.

“So, unfortunately, Jennie’s very busy and she won’t be available to help.” the agent said, snapping Kyle back to earth.

Although he hadn’t heard when Oliver had told him he was going to call Jennie, he more or less figured out the general sequence of words that he must’ve said to a distracted him before he contacted her.

“Hmmm. I see… Well it’s alright. Guess I’ll just have to do it myself.” Kyle interlocked his fingers, outstretching them as he said.

Raising his eyebrows for the second time today, Oliver’s eyes scanned Kyle from head to toe in the most questionable way possible.

“You know Oliver, I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Kyle had a rare, prideful, yet similarly playful expression on his face as he said that.

“Don’t quote [Star Turfs] at me. This is gonna be a pretty grueling task. Even for you.” Oliver retorted and gave his honest opinions.

“I like a good challenge.” Kyle shrugged with a nonchalant vibe to him and Oliver face-palmed.

“Besides, even if Jennie did help a lot with sprucing them up last time, I did write and produce my first three songs on my own, with my cheap laptop back then.” he added, his tone of choice, casual.

“Think of the wonders I can do with more resources this time” Kyle continued with a raised finger.

“And if I’m being honest, even if this song’s really good, it’s still not the kind of song that’s going to be very popular. It’s very unconventional, just like you said.”

“So, I’m really just going to take my sweet time with it. Make it the best possible version that I possibly can.” he concluded with a determined expression.

Hearing that and also seeing the truth in it, whilst also understanding fully well that Kyle was very capable of surprising him at every turn, Oliver gave in.

“Alright. Fine. But no more gigs from now on! You focus solely on that okay?”

Folding his arms across his chest, unwilling to give in to those demands, Kyle frowned.

He still wanted to do those gigs and here Oliver was, planning to cancel them all.

Directing a cold glare towards his ward, one that sent a shiver running down the length of his spine, Oliver ordered;

“Capisce?”

“Aye sir!” Kyle saluted!

Knowing fully well that Oliver was actually worried about him, especially when considering that he had found him sleeping on his piano yesterday, Kyle decided to follow through with his agent’s warning.

Even if overworking had been the sequence of events that gave him the inspiration for this particular song, Kyle himself knew that it could be detrimental to his health if he kept up with it.

‘Yeah. Let’s take it easy from now henceforth… if we can…’ he thought to himself with a small nod.

Oliver, upon seeing that Kyle got the message, gently shook his head and sighed, glad that the young man took his advice this time.

Suddenly remembering something though (the reason he had also been trying to get across to Kyle all morning yesterday), the agent casually stated;

“The trailer for [Epoch One] will be releasing a few days from now.”

Perking up at that information, his hands gently wiping the lenses of his glasses with a microfiber cloth, Kyle responded in genuine excitement;

“Post-production’s done? That was fast!”

“Yeah. It is. So, let’s look forward to seeing you on the big screen soon.” the agent replied with a warm smile.

* * *

“Director. Why aren’t you allowing the editors to include any scenes with Kyle in them in the trailer? He has a lot of fantastic scenes no?” Tom curiously asked when he noticed that Mark gave strict orders to the editing crew.

“Because, I need him to come as a welcome surprise to the audience.” the director responded while adjusting his glasses.

“The movie already has enough star power to draw in an audience in the form of Jeffrey and Bruce.” Mark continued.

“Plus, most people that are coming to see the movie, especially the older generation, already know what to expect from Bruce since he’s known for doing his own crazy stunts.”

“But what about the youngsters? What’d you think will happen after they watch the movie and see such a talented young chap doing all those insane action set-pieces and going toe to toe with experienced older actors?” he asked his assistant who slowly widened his eyes in realization.

“They’ll spread the news like wildfire, causing the movie to spread by mostly word of mouth. It’s basically free PR since our budget’s limited…” Tom slowly said, the wave of realization still hitting him.

“Exactly.” Mark nodded in reply.

“And besides, there is a scene in the trailer with Kyle in it. One I’m sure will be bound to evoke a lot of people’s curiosity about the movie.” the director added with shrewd smile.