[BPMF] Alix's Band Recruitment

Alix had put a poster up, ‘Bandmates Wanted for cool Bassist read to tear it up’ it had said, and they knew it was kind of a gamble, just sticking up a poster in a coffee shop and seeing what kind of pupps showed up, but Alix desperately wanted to play at the Bark Park Music Festival, so a gamble was a calculated risk. So far, she had regretted that risk. It seemed like only weirdos were showing up to apply to join their band, there was a snailcat who played the accordion, a puppillar that played the spoons, and even a puppillar ventriloquist who would only talk to Alix through his puppet. The vibes just weren’t there.

Alix was about to call it quits when another potential band when there was a knock at the door. A puppillar golden colored puppillar with curly hair peeked their head in, “Are auditions still open?” he asked, grinning behind his ombre sunglasses.

Alix sized him up, “Well, you can’t be worse than the last guy…” they replied, remembering the ventriloquist puppet and waving them into the room. The puppillar grinned and nodded, making his way inside. He had a normal looking instrument case, so Alix started to feel hopeful, though she was trying not to get her hopes up too much. “I’m Alix, my pronouns are she or they by the way, and as the poster said, I play the bass.” They picked up their bass, which was leaning against a nearby amp.

The other puppillar grinned even more, “Cool, well howdy there Alix!” they said in a drawl, “I’m Harvey, and coincidentally my pronouns are he or they!” He took the instrument case off of his back and opened it up, pulling out his instrument of choice, “And I play the banjo!!” Harvey kept on grinning, but Alix’s look turned exasperated.

“You gotta be kidding me…” she muttered under her breath. At this point she wanted a bandmate so badly though, and Harvey did seem nice and friendly, even if being that perky was super lame. “Alright, not really what I was looking for but…. Show me what you got then Harvey!” She plucked a few strings on her bass, throwing down a bassline.

“Sure, sounds good to me!” Harvey said, their cheerful demeanor not cracking even under Alix’s resting you-know-what face. Alix continued along with the bassline, and Harvey started nodding along with the beat before starting to experiment with some notes on his banjo, eventually starting to play along with Alix. 

Alix expected to hate it, but found themself starting to smile a bit as well, and with her cool exterior, that was something. The two jammed a bit, going back and forth with taking the lead on playing and the other one responding. It was going pretty well, and it even sounded pretty good. After a little while of jamming, Alix even started to add in some lyrics to their random jamming, “Haircuts and new piercings, I can always change it up, I can make me look like me, but changing deep down is more tough…”

Harvey was a little startled at first when Alix started singing, but he soon nodded along, adding in some of his own as well, “Even if it means I gotta change, gotta be me, gotta work my way to bein’ the best me…”

After some solid jamming, the two were packing up their instruments, Harvey grinning ear to ear, and Alix grinning, well, as much as Alix did. “You know, that turned out pretty awesome,” Alix said, “Even though I was kinda nervous when I saw that banjo, not gonna lie.” They laughed a bit, a little dry laugh, but that was an Alix laugh.

Harvey laughed as well, his was more of a deep belly laugh. “Well… also not gonna lie, as soon as I walked in I was kinda nervous, you got a real serious look about you bud.” This caused Alix to uncharacteristically burst out laughing, and afterwards the two chatted for a while before deciding when their next practice would be. They would take the Bark Park Music Festival by storm, even though they were quite the odd duo!