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More from AshleyOnce
An amazing gift from my bestest kitkat 
for Christmas. I can't thank you enough for this - it truly is a deeply personal gift to me.
Art by the forever-awesome
, please check them out whenever you can.
Starring myself
in one of my dream jobs. For those of you who don't know, I study audio technology at university and have became fairly good at it over the years. Though, despite me adoring what I do and most of what comes with it, it wasn't even close to my dream - my dream, for the longest time, was to be the singer for a band. I don't mean necessarily a pop singer, rather a singer of emotion-fuelled rock ballads from the bands that I most idolised. Indie rock, from bands like 'The Front Bottoms' and 'Modern Baseball' spring to mind immediately.
While I can find a lot to love in a lot of music, bands that go off their own backs, do their own writing, and create their own stories are the ones I most cherish. And of course, knew this just fine, and was armed with the knowledge that I'd love to be a singer for a band like that.
So here I am, in a worryingly close dress to what I'd wear any other day, doing what I want to do rather than what I know I should do, and fucking nailing it.
I've got a story for you guys, but since I'm always the type to take full advantage of any opportunity to share some of my favourite music with people, I thought I'd do so. The songs will even be included in the story, if you'd like a more immersive experience into the story. Here's three of my favourites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWFvYXmlfmQ Modern Baseball - Hours Outside in the Snow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO_Iy5f0whc Blue October - Sway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1rzsT2t2YY The Front Bottoms - Twin Sized Matress
Keep in mind I'm under no illusion that I own, or have actually ever played any of these songs. But hey, it's a fantasy... And I wanna live it. I hope you enjoy living it with me.
Sweat beads, anxiety and dull bickering. It was hard to focus on anything else. There was a general awe of speed and stress zooming around the zebra, stage hands rushing past at high speed while people yelled full force into flimsy microphones attached to their heads. Ashley only caught a couple of them; "Backup amp lead? Where is it?!"
"Where the fuck is my Coffee!? Who took my fucking coffee?!"
"I swear to god if I look behind me and someone's stolen my guitar tuner again one of you is getting a-"
It was safe to say it wasn't exactly a friendly environment to be in, that being behind the stage 2 minutes before showtime. Ashley tilted his head up to look at his other fellow band members. They looked fairly docile compared to how he was feeling, though he imagined that if they ignored the sweat, the shaking and the lip-biting that even he could pull off keeping cool. Though, deep down he knew they were just as nervous as him... Hopefully.
A large hand on his shoulder quickly shocked the zebra out of his tired, anxious trance. It was the knowing hand of his manager, one with a soft smirk that always cheered him up. He spoke deeply, tail swaying gently behind him; "Showtime, sweetheart." it was a rather familiar face, the very tiger who had recruited the band not a few months ago, in a bar when they were essentially nobodies.
The zebra grasped his guitar gently in his hands. It was a specially designed one too, with oak and darkened oak imitating stripes across the wood in a beautiful pattern. It was slightly smaller too, allowing the rather short zebra to carry more easily when he was swinging around the stage like a monkey, as he often did when he got a little bit too excited. In fact, that's what kept the zebra from going crazy with fear and anxiety - the knowing that it was always the thought that was worse than the act itself.
With guitar in hand, earpiece in his rightmost ear, and a quick check that his hair and clothes looked alright, he looked toward his band-mates and gave a quick nod. Their jack-of-all musician, who filled parts such as the violin and keyboard, was looking particularly nervous... But it was nothing a soft pat on his shoulder wouldn't help. With a collective sigh, the band strolled out onto the main stage. The crowd immediately erupted, arms flying up in a beautiful wave. Screams that rang feedback through the zebra's earpiece made him wince, but was quickly corrected by the sound-tech. Ashley took his position behind the microphone, letting the guitar hang loosely around his shoulder while his other band-mates scrambled to take their positions.
Ashley took a minute to just appreciate the giant crowd that was in front of them. This was their first tour by themselves after their big break a few months prior with Alex Marx the Spot, and they certainly didn't want to fuck it up. However, the crowd looked incredible. Hundreds of beautiful people yelling and chanting their name. Their energy was infectious, filling the room with heat and excitement for both the patrons and the band members themselves.
Taking a step forward, hand grasping the microphone softly in his hand, Ashley yanked it free of its stand and spoke into it. Anxiety was being replaced with confidence, cheering shooed away his nerves, and the once aggravating heat was now only working to excite him for the next two hour performance they hand in store for them. The lithe boy spoke fluently into the microphone, strolling to one side of the stage, then the next several times throughout sentences. "Wow... " he said with a shake of his head and a smile. "Thank you guys so much, what a beautiful welcome."
His words were only greeted with another cheer, to which he giggled into the microphone, swaying to the other side of the stage, a quick glance at his band-mates to make sure they were ready followed before he continued talking. "Well for those of you don't know, we're Melted Wax..." Interrupted by further cheer, he tried to talk over the crowd who quieted down quickly to hear what he had to say. "And we're here on our first solo tour, since you guys loved our music so much on the supporting job we with Alex and her amazing crew a few months ago..."
The crowd was rowdy, especially on mention of their debut act with the famous popstar. Despite this Ashley kept talking. "We're here to make you feel things tonight, at least that our aim. We believe songs can be the best ways to get your emotions out in front of you, and I hope with some of the music we have with us tonight that you'll be feeling some important, and hopefully good, emotions when you leave tonight."
Ashley placed the microphone back on it's stand, and grasped his acoustic guitar gently in his hands, fiddling with the strings to get his hands in the right places to begin. "This first song is called 'Hours Outside in the Snow', and it's about feeling something for someone who doesn't have those feelings back."
As expected, with a couple of keen clicks of the sticks from the drummer, the band erupted in perfect time together to perform their first song. Ashley sang into the microphone; "I spent all of Christmas Eve fake angry at you..." while strumming softly on his guitar in fairly simple chords... The song got more upbeat after the first verse, and it was then that Ashley felt that rush of performance swing over him like a gust of wind. His slightly uncomfortable expression was replaced with beautiful confidence, even through his vocals that were rather sad. The chorus crept closer of course, and eventually Ashley egged on the crowd, missing out a line in order to yell at the crowd "Alright I wanna hear every single fucking one of you sing with us if you've ever had your heart broken..."
The drums ended in a fill, marking the start of the chorus, and the guests sang their hearts out to the chorus. Ashley joined them, but barely needed to; they were loud enough as it was. "You might run! Oh, but I won't hide!"
Thumping came from the patrons as they jumped up and down and cheered for the song, which unhappily to many, had to come to an end with the final chord.
No rest however... Several songs came soon after, churning out in waves. Some were favourites, some were brand new... Some were rather experimental, but all of them were met with happiness from the crowd, whether it was just polite or not was a mystery... Until the lead guitarist next to Ashley started the first few strings of 'Sway'. The crowd gave a short-lived cheer, and Ashley unplugged and placed his guitar on a stand next to him, since he wouldn't need it until their last song. Pulling the microphone from it's stand again, he spoke again while the entrance from the drums, guitar and synth played. "Here's one for the lovebirds in the crowd... Just relax, enjoy yourself, and most importantly... Just Sway."
The song was a favourite of their fanbase, and although it wasn't their most popular song, it got a fairly good reception... Especially when Ashley decided to show off a little bit when it came to the drop. The song came to a gentle stop... And then Ashley looked at a couple of his fans at the front of the stage, pointed to them and sang the last few words before the instrumental... "Come-on, dance with me...~" he stuck his fingers in a peace sign, with his thumb up, and winked gently at them with a cheeky tongue flick toward them, showing off his piercing to the world. He giggled soon after, and awaited the end of the instrumental.
Several songs passed in the blink of an eye - the band were getting exhausted, sweaty, and sloppy. But, the time had come for their final song. Ashley took a massive gulp of water from a bottle on the floor, then placed the microphone back in it's stand and grasped his guitar back in his hands to swing it around his shoulders. "Still with us?" he asked the crowd, to which he got a large greeting, though clearly they were getting a little tired as well. "We have one more song for you guys tonight..."
There were a couple of awes, but Ashley continued. "This song is one that means a lot to me and the others here... Since, we've been through it, and I'm sure a few of you out there have been too. This song is called Twin Sized Mattress."
It was never an easy song to sing, and it was sang with a fairly silent crowd that just wanted to listen intently to the lyrics. It wasn't a song to be taken advantage of, and it had a lot to say... But by the ending vocals, Ashley was exhausted, panting and sweating. The instrumental ended the song, and Ashley placed his guitar back on the stand. "Thank you so much, every single one of you for being here. We love you so damn much, and I promise we'll be back soon." he smiled slightly, catching his breath. "If you keep coming, we'll keep making music."
The stage faded to black, and the band members walked off stage, their backs to a happy crowd, and that was all that mattered to the zebra and the rest of the band. He wasn't, and would not take advantage of the opportunity someone so special had given him.
for Christmas. I can't thank you enough for this - it truly is a deeply personal gift to me. Art by the forever-awesome
, please check them out whenever you can. Starring myself
in one of my dream jobs. For those of you who don't know, I study audio technology at university and have became fairly good at it over the years. Though, despite me adoring what I do and most of what comes with it, it wasn't even close to my dream - my dream, for the longest time, was to be the singer for a band. I don't mean necessarily a pop singer, rather a singer of emotion-fuelled rock ballads from the bands that I most idolised. Indie rock, from bands like 'The Front Bottoms' and 'Modern Baseball' spring to mind immediately. While I can find a lot to love in a lot of music, bands that go off their own backs, do their own writing, and create their own stories are the ones I most cherish. And of course,
knew this just fine, and was armed with the knowledge that I'd love to be a singer for a band like that.So here I am, in a worryingly close dress to what I'd wear any other day, doing what I want to do rather than what I know I should do, and fucking nailing it.
I've got a story for you guys, but since I'm always the type to take full advantage of any opportunity to share some of my favourite music with people, I thought I'd do so. The songs will even be included in the story, if you'd like a more immersive experience into the story. Here's three of my favourites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWFvYXmlfmQ Modern Baseball - Hours Outside in the Snow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO_Iy5f0whc Blue October - Sway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1rzsT2t2YY The Front Bottoms - Twin Sized Matress
Keep in mind I'm under no illusion that I own, or have actually ever played any of these songs. But hey, it's a fantasy... And I wanna live it. I hope you enjoy living it with me.
Sweat beads, anxiety and dull bickering. It was hard to focus on anything else. There was a general awe of speed and stress zooming around the zebra, stage hands rushing past at high speed while people yelled full force into flimsy microphones attached to their heads. Ashley only caught a couple of them; "Backup amp lead? Where is it?!"
"Where the fuck is my Coffee!? Who took my fucking coffee?!"
"I swear to god if I look behind me and someone's stolen my guitar tuner again one of you is getting a-"
It was safe to say it wasn't exactly a friendly environment to be in, that being behind the stage 2 minutes before showtime. Ashley tilted his head up to look at his other fellow band members. They looked fairly docile compared to how he was feeling, though he imagined that if they ignored the sweat, the shaking and the lip-biting that even he could pull off keeping cool. Though, deep down he knew they were just as nervous as him... Hopefully.
A large hand on his shoulder quickly shocked the zebra out of his tired, anxious trance. It was the knowing hand of his manager, one with a soft smirk that always cheered him up. He spoke deeply, tail swaying gently behind him; "Showtime, sweetheart." it was a rather familiar face, the very tiger who had recruited the band not a few months ago, in a bar when they were essentially nobodies.
The zebra grasped his guitar gently in his hands. It was a specially designed one too, with oak and darkened oak imitating stripes across the wood in a beautiful pattern. It was slightly smaller too, allowing the rather short zebra to carry more easily when he was swinging around the stage like a monkey, as he often did when he got a little bit too excited. In fact, that's what kept the zebra from going crazy with fear and anxiety - the knowing that it was always the thought that was worse than the act itself.
With guitar in hand, earpiece in his rightmost ear, and a quick check that his hair and clothes looked alright, he looked toward his band-mates and gave a quick nod. Their jack-of-all musician, who filled parts such as the violin and keyboard, was looking particularly nervous... But it was nothing a soft pat on his shoulder wouldn't help. With a collective sigh, the band strolled out onto the main stage. The crowd immediately erupted, arms flying up in a beautiful wave. Screams that rang feedback through the zebra's earpiece made him wince, but was quickly corrected by the sound-tech. Ashley took his position behind the microphone, letting the guitar hang loosely around his shoulder while his other band-mates scrambled to take their positions.
Ashley took a minute to just appreciate the giant crowd that was in front of them. This was their first tour by themselves after their big break a few months prior with Alex Marx the Spot, and they certainly didn't want to fuck it up. However, the crowd looked incredible. Hundreds of beautiful people yelling and chanting their name. Their energy was infectious, filling the room with heat and excitement for both the patrons and the band members themselves.
Taking a step forward, hand grasping the microphone softly in his hand, Ashley yanked it free of its stand and spoke into it. Anxiety was being replaced with confidence, cheering shooed away his nerves, and the once aggravating heat was now only working to excite him for the next two hour performance they hand in store for them. The lithe boy spoke fluently into the microphone, strolling to one side of the stage, then the next several times throughout sentences. "Wow... " he said with a shake of his head and a smile. "Thank you guys so much, what a beautiful welcome."
His words were only greeted with another cheer, to which he giggled into the microphone, swaying to the other side of the stage, a quick glance at his band-mates to make sure they were ready followed before he continued talking. "Well for those of you don't know, we're Melted Wax..." Interrupted by further cheer, he tried to talk over the crowd who quieted down quickly to hear what he had to say. "And we're here on our first solo tour, since you guys loved our music so much on the supporting job we with Alex and her amazing crew a few months ago..."
The crowd was rowdy, especially on mention of their debut act with the famous popstar. Despite this Ashley kept talking. "We're here to make you feel things tonight, at least that our aim. We believe songs can be the best ways to get your emotions out in front of you, and I hope with some of the music we have with us tonight that you'll be feeling some important, and hopefully good, emotions when you leave tonight."
Ashley placed the microphone back on it's stand, and grasped his acoustic guitar gently in his hands, fiddling with the strings to get his hands in the right places to begin. "This first song is called 'Hours Outside in the Snow', and it's about feeling something for someone who doesn't have those feelings back."
As expected, with a couple of keen clicks of the sticks from the drummer, the band erupted in perfect time together to perform their first song. Ashley sang into the microphone; "I spent all of Christmas Eve fake angry at you..." while strumming softly on his guitar in fairly simple chords... The song got more upbeat after the first verse, and it was then that Ashley felt that rush of performance swing over him like a gust of wind. His slightly uncomfortable expression was replaced with beautiful confidence, even through his vocals that were rather sad. The chorus crept closer of course, and eventually Ashley egged on the crowd, missing out a line in order to yell at the crowd "Alright I wanna hear every single fucking one of you sing with us if you've ever had your heart broken..."
The drums ended in a fill, marking the start of the chorus, and the guests sang their hearts out to the chorus. Ashley joined them, but barely needed to; they were loud enough as it was. "You might run! Oh, but I won't hide!"
Thumping came from the patrons as they jumped up and down and cheered for the song, which unhappily to many, had to come to an end with the final chord.
No rest however... Several songs came soon after, churning out in waves. Some were favourites, some were brand new... Some were rather experimental, but all of them were met with happiness from the crowd, whether it was just polite or not was a mystery... Until the lead guitarist next to Ashley started the first few strings of 'Sway'. The crowd gave a short-lived cheer, and Ashley unplugged and placed his guitar on a stand next to him, since he wouldn't need it until their last song. Pulling the microphone from it's stand again, he spoke again while the entrance from the drums, guitar and synth played. "Here's one for the lovebirds in the crowd... Just relax, enjoy yourself, and most importantly... Just Sway."
The song was a favourite of their fanbase, and although it wasn't their most popular song, it got a fairly good reception... Especially when Ashley decided to show off a little bit when it came to the drop. The song came to a gentle stop... And then Ashley looked at a couple of his fans at the front of the stage, pointed to them and sang the last few words before the instrumental... "Come-on, dance with me...~" he stuck his fingers in a peace sign, with his thumb up, and winked gently at them with a cheeky tongue flick toward them, showing off his piercing to the world. He giggled soon after, and awaited the end of the instrumental.
Several songs passed in the blink of an eye - the band were getting exhausted, sweaty, and sloppy. But, the time had come for their final song. Ashley took a massive gulp of water from a bottle on the floor, then placed the microphone back in it's stand and grasped his guitar back in his hands to swing it around his shoulders. "Still with us?" he asked the crowd, to which he got a large greeting, though clearly they were getting a little tired as well. "We have one more song for you guys tonight..."
There were a couple of awes, but Ashley continued. "This song is one that means a lot to me and the others here... Since, we've been through it, and I'm sure a few of you out there have been too. This song is called Twin Sized Mattress."
It was never an easy song to sing, and it was sang with a fairly silent crowd that just wanted to listen intently to the lyrics. It wasn't a song to be taken advantage of, and it had a lot to say... But by the ending vocals, Ashley was exhausted, panting and sweating. The instrumental ended the song, and Ashley placed his guitar back on the stand. "Thank you so much, every single one of you for being here. We love you so damn much, and I promise we'll be back soon." he smiled slightly, catching his breath. "If you keep coming, we'll keep making music."
The stage faded to black, and the band members walked off stage, their backs to a happy crowd, and that was all that mattered to the zebra and the rest of the band. He wasn't, and would not take advantage of the opportunity someone so special had given him.
Category Artwork (Digital) / General Furry Art
Species Zebra
Size 905 x 1280px
File Size 169.8 kB
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