Pull No Punches [Sean Smith\\Gavin Butler]

"Okay Sean, so this is what you're going to be doing..." Ian murmured, brushing his fringe from his eyes.

He glanced over to the man in charge of the recording, who pressed play. The beginning of the song began to play, and it sounded quite interesting.

"I've not added my vocals in yet." Ian explained. "All of this was recorded yesterday when we were at the hospital, so Jamie sang a rough version of the vocals to make sure it all fitted together."

I nodded, and ran a hand over the back of my head, my index finger tracing over the three stitches on the back of my head. The cut hadn't been as big as I'd first feared; it had only been quite small.

The vocals kicked into the song and Ian looked at me with a slight smile spreading onto his face.

"Do you like it?" he asked casually.

"It sounds great so far." I nodded.

Ian paused, and then pointed at the speaker that the music was coming from.

"This is what you'll be doing!" Ian said excitedly, jabbing his finger at the speaker as a screaming line appeared in the song.

"You're going to have to tell me what the lyrics are, first!" I smiled.

"Sure." Ian nodded. "Well those vocals are going to be removed now. I'm going to go in and add my vocals to the song, so you can sit out here with the guys and listen while you're waiting."

I smiled, and took a seat on one of the long chairs, next to Stuart, who was using his laptop.

♥

"Okay Sean, do you want to come into the recording booth now?" called the producer of the album, Bob.

I'd been warming my voice up for the past ten minutes now, and to tell the truth, I was quite nervous about adding my vocals to the track - would I be good enough for it?

I stepped inside the booth and put the headphones on, then looked through the window to where Bob and Ian were sitting at the control desk.

"You ready?" Bob called, and I nodded.

I gripped hold of the microphone, and the song began to play in, the recording light flashing up above.

"...get drunk, no sight, watch it ignite, nobody really cares but it's not for me..."

"It's not for me!" I screamed into the microphone, gripping it tightly and pushing it against myself,really getting into the song already.

"...so raise your glass my son..."

"It's not for me!"

"...we're telling everyone..."

"It's not for me!"

The song faded out, and I stood still until Bob gave the thumbs up that it was okay for me to talk again.

"I'm just gonna play it back and we can hear how it sounds, yeah? We'll be able to add your vocals into the other sections of the song after we're all done." Bob called into the booth, and I nodded, adjusting my headphones slightly.

The song suddenly filled the booth, and I nodded my head slightly as I heard how my vocals slotted into place. It wasn't too bad for a first take, but I knew there was room for improvement.

"That was great Sean, but this time let's have some more aggression!" Ian called. "Imagine me getting angry...I want you ten times as angry!"

I laughed, and pushed the headphones against my ears.

♥

The rest of my stay in Hollywood went very well - there was no sign of any hostility between me and Ian any more, and we were getting along as if we were best friends, which I really liked.

I met Gavin at Cardiff airport when I arrived home. I wrapped my arms tightly around him, and murmured into his ear, "I've got so much to tell you about my trip."