Rewind With A Superstar System-Chapter 127: Far Away with Aura

<🎧 Song Recommendation: Supercut by Lorde (inspiration song, please listen!)>

...

It didn’t take much effort to track down the drummer. When Von made the call, it turned out Conor was already in Miami for a session with a local band. He didn’t even ask about the pay or the hours; he just asked for the address.

Less than an hour later, Conor walked into the Neon Studios complex, carrying his stick-bag over his shoulder and wearing a faded graphic tee.

Before they even got to the tracking room, Von pulled him aside in the hallway to lay out the reality of the situation.

"Listen, bro, before we start, I need to be honest with you. I can’t credit you as a featured artist on this one. I’m already working with Aura, and her label is kinda strict. They gave us a headache just to get her on the track so If I throw another name on the feature list now, they won’t be happy, and they might pull the plug. I’ll still give you your full songwriting credits on the backend and slide you some advance cash right now, though. I hope you understand."

Conor just laughed and clasped Von’s shoulder.

"You don’t need to explain yourself to me, bro. Are you kidding? You literally changed my life. Thanks to you, I discovered I could play drums. Thanks to you, I got to feature on a Billboard Top 10 track as an independent drummer. And right now? I’m getting more studio gigs and tour offers than I ever thought possible. Keep your money, man. I’m not even collecting anything aside from the credits. It’s the least I could do for you."

Von felt a wave of gratitude wash over him. In an industry filled with sharks and people constantly looking out for their own pockets, Conor’s loyalty was rare. Von stepped forward and pulled Conor into a brotherly embrace.

"Thanks, buddy."

"Alright, alright," Patch coughed loudly from the doorway of Studio B, breaking up the emotional moment with a smirk. "Enough of the romance, man. We got a hit to make, and the clock is ticking. Let’s find you some drums, rockstar."

Conor chuckled and followed Patch into the live tracking room. He quickly situated himself behind the studio’s acoustic kit. Von explained the song’s vision, a fast, anxious, muffled heartbeat.

It only took thirty minutes. Because of Conor’s innate rhythmic ability, which Von could see was visibly getting better and sharper every single time they met, he locked into the pocket almost instantly.

He laid down a frantic, driving drum loop that perfectly captured the feeling of being trapped in a room.

After securing the perfect take, Conor packed up his sticks, gave them both a salute, and left to let them work. Patch immediately began editing and looping the drums through the SSL console, giving Von the quiet space he needed to sit in the corner and draft the final lyrics in his notebook.

It was just past 6:00 PM when Aura finally arrived.

Von walked out to the private studio lot to meet her. A sleek, black luxury SUV pulled up, and Aura stepped out. She was dressed comfortably but stylishly in an oversized vintage jacket and dark jeans, her signature blue hair pulled back into a neat, high ponytail.

"You made it," Von smiled, walking up to greet her.

"Barely," Aura exhaled and offered a tired smile. Before they went inside, she paused in the quiet driveway.

"Hey, I really wanted to tell you in person... congratulations on the album. Lost & Found is insane, Von. The success is completely well deserved."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," Von said. "Your debut is doing amazing, too. Roses Are Blue is pretty much everywhere right now."

Aura shrugged slightly. "Really? Well, I don’t really think so. I guess the numbers are good, but I know I can do better. There’s always room to grow."

"That’s the spirit," Von chuckled.

"By the way," Aura continued as they walked toward the studio entrance, "sorry for the hold-up this week. I don’t know why my label was acting so strict regarding a single feature. Even now, they basically sent me here to spy on you." She added a light laugh to soften the confession.

Von found it funny too. It made him feel good to know that Aura was being transparent and wasn’t turning on him to play the corporate game. "They must still have me in their heads, lol."

"Yup," Aura nodded. "God knows how many questions they’ve tried to ask me about you. I can’t blame them, though. You’re the current anomaly in the industry, and they desperately want to know how you did it."

"Let’s give them something else to wonder about," Von smiled as he pushed open the door to Studio B.

Inside, Patch was already bouncing his head to the drum loop. Von walked in and gestured between the two.

"Aura, I want to introduce you to Patch. He’s the one who has produced every single song I’ve made so far," Von said.

Aura stepped forward with a polite smile. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Patch."

Patch spun around in his chair, his eyes widening slightly as he took her in. He pointed a finger at her. "Hold up... you. You’re the one who sang Bloody Paradise?"

Aura giggled, clearly flattered that the producer recognized her breakout hit. "Yes, it’s me!"

"Wow," Patch said and shaked his head in respect. "You must have a crazy good voice. Excellent work on that track, for real."

"Thanks," Aura beamed.

With the introductions out of the way, Von quickly briefed her on the song’s concept and the progress they had made with Conor’s frantic drum loop. He explained the apocalyptic, separated-lovers theme.

Aura immediately understood the assignment. She walked over to the grand piano in the corner of the room.

With Patch calling out the baseline frequencies and Von guiding the emotional tone, Aura filled in the gaps. Her fingers danced across the keys, finding the absolute best, most melancholic chords to lay over the racing heartbeat of the drums.

Once the piano melody was tracked and layered, it was time for them to begin recording the vocals.

Von stepped into the soundproof vocal booth first. He adjusted the vintage microphone and closed his eyes. He knew this song was special. It wasn’t just a pop track; it was a song that held an immense amount of emotion, and he intended for it to perform the otherworldly task of healing souls. He couldn’t hold back.

As the beat dropped in his headphones, Von mentally activated [Emote] and [Reasonance].

🎶

On the TV, I watch the city shutting down

Hear the sirens in the dark

Feel the panic in my heart

And on my phone

Your messages never stop

I see you on my screen

But when I reach for you, you’re a thousand miles away

🎶

Before Von could even take a breath to start the pre-chorus, the track suddenly cut out.

Patch had hit the spacebar, stopping the recording just some seconds in. Through the glass of the booth, Von saw Patch staring at the monitors with his mouth slightly open. He pressed the talkback button.

"No fucking way, bro. How did your voice get better again!? That tone is crazy!"

Sitting on the leather couch behind Patch, even Aura couldn’t hide her surprise.

"I’ve probably witnessed it more often than you, and I’m still not used to him," Aura said while shaking her head in disbelief. "It’s insane."

Von laughed from inside the booth. "I mean, it’s a plus for the single, right? And don’t act like you still don’t sing better than me, Aura. Let’s keep going."

With Von’s enhanced vocal quality setting a massive standard, and Aura’s powerhouse, soul-healing voice answering him in the subsequent verses, the recording process went incredibly smoothly.

Their chemistry was the among the best. They needed far fewer takes than usual, easily finding the harmonies and the emotional pockets of the beat.

The energy in the room was so intoxicating that none of them wanted to leave. They ended up sleeping in the studio, crashing on the leather couches while Patch stayed up, fueled by espresso, to piece the vocal comps together.

When Von finally woke up around 9:00 AM the next day, Patch was just finishing the initial rough mix. He played it back through the massive studio monitors.

The frantic drums, the melancholic piano, the desperate verses, and Aura’s comforting, healing chorus blended into a perfect auditory storm.

Curious, Von mentally summoned his interface.

[Inspect]

Song: [Far Away]

Status: [Incomplete] [Unreleased]

Artists: [Von Varley, Aura Nova]

Song Score: [91]

Von gasped, instinctively clasping his hand over his mouth in surprise.

A ninety-one. It was even higher than It Doesn’t Even Matter. To score a 91 when he didn’t even use [Zone State] was unexpected, it was now his new record.

And that 100% guaranteed him that Aura’s passive skill had been successful in leaving its imprint, which contributed in them creating a masterpiece.

This gave him confidence that he had just made yet another massive hit song.

Patch stretched his arms over his head, popping his back after a long night in the chair. "You guys did a great job. Now it’s my turn to clean up these frequencies, get the mixing engineers in here, and do our thing to polish it up."

The hard part was done. Now, they could only look forward to Friday.

____

A/N: I spent a really long time working on these lyrics and it would be a pity if you didn’t get to view the full version. So, I’ve decided to include it in the author’s note. Check it out! ;)

Don’t forget to use the inspiration track, "Supercut by Lorde" as you read. I’ll also include the lyrics in the comment section. Thank you! :]