Chapter 7
Zac groaned as he walked down the all too familiar hallway in the Mercury Records building. The whole family had taken a two-day break to recuperate from Isaac's scare. But it was promptly destroyed by the call of reality.
Normally, only the common things in life became confusing and unkept. The record executives always had every exhausting layer of the boys career cleaned to a shine. Which made the choice to leave the Mercury Records family a hard one.
Zac had been hoping that once Mercury was informed that HANSON (copyright) was leaving to join a new music label, that he wouldn't have to see them ever again. Meeting with a person you've fired is about as comfortable as meeting with a girl friend you've cheated on. And in this case, they'd been caught cheating during an almost four-year relationship.
"Can't we get our lawyers to do this?" Zac whined as they stood outside of Steve Greenberg's office. "We haven't seen Steve in like a year! And know it's like we've deserted him."
"We've hardly deserted him Zac." Isaac answered still a little uneasy about knocking on the door. "He has plenty of other people signed to this label. Just act cool." Stretching his shoulders and placing a smile on his face Isaac knocked on the door. A mumbled, "It's open" was their cue. All three boys took a deep breath and stood looking at the closed door.
"Well . . . open it!" Taylor gestured to Isaac. Isaac made a face and turned to his father who rolled his eyes.
"Let me guess you want me to go in first." Silently the three boys stepped back giving their father a clear passage to the door knob. Walker laughed. "I guess it's good you're musicians and not business tycoons."
He opened the door and found the bands old 'friend'/boss piled high in forms and papers. Steve had been trying to keep a stern face but softened at the sight of the three little boys he had signed three years earlier all tyring to hide behind their father, though Taylor and Isaac were taller than him.
"Hello boys." He smiled. "I like the hair cuts." He pointed out. "Why wouldn't you do that when we asked you?" He didn't seem to expect an answer and began looking through the papers.
"They didn't ask us too." Taylor replied quietly.
Steve nodded still searching the papers. "So the long hair was just a spite thing."
Isaac went to correct him but he continued.
"We expected that much." He looked up and half smiled. Zac was busy pulling his passed shoulder length hair back into a pony tail.
"I guess you're wondering, why, if you've sent your lawyers to null your contract with us, do you still need to come here?" Zac nodded hiding his face behind his father's back.
"Well this is why." Steve began. "When we first signed you, you had no idea of the many rules and laws that came with the music business . . ."
"We didn't think you'd really force us to the contract." Isaac interjected, hoping they weren't about to be sued.
Steve lifted his hand for quite. "Over all that time, you've made a lot of mistakes. And so have we. Many of us think of you as family and quite frankly we don't wish you to leave."
Zac slouched with the added guilt.
"But you always seem to put your selves first and the profession second. Which is good! To a degree. You have gone through quite a few of our most talented musicians and specialists." He lifted up a large book full of loose papers and spiral note pads. "This . . ." He handed it to Isaac, who had now taken a seat by the desk. "Is a collection of a complaints from Peter."
All three boys shuttered at the mention of their former keyboardist/musical director.
"You'll notice it starts March 3rd '97, you're first rehearsal, right up to Oct. 29 '97 when we received quite a long phone call from Chicago . . ." Steve gave them a moment to try and remember the date. "It would seem that after an entire afternoon rehearsal which nothing was accomplished in aside from training sound crew number five, a dispute with Taylor over keyboard style, your continued disregard for his authority to make you sound the way Mercury wanted you to . . . " Steve said speaking to Isaac. "And a Lego kingdom Zac built. That our head musical director was having stress attacks."
The boys looked down, quietly. He threw another slew of folders onto the desk. "This would be the complaints from the many other's you've worked with." He looked at a large red folder and removed it. "I'll spare you the complaints from Scott Hogan, since he's still working with you." Isaac frowned at the mention of their bass player along with the other traders.
"Are those all complaints?" Zac asked.
"No." Steve smiled. "There are also a lot of compliments, congratulations and forms, which we won't go into until Michael gets here."
Michael Pontecorvo was the other executive who had spent a good deal of time with the band. He entered the room moments later with more papers and wasted no time in getting down to business.
"So has everything been finalized?" He asked Steve after saying hello.
"No." Steve replied and turned back to the boys. "All of that being said. We here at Mercury simply wanted to hear it from your mouths that, yes you as a collective group have decided to leave the Mercury family."
The boys didn't answer.
"Because we believe, we have been very patient with you. As it is, we are still prepared to give you money although, at the moment, we aren't really making anything from you." Michael pointed out. "You most likely won't find another label who will be so understanding. Not to mention taking such a firm interest in making you you're best."
"But that's just it." Isaac sat up. "You take such a strong interest that you're trying to turn us into something we're not. We're a rock band."
Both executives smiled. "You're one of our largest pop bands."
"See! We weren't a pop band until you started changing everything."
There was a long silence in which everyone seemed to speak through eyes.
"Ok then." Michael began placing forms along the table. "We'll need you to sign all of these papers expressing that you know exactly what your doing." He seemed a little offended which Isaac hadn't meant to do but it had to be said. And everyone had known that already anyway.
"You'll have a time trying to find another label while you're not making any money." He said matter-of-factly.
"We already have one." Isaac relied respectfully.
Steve nodded. "We've heard something about one of Universal's other labels, Island/Def Jam"
The boys nodded. And began signing the sheets that were already viewed and signed by their lawyer.
"Well I hope Island will be good to you." Steve said quietly looking over the forms. "You can take the folders if you wish, these are photocopies."
Isaac picked up a few, then asked for Scott Hogan's out of curiosity. Steve smiled poignantly as he passed it over, knowing from their track record that he would never be seeing them ever again unless he looked for them.
"And guys . . ." Michael called as they opened the door to leave. "Let's try to be adults about this."
Steve looked at him suspiciously.
"Stay on friendly terms." Michael reiterated.
The boys nodded leaving their father to close the door behind them.
Zac sniffed as they left the building.
"Are you crying?" Taylor accused.
"No!" Zac sniffed again as he looked at a picture of them hanging in the lobby along with other successes. "Do you think they'll take our picture down?"
Isaac shook his head. "We still made them millions of dollars. Where did we park?"
"Where's the phone?" Zac asked uninterested about the whereabouts of the car.
"In the car."
"We parked by the taco restaurant!" Zac remembered and took off.
"How long do you think he would have let us wander around New York if we had, had that phone with us?" Taylor joked.
"Depending on who he wants to call, until he was done with the phone." Walker answered. "And if Leena's anything like her sister we'd be here till the new millennium." Walker laughed, knowing there was only one person Zac would actually run three blocks and ignore a taco restaurant for.
Isaac rolled his eyes. "If Leena's anything like her sister, God help us all when Zac finds out."