The Jukebox at The Diner: A Maddisun Tale - CrAwL

ft. "Crawl" by Maddisun and an alternate mix by Gummy Bear Crucifix

Aug 02, 2024

Hi everyone, before you read on, if you haven’t heard Maddisun’s new single “Crawl” yet, please take a moment to listen. I ask because I want to make sure you can bond to Maddisun’s version before you hear the version Gummy Bear Crucifix mixed. Thank you, =j

Previously on A Maddisun Tale…

Vancouver, B.C.

Mouse’s loft.

Penny walked over to Mouse’s sound system and stared at it for a moment, then turned and stared at Mouse for a moment before smiling.

“It goes to 11.”

Penny opened the tray of the McIntosh MCD7007 CD player, leaned down, and stared at the gorgeous blue of the McIntosh MA7000’s VU meters. She noticed that the numbers seemed hand-engraved.

“Did you Dremel the numbers on here, Mouse?” -Penny, slowly turning the volume knob to see where Mouse might wince.

“If you turn it past five, please open a few windows so they don’t blow out.” -Mouse, who turns to Charlie. “This is pretty raw. We were hoping you could clear it up a bit.”

Penny hesitated for a moment, then pressed play.

Only Charlie had heard Maddisun’s version, and he liked what the girls had done. “Hand me the laptop; give me an hour. Has anyone thought about food yet? I’m going to be starving after this.” Walking to his backpack, Charlie pulled out his trusty Sony MDR-7506 headphones and sat underneath a window.

Penny brought over Charlie’s MacBook Pro. “Golden Samosas?”

“That’s perfect.”

Charlie tried to hand Penny his card on instinct. She laughed and walked away, pulling up the online menu on her phone.

“Penny, could you please order me…” -Charlie cut off before he could order.

"Ten chicken samosas, and yes, Mouse has peanut sauce for chicken satay here and ten beef samosas.” -Penny.

Charlie smiled, put on his headphones, and went to work.

About 20 minutes later, Charlie took off his headphones.

“You found the spot in the guitar that needed a fade at the end of a trim. Nice work, girls.”

Charlie put his headphones back on and didn’t look up until he smelled Samosa’s.

Before he took his plate of samosas and peanut sauce back over to his spot by the window, Charlie said one thing that got everyone’s attention.

“I think I’m gonna call this my Santa Monica mix.”

Mouse knew Charlie well enough to know where he was going. She dug up an interview about the song and read it to everyone while Charlie sat down and got to work:

*taken from the Song Facts interview with Art Alexakis. =j

“I'm using a place where I grew up and palm trees as iconic references. It's what I grew up with. I grew up in a seaside town called Santa Monica, which is like L.A. but on the coast. I've lived in cold places and bad relationships, and I think everybody has a place in their mind that is like a safe haven. It's also about getting away from bad times ... the ending of something is also the beginning of something new, whether it's with someone or getting out of a bad job, a bad way of life, or an abusive relationship.”

Mouse continued:

“In the Eastern way of looking at things, 'Chaos' doesn't necessarily mean no boundaries, it means new beginnings. It's kind of one and the same, something that never ends. It's about getting to a point where you can leave bad things behind and just be self sufficient. There's a sense of romance about it. I feel like that very much now, but I was just getting to where I understood that when I wrote that song.”

Mouse kept looking at Charlie while she read it. She was surprised she hadn’t noticed it before, but things had been crazy lately. Impromptu Halloween Werewolf massacres, even. It was gone. The dark cloud of his family that he’d allowed to hang over him his entire life was gone.

He’d just shaved, too; he looked barely 40. Mouse looked at Samantha and watched her watch Charlie for a moment. Samantha had noticed.

After she finished reading the quote, Mouse texted Samantha.

“Looks like our lost boy finally made peace with his shadow.”

Samantha felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. She grabbed her phone, read the text, and texted Mouse back.

“He better be in Neverland after what I just did in the shower.”

Mouse’s blush did not go unnoticed, but Amanda figured she’d get the details later.

The only people in the room who had heard any version of Maddisun’s song were Penny, Jessie, Mouse, and Charlie. Samantha had said she wanted to hear the girls mix first, so she hadn’t listened to Maddisun’s version when she sent it to Charlie.

While Charlie was working, everyone took a moment to talk about what would happen tomorrow. Everyone wanted to go, but they also knew it would be important for Charlie to bond with May. That’s what everyone started calling her. At one point, Charlie momentarily took his headphones off and heard them call her May.

“Trust me, it’s Mayhem.”

Then he went back to the mix. By the time Charlie was done, it had been decided. Just Amanda would go.

Charlie disagreed.

“She’s gonna need a mom, you guys. Samantha’s coming too.”

Samantha hadn’t said a word during the whole discussion. She was going to be okay with Charlie's decision, but when she heard Charlie say she was coming, she let out a pretty demonstrative “YES!”

Charlie smiled, putting a blank Memorex CD into the MacBook Pro’s drive. He started the burn process, walked over to Mouse’s “junk” drawer, and looked in, finding a copper-colored Sharpie. He tried to stick it in his shirt pocket, but it bumped the joint. He put the pen on the pocket's other side and pulled out the joint.

“Is it ok to light this, Mouse?”

Mouse nodded, but Penny walked by and snatched it from Charlie’s mouth, so he calmly walked over to the MacBook while Penny lit it. The CD ejected, and Charlie grabbed it and started writing on it. He walked over to Mouse’s stereo cabinet and set it against the McIntosh CD player to take a picture. Before he could snap it, he started laughing. The ink had run. He picked it up, opened the case, blew on it a little, and then set it on the dust cover of Mouse’s turntable to take the picture.

Charlie took the CD from the case and put it in the CD player tray. He turned the amp down to 3 since he’d mixed it a little louder than the girl’s version.

Penny walked over and handed him the joint.

“Just press play, “Two-Bits.” -Charlie.

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