Participants:
| Scene Title | Being On The Cutting Edge |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Quinn comes to see Kristen with a pitch. |
| Date | January 14, 2011 |
Studio K: Kristen's Office
For most people, the mantra tends to be Thank God It's Friday!. The end of the work week, the beginning of good times, and generally a harbinger of happiness, fun, and shenanigans. Today, that is truer than ever for Robyn Quinn.
For the first time all week she wanders the halls babyless, probably to the relief of many of her co-workers. She also has a bit of a brighter smile on her face, for whatever reason, whistling as she carries a shoulder bag by it's handle towards the office belonging to Kristen Reynolds. She's been meaning to track down her boss all week, rather than being the wayward employee she's probably appeared to be - certainly not the best way to make a good impression when one's more or less majorly on the hook for work.
When she finally reaches the door, there's a rather forceful series of knocks, a four beat tap tap tap tap, before her hand falls back to her side and Quinn straightens he white lace collar - she's come to like the wardrobe changes she's adopted lately. "Kristen? It's Robyn Quinn, are you in? An' do you have a moment?"
Dirk isn't at his post, which leaves Robyn free and clear to march right in, should she choose. It's a little wiser that she stops at the door to knock. There's a muffled reply that can't exactly be considered either affirmative or negative, at least not through the door. When it opens a crack, Kristen gives the younger woman a solemn nod and widens the opening to allow her in.
"C'mon in…" she sounds, not much like herself, at least not the go-getter that Robyn's been exposed to thus far. Making her way back to her desk, Kristen sits herself behind the substantial piles of paperwork that she's been mired behind since Quinn actually made her start. "What can I do for you, Miss Quinn? I've heard good things so far… at least.. I haven't heard anything bad. Which is good."
"I'm not interruptin', am I?" is asked simply enough as Quinn slides in, the door shutting quietly behind her. "Nothin' bad, so far. Been busy most of the week getting settled in, seeing what I can do before I set up on big projects. Been trying t' track down Tahir Dunham, Kincaid told me I needed t' talk t' him, an' working on some audio work for him he asked me to do." Finding a place to sit, she settles down, her bag in her lap.
"I haven't been sure exactly what my position was going t; be yet," she admits with a bit of a nervous laugh, "so I guess I was lookin' t' see if you had any real plans. I had a few things I wanted t' bring t' you too, if you had a moment?" A pause, and she tilts her head, looking thoughtful. "Well, some of it can just drop off, but- well, you know."
"Hmm? No, you're not interrupting… Just trying to catch up on some paperwork before the next glitch takes me away." Pointing to one of the chair in front of her desk, Kristen leans her chin on the palm of her hand not holding a pen. "Actually, there's something that I wanted to talk to you about… but of course, let's get your questions out of the way first."
The producer straightens in her chair and swivels a little as she pushes some of her paperwork out of the way. There seems to be a never ending supply of the stuff and it seems that she doesn't trust Dirk to take care of much of it for her. Isn't that what assistants are for? "Your job description is fairly simple… in theory. Find talent, record it, sell it. The selling part is likely the hardest, you need to make people think that it's what they like. Contemporary trends are really nothing more than old ideas rehashed with a modern twist… but anyway… I thought your first project was your own album? Has something changed?"
That question earns a wide grin from Quinn. Rather than answering, she unbuckles the bag in her lap begins to rummage through it, muttering a few curses quietly as she searches. After a moment, she finally pulls out two sets of jewel cases - a regular looking one, and a thin case one, setting them down on the desk in front of her and sliding them towards Kristen.
"It was," she says with a wide grin. "That's not a professional copy, just printer paper and CD-Rs, I'm still waiting to hear back on the order I submitted. But I thought you might a listen. I burned a copy of the promo single I picked out from it too, for the radio station," she comments, pointing to the thinner case. "All that's left is seeing if all the orders and work gets squared away and the concert. But I can start on other things between now an' then."
Nabbing the CD, Kristen swivels and rises from her seat. She makes her way over to the CD player mounted in the bookcase and slides the disc in. Turning the sound up to a respectable level, she resumes her seat and steeples her fingers together. When the song begins there's a quirk of her eyebrow but the neutral expression remains firmly in place.
Her pads of her fingertips tap along to the beat of the music, a good indicator of whether she likes it or not. She remains quiet until the song is over and then she makes her way over to the CD player to pull the disc out again. The brunette places it carefully back into the case and nods to Quinn. "It might be a good idea to schedule yourself a radio program and get Kincaid to sell it. Go on Dunham's show and promote yourself. Also… see if you can slide yourself into a spot on Russo's show. We can't over expose you too much yet, no one's heard of you. So make sure you're seen everywhere."
The first track starts simply enough - piano accompanied by Quinn's vocals, before violin and just a bit of acoustic guitar mix in and the tempo picks up a bit. Watching Kristen tap along brings a wide smile to Quinn's face, a sense of pride she's rarely had the pleasure of feeling. Her own hands tap repeatedly on the bag in her lap, though it's more out of idle nervousness than anything else.
"There's some faster, more radio friendly stuff in there," she remarks when the CD is put away, nodding to the single. "That's why I picked that one out. Even put a cover as the b-side so there'd be something else to play, and the royalties and clearance are already all squared away…"
With that, Quinn is again searching through her bag, pulling out a piece of paper. "The other reason I wanted to come by was t' give you a pitch for a radio show, actually. It- wasn't written in mind with me as the host, but I'll gladly do it. It'd be all about indie an' other lesser known artists. Giving airplay and exposure to local or smaller and foreign acts." Tapping on the paper, she slides it forward - it says more or less the same, with a long list of bands as examples. "Some bigger stuff, like Jimmy Eat World or Metric or The New Pornographers, to give listeners something more familiar…"
"Is this something that you'll be able to sell? Is it something that you'll be able to convince people that they'll want?" The two questions foremost on Kristen's mind are spit out almost as a reflex. Lacing her fingers together in front of her, they're placed square on the desk as she studies the younger woman. "And… Do you think you'd be able to find someone to host it as well or better than you think you can do yourself? That's possibly the most important part of the equation…"
One answer comes rather quickly to Quinn, leaning back in her seat with a bit of a frown. "Probably not." A pause. "For a better host, that is. I mean, I've kinda… lived in the indie and DJ scenes the last few years. I'm sure someone could do better, but not anyone I know." Which, she knows, means she's on the hook for this.
"I think it'll be tough," the musician admits up front. "But I do think it's something that people'll buy into. Everyone's always looking for new music. Regular folks lookin' for something new t' listen to, labels lookin' for the next big band t' sign and shill, companies lookin' for cheap licensing or other stuff like that. I definitely think it has potential, an' bein' on the cuttin' edge a' that might really attract some attention. KROQ in California is known worldwide for givin' a lot of up and coming punk bands that exposure they needed t' push 'em t' stardom in the 90s, an' KXRK here in new York used t' do a lot fo that. Indie rock's a big in thing right now."
"Sounds to me…" Kristen replies quite seriously, her facial expression still holding the same neutral that it has since Quinn's arrival. Then it cracks, slightly, as one corner of her lips turns upward in an approving smirk. "… Like I made the right decision in regards to hiring." Extending one hand, the producer offers a shake to the musician and a nod. "Make it happen, sell it hard, make it a success."
"I have every confidence in you, Quinn. I'm looking forward to seeing you succeed." Of course, Quinn's success really only adds to her own. She did find the young woman, after all, somewhat. Robyn Quinn was Kincaid's discovery at first but being the owner of the company makes his success her own as well.
Her expression brightens even more, leaning back forward and shaking Kristen's hand enthusiastically. "I'll get right on it. An' Ill make sure you get a copy of the actual album when it comes in. The single too, I planned on giving a bunch t; the radio station t' give away. I came up with a few things like that, like free downloads an' all that but I'll get all on that when I have stuff in hand." She nods a few times, before leaning back, lingering for a moment, and then rising back to her feet. "Thanks, Kristen. I'll get right on it, ASAP." She grins wide, bag held close to her stomach. "I have every confidence too. Trust me. Between this an' the album? You'll never regret that decision."