I. The Boss
This where it all started: with a maverick guitarist named Spike. Born on the 11th of June 1982 in Seattle USA, Spike was the youngest child in a middle-class family. His musical education came from his family, being raised on a diet of melodic guitar pop and, through his brother, a love for loud, crunching guitar riffs. It was during Spike’s childhood that Seattle became legendary for Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the birthplace of the early nineties grunge/alternative rock explosion. Having come from a city holding a distinguished place in the history rock and roll music, it didn’t take much for Spike to realise that he wanted to form a band and spend his life playing music and winning fans the world over. Wanting to merge his love for loud guitars and his understanding for melodic pop songs, Spike picked up a guitar and proceeded to learn all he could about playing.
As his skill with the guitar evolved, Spike eventually service within a number of bands. He tried his hand playing with some of them but nothing really worked out – One such band was a metal band called the Manhatten Project which boasted other members named James Squire, Bingo Handjob and Mike Rotch.
It didn't take Spike long before he realised that the bands he played with were populated by people who regarded him as a hired gun and played little recognition to his ideas. Nevertheless, this experience taught Spike about the music business and made him build up a large network of contacts.
With a frustration with being confined grown steadily, Spike eventually decided to set out on his own and form his own band. It was during this time as a ‘hired gun’ that Spike made an important contact: A talented bass player named Aurora Mazda.
II. The Siren
Born on the November 13th 1987, Aurora was the daughter of a hippy and a mechanic. From an early age, Aurora showed a keen interest in singing, a love that would be with her for the rest of her life. During her middle-school years, Aurora would increase her musical ability, learning guitar and bass. But it was her singing that bowled many people over, with the gorgeous voice and understanding of various styles of music.
However, it was also in this time that she developed a rebellious phase, indulging in punk music (Sex Pistols and Joan Jett being particular favourites) and becoming embodied in the goth culture, buying an entirely new wardrobe in the process.
With her musical talents, taste in clothing and generally cute disposition, Aurora found herself growing attached to a number of college bands and playing whenever and wherever she could. Within time, she eventually met Spike - there they bonded over similar tastes in music and the two became fast friends.
And so it was, that when Spike formed his own band, Aurora was the first person he contacted for a position. After placing some ads around for other members, two more musicians came into the band. One was giant metal head named Rock Granite and the other was a young man with dashing good looks called John Boston. Taking up the role of drummer and singer respectively, the band was complete. Aurora took up the bass and Spike assumed the roles of guitarist.
He even came up with their name: Demon Flower.
From humble beginnings in Seattle, Demon Flower showed promise. Gigging constantly proved quite beneficial: With each performance, the band grew tighter as a unit, the personalities within the band came to the forefront and the fans constantly grew in number. John in particular showed real stage performance and won over the audiences with his boundless charm. Aurora was also proved to be a charismatic presence. This proved a contrast between Spike and Rock who subsequently let themselves be known through their playing alone.
From the beginning Spike fulfilled the role of leader: He selected the material to be played, he was the spokesperson alongside Aurora, he made the decisions and made sure all those in the band were giving their all, and taking the job of being in a band seriously.
Within time, the hard work began to pay off: With each show, the Tension Heads found themselves playing to bigger crowds and bigger venues. Their first breakthrough came in a trip to San Francisco where winning a band competition yielded a tour bus. From there, the band traveled to Los Angeles, Austin and Chicago, their fanbase, and bank accounts, increasing with every show performed. With this success, Spike used the funds to establish their own rehearsal studio and band headquarters, which he dubbed the Planet of Sound.
Eventually, Demon Flower drew enough attention to go tour the East Coast of the US. But before the tour could happen, the band suffered a blow: John, inspired by the success and adulation the band was receiving, decided to leave for a solo career. Departing on good terms John left the band, who now set to work in finding a hole left by their comrade. Aurora volunteered to step up as the lead singer. Now seeking a new bass player, Spike dipped into his network of contacts and within time, he had found a suitable replacement: Robin Banks.
III. The Ice Maiden
Born July 27th 1986, Robin is the daughter of a single mother: Her father, disappeared when Robin was at a young age and has never been seen since. As such, her childhood has been fraught with feeling different to the others around her and building up resentment. During high school, she built up a reputation for being difficult to work with amongst students and teachers alike, even to the point of being dubbed ‘The Ice Queen’. Eventually dropping out of school, Robin entered a rebellious phase where she became a goth, bought clothing to match her nickname, and listened to The Cure, Joy Division and Nick Cave. Inspired by this music, Robin got her act together and applied for a proper musical education - studying the ins and out of musical theory. Eventually, Robin coming out the other side a talented multi-instrumentalist, proficient in guitar, bass and keyboard. In time, she caught the attention of Spike and invited to join Demon Flower. Since then, Robin and Spike became good friends – even to the point of becoming drinking buddies.
Robin made her debut when Demon Flower made their first East Coast tour. At first the fans were perplexed by this change but it didn’t take long before Robin showed her prowess as a musician. With the skills and the looks to match, the new edition to Demon Flower was welcomed with open arms. Aurora too, was well-received, with her singing ability, her clothing and her showmanship (drawing inspiration in equal amounts, from her punk rock heroes). With her ability to sing angelic one minute and scream with rage the next; her dress sense and her willingness to jump around on stage, Aurora was quickly becoming quite popular among audiences.
Indeed, it was in this time that the two ladies were becoming focal points for the band both with their unique personality: Aurora was charismatic, fun-loving and seemed genuinely pleased to the in a band. Robin was laid-back and softly spoken, but still quite willing to kick out cameramen during a live performance.
Demon Flower played shows in New York, Boston and even Montreal, becoming more popular with every show they played. Inspired by the success, Spike decided to lessen his role as leader: After coming so far under his guidance, Spike was and keen to try new things and welcomed ideas and contributions from the other members. Robin was the first, applying a firm understanding of song craftsmanship as well as her music skills. Aurora also picked up the guitar, both in rehearsal and on stage, and also stepped aside for the occasional vocal performance from Robin and Spike.
However, with success comes its own share of problems. Whilst Demon Flower had gone from strength to strength, it was only a matter of time before cracks started appearing. The first one came in the form of Rock. Success had gone to his head and he spent many hours getting drunk and engaging in unruly behaviour. On stage, Rock’s performance faltered and was nowhere near as good as he previously was. Critics noted Rock now looked uncomfortable in performance thus prompting Spike to fire him.
But Rock wasn’t the only casualty: Aurora was gaining a fair amount of publicity with her good looks, impeccable dress sense and stage presence. This led to her partying many hours of the night, often at the expense of the rest of the band. Feeling that she was placing her commitment to the band as a lesser priority, Spike confronted Aurora and insisted she stick to business. This led to a rather heated conflict that the media picked up on and subsequently sensationalized. The unwanted media attention led to Aurora to walk out on the band at a time when their popularity was its biggest yet. Angered by this departure, the fans got angry, with some accusing Spike of being a fool and many walking out on the band.
IV. The Stallion
Hit by this nasty blow, and with their status in jeopardy, Spike and Robin retreated to recover their losses. They both decided to start again through hiring new members and tour across the US, building back their reputation through constant gigging.
The first step was to find some new members. After several auditions, they eventually came across two people: One named Sam Brooker and the other Evan Williams.
Born September 27th 1986, Sam was born and raised in New York. At first, he was a well-mannered lad from a good family, with a decent education, handsome looks, overflowing charisma and many admirers. Things however took a nasty turn when his father died when he was in high school. This put Sam on the path of delinquency he skipped school and joined a gang of troublemakers, engaging in gang violence and property destruction. It was during this time that he discovered Metal. Inspired, Sam decided to clean up his act and commit his time to learning a guitar. He went back to school to learn all he could about the guitar - and when he was done, he moved onto the bass. He would later credit metal as saving his life.
By the time he came to Spike’s attention, Sam had become a talented musician. With his skills and dashing good looks to match, he was welcomed into the ranks of Demon Flower. However, it didn’t take long before Spike figured that his presence would be better off suited up front entertaining the crowds. Now with a singer, this opened up a slot for Evan to fill.
V. The Quiet One
Born in July 18th 1986, Evan is something of an enigma. Little is known about his past – what is known however, is that he grew up in a rough neighbourhood of the Bronx. His family, however, moved out of there and relocated to Austin. Yet the time spent there left an impression on Evan: He fell in love with hip-hop and eventually found work as a DJ. In time, however, he wanted to expand his musical range and try something new – so he took up learning the drums in his spare time. This brought him to the attention of Spike who offered him a position in Demon Flower. With his shaved head and sunglasses the size of a TV set (which he insists shield him from being blinded by the bright lights of fame), Evan wasn’t much to look at but he succeeded on musicianship alone.
And so, Spike, Robin, Sam and Evan returned to touring. Travelling from one end of the US to the other, Demon Flower gradually built back their reputation. Sam proved himself be a welcome addition along with his singing, his guitar playing and ability to work the crowd up. Similarly, Evan showed talent in both his drumming and musical ideas.
Again, through constant gigging and delivering impressive live performances, Demon Flower built up more fans than ever before, achieved financial success and eventually regained a lot of credibility. They performed in both music videos and private venues, winning back a lot of fans who’d previously given up on them and attracting new fans as well.
However, there was one piece of the puzzle missing: Regretful over his spite with his former comrade in arms, Spike sought to contact Aurora. Feeling bad that they had achieved success and she wasn’t a part of it, Spike reconciled with his former bandmate and offered her role back in the band. Aurora accepted and was welcomed back by both Spike and Robin, and also made new friends in Evan and Sam.
And so Demon Flower swelled their membership to five with Aurora resuming her role as singer, thus forming a tag-team with Sam.
VI. Today Europe, Tomorrow the World
Aurora’s return came just in time to perform a large show in Boston. And it was then that Demon Flower, forged with experience but invigorated, delivered their best show ever. And the fruits of their labour? Their own private jet, ready to take them across the Atlantic.
And with that, Demon Flower had conquered the US. Spike, Sam, Robin, Evan and Aurora had come so far and achieved so much. They had overcome adversity and came out on top. And from here, Europe, and the world, were waiting for them…..
Since then, the band has grown from strength to strength. They delivered a monumental show in Shanghai and have taken up going around the world, playing in Moscow, Istanbul and even Australia.
The band is been functioning quite happily as a unit and a stable one at that.
Spike is still churning out ideas and still quite keen to deliver a blistering solo.
Aurora has eased her way back into the band – much to the delight of fans. As well as singing, she has also returned to the role of bass player.
Robin has now been freed to fulfill the dual role of rhythm guitarist and keyboard player. She also continues to bring along her understanding of musical theory into the band, thus becoming a musical director, formulating Spike’s ideas into music.
Sam is quite happy to sing, thus winning the crowds over in the process, as well as providing some additional guitar. He is also quite willing to play the role of diplomat when disputes arise.
And Evan, something of a private person, has been quite happy to disappear into the background favouring instead to concentrate on his drumming. Willing to DJ whenever his free time allows it, this has kept him free of the usual trappings of the fame game (although he has recently become accustomed to go out partying with Aurora to, if anything, keep her out of trouble.).
For the moment however, there is still much Demon Flower can deliver to the world and, for now, the story continues......
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As some of you may know I’ve been playing Rock Band 2 a lot and, as you have guessed by now, I’ve just described the history of my band. It may have started out as something silly (the naming system may have been a dead giveaway), but I have spent a lot of time with these characters I’ve created. It’s been fun watching them develop with their own clothes and instruments, watching some fall out of favour and how my efforts as a gamer have brought them super-stardom. Sure they may be a set of one’s and zero’s but I have spent so much time with these characters that I have become quite attached to them. Needless to say, the game career is only half done and much more is waiting for Demon Flower. Sure what I’ve written may have chronicled career developments in a purely fictionalised manner but I’m keen to see what will happen next to this band.
And hey, what’s good enough for Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett is good enough for me.
And having said that, and typed all this out, I can safely say that I need to get out more…..XD
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