[CHAR] Honey Lake Records /dead/

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[Obscene Symphony]

Alicia Nilsson

_______________________________________________ Alicia Signe Nilsson _______________________________________________ 23 ┃ November 14, 1995 ┃ Female ___________________________________ Banff, Alberta ___________________________________ Bassist and Vocalist - Gramophone

Character Summary Personality ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Alicia is a very driven individual, tirelessly pursuing whichever goals or interests she has at the time. True, her interests often change, but she's eternally dedicated to music and enthusiastically throws herself into her work. A relentless optimist, she believes you can overcome anything with the right attitude and has no time for people who get in their own way feeling sorry for themselves. Growing up in a hotel environment made her sociable, with polished and practiced people skills. Her mother taught her grace and experience taught her ease with new people, and as a result she's very comfortable in social situations; people who know her say she could make friends with a tree. She can smile and be friendly even when she really doesn't want to, and knows when and when not to hold her tongue. However, growing up in such a bustling environment made her uncomfortable being alone, and she does her best to fill her time with friends and strangers alike. When she can't do that, she turns to music as a companion, but has been known to satisfy her need for company by heading out to a local club and partying it up with total strangers - perhaps more than could be recommended. Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ [+] Height: 5'6 Weight: 120lbs Physical Description: Alicia is a classic Nordic beauty, with clear pale skin, light blonde hair and a pair of vibrant blue eyes. She's slim but not shapeless; she doesn't have a whole lot going on in the hips or bust, but manages a feminine figure nonetheless. Fashion Style: Alicia can dress it up or down depending on the circumstances, but always likes to keep it classy. She likes to look polished, nothing forgotten or overlooked. She keeps her nails neatly manicured and painted, wears just enough makeup not to look sloppy, and is never one to just let her hair do any old thing. She's not one for trends, and instead likes to stick to tried-and-true classics, though she's not beyond at least looking at the latest styles. When she dresses down she still keeps everything coordinated, and when she dresses up, look out for a bombshell. Background ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Born and raised in Banff Alberta, Alicia grew up in a bustling tourist town where her parents, Swedish immigrants, ran a small hotel. Their hard-working nature rubbed off on Alicia, who helped out at the hotel as much as she could in her time outside of school, starting when she was old enough to collect room service trays. Her parents worked her hard, but they also loved her dearly and supported her every endeavor to the best of their ability, even though she flitted between interests with every changing wind. What never wavered, however, was Alicia's love for music. Ever since she picked up an upright bass in her junior high band, she fell in love with music in all its forms, fell in love with rhythm and beat and harmony. She couldn't get enough, and sampled every genre she could get her hands on, never sticking with just one. Her love of music bloomed on the little stage in the hotel bar, where she and her high school friends would practice every genre they could think of in the off-hours and even played a few gigs down there when the liquor started flowing. After a period of exploration and experimentation, the antique feel of the old hotel and the cozy little bar inspired them to try a new genre, which immediately clicked as something they could turn into their "sound": Electric Swing. One cold Alberta Winter afternoon, the group dusted off their old concert band instruments - a trumpet, a soprano sax, some drums and Alicia's upright bass - and gave it a try, and things snowballed from there. They fell in love with the genre, performing covers of songs from the twenties as well as existing electric swing. They became a popular attraction in the hotel bar, where tourists and locals alike would cram in to get a taste of the Nilssons' daughter's band. From there, they played some gigs at other bars around Banff and even got a high-octane cover of "Hit the Road Jack" aired on the community spotlight section of a local radio station. They recorded their semi-nightly sets at the Nilsson hotel bar and posted them to YouTube, gaining a decent following. People liked their retro feel and the unexpected complexity of their music, and finally they gave themselves a name: Gramophone. It was about a year later that someone with connections in Honey Lake was visiting Banff and heard talk about this strange band at the Nilsson hotel, and had to take a listen. They sent whoever they knew a video of one of Gramophone's sets and not a week later, the band got a call and an invitation to the label. Miscellaneous ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ ▶ Alicia's taste in music is diverse, and she can appreciate just about anything with a beat. She's not a fan of screaming, though; she thinks it just sounds like noise. ▶ The band's not all trumpets and bass; they've been known to swing it up a cappella style on road trips too. ▶ Alicia is fluent in Swedish and English and is working on French; however, she prefers English. Her parents insist on speaking English at home. ▶ "It's ah-lee-see-ah."

[Jeep Wrangler]

Owen Riley

_______________________________________________ Owen Reese Riley _______________________________________________ 26 ┃ August 21, 1992 ┃ Male ___________________________________ High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England ___________________________________ Soloist

Character Summary Personality ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Owen always considers himself as expressive when it comes to his music. Anything that lurks on his mind and prolongs his thought acts as inspiration, which he hopes to develop towards other individuals. When talking to others, it is always an interesting topic to discuss hardships, silver-linings and so more as he finds the best influences come from the worst of times, as they produce the most genuine of solemn compositions. He has consistently faced hardships with other people in the past, sometimes making him distrusting towards others at first. This hindering can be overcame with effort and showing true colours, as a career in such a wild industry has been known to throw people beyond their pure moralities. Without a doubt, Owen is quite clearly empathetic and sensitive towards other people and their feelings. An advocate for silence amongst adversaries, he is known to avoid situations of aggressiveness whenever he can compose himself, whilst trying to appease others in debated topics. These reasons contribute to his initial solace in introversion. Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ [+] Height:6'1" Weight: 169lbs Physical Description: Owen, by unsolicited reports, has always been imagined and pictures as a dull and colourless man without any spark of life, however there is plenty of tone and youth to his weathered personality. Clear and pale skin surrounds his face, and the blend of a neatly shaven stubble and shortened walnut hair accompanies his amber-toned eyes. He isn't overly well built in comparison to most men, but that slender stance is far from being unhealthy. Fashion Style: Without a doubt, he's always been pinpointed as a commoner amongst glamorous numbers. Owen will occasionally dress well for specialised events which require or prefer the high-life style, but he prefers to keep things simple with button shirts, flannel designs and occasionally tattered jackets to suit his personality. Despite the initially rugged clothing, he does go out of his way to alter them into slightly more presentable attires that differentiate him and establish his own unique appearance of normality. Background ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Raised from birth within High Wycombe, one of the larger towns in Buckinghamshire, England, Owen grew up amongst a series of different artists and struggling practitioners of imagery. He was the youngest of the small family, having his mother, Jane Riley, take the podium to only be followed by Edward and Tamara Riley, his father and older sister of course. One thing that defined the family was their appreciation of one another's artistic values: Jane having been a somewhat successful author, carrying the family, Edward having been a struggling painter and Tamara looking to make a professional life out of photography. All of them were honest individuals all helping one another to try and find a balance in life, one that would give them happiness and stability. School was never an interesting area for Owen to explore as he found it dull and uninteresting at first. However, when he first found his interest, during the 3rd Year of Junior School, in music he began to pay more attention to each and every subject from the years onwards. Whilst this was mainly to appease to his mother's demands of maintaining good grades for her to continue funding his private tuition for newfound piano lessons, it was still a step in the right direction. He eventually graduated with decent grades, with his standing two being English Language and Music fully. His initial experience with performing was simple; school concerts became his highlight of those childhood years whilst the occasional chance to tour with his local adolescent ensemble gave him some much needed experience in the arts of collaboration and practice. He became a determined soul who was set on making this music life a reality, being optimistic at first. A lot of his first inspiration for song-writing came from his piano performances at a young age, whilst still in school, where he wrote a lot about gleeful stories he'd experienced. Some were comedic and others were filled with swing or upbeat tempos that thrilled him throughout his performance. During secondary school, he even picked up an old weathered acoustic guitar and self-taught himself how to play during lunch-breaks. Having more options to express his feelings through giddy tunes were a life saver, but of course, things had to change for him to become the person he was due to become. Owen was extremely close to his older sister. There was only a three year gap between the two and they'd spend the majority of their smallest years with shut doors and toys out. When they couldn't figure out what to do with their tools, they'd create their own in the outside world with collaborative creativity and imagination. Each of the two supported one another's eventual introduction into the world of art and culture, following one another to each award ceremony they attended and showcasings of their work. Tamara was keen to, during a GCSE course-work assessment, use a short composition from her younger brother to accompany a video-to-photographic presentation, which gave her flying colours on the marks. They were dependent on one another for troubles, sorting out their social and personal issues hand in hand without a care in the world. Both of their parents were happy to be blessed with such a colourful pairing of children. And of course, one week after Owen passed his GCSEs, Tamara was caught within a bus crash within London, one that would claim her life before she had the chance to go somewhere big with her artistic intentions. Owen began to drop to his lowest then. No longer were the smoothly written swings of cheerful radiance playing in the local halls. Never more were the sweet symphonies of appreciation and gratitude to appear on staves, piling up sheet by sheet on his bedside counter. Owen was left alone in the world, and was known to fall into a deep pit of solitary confinement. His parents gave him moral support, but could do little to physically rekindle his spark. Yet, it led to something special. At 18, Owen finished his A-Levels with mediocre grades, having worked little without the drive he once loved, he managed to come across a triage of individuals interested in his past musical life. Having been old school companions of his secondary school years, they recruited him for tryouts in becoming a guitarist and potential lyricist for their upcoming band: Problematique. Life was simple during those first years of performance. They gathered a few small EPs to sell in local Wycombe shops, advertised through their papers and eventually starting small gigs in pubs, halls of residence and other unique ground. However, they never really hit it off until the day where Ellen Willets, a rising star who originally hailed from a local village near High Wycombe, offered them a place as a supporting act. During that time, Problematique were producing songs that suited Owen's style. They became more strange and technical. Since he first joined, Owen practised several other instruments to incorporate into his music, from cello to drum machines and synths. They weren't initially as up-to-standard as his singing, piano or guitar abilities, but they were definitely useful for his ability to experiment. Some of their songs took a melancholic look with brooding tones of hopelessness taken straight from Owen's poetic lyrics. After their performance as a support act, a London record label took them in and allowed for them to pick up a full album opportunity. Things took off almost immediately. A following was built and concerts began to be established all over the UK. Reading Festival, Glastonbury and the O2 Arena all saw them arrive to perform for a growing fanbase. In the 6 years Problematique reigned, they accumulated three albums and several singles in-between, as well as also committing to two performances in Canada, America and Germany on a small tour they planned. But on that sixth year, their grace fell when personal disagreements between Owen and the previous rhythm guitarist, Joshua, argued in such a way that resulted in personal and direct threats towards the tragic past of his family. Within a few months of silence, Joshua took over the band by removing Owen and throwing him under the bus, continuing the band onwards to further success. Owen became a small name amongst the industry of music, having his shot of collaborative fame ruined by that of his old friends and their quest for dominance. Their ideals went against what Owen felt in music, having treated it like his pillow to cry into whenever he needed to vent, writing about his sister, his distrust in others, the fall of grace and the ever-growing sensation of emptiness, alongside some rather happy silver-lined lyrics that accompanied darkened harmonics. Thus, after a year of mental recovery, Owen returned to local performance. His old band began to become a recognised name, whilst Owen was stuck performing in small hotels, releasing an occasional EP by himself with what little money he could earn. Eventually, he attended a small music festival in Milton Keynes, planning on performing an experimental set-piece involving drum machines with syncopated patterns, looped guitar riffs and strong piano rhythms. It was just by luck that a A&R Scout from Honey Lake Studios based within the UK had come to look for new talent, and saw potential in Owen's strange and unique tragic form of experimental art rock. Miscellaneous ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ ▶ He is an animal lover at heart, but refused to purchase one due to feeling a lack of responsibility to commit to owning one. ▶ As an experimental solo artist, he performs mainly with a large array of instruments: from his signature Gibson, Taylor Big-Baby Acoustic, cello, small assortment of drum machines and synths, as well as the odd trumpet or two. When it comes to his live performances, he uses mainly loop pedals and other effects to perform almost alternative renditions of his tunes, mostly using his acoustic guitar to hold up the noise. ▶ Owen has a really bad habit of eating pears. No reason why, he just enjoys them.