Page 2 of Tumbling Hearts

“Then on my right we have…” Mike says, and a second camera moves toward Santi.

“Santiago Arteaga. Lead guitarist. Though just Santi is fine, too.” His mop of curly black hair almost blends in with the background of the set, aside from the curved, golden lines forming large patterns on the walls.

“Good, good. Then last but not least is…”

The camera pans further, onto the last member of the Brooms—the quiet young man with long, platinum blond hair. “Stefan Grzeskowiak. Bassist.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Mike says, then he directs his attention back to Ray. “So you all are from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I think that’s pretty remarkable. Most of the musicians I know that play your style of music come from around New York, California, or even Britain.”

“Well, we get a lot of our influence from those bands,” Ray says, clasping his fingers together and resting his hands on his lap. “And there have been other bands from Michigan that inspired us, too. But… I guess we were the lucky ones to manage to break through.”

“It’s not just luck, I would say,” Mike comments. “Your music really stands out.”

“Yeah, give us some credit here, Ray!” Santi laughs. “We’ve worked our a—wait, I don’t think I can say that word. Worked our tails off!”

“Alright, alright, yeah.” Ray chuckles. “We’ve done a lot.”

“In such a short timespan too,” Mike adds. “Your first album came out not even a year ago.”

“For sure.” Ray nods.

“You have some rather catchy songs that resonate a lot with your listeners. What does your writing process look like?”

“It all starts with me and Gene.” Ray smiles, turning his head toward his best friend. “I come up with some lyrics, then Gene finds a riff to go with it. Or vice versa.”

“Yeah,” Gene says. “And it’s always just the two of us. I mean, during a songwriting session. But when we come together, we like to be alone in the room.”

Ray’s cheeks heat up again. It’s not a secret how they write songs alone together, but when Gene says it in such a way, on broadcast television, it stirs up an emotion Ray tries to keep hidden. He looks into the studio audience, finding Carol sitting in the front row. It’s a bit hard to see her behind the bright stage lights, but he gives her a smile once they make eye contact. She smiles back at him sweetly. Nerves flutter in his gut.

“That’s interesting,” Mike says. “What you have is sort of like a Lennon-McCartney thing going on—a duo writing the songs for the band.”

“I guess you could say it’s like that,” Gene says, smiling.

“Though, we all know what happened with the Beatles, even as great as they were,” Mike says. “I know you are still new, but do you think you could learn from the Beatles’ mistakes, and stick together?”

“Eh, I don’t know if I’d really call what happened with the Beatles a mistake,” Ray says, taking over for Gene. “Granted, I don’t know the whole story. But they’re completely different people than we are. The relationships between their members was something totally different than what we have. So, in the end, maybe breaking up was better for them in the long run. But that’s not the case for us. We’re all really close, especially me and Gene.”

He glances at Gene, noticing his cheeks flush red.

“Could you see yourselves still doing this five years from now? Ten? Even twenty?”

“Definitely,” Ray says matter-of-factly.

“Of course, especially if it’s with Ray,” Gene adds. His words make butterflies flutter in Ray’s chest.

“How about the rest of you?” Mike turns his head, addressing the rest of the Brooms.

“Y’know, I don’t think Ray’s ever asked us that,” Santiago says with a chuckle. “What if we didn’t want to keep this up for that long? What if I actually wanted to do something with my art degree?”

“Y-you don’t mean that, do you, Santi?” Ray’s eyes widen. “I thought you wanted to be in a band more than anything.”

“I do. I’m just messing with you.” Santi sticks his tongue out. “If Ray and Gene wanna keep the band going, you can count me in, too.”

“Same for me,” Pat chimes in. “Before the Dusty Brooms, I used to be in another band. And ever since I left, they’ve broken up, last I heard. But I don’t really see that happening with the Brooms. I never went to college like these guys—all I’ve ever wanted to do was play music, be a professional musician. They’re helping me live the dream.”

“That’s wonderful,” Mike says. “And what about you, Stefan?”

Ray has been wondering the same thing. If there was any member he was unsure of, it’s Stefan. And yet, Stefan nods. “I like it with the Brooms. I just follow their lead. If they’re sticking together, I’ll stick with them, too.” That’s a relief.