Jack Of Arts

The man walked forward to Tayaw, not wanting to yell his request, and said "Can you play Leaves by Buddy Fridman?" Tayaw smiled and nodded at his request. 'Leaves' is the first song Tayaw played in his audition for Rudy last year and it's been a while since he played it. However, his cover of the song is also one of Tayaw's best arrangements; there's no way he is forgetting how to play it anytime soon.

He smiled wryly upon hearing Buddy Fridman's name. Tayaw felt that had Buddy Fridman been more creative and had not engaged himself too much in temptations, he would have at least become his world's Peter McKinsey. Tayaw felt that Buddy would never be as good as Peter McKinsey, but he still found Buddy Fridman's story a pity.

"Sure. Anyone else from the crowd?" Tayaw accepted the man's request and the crowd started raining suggestions at Tayaw as well. The crowd must have subconsciously realized Tayaw's type of music so most of the songs they requested have actually been covered or at least heard by Tayaw before.

An hour more passed by and there are now only a little short of a hundred people in front of Tayaw. The skies are also turning darker so the lights for the fountain behind Tayaw were turned on by the park's manager.

Tayaw did not expect the crowd retention rate of this place to be this good. He also figured that because it's Friday, students have more time to spare. Tayaw decided to finish the band's arrangements and practice before next Friday.

Unfortunately for the crowd, Tayaw is about to wrap up his set up because his new power bank is actually not fully charged. "Thank you guys for staying and listening. There are still requests I haven't played yet, but I guess an hour and a half is my limit. This is my last song for the day."

Tayaw started bidding his farewell. The crowd felt disappointed but they still gave Tayaw a warm applause of understanding and listened as Tayaw played his song.

"The life I haven't lived would be better for me

My knees are shaking, legs stumbling as I walk

Another empty day is passing today

Love is just for all those who are the same

There's nothing to make my heart flutter"

Tayaw soon finished his set and was met by the loudest applause he got today. "Thank you, thank you again. If you want to see more of me and my band, you can look up our YouTube channel. Also, thanks to your enthusiasm, I decided to bring my band back here next Friday at 5pm. I hope to see familiar faces then." Tayaw said, promoting his YouTube Channel while also leaving a promise to the crowd. After that, he unplugged his microphone and guitar that signaled the crowd that the set is really over so they also started dispersing. Some people of the crowd also walked towards him.

"You were great young man. What's your name? I hope you become famous someday." The man who requested 'Leaves' said as he shook Tayaw's hands in heartfelt compliment. "Thank you sir. I���m Yawat from the band Percussive Corrections. I also hope that my songs will be listened to by many in the future. Please check my original songs on Stoppify for free." Tayaw thanked the man and handed him a small card containing his iTunes, Youtube, and Stoppify channels. Tayaw decided his stage name long ago. Although it's just an anagram of his name, it still has a nice ring to it.

The man was not the only one who shook his hand and said their compliments. There was also strange lady that Tayaw actually knows from somewhere but never met in person.

After a few handshakes and compliments from the crowd, Tayaw ran out of the cards he brought with him and finally started packing up his equipment. He texted the band earlier in the afternoon he will be cooking dinner so he doesn't want to be late.

It's almost six o'clock in the evening when Tayaw got back to Ironstone. Tayaw went behind the house first and saw the bas.e.m.e.nt door was open meaning there are members already practicing inside. He also heard Ike's and Jenna's voice bickering inside. It didn't sound like an actual argument so Tayaw proceeded to the house. Tayaw did not go down into the bas.e.m.e.nt to avoid disrupting the band's practice. He has not seen them for almost a week so they will have questions and answering them will take a lot of their time. It's better to talk to them over dinner.

Entering the house, he saw the bands' back packs scattered around the living room.

Tayaw shook his head. Tayaw is a neat freak but this is the best he can get from his band. He negotiated with the band that it's okay to have a little of disorganization in the house as long as the band vacuum dust often and does not leave mess that bacteria and mold will grow on whether it's in their room or the shared spaces of the house.

His requirement of preventing the growth of bacteria and mold pretty much solved Tayaw's concerns in living with people. The kitchen is spotless and so is the fridge. The bathrooms are also very clean and dry. There are no scattered food and crumbs around the house. The dishes are also washed immediately after use. And the band knows how to handle trash very well.

Tayaw took the two large cuts of tuna he set aside earlier from the fridge to thaw it thoroughly. Looking at the plump cuts that came from the tuna's belly, Tayaw started salivating and separated a 1cm slice and ate it directly like a sashimi. Tayaw plans to cook the tuna as a steak so he then pulled out a griddled pan from the kitchen cabinet he will use to grill the tuna later. He also prepared some ingredients for the tuna like Lemon which he will squeeze juice from, and basic condiments like salt, pepper, thyme, and olive oil.

While waiting for the tuna to thaw, he quickly cooked a pot of cream of spinach soup which will serve not only as a soup but a dip for the bread as well. A few minutes after the soup was done, he was also done grilling 14 juicy two centimeter thick slices and massaged them with spices. By 6:45, he was done setting the table, the utensils orderly arranged and made the dining table look like a real restaurant's table; only difference is it only has the main course.

Tayaw pulled up his phone and sent a message to the group chat. "Dinner's ready." The group shortly joined him by the table and their eyes were attracted by the appetizing looks of the two slices of tuna steak with caramelized surface on each of the ceramic plates and the milky green spinach soup garnished with some sort of a leaf on top.

"Oh my, it looks fancy." Jenna said poking the steak with her fork. "Dude… is this fish? How huge was the fish to have a slice like this?! I thought it was beef at first." Bay-an commented. "It's tuna I bought fresh from Kangpan." Tayaw replied. "You went down to Kangpan just for tuna?" Ramil asked in disbelief. "Ugh… 'Just Tuna'? It's a 164 kg Yellow Fin Tuna." Tayaw replied in fake offense.

"What?! That's four times my weight!" Jenna exclaimed. "Then you should eat more. You're almost skin and bones." Hoon commented on Jenna being underweight for her 159cm height. "Give me your serving then. You're getting fat." Jenna snarked back. "Nah. Tuna is rich in protein. It also has a lot of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids can help…" Before Hoon could continue, Ramil cut him off.

"BY THE WAY. Why buy that much though? It's not like we can eat it all." Ramil raised his eyebrows as the scale of a 164kg tuna dawned on him when he realized the tuna is also more than twice his weight. "Oh. I left the half of it to my family back in Okuba. Regarding what I brought here, don't worry, it will run out before we realize it." Tayaw replied.

"Thash twue. I wouldn't mind hawing thish wor dinner ewery night." Ike said, already chomping down on the tuna steak. "Mm. It's delicious. Man, I didn't know you were a great cook. If you cook for us every night, I'm okay receiving less salary." Inson complimented Tayaw's cooking.

"Anyone tried the soup? It tastes healthy AND delicious." Bay-an said. "Hm. I don't like greens much but this I can have every day." Ike replied. "Anyway, that's still a lot of tuna. Won't we get sick of it?" Hoon asked. "Maybe. But it's not like you can have that much fresh tuna ever again." Tayaw just shrugged. "True. I actually can't believe the difference of taste between canned tuna and this." Hoon nodded.

"So, how's practice?" Tayaw asked the band. "While you were gone, we collectively gave up on arranging the final six songs. Aren't twenty four arranged songs enough? Even though you already arranged 14 of those, the 10 we arranged are already a miracle for us. We decided to just play a straight up covers for the remaining 6." Jenna explained.

"Yep. It's very time consuming. We'd rather practice." Ramil also commented. Tayaw understood their concerns. It's not easy even for experienced musicians to re-arrange a song into a version that can do justice to the original.

"Okay. We'll go with that then. Hey. Guess where I went this afternoon." Tayaw said to the group. "I don't know. Didn't you just get back from Okuba?" Ramil asked. "Yes. But I got back before lunch. I actually went busking." Tayaw revealed. "You went without us?! What about our prep?" Ike complained. Tayaw's confession disappointed the group.

Looking at their agitated eyes, Tayaw almost felt guilty. "Hey. Hey. I scouted out places that we can perform at. Also, I only performed the songs I already performed at the ROH Factory." Tayaw explained. The band finally understood and calmed down. "Did you find a good spot? How was it?" Bay-an asked.

"Yes. It's at Monna Park in West Ouigab, just a few minutes' walk away from NIE campus." Tayaw said. The group was quite intimidated by the name NIE. As engineering students, they felt quite inferior to the students of NIE. "Oh come on guys. We're performing, not to discuss engineering." Inson pulled them out of their intimidation.

"He's right. How's the place?" Ramil said. "It's actually good. It's like a park version of a stadium because of its bowl shape. I think we should also film it. The lake has a fountain in it that light up in the evenings." Tayaw described the park to them.

"Oh. That sounds nice. Are there a lot of people?" Jenna asked. "Yes. I was performing alone for an hour and a half and by the end, there are more than a hundred people watching. Most are around our age from NIE." Tayaw answered. This surprised the band.

So far, they have only been performing at ROH Factory with a crowd of under a hundred people. Performing in an open venue like a park that would have a higher limit of audiences made them feel anxious. "You'll be fine. It's not much different than performing in a bar. You all have plenty of experience." Tayaw assured them.

"It doesn't matter that much, it's still a new experience for us. When will we perform?" Ramil asked. "Because we no longer have to arrange any more songs, I think we have plenty enough time to practice. So, on Friday, we'll set up our equipment at 4:30 and begin at 5."