A/N: Well, here I am with something new again. I don't know why I'm posting this, because it came to my mind asan idea and I don't know if I will be able to make a story about it or not. Sincerely, I'm too excited about Grand Skin Fire because I never thought that some of you were going to like it, and I've been thinking: why the fuck not? So here it is.
I've been inspired by my sister, who is an incredible fan of some bands of music, and by SpanishLily and her story 'Fifteen Minutes Or a Lifetime' (in fact, this first chapter is so alike with her writing style, I think, but the story hasn't anything in common with hers) so thank you, because if I am inspired is because of them.
Stop rambling! Hope you'll enjoy this, and please, leave a review because I don't know where I am going with 'Rock it' :D.
Disclaimer: Skins not mine. I've used some original places, some TV shows and some magazines that are real, and I don't own them either. Also, I want to say that some of the things that I put in here, as Wildmusic Radio or thr girls Twitter pages, are totally fictional :)
...
- Well, this is Doug Harris live for Wildmusic radio 1, London. Today we will meet the new British phenomenon of Youtube, they are four girls, coming from different parts of England. Please, welcome to the Skins!
(They sounded pre-recorded applauses and the girls grinned, saying hello to the audience).
- First of all, Effy, Katie, Emily and Naomi, let me say that you are more beautiful here than on TV!
(Katie laughed).
Effy: awwww, come on.
(Wildmusic Radio 1, London. 103.7)
- We're already here... surprised? After all, your cover of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is making some noise in social networks and in just a week, you made a legal downloads record. Now, the video has millions of visits in just a month. How you digest all of that?
(He looked at Naomi, but the blonde just pointed at Emily, grinning shily).
Emily: Well, (she cleared her throat) it's awesome. Truly amazing. When we hung the song a month ago, I remember that we were suffering because we had Vevo against us and we didn't know if we could pay the fees but at the end, well... from here we want to thank Jeremiah Jones, who handled the production and making of the video, because we saw it just a few minutes before hanging it on the net and it was...
Katie: We were at Naomi's house, because we have like a little studio there in the garage, and it was like: OH my God, we are those people!
Effy: We don't believe it, yet. People stop us on the street and say: they really know how to have fun! For us, everything was like a normal day, the day we shot the video...
Naomi: Yeah... it was eventful.
- The video starts out fun and ends up being transgressive. Girls, are you like this?
(They laughed, and Katie shook her head).
Katie: Of course not! Do you imagine?
Effy: I must confess I am trying...
Naomi: We started talking about all the things that annoyed us. I remember, Eff said boundaries, Katie said something about...
Katie: The people underestimating me.
Naomi: That's it. Emily, she can't stand disrespectful people and I hate injustice. It was like trying to caricature our hatreds and then laugh at ourselves.
Emily: It was really funny.
- So, behind the video, there's a message.
Emily: There's always a message.
Effy: We are not a manageable girl-band. We haven't been created for something special, we are who we are and I suppose that if the video is mainstream, right now, it's because the people see that.
Katie: Girl-bands suck a little.
(Naomi laughed, nodding).
Emily: I think that the moment when the people was wearing paper masks with the face of my sister and acting silly, and Katie goes to the balcony with a megaphone and starts: FUCK OFF, YOU BITCHES!... I could not stop laughing.
Effy: It was so hilarious because it was like having dozens of anti-Katie's with her face.
Naomi: When Eff undressed herself in front of Mrs. 'everything is wrong, you will go to hell' Stonem, it was... wow.
Effy: The make-up girls worked butt, too, because damn, when we saw the video... I mean, I'm 22 and I seemed to have 50, playing Mrs. Stonem.
- Why black and white?
Naomi: The video? Oh, we just liked it. It was the first idea we had, we were trying to show everything we're not, so it's black and white...
Katie: It made sense.
- And now you have a fan club, the Skinner People.
Emily: Awwww... (she smiled).
Katie: Yesterday, Ems and I were doing the purchase and we approached a girl, she would have about 15, 16 as much, and she started. "How cool! I love you, girls, I'm Skinner!" And we, like, what the fuck?
Naomi: Yeah, when they told us, we looked on the internet and there are dozens of twitters to our support. There are pictures of me on the net, even I had no idea that I had taken them.
- And now, what?
Katie: More and more work.
Effy: Yeah... A great company, and I will not say their name, (the girls laughed) came to talk about a project they had for us, on a cover album. Obviously, we said no.
Katie: That's what we are trying to avoid. We are not four blonde bimbos, and sorry, Nai, who want to make fame about something that wouldn't represent us.
Naomi: We did 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' because it was the song who explained more about us.
- Interesting... and I've heard that you have your own songs.
(They laughed).
Effy: Loads.
Emily: Naomi plays the guitar, acoustic and electric, even Spanish, the piano, the violin...
Katie: Such a moonlighting, this girl. Emily knows how to play the guitar, too, but anyways, we aren't like a current band.
Effy: Yeah, it's like we do what we want or what we need to do.
- And how did you meet each other?
Katie: Well...
(She pointed to her sister and herself, and Doug laughed, because yeah, they were twins and it was funny).
Effy: I'm from Manchester. I fucked off when I was 18 and I ended living with the blonde, here in London. It was so random.
[...]
4th October. 2009.
Naomi's flat.
She was tipping her fingers in the couch, watching some TV. She stood up when she heard her ring-bell, looking at her clock on the wall and smiling, because the another girl was coming earlier and she loved punctuality.
When she opened the door, she saw a young girl, probably older than her but young enough to be surprised. Naomi offered her a handshake, and the girl smiled.
"I'm Effy."
Naomi nodded. "I know... come in, I've made some tea."
Effy looked around, to the flat. It was really eclectic, with the weirdest decoration she'd ever seen, but she loved it, and in some way, it suited Naomi. "Can I ask you something?"
The blonde placed two mugs in the table and nodded. "Sure."
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen." Effy opened her eyes, surprised. "Yeah... my aunt died a couple of years ago and this was like my second home, until I moved in. She didn't have any family as my mother and I, so..."
Effy nodded. "And your mother?"
"She lives near Candem, you'll like her."
The brunette raised an eyebrow, so surprised. "W-wait, have you said that...?"
"Yeah! Why not? In fact, you are the first person interested in the flat that doesn't seem weird, freak or a fucking pedo." Said Naomi, smiling. Effy smiled too, and Naomi took a sip of her tea. "But I will need to make some questions and explain you a couple of things..."
"I'm sure I'll manage."
They felt like that was the beginning of a great friendship.
[...]
Naomi: Definetely it was. I didn't even know she could sing, and when she did, it was like: Eff, what are we doing here? We can rock it! And it seems that...
Effy: Yeah...
Emily: It could sound strange, but we meet so randomly, too. They came to Bristol because there's where Naomi's mother lives, and well, we were there because our family lives there, too. We ended in the same night club.
Katie: Basically we just ended the party together in a fucking coffee shop, positively drunk and talking about our lives. The next day we met again, and the other...
Effy: We didn't know they could sing and when we did, it was like: God, these girls are...
Emily: We were living in London, because I was studying English Literature and Katie was working in a fashion shop.
- Why Skins?
Naomi: It suits us.
Katie: Yeah... I think the same.
Emily: For us, nothing is prefabricated. We thought, is there anything more pure than the skin? And well, we were four, so we added the final S.
- We've heard that you just have done a photo shoot for a well known magazine.
(They laughed).
Katie: It was amazing because I remember telling my sister that we were so lucky because it was the first time that we wouldn't charge for a photo shoot.
Effy: And they paid us, yeah... it was nice.
Naomi: Let's say, it wasn't just a typical photo shoot.
(Emily laughed).
Emily: Definitely not.
- How do you live the sudden popularity?
Effy: We have not thought of that. What if people know about us? Well then.
Emily: Yeah, it will sound like, cliché, but we are just girls who want to have fun.
Naomi: Wow Ems, cliché TOO much.
(They laughed, and Doug did it, too).
Katie: I guess it doesn't affect us because they haven't touched our private lives yet.
Effy: Yeah, I agree.
- I think it's time that you sing us something. What do you think, do you want to?
Katie: Sure!
Naomi: Wait, can we grab our guitars?
- Of course.
Emily: OK then.
(In a minute, the girls were settled and Naomi stared at Effy, who nodded, so the blonde girl started to play a melody and Emily followed her. It was a cover of Addicted To You, by Avicii, and it sounded so good. When they finished, the whole team stood up, clapping and the girls laughed).
- Impressive... why Avicii?
Emily: Katie's style.
Effy: Totally.
Naomi: She's like our 'it girl', and it's quite amusing because we are so different. Even Katie and Emily are so different.
Katie: Too much, yeah.
Effy: But she was singing that song, one day, and we found it rather good, so we practised it and here it is.
- So different... what do you mean?
Effy: Katie is very direct, and that, at first, it may seem a little scary, but once you know her, she is the funniest girls in the world. Emily... she has a heart of gold. She is kind, and funny, and she always manages something to brighten our day.
Katie: Yeah, she does. Naomi is smart, and has a kind of humour sense so dark. It's amusing, because if you don't know her, you can think that she's a bitch.
(They laughed).
Naomi: In fact, Katie did.
Emily: It was so hilarious. Naomi, well... she is so talented, too.
Naomi: And Effy... she is what makes the scale be balanced. Without her, we would have surely become very mad with what happened. She is like our rock.
Katie: Yeah, definitely.
Effy: I guess we have a bit of everything.
- I'm reading messages that are arriving at the radio's twitter, WildMusic1. There's a girl who wanted to say that you must record Addicted To You because it's been magical.
(They smiled).
Emily: Thanks...
- There's also a boy who says that he's in love with Katie's lisp.
(They laughed, and Naomi shook her head).
Naomi: He won't be the first.
Katie: Neither the last, babe.
(Doug laughed).
- Well, that's all for now, and now, we present here, in Wildmusic1 London Radio, their hit: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.
(Wildmusic Radio 1, London. 103.7)
(Doug turned off the mic, and they breathed, relieved. It was their first serious interview. Doug stood up).
"Now we are going to do a couple of pictures, for the website." They nodded and when the photographer entered, he made a couple of photos, one with Doug, and the other of theirselves, doing silly faces.
They laughed, a lot, and when they went outside the radio, there were some people who wanted photos, so they did before entering in Emily's car. Katie sat by her side, sighing but smiling.
"I'm so fucking knackered." Said Naomi, zipping her belt, and Effy laughed.
The brunette replied. "You're such a pussy."
"Ha-ha."
Emily laughed. "Are you going to come home, or...?"
"Please." Replied the blonde girl. "I'm dying for some Chinese take-away and today they'll send the magazine with the photoshoot, isn't it?"
Katie smiled, excitedly. "I want so fucking bad to watch that photos."
Emily started to drive and she turned on the radio. When they listened their song, Effy couldn't help but laugh. "Oh God..."
"We did it OK, don't we?" Asked Naomi, thinking in their radio interview.
"We fucking rock it." Said Katie, laughing.
Emily smiled. "We should record 'Addicted To You', I agree with that girl."
"Yeah, we should..." Replied Naomi, yawning.
Effy smiled, lighting a fag.
"Let's do it, then."
[...]
Two Months late.
'Addicted To You, by Skins. Nº 1 on iTunes UK.'
"My fucking Gosh, we are the most played song in Spotify this week, too!" Said Katie excited, staring at her PC Screen.
Naomi sat by her side, eating an apple, and staring at her. Emily was playing her guitar, sitting on the couch, where Effy was smoking while she played with her smart phone. "Hey... look at this." Said the brunette, handing the tool to the littlest twin.
"Read it out loud." Said Katie, turning around on her chair.
Emily started to read. "Fueled by Ramen, interested in 'The Skins'? The famous company could have made contact with the four girls who are rocking all the social networks... wow." Said Emily, impressed.
"That was..." said Katie.
"It could be a rumour." Said Effy, unsure.
"It isn't. Look." Said Naomi, pointing to the PC screen.
The four girls looked at the screen and they opened their mouths, surprised.
"Holy shit..." Murmured Emily.
[...]
A month later.
'SKINS SIGN A CONTRACT WITH FUELED BY RAMEN. The four girls are going to release a CD produced by this famous company.'
(Flashes. More flashes. They were in the middle of the MTV EMA music awards, where they'd been invited to act. They decided to go because it was a huge opportunity. Like a 'Hello, we are Skins and we are going to rock this stage').
- Hey! Here we are with those girls, Skins... wow, you look amazing.
(They grinned because they knew the hostess and it was really amazing to be there).
Effy: As much as you.
- You're going to be on stage tonight, how do you feel about it?
Emily: Excited.
Katie: Totally excited.
Naomi: It's our first time acting in front of so much people, and in Lisboa! We've never been here, before.
- I'm sure you are going to be magnificent, as always.
Emily: Awww, thank you so much.
[...]
The following day. Rolling Stone, Chronicle of the EMA's.
'Every year, the same. The festival of 'music', or the best selling music, goes by. Fan clubs fighting, Miley Cyrus claiming for some attention; Katy Perry singing his umpteenth song (by playback) and between all that mass of boredom, sometimes, and I say SOMETIMES, something interesting arises, as when in 2013 acted Imagine Dragons and The Killers.
Yesterday, it seemed to be one of the most boring of all years. One Direction was taking it all, very predictably, until suddenly four girls came on stage. And what a girls! A part of one of the best live that has never been seen in any of the editions of MTV awards. Just their voices were enough to start the applause and screaming everywhere. Only them, and Naomi's electric guitar.
They pissed at all the people who came to do the show. They, alone. Naturalness! And I liked a lot.
I have the strange feeling that 'Skins', these four girls, can do it all without the help of anything.
I applaud Effy, Emily, Katie and Naomi. Thanks, girls, and see you soon. Sure.'
[...]
A month later. Rolling Stones magazine cover, and interview.
Elizabeth Stonem, Effy.
- 4. September. 1991.
- Manchester, England (U.K.)
- Describe yourself in a word: careless.
- Describe Naomi in a word: fuckin' smartarse.
- Describe Katie in a word: clear.
- Describe Emily in a word: so nice :)
- One Song: right now? I'm addicted to Don't Forget Who You Are, by Miles Kane, but I always choose Chop Suey! by SOAD.
- One film: Black Swan.
- One food: whatever (really, I don't have any favorite).
- One colour: black.
- One place you want to visit: Ansterdam.
- One word: freedom.
Emily Fitch.
- 25. May. 1993.
- Bristol, England (U.K.)
- Describe yourself in a word: grateful.
- Describe Naomi in a word: hmm... creative.
- Describe Katie in a word: difficult to live with, does it serve? I love her with all my heart, though.
- Describe Effy in a word: mysteryous too much.
- One Song: Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall, by Coldplay.
- One film: Harry Potter's saga, or Pride & Prejudice.
- One food: something Italian.
- One colour: red ;D
- One place you want to visit: Mexico.
- One word: love, always love.
Katie Fitch.
- 25. May. 1993.
- Bristol, England (U.K.)
- Describe yourself in a word: amazing ;D
- Describe Naomi in a word: annoying, but funny.
- Describe Emily in a word: sister? Haha, OK, no... lovable, yeah.
- Describe Effy in a word: so fucking mysteryous.
- One Song: Roar, by Katy Perry.
- One film: Love Actually.
- One food: pizza!
- One colour: purple
- One place you want to visit: Paris or New York.
- One word: Skins.
Naomi Campbell.
- 14. April. 1992.
- London, England (U.K.)
- Describe yourself in a word: caring.
- Describe Effy in a word: mys-te-ry.
- Describe Emily in a word: lovely.
- Describe Katie in a word: loud.
- One Song: I Love Rock&Roll, by Joan Jett. Classical, but...
- One film: the last one I saw that made me think a lot was Inception, but my favorite one is Never Let Me Go :).
- One food: Garibaldi's biscuits or chinese.
- One colour: blue.
- One place you want to visit: Goa (India).
- One word: music.
[...]
January, 2015.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
- And now, let's welcome the world's sensation. They're four girls and they are rocking every place they go, they are, Skins!
(The crowd applauded and they entered on the TV set. They sat in the large couch and Ellen stood up, clapping the girls).
- I have to do this because, wow, tomorrow your first album will be released here, in the United States, and I want to be the first to buy it.
(The girls laughed).
Naomi: That wouldn't be possible.
Effy: In fact, we're going to give you the CD. To you and all the people who came tonight, of course.
(The people stood up, making some noise and cheering the girls, who smiled).
- See? I have to love them!
[...]
18th January, 2015.
Naomi on Twitter: Naomikinss
Joined on: 28th October, 2014.
Followers: 297k
Katie on Twitter: kayFFitch
Joined on: 23th April, 2013
Followers: 459k
Effy on Twitter: Carefreeffy
Joined on: 15th August, 2014
Followers: 407k
Emily on Twitter: RockLobsterEms
Joined on: 21st August, 2014
Followers: 342k
Skins Official Twitter: WeRSkins
Joined on: 29th April, 2014
Followers: 998k
[...]
BBC News, February.
"Skins Crushing Tour starts tonight, on Liverpool. The four girls are going to play at Liverpool's Echo Arena and they will present their first album, Crushing. The album reached the Fist position of Most Selling Albums on UK in just two weeks and..."
Effy grabbed the remote control and switched off the TV. Emily was sitting at her side, tying her shoelaces. Naomi smoked at the balcony, staring the landscape. She thought that Liverpool was beautiful, and she smiled. Katie was laying on the bed with her smartphone. Probably, she was tweeting.
"Fucking Katie, you're just an addicted to that shit..." Said Emily, laying by her side.
The eldest twin smirked. "You're just jealous because I'm the most followed girl."
"Whatev." Murmured her sister, yawning and staring at the roof of that hotel's room. Five hours and they would be playing in an enormous place, by theirselves. They couldn't believe it yet. They were happy.
Naomi threw the cigarette to the floor and entering in the room, she laid in that king-sidez bed, too. Effy looked at her three partners and she laughed, joining them.
"Such a pussys, we are..." Mumbled the eldest girl, sighing.
They couldn't help but laugh, together.
They were going to rock it.
They were Skins (and they loved that).
So... what do you think? :)
I just want to say that the story isn't like this, I mean, for example, in the next chapter I would explain something about Naomily's life style (but I don't want to spoil you so you'll have to wait for it :D).
See you next time, or in GSF, or wherever.
#MARV.