At eleven o'clock, as if the time had been determined in advance, the store door opened and four or five young people poured in.
The store is not big, so many people came in at once, and there was a lot of movement. When Shin Iwahashi glanced over, the group of young people who came also noticed him, walked over, and surrounded him.
Seeing this posture, the boss at the bar put down the towel in his hand and was ready to step out to stop him at any time. The young waitress was in a dilemma and hesitated in place. As a result——
"I've kept you waiting for a long time." The leading young man bowed and greeted politely.
The boss picked up the towel again. The waitress breathed a sigh of relief and put a smile on her face again.
"It doesn't matter."
Shinichi Iwahashi pointed to the cup in front of him, "I just came here."
Only about a third of the coffee in the cup was drunk. The leading young man lowered his eyes and took a look, and the expression on his face relaxed.
It is these young people who are designated to meet here.
The heavy makeup was removed from their faces, and their clothes were changed back to the style of ordinary college students. Looking at it this way, these young people were ordinary. Walking on the streets of Osaka, you can easily find a lot of them.
These young people are the band called "Shoo Ran Q" that I met with Watanabe Mayumi in Osaka Castle Park last time.
"My name is Mitsuo Terada, and I am the lead singer in the band." The leading young man introduced himself first.
He stood up, and the other four young men also introduced them one by one. This one is Hatakeyama, and that one is Matsui. This one's surname is Horiuchi, and the last one's surname is Aizuka... This surname is quite strange.
…
We arranged to meet at noon, and Iwahashi Shinichi invited these young people to dinner.
They still chose the location. Shinichi Iwahashi was very unfamiliar with Osaka, so he just listened to their arrangements.
After giving out their business cards at Osaka Castle Park, the band did not contact Shinichi Iwahashi immediately, and it took almost two weeks before they called him.
The person responsible for contacting him was the young man who took the lead just now, Mitsuo Terada.
From what I heard on the phone, the band seemed to be quite cautious. Although they received the business card from the head of the record company, they were not overjoyed and impatient. Instead, they first asked around about Genzo and the origins of Shinichi Iwahashi.
After inquiring, I called him. From this point of view, Iwahashi Shinichi passed the "preliminary audition" of the band.
The two parties chatted while eating.
After learning more about it, Shinichi Iwahashi learned that all five members of this band were students at Kinki University.
Originally, these five people belonged to three different bands. Later, because they were about to enter their final school year, members of the three campus bands quit the band to prepare for employment. The remaining people still wanted to continue to be a band, so they got together again and formed
Now this one.
The somewhat inexplicable band name "Shutters" (シャRanq) is made up of the prefixes of the three original band names - Shutters, Ran, and Qp.
It's a bit strange, but it still makes sense.
"So, how many of you are planning to become professional musicians?" Shinichi Iwahashi asked.
The person who replied was a young man named Hatakeyama, who was a guitarist in the band, "That's what I plan to do for the time being. Let's take two years as a deadline. If there is a chance to debut, then continue to do it, otherwise I will go back to work as a salaryman."
"
Previously, the young man named Mitsuo Terada had been in charge of communication, but when it came to this issue, he was replaced by Hatakeyama. Iwahashi Shinichi couldn't help but glance at Terada, but as a result, he could see a hint of desire to speak but then stopped on his face.
"So," Hatakeyama changed the subject, "we want to know what Iwahashi-san thinks of us."
There was a hint of expectation in his tone and demeanor, "To be honest, I have always heard this from others as a legend when I received a business card from a talent scout during a performance in Chengtian. I didn't expect that we would also have such a thing."
one day."
"Furthermore," Mitsuo Terada, who had been silent just now, spoke again. These young Kansai youths spoke with strong Kansai accents, "To be honest, wasn't our performance in Chengtian like a joke?
"
This is said quite honestly.
But on the other hand, I was also asking Shinichi Iwahashi what it was about such a joke-like performance that he, a professional producer, could appreciate, so he specially handed over his business card.
Although they called him and made an appointment to meet, they were not carried away and still knew how much they weighed.
"Indeed, the performance was not very good." Shinichi Iwahashi said bluntly.
"With the current level, it is definitely not possible to sign a contract. To be honest, even if you perform in a live house, you will be booed." He said while observing the reactions of these young people.
Being criticized in person like this, these young people did not show any displeasure at all, and seemed to accept it completely. They were so calm and calm, it was almost "alternative".
"However, there are also advantages." He conveyed to them what he had summarized before with Watanabe Manyumi, "First of all, he insists on originality, and secondly, he is very conscious of being a glam rocker. Moreover, lead singer Terada-kun's voice is very
resolution."
For record companies, it is necessary to "cast a wide net". Therefore, they do not wait until they find outstanding new talents to take action, but whenever they see a possibility, they must take action first.
"Having 'possibility' is very important for newcomers who have not debuted." He said.
The five young men listened to his words attentively and exchanged glances with each other. This time, it was the young man named Terada who spoke, "So, what are your plans?"
"I'm here in Osaka, and I'm going to open a live house. When the time comes, I'd like to invite you to perform as well." The answer given by Shinichi Iwahashi is a bit far from preparing to debut after receiving a talent scout's business card.
However, they all know the quality of the band and know that they are still far from their debut.
Therefore, it was expected to receive such an answer. However, after receiving such an answer, several people, especially Mitsuo Terada, still seemed to be hesitant to say what they wanted to say.
Upon seeing this, Iwahashi Shin stopped what he was about to say and asked, "Do you have any questions? Just say what you want to say."
"There is something wrong with Mr. Terada." It was Hatakeyama who was responsible for speaking. "Actually, Mr. Terada has received an informal letter from a local credit bank and is hesitating whether to take up the job or give up the job first."
Having said that, Iwahashi Shinichi changed his mind and understood why Mitsuo Terada, who was originally responsible for speaking, was mute when talking about the band's future plans just now.
However, after solving one puzzle, he had new doubts.
There are five members in a band, and four of them are ready to give up their jobs and obviously want to work hard for two years. But the lead singer of the band is a "ticking time bomb" who is not sure whether to become a salaryman.
If you are not careful, the lead singer will run away, and the band will immediately stop. Having personally led two lead singers to run away one after another, Shinichi Iwahashi has a particularly deep understanding of this abnormality.
For a band, if the most important lead singer is between quitting and not quitting, this situation is very dangerous.
Under such circumstances, the four young men were so ambitious that they continued to form a team?
"Actually," this time, it was Mitsuo Terada who finally spoke, "No matter what you think of our band, Iwahashi-san, and what you plan to do..." He showed a somewhat embarrassed expression, "I have something to ask of you."
"Let's talk about it." Iwahashi Shinichi said.
"That's right. I personally hope that I can make music full-time with them for two years before deciding whether to have a formal job. However, my parents at home think that we will not have much future and hope that I will go to work."
"So," Hatakeyama spoke again this time, "I would like to ask you to help meet Terada-kun's parents and help persuade them so that Terada-kun can postpone his appointment."
"You are the producer of the band Zard, right?" Mitsuo Terada said.
Iwahashi Shin nodded, "Yes."
"Recently, zard has been discussed quite a lot here in Osaka, because my parents also like zard very much..."
Calculating carefully, the time when the band called Shinichi Iwahashi happened to be when the show started broadcasting on September 9th and Zard's promotion in Kansai was launched.
The reason why Sheran Q called him was probably because Zard saw hope. To be honest, Zard was the one who urged Sheran Q to Iwahashi Shinichi.
In a sense, coming to see Sheran Q made Shinichi Iwahashi feel a little bit of Zard's enthusiasm.
When these young people contacted Iwahashi Shinichi, they had already made their own plans.
If he is really signed by Iwahashi Shinichi, he will have a formal identity and the matter will be resolved naturally. Even if not, using Iwahashi Shinichi's help to stabilize Mitsuo Terada's parents can be considered a good use.
In fact, the real purpose of these young men coming to see Iwahashi Shinichi was to get him to become a lobbyist.
No wonder no matter how much Shinichi Iwahashi criticized them just now, these young men acted like obedient boys. It turned out that they had already thought about taking advantage of him.
Shinichi Iwahashi learned how cunning the Osaka people are in a place like this.
The more Mitsuo Terada said, the more embarrassed he became, "It's a bit hard to ask you to do that... But if I can get the approval of zard's producer, I think my parents will be able to relax about my employment."
It was them who asked Shinichi Iwahashi to make a cunning little calculation in advance. However, it was also them who felt ashamed and uneasy because of making such a request.
However, the contradiction between cunning and shame is precisely their persistence in working hard as a band.
However, whether it is a dream or persistence.
Iwahashi Shinichi thought for a while, "First of all, I want to say that based on your current level, even if the band works full-time for two years, it may not be able to debut at all, and it will end up disbanding."
"Yes." Mitsuo Terada lowered his head.
Maybe in the end, I just wasted two years in vain and wasted the good opportunity of finding a job now.
"What if I can take you out immediately... In this situation, it would be too arrogant to just endorse you in front of your parents."
Dreams and persistence are not based on hypocrisy.
The expressions on the faces of the five young men across from them that were fine no matter what just changed slightly.
Iwahashi Shinichi said calmly, "Now let me continue the topic, okay?"
The few young people didn't say anything, so he took it as his acquiescence, "That's it. After the livehouse here in Osaka opens, I would like to invite you to perform. There will be one livehouse in Tokyo and one in Osaka. If you are interested in Tokyo,
I hope to invite you to regularly exchange performances at livehouses in Tokyo and communicate with musicians there."
Exchange performances.
After the livehouses in the two places are opened, Shinichi Iwahashi plans to exchange performances regularly, allowing musicians from Kanto and Kansai to perform at each other's venues.
On the one hand, Tokyo is the absolute center, and singers discovered in Osaka will definitely go to Tokyo to develop in the future. On the other hand, the Kansai market is not small, and he plans to seize it from the very beginning, the most basic place.
"In addition, I also hope that you can bring new songs for me to listen to every time." Shinichi Iwahashi said, "If within the next two years, I think you can make a debut, I will arrange for you to
Official debut."
Of course, there is no reason to train new people in vain. If there is no contract, the band will be signed by other companies midway, and this kind of thing of making wedding dresses for others cannot be done.
However, for this two-year contract, Shinichi Iwahashi signed with them not in the name of a record company, but in the name of a production company.
After signing the contract, they became employees of the production company just like Seiichiro Kuribayashi.
Of course, the treatment is completely different from that of Seiichiro Kuribayashi.
There is a basic salary but it is very small. The monthly salary in the first year is only 60,000 yen. The production company has the right of first refusal to write the music. The basic salary for a live house performance is 2,000 yen for five people, but if
If more than 100 people attend the venue, they will participate in the box office share.
However, the production company is not empty-handed. It will provide them with some conveniences and arrange some relevant training for them. These amateur players need to be improved in all aspects.
During the contract period, if the debut standards set by Shinichi Iwahashi are met, he will sign a new record contract with them.
In this way, we have this band in our hands first. Instead of signing a record contract, we sign a contract with a production company. On the one hand, it is to facilitate subsequent operations. On the other hand, Iwahashi Shinichi also has selfish motives. In order to increase the production company's
chips.
To prepare for a rainy day, we should not let the production company become a shell company, but try to make it as revitalized as possible.
If this band cannot be supported, there will be no loss to the production company, but if it can really reach the level of a debut, it will be another matter.
At least during this period, the copyrights of the songs written by the band and purchased by the production company were all owned by Shinichi Iwahashi.
"In short, this is the condition I gave you."
Iwahashi Shinichi didn't hold back, "It's okay not to reply now. However, if you are interested, you can contact me later, and then go to Tokyo to sign the contract. Of course, I will bear the travel expenses."
"After signing the contract, compared to ordinary bands performing in Chengtian, I have a more serious place to go, but I still have to work or be supported by my family." Shinichi Iwahashi did not beat around the bush, "Of course, compared to working as a credit banker,
