Stardom Reset: From Washed-Up Actor To Global Superstar

The kind of tune Niall had wanted wasn’t one that could have been made using a usual guitar chord progression.

And because it didn’t quite fit into the usual chord progressions, the only way he could come close to it, was by trying to tune his guitar in a rather... odd way.

Unfortunately, Niall knew well enough that if he did in fact tune the strings that way, it would result in an increased tension, and inevitably, a string break.

And since he was wary of his strings snapping off--largely because he’d assumed it would only make the progression he was after harder, he’d hard-capped himself without even realizing it.

This, exactly, was what the trio had realized when they noticed how oddly he was tuning his guitar.

That realization however, had driven them to one singular solution that turned out to be rather easy in hindsight.

As a result, Sam walked up to Niall and said;

”Gimme that.”

”Okay...?” Niall removed the tuner from its headstock, and handed over the instrument with a slightly concerned look when he saw how all three were looking at him in genuine fascination.

Archie on the other hand, raised a finger to him and said as Sam placed the guitar on the only sofa in the studio;

”You know, some of the greatest hits of all time, didn’t come from standard tunings. They came from the weirdest tunings.”

”Which is exactly what you’re trying to do, Niall.” Lucas chipped in from behind.

”But unfortunately--” Sam picked up from there as he gestured to Lucas briefly;

”Hold her steady,”

”--you’re still viewing the progression of the tune through the lens of a standard tuning.” he turned to Niall briefly before suddenly snapping off one of the guitar’s string--specifically the B string!

Niall would’ve been so intrigued by what the trio were implying--and he actually was--if not for something else entirely running through his head in that very moment.

”Hey! I haggled for her!” he complained as he immediately got off the chair and walked over to them.

”Eh. You’ll get another one.” Archie shrugged, knowing fully well Niall was just being overly concerned... even though he understood why.

He literally had just gotten it three days ago after all.

That said, the trio couldn’t have been more surprised than they were amused when they saw Niall going toe to toe with and terrorizing the seller like he had a personal vendetta against the man.

Of all the things they’d expected of him... him being a bona fide haggler wasn’t anywhere near the top of that list.

”Besides, you won’t actually have any other choice if that’s the progression you’re really after. We’re just removing the veil from your eyes.” Lucas on the other hand added, his arms folded across his chest with a knowing smile.

Having ignored Niall’s complaints, Sam casually raised the guitar up while Archie whom had retrieved the tuner from where the young artist previously sat, placed the device on its headstock.

Then, as he passed the guitar over to Niall who was looking at the instrument as if they’d harmed his baby, he casually said;

”Now tune it the way you were initially planning,”

To that, Niall gave them all a faux look of traitorous scrutiny. Then he did as he was told a moment after, his smile returning as the trio equally chuckled.

For as much as the young actor had been worried they were going to damage his guitar, he trusted them far more.

Enough to acknowledge that they would fill in the gaps and crevices that he couldn’t given the experience they’d accumulated over the years.

That, after all, was why he’d branched down here instead of heading over to Los Angeles literally two days after he was done filming.

Soon enough, Niall was done tuning it as he’d wanted.

Then he strummed the guitar... only for his eyes slowly widening in a mix of genuine surprise and thrilled exhilaration.

Without even waiting, he sang the chorus of the song whilst using the tune;

So if all you see is who I used to be,

Then you never knew me at all...

I’m more than all the moments I got wrong,

More than all the silence I’ve held on to...

No sooner was he done, the trio smiled a genuine smile to which Sam remarked proudly;

”Told ya.”

However, before Niall even bothered responding to them, he’d began fixing the snapped string back, clearly catching the trio off-guard.

”Um... what are you doing?” Lucas warily asked as all three slowly stepped back, lest the string snapped and whipped at their faces.

”Seeing if I can replace the B string too... but slowly tune it up to a D...” Niall replied with a thoughtful expression as he began doing just that.

As the trio was just about to warn him that he should be careful, Niall actually played the progression again and this time, his eyes glimmered in eureka, a thrilled laugh escaping his lips!

At the same time, a familiar tingle washed over him, one that he chose to ignore in the moment ’cause he knew exactly what had progressed to the platinum grade. His guitar icon.

Sam, Archie and Lucas on the other hand, had looked to themselves briefly, their eyes widening. Now it was their turn to be stunned.

Considering Niall had learnt how to play the instruments on his own--a tidbit he’d informed them about last year during the pre-production of [Silver Comets]--they had come to a simple realization.

Niall often followed the most basic rules of making music, and then usually scaled up from there.

It was also why, he often struggled with the right approach to perfecting most of his songs like he usually wanted and had turned to them now twice to give him some insights.

And for them whom were more experienced, they knew well enough that that approach wouldn’t always work all the time.

Fortunately, in the case of a song as ingenious as the one he was trying to make, all those rules needed to be thrown out the window to a certain extent, hence why they’d been so fascinated.

Niall had been actively trying to break out of that mindset subconsciously, but had been unknowingly holding himself back by trying to work within the rules as evidenced by his careful tuning before they hijacked the guitar from him.

This was all to say that for as much as Niall was a talented force of nature, his lack of experience was probably his biggest ops in driving his music to new heights.

It was also why the trio had snapped off his string before his very eyes, as they had come to understand a long time ago, that to truly create something spectacular, one needed to ditch the rules.

Yet, before their very eyes, Niall had shed off the very same mindset he previously put himself in by taking what they’d taught him a couple minutes ago and putting it into practice right away.

The result was a hypnotic drone that was truly unlike anything they’d ever heard.

Finally, Niall had gotten the exact tune he’d been chasing after down to the last, minute, detail. That last .1% to a perfect tee.

Yet, as he kept strumming away, his laugh progressively getting louder and more thrilled by the minute...

...the B string suddenly snapped!

To that, Niall blinked, as did the trio.

Then he looked down to his guitar, and then back to Sam, Archie and Lucas.

Quickly, realization dawned over him as he remarked with a sheepish smile;

”Well... that was to be expected...”

In sync, the trio replied;

”Yep.”

”Also,” Sam then pointed at the guitar, his gaze intrigued as he spoke;

”If you’re going to play that tune continuously without the fear of your string snapping again, you’re gonna need a custom-made or a semi custom-made guitar tuned specifically for the song.”

In unison, Archie and Lucas nodded, their replies much the same;

”Yep.”

To that, Niall equally nodded in understanding, to which he then asked a moment after, one of his brows curiously arched;

”You guys have anyone who can deliver in approximately three weeks?”

*

(Three weeks later...)

No sooner had Niall’s new guitar arrived, he and the trio got around to producing the song as they’d planned.

Naturally, the process had been very smooth, especially since they’d long ironed out the other kinks to the song.

To that effect, when Niall had assessed the now completed song in all its perfected glory, a solid diamond hue only he could see cascaded across the entire studio in continuous flashes.

It was almost as if it was trying to burst out of the small studio and into the outside world.

As for the trio, they honestly couldn’t help but be in genuine awe as to how phenomenal the song sounded.

Truly, it was the one in a billion, type of song.

The type that would give anyone who tried to replicate it a run for their money.

The likes of which was set to become timeless across generations, upon generations to come.

Now, all that was left, was for them to practice it to perfection for a live performance at Coachella which was set to commence in a week’s time.

But before that, Niall had to forward the song, not just to Coachella for vetting, but also to Murray regarding the proposition he’d made early last month regarding [Rink].

Advance Chapters are available on Patreon!

/Caer07