Post by Logan Chase Renner on Jul 25, 2012 23:34:22 GMT -5
Logan sat down at his desk chair, took a deep breath and folded his hands in his lap, completely determined to spend the next ten minutes doing absolutely nothing at all. He’d had sort of a hectic morning. A lot of press people were still calling trying to book interviews and things with Joel about being engaged and the whole ordeal with that baby mama drama that seemed like it had been forever ago but apparently it was one of those lurking topics. As far as Logan knew, Joel was suing that bitch right back because she was a fucking idiot. Then there was the stuff with Dani… Logan still couldn’t believe what she’d had to tell him about her own father. And it was like, what could Logan really do for her? But that was just it, she was one of his artists, and that made her a top priority. Not only that, but at the end of the day, Dani was a close friend and artist or not, Logan wasn’t one to sit around and take a back seat when he could be doing something to fix it for her, in whatever way he could. Of course Logan had told her to take legal action, found her good lawyers. The problem was that, while her father had a restraining order and was in prison anyways, it was hard to prove he was behind the cameras in her apartment without snooping around where they shouldn’t. And that wasn’t getting any answers for her, nor was it easing her mind. Dani needed answers, and reassurance that her home was a safe haven, far from that monster that called himself her father. Again, Logan was not going to just sit and let lawyers figure out things and work in circles when Logan knew there was digging to do, and he thought he knew exactly the kind of people that were good at digging in this city, people who knew the right guys, knew people behind bars. People that were totally willing to find answers. Logan wasn’t totally sure what Zach’s day job was but… considering the shady things that happened for the small amount of time Logan was back dating Scarlet, and the things Logan had observed, Logan had an idea about Zach, and it wasn’t that he worked in a deli during the day. Logan had called him cautiously, but one mention of ‘needing answers’ and ‘need someone to do some digging’ and Logan had what he needed. They didn’t discuss it, but Logan had been right, about Zach’s ‘profession’. Weird… but made some sense kind of. So far Logan was aware that Zach involved his ‘friends’ on Dani’s behalf, and Logan wasn’t entirely sure why they had agreed so willingly to help her. Maybe Zach just felt bad about the whole Scarlet thing, felt her owed Logan a favor perhaps? That didn’t seem like something Zach would do, nor did Logan feel that was valid, but it was the only thing that made sense. Either way, Zach was with Scarlet this afternoon but supposedly someone was being sent over to get him updated on whatever they’d found. Logan did not know who he was expecting. Or when they were coming. Or if he should be concerned.
On top of all that worry, Logan had been dealing with his real estate agent quite a bit this morning, been in touch with promotional people for ‘Footloose’, and had a phone conference scheduled this afternoon with the School for the Performing Arts about a program he was trying to create. Logan thought back to two years ago, fresh out of high school, living the good life as a signed, successful music artist. No cares in the world, just money, luxury, alcohol, drugs, and women. Now he had a hell of a lot more money and more to come given his recent endeavors, a hell of a lot of responsibility with his label, film production company he’d started on a whim, real estate, programs, other things he felt dirty being involved in, and a hell of a lot of love for the two most important girls in his life. Logan looked up as his desk phone rang, pushing the intercom button, seeing it was from Felicia’s desk, “Yeah?” “Hey Logan, I know you have a full plate today, just don’t forget you agreed to that interview with Billboard this afternoon after your phone conference with the school.” Logan paused, remembering it, but having forgotten about it until this second. “Logan? Look I can reschedule something, that can be moved to another day, or the people at the school would probably gladly reschedule-“ “No, it’s okay Felicia. Um…” Logan rubbed his neck, “What are you doing right now?” “Calling venues for fall tours. Would you like me to be doing something else?” she laughed, always completely patient when he was having scatter brain busy days. “No that’s perfect, thanks. But when you grab lunch, will you bring me back something?” “What do you want?” “Honestly I just want a huge greasy cheeseburger. From anywhere, as long as it’s gross and will probably clog my arteries. Don’t tell Blake.” Felicia laughed on the other end, ”Sure.” ”Is Zoe busy? Does she want lunch too? It’s on me.” ”Zoe is on the phone with Vinny about All Time Low merchandise. Something about not having enough baseball tee’s in small sizes for the next week, what do you think?” Logan smiled, shaking his head, ”I think she needs a drink.” ”I’ll tell her you think so. Is that all you wanted?” ”Yup. Stop in here before you leave, I’ll give you some money for lunch. Actually, ask around the studio and see if anyone else is hungry. I think Collin is in his office, Ellie is in writing with Kiersten.” ”Kiersten is here writing? Since when?” Logan shrugged even though she couldn’t see him, ”Since this morning?” ”I meant since when does she write songs.” ”Oh. Since she wrote one for Ellie and showed me and it was actually pretty impressive. I swear she’s a musical prodigy or something.” ”Interesting.” ”Now that I think about it, I don’t think I was supposed to share that information. Never speak of it.” he said jokingly serious. ”Only to Zoe.” ”I should have guessed you would say that.” ”Okay I’m gonna leave you alone now.” ”Perfect.” Logan hung up the call, sitting back in his chair and closed his eyes. Ten minutes starting now…
Just a few more hours, he kept thinking, and he’d could go home for the rest of the afternoon, or at least until someone came in tonight and called him back in for a recording session or something. All he wanted to do was get through his meetings, go home and have dinner with Lance. Blake was out with Mackenzie, doing god knows what, but they were staying out for dinner. Logan Lance day. Logan got through lunch unscathed, only stopping in Collin’s office for a minute to confirm some upcoming videos and see some of The Maine’s new one he was working on. That looked like it’d be ready by the end of the week at the latest. Just in time for them to release a single off their new album. So, so many things coming out all at once. As soon as ATL got off tour, they were shooting for I Feel Like Dancin’, their soon to be released single off their soon to be released album. Ellie was getting serious about her music, knocking out songs like she was under a serious time restraint, recording them as fast as Kiersten was helping her write them. It seemed like everyone was working on an album, or planning a tour and of course, Blake was never not writing. Logan took his phone conference on time, discussing what he wanted to offer the school by means of a collaborative music program. Basically he wanted to get the kids involved in other parts of the music world, show them that being classically trained to play a violin had more paths then just become part of some symphony or orchestra while you worked at an office during the day. Music was so diverse, why not show them that recording studios wanted classical instruments too? And then there were the kids there to be songwriters. Taboo had a variety of willing artists that would go and have workshops with the students, about song writing, and the music business. There were singers in there, instrumentalists, you name it. Those kids were the future of the music industry; they should have opportunities to be exposed to what the music industry really had to offer them. The school officials bought it, mostly because it was a good idea, and also because Logan was particularly good with words. Plus two of their former students and a current one were interns at his label. He’d been working with them for over a year about that anyways, Felicia, Zoe and Kiersten got school credits for it.
As soon as Logan hung up the phone, Felicia must have noticed his line was clear, buzzing him, ”Your interview is here, you want a few minutes or send him in?” ”Ohh just send him in.” Okay interview time. What was this again, Billboard? Right. The man sat down across from Logan after reaching over to shake his hand, “Hi, Jason Hunt, pleasure to be able to meet with you. Do you mind if I use a tape recorder?” Logan shook his head, “Go for it.” Jason nodded, getting his things set up, saying, “You have a very, very nice assistant, very organized.” “That sounds like Felicia.” “But she isn’t just your assistant, she has other job responsibilities?” “Yeah she picks up my slack in every aspect of my job here,” Logan laughed slightly, “If I’m organized it’s only because she color coordinates my sticky notes for me.” Jason laughed, “And the other one?” “Zoe? She’s my main merch girl. Public relations, marketing, between the two of them they do a lot of damage control.” “Is there a lot of damage control needed here at Taboo?” Yup, interview officially started. Logan laughed, smiling, “Yeah when you got people filing cases against my artists claiming things like being the father of their child, we tend to need damage control.” “That was a big blow up in the media, how did yourself, your team and Joel Foster handle that situation? If you don’t mind me asking, your office has been very hush hush, do you mind giving an official statement on your artists behalf?” Logan shrugged, “Well it wasn’t true, so that made it easy. But uh, we’ve got our people who focus on the image of the artist, how can we play this to better their image, etc. Lawyers obviously were involved. Joel is really a good sport about everything.” “And it’s become very apparent that the allegations against Joel aren’t true, and the young woman dropped the suit asking for a paternity test?” “Yeah well, Joel wasn’t afraid to take it, he knew what the outcome would be.” “How are you all handling it now?” “Well seeing as it was all false, it’s just sad that someone would fabricate malicious, defamatory and demonstrably false claims. Joel is such a good sport about all of it, but we are pursuing legal action against her for defamation and libel. Sucks it had to come to that but it’s like, this is a kid’s reputation, he’s a worldwide icon. Someone needs to be held accountable for their actions.” “Very right you are. Speaking of Joel, he is engaged! Were you surprised?” “No,” Logan grinned, “Like I said Joel is a really good kid, super considerate of others. He knew I was gonna have to deal with a lot of press after he proposed, so he told me before he did it.” “You knew Joel was going to be proposing?” “Yeah, and I’m glad he told me. It’s unbelievable the speed of response something like that gets. It was good I didn’t get caught off guard.” “It’s been pretty apparent that Joel is very much a young Logan Renner, the shoot to stardom, modeling his career after how successful your was before you went producer. Do you approve of his fiancé?” Jason asked, eyes twinkling with the dirt he was getting, “Oh yeah, who wouldn’t like Tori? She’s a sweet girl, good for Joel.”
“So in the last year alone Logan, Taboo Records put itself on the map, went through the roof crazy successful, you’ve put out dozens of hits and platinum records, what is it that you were expecting when you started?” “Not all that.” Logan laughed, licking his lips. “You know I was living a good life, I was just an artist myself, recording records, doing videos, tours, performances, signings, the whole works. I didn’t really… anticipate taking this path. I had it made, what more could I really ask for? But it was like, you get to that point in your career when you can either push to keep your image your own, or you can become a puppet to your label. I didn’t want that. When I started as an artist, I was writing my own songs, doing my own choreography, all of the music that people heard, was straight from right here.” Logan pointed to his own head, continuing, “Then it was like, bigger tours, bigger promoting, they wanted me to collaborate with other big artists, which I wasn’t opposed to. But there was the slowly slipping away from what I had worked for, I was losing the image I wanted. They wanted me to sing stuff I didn’t want to sing, stuff I didn’t write. I’m not against that either, a great song is a great song, but that wasn’t the music I wanted to make. And you see that with every artist here. When I met Blake at our old label, she had asked me to help her work on a song she had been writing, she wanted it to have a bit of a different sound. You’ve heard ‘Better Than Revenge’?” Logan laughed, shaking his head. “Oh yeah! That is a very edgy sound for Blake, I think people can definitely see that you added a lot of Logan sound to that now that you say it. Was the first song you guys worked on together?” “Yeah that started it all,” Logan said, stretching his legs out under his desk.
“I had a studio in my house at the time, and Blake came over one night and we recorded the entire thing. Blake must have thought I was an insane one man band, recording every instrument one at a time, but it was worth it. We took it back to the label and they basically shit on it. Said it ‘wasn’t her sound’. But that’s the thing,” Logan leaned forward, so adamant about getting this across, “It should never be about what sound your label thinks you should have. That was the problem I was dealing with, that was what she experienced the second she stepped out of her comfort zone, that’s why we both left. I stormed out actually… not one of my shining moments,” he laughed a little, “But in a way it was. I took control of my career, I told myself I was going to start my own label where my artists would always have the first say and input on just exactly where they wanted their career to go. Blake writes what she wants to express to her fans, she is completely free in her writing process. Dani likes to tell people she really owes her image to me, but Dani still tells me what she is comfortable with and what she isn’t. I take her opinion much more into account than she realizes, and Dani writes what she wants. All Time Low runs their own recording sessions basically. If I told them I didn’t like something they’d probably tell me to fuck off or go to hell,” he laughed, adding, “Same with The All American Rejects and the Maine. All three of those groups have already established themselves and the type of band they are, they do whatever they hell they want. I just handle the business of it. Natalia is extremely involved with her image. Anabelle Hart is probably the sweetest southern belle you will ever meet. She makes her own image just by being the nicest person in the room sometimes. Some of my artists, Maroon 5, Braison Pierce, they have established careers. I can’t mold them, I can only guide their choices as far as business goes, make sure they get where they want to go. Alex Harrison of Cobra Starship is such a great producer himself, he and I usually work together on all their projects, if not just me approving his masterpieces later. LIGHTS too, she’s got some of the best ears around when it comes to music comp, she’s actually from the old label. They had been considering signing her and ultimately turned her down, she wasn’t what they were looking for. She was one of the first people I called when I started Taboo, I thought she was a genius.” “You seem to think so highly of all your artists.” “Yeah but at this point they’re more than just artists, we’re one big happy fucking family.” “You mentioned Maroon 5, isn’t there kind of some uproar about their switch to Taboo? What do you have to say about that?” “That we work well together. They are a great band, established, successful. I’m the same in my profession over here as a producer, why not feed off each other?” “How about Joel Foster, you say you are open to your artists basically controlling their images and the music they make, but his career is running parallel to yours back in the day.” “Joel… is on his own map,” Logan grinned, “Joel does control it all. I advise him as wisely as possible, and he soaks my advice in like a sponge, but he calls the shots. He know exactly what he wants, always has since the day he came in and hopped onto my desk. He’s in control because he works every bone in his body to get to the top. You think he would spend an entire night practicing choreography if he didn’t like it or didn’t think it was what he wanted? Of course not, Joel is one of the most dedicated people I know, he only puts his whole self into projects he is completely behind. He takes his career very seriously. And he’s a perfect example of artist/producer communication, based solely on the difference between his first two albums and his new one coming out. ‘Boyfriend’ has gotten such a good response, but I think it’s because Joel is getting older, his sound is becoming older. Definitely different than My World and My World 2.0, but it’s that necessary change to establish that he’s growing up.” “You’re saying it’s not so much that his career is modeled after yours, but that you and him just share the same dream and ironically similar dedication to your work.” “Yeah that’s what I would like to get across. When I met Joel he told me he wanted to be as big as me. I told him I was going to make him bigger than me. I think we accomplished that and then some.”
Jason flipped through his notes, “So what are we expecting soon?” Logan thought for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, “New All Time Low, new The Maine. Both have some videos coming out. Joel has another video debuting really soon. Maroon 5 just filmed video for their new single, featuring,” Logan added, smiling, “Mandi Collins, so watch for it. Natalia is out on tour, and that is a massive world tour type thing, so hopefully people can catch her show when she’s in their towns. What else…. We’ve got Ellie Ridgefield, she’s up and coming right now. I’m excited to start getting her stuff out there, she’s got a really different thing going than anyone here at the label, so that’s been fun.” Jason smirked, pausing as if he shouldn’t ask what he was about to but couldn’t seem to help himself, “How about the one and only Logan Renner, are we ever going to see music from him again? Or is he strictly a producer?” Logan sat back, crossing his arms loosely over his chest, “That is classified information. You may have to just wait and find out.” “Does that mean you’ve got a secret projects in the works?” “It means I’m not telling you shit about it dude,” Logan laughed, “But I do still enjoy writing and recording music myself. Right now it’s just been to humor myself, relieve some stress of the office. But I wouldn’t write it off just yet. I don’t really know. I’ve got a lot of other things on my plate.” “You’re being pretty discreet; don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up? “ “Well yeah, plus I just don’t know if that’s ever going to be in the game plan for me again. Just up in the air. At this point I’m way too busy with other things.”
“Okay so leaving music talk for a bit, you forgot to mention that you have a film about to premiere, is that right?” “Ohhhh yeah. I forgot about that,” Logan laughed, “Well it isn’t MY film, but yes ‘Footloose’ has been wrapped for some time now.” “Tell me how a recording artist turned music producer decided to start a film production company.” “Well. One just has to have enough money. And people to do paper work that they will ask you to sign. And voila.” “That’s funny. What made you decide to do this on a whim?” Logan shrugged, “Well, I know Gabe and Bailey, they play the lead roles. We have mutual friends, I was as excited about the film as they were. When I found out the financial backing fell through, it was like. I don’t know it’s films like that that were instant classics but kids these days don’t appreciate them. The stories the same though, so I think it’s a good idea to modernize it. It was sort of sudden, business move… but I think it’s going to be worth it.” "After ‘Footloose', do you plan on continuing to produce films from your company?” Logan tilted his head sideways, “you know, I hadn’t really thought about it, which is silly. I should have probably given that thought before I did it. You know what, I think I just might. I wanna get my hands on some scripts, talk to a kick ass director I know. I think something like that might be in the works.”
“Okay Logan, rumors have been going around, confirm or deny?” “Sure.” “You been allegedly making some real estate purchases and they aren’t vacation homes. Shed some light?” “Uh.” Was he supposed to confirm or deny, or shed some light? “Well I have made a couple of purchases, yeah. Neither of which I’m willing to shed light on. Just yet.” “Alright, fair enough. Logan Renner has some surprises up his sleeve.” “Yes.” Jason checked his notes, checking a few things off and then looked back up at Logan, “You have three interns, correct?” “Yup, you met two of them. Kiersten is around here somewhere working.” “Kiersten Bannon?” Jason asked, eyes lighting up, “American Heiress, Kiersten Bannon?” “Yeah, I guess she is that to some people,” Logan thought out loud, “But here she’s just my intern. She’s actually a producer in training, a lot of talent, that one.” “Not just because she’s an heiress?” “What?” Logan shook his head, “No, she’s somewhat of a music prodigy. Picks up any instrument, I swear they play for her instead of her playing them,” he joked. “Her and Joel in the same room is something to see, they could have a two kid band. Joel’s been teaching her how to play a lot of instruments actually. When he’s not knee deep in work that is.” “That’s funny. Now all the kids here basically go or went to the same school, School of Performing Arts right here in Manhattan, right? You’ve been working with the school on a music program on top of your internship program, can you tell me about that?” Logan nodded, “Sure. Um, basically with the music program, and it’s not exactly going yet, still in the prototype phase, but it’s the same idea as my internships. Get kids in here who want to get in this business, show them exactly how things work on the business side of things. There are so many talented kids at that school, singers, musicians, song writers. The idea is to create workshops and opportunities to put kids in real life situations.” “That sounds really cool.” “Yeah it’s kind of awesome. I mean, I’m not that old, I was them a few years back and look where I ended up. Kids just need a door in front of them for them to realize all they need to do is open it.” Jason seemed to take a moment to think about something then put on a serious face, “Now, this is the same school you brother graduated from correct? The school that had the shooting? It was all over the news, a lot of famous kids were in danger.” “Uh... yes.” “Okay, I know it’s a personal subject, very sorry to hear about your brother’s loss of sight, but I just want to say first of all I think what you did as a label putting on the benefit concert for the families of the victims, that was something you don’t see often. It’s easy to just donate money, but to dedicate your own time to something like that, that’s incredibly, as a label family.” “Thanks. You know, a lot of it was the fact that it hit so close to home. Our interns were in there, our siblings, girlfriends. People important to us were in there too. Having fame doesn’t make us invincible. We’re lucky to all still be here, and some families can’t even say that. I think we all just wanted to do something to help.”
Jason nodded, “Definitely. It sounds like family is really important to you, whether it’s your label family you’ve created, or your wife and baby…?” Jason smiled, and Logan offered a small smile, “Oh yeah, that’s my whole world right there.” “That was definitely a happy ending with you and Blake. A few rough patches here and there, but I think the whole world can see you guys are the music power couple. Is it difficult to balance your roles here at the label with your roles at home?” “Umm… not really. I mean, yeah sometimes we have like, the most whack schedules. Some days we’ve got Kenzie on play dates so we can both get some work done, or a lot of the time when Blake’s writing or in her little song bubble, Kenzie’s in the office with me.” “Work with dad?” “Ha, yeah. I’ve had many conference calls where Kenzie’s has offered her input.” Jason laughed, “Well she’s gotta learn early, huh?” “Oh yeah, she’s gonna be fine. But I mean, balancing home and work, Blake and I just make it work. It’s no different from other families where both parents work, we just adjust our schedules. At the end of the day, we go home, we do normal family stuff. Hang out, make dinner… well Blake makes dinner. She won’t let me near her kitchen. But you know, when were at home, that’s kind when I like, sit back and absorb… everything. I might have a hectic day up here, but at home it’s like, I have a great job, I have so many amazing people in my life, I have an awesome wife, awesome kid. I can sit back on the couch, kick my feet up with a beer, I got my girls. I try to enjoy everything as much as possible, you know, I try to remind myself how lucky I really am that I was able to build this life for myself and my family.” “You do seem to be one lucky guy.” “I am very.” Jason shut his notebook full of questions and sat back, crossing his arms across his chest, “So one last question, what’s the future look like for Taboo Records, what’s in the cards for Logan Renner?” Logan grinned shaking his head, “How should I know? Dude, your guess is as good as mine. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
After Jason had left Logan called Blake to check in, though he was sure she was having a delightful time doing girl things. He didn’t get much of a rest period though because Felicia was paging his office again, but this time it was to tell him Jake Russo was there to see him. “Really? Alright well have him come in… there hasn’t been anyone else?” “Are you expecting someone else?” “… I don’t really know.” “…Okay. After this I think it’s time you went home for the day,” she laughed. Jake came in and sat himself down, crossing his arms and looked at Logan after the door had shut behind him, “Hey man.” “Hey Jake. Not to be whatever but what the hell do you want?” Logan asked, laughing. “I am here to talk to you about the Dani situation. Now I know what you’re thinking, what does Jake know about it? Well I am going to just go ahead and clear that up, and this never leaves this room…” Jake looked at him and Logan looked back expectantly, “Okay?” “Well you somehow decided Zach was involved in the mafia, no? I mean, why else would you have gone to him. It just so happens that is… my family….” Logan stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing, “Your family is the mob?” “Yes...” “Oh my god. Well even though I wouldn’t have guessed that, that makes sense.” “What? Why?” “Because you’re Italian and you spend time with your extended family more than anyone I know.” “Whatever. Anyways, you wanted to know about the Dani situation. Basically this is it; her fucking dad, is an asshole and hired some thugs from prison to put cameras at our place and now Dani is worried a sex tape is going to get out, you know all that part.” “Wait you know that for sure, he hired people from prison?” “Yeah. So my people, Zach mainly, he’s awesome at hacking computers by the way went to the place who sells cameras like that and shit. And my cousins um… occupied the guy who worked there, Zach worked some magic, found who he sold the cameras to. Badda bing, badda boom, tracked ‘em down. I’m just sayin’, you hold a gun to someone’s, they’ll fess up-“ “Jake.” Logan laughed, “I don’t wanna know. Just… it was her dad though?” “Yeah. So we did all the dirty work, but how do you even prove it.” “Well at least we know.” “Yeah it’s like, if we could just whack him off, all Dani’s problems would be gone.” “I’m trying to figure out if you mean that literally… but given that I know things about your family that I didn’t want to know, I feel like I’m witnessing a crime having this conversation. Am I accomplice if he dies…” Logan rubbed his eyes, laughing, and Jake thought about it a moment, beginning to laugh too. Jake shrugged, “Look as far as I’m concerned, we never had this conversation, they didn’t do any snooping. We know what we need to, we’re gonna do what we gotta do.” “And that is…?” “Get rid of the fucker.” “Oh jesus.” “Don’t bring him into this man, I don’t think he approves of this method.” Jake sighed, putting his serious face back on, “I don’t know. It’s easy to think you can just fix it… I just hate like, not being able to fix it.” “ I know.” Logan sat back, “Well, at least we know. And if you guys… decide to do anything about it… don’t… feel like you have to … you know, tell me.” Jake offered a small smile, “I got you bro, I don’t normally know much about anything either. Acting is more my thing, not the family business. But… you know, it’s Dani.” “Yeah.” Logan dropped his head in his hands, laughing, “This is the weirdest conversation we’ve ever had Jake.” And hopefully the last one they ever had about this subject. Because hopefully the situation got… handled. Even though Logan didn’t want to know how, just hoped it did. Logan didn’t want to think about it, he was just ready to go home, snuggle up on the couch with a blanket, spend some quality bro time with Lance and not think about what might in store for anyone who ever laid a hand on Dani. It was good for her, having Jake around to apparently take care of things, just bad for the idiot who crossed him. Again, Logan was not going to think about it.
On top of all that worry, Logan had been dealing with his real estate agent quite a bit this morning, been in touch with promotional people for ‘Footloose’, and had a phone conference scheduled this afternoon with the School for the Performing Arts about a program he was trying to create. Logan thought back to two years ago, fresh out of high school, living the good life as a signed, successful music artist. No cares in the world, just money, luxury, alcohol, drugs, and women. Now he had a hell of a lot more money and more to come given his recent endeavors, a hell of a lot of responsibility with his label, film production company he’d started on a whim, real estate, programs, other things he felt dirty being involved in, and a hell of a lot of love for the two most important girls in his life. Logan looked up as his desk phone rang, pushing the intercom button, seeing it was from Felicia’s desk, “Yeah?” “Hey Logan, I know you have a full plate today, just don’t forget you agreed to that interview with Billboard this afternoon after your phone conference with the school.” Logan paused, remembering it, but having forgotten about it until this second. “Logan? Look I can reschedule something, that can be moved to another day, or the people at the school would probably gladly reschedule-“ “No, it’s okay Felicia. Um…” Logan rubbed his neck, “What are you doing right now?” “Calling venues for fall tours. Would you like me to be doing something else?” she laughed, always completely patient when he was having scatter brain busy days. “No that’s perfect, thanks. But when you grab lunch, will you bring me back something?” “What do you want?” “Honestly I just want a huge greasy cheeseburger. From anywhere, as long as it’s gross and will probably clog my arteries. Don’t tell Blake.” Felicia laughed on the other end, ”Sure.” ”Is Zoe busy? Does she want lunch too? It’s on me.” ”Zoe is on the phone with Vinny about All Time Low merchandise. Something about not having enough baseball tee’s in small sizes for the next week, what do you think?” Logan smiled, shaking his head, ”I think she needs a drink.” ”I’ll tell her you think so. Is that all you wanted?” ”Yup. Stop in here before you leave, I’ll give you some money for lunch. Actually, ask around the studio and see if anyone else is hungry. I think Collin is in his office, Ellie is in writing with Kiersten.” ”Kiersten is here writing? Since when?” Logan shrugged even though she couldn’t see him, ”Since this morning?” ”I meant since when does she write songs.” ”Oh. Since she wrote one for Ellie and showed me and it was actually pretty impressive. I swear she’s a musical prodigy or something.” ”Interesting.” ”Now that I think about it, I don’t think I was supposed to share that information. Never speak of it.” he said jokingly serious. ”Only to Zoe.” ”I should have guessed you would say that.” ”Okay I’m gonna leave you alone now.” ”Perfect.” Logan hung up the call, sitting back in his chair and closed his eyes. Ten minutes starting now…
Just a few more hours, he kept thinking, and he’d could go home for the rest of the afternoon, or at least until someone came in tonight and called him back in for a recording session or something. All he wanted to do was get through his meetings, go home and have dinner with Lance. Blake was out with Mackenzie, doing god knows what, but they were staying out for dinner. Logan Lance day. Logan got through lunch unscathed, only stopping in Collin’s office for a minute to confirm some upcoming videos and see some of The Maine’s new one he was working on. That looked like it’d be ready by the end of the week at the latest. Just in time for them to release a single off their new album. So, so many things coming out all at once. As soon as ATL got off tour, they were shooting for I Feel Like Dancin’, their soon to be released single off their soon to be released album. Ellie was getting serious about her music, knocking out songs like she was under a serious time restraint, recording them as fast as Kiersten was helping her write them. It seemed like everyone was working on an album, or planning a tour and of course, Blake was never not writing. Logan took his phone conference on time, discussing what he wanted to offer the school by means of a collaborative music program. Basically he wanted to get the kids involved in other parts of the music world, show them that being classically trained to play a violin had more paths then just become part of some symphony or orchestra while you worked at an office during the day. Music was so diverse, why not show them that recording studios wanted classical instruments too? And then there were the kids there to be songwriters. Taboo had a variety of willing artists that would go and have workshops with the students, about song writing, and the music business. There were singers in there, instrumentalists, you name it. Those kids were the future of the music industry; they should have opportunities to be exposed to what the music industry really had to offer them. The school officials bought it, mostly because it was a good idea, and also because Logan was particularly good with words. Plus two of their former students and a current one were interns at his label. He’d been working with them for over a year about that anyways, Felicia, Zoe and Kiersten got school credits for it.
As soon as Logan hung up the phone, Felicia must have noticed his line was clear, buzzing him, ”Your interview is here, you want a few minutes or send him in?” ”Ohh just send him in.” Okay interview time. What was this again, Billboard? Right. The man sat down across from Logan after reaching over to shake his hand, “Hi, Jason Hunt, pleasure to be able to meet with you. Do you mind if I use a tape recorder?” Logan shook his head, “Go for it.” Jason nodded, getting his things set up, saying, “You have a very, very nice assistant, very organized.” “That sounds like Felicia.” “But she isn’t just your assistant, she has other job responsibilities?” “Yeah she picks up my slack in every aspect of my job here,” Logan laughed slightly, “If I’m organized it’s only because she color coordinates my sticky notes for me.” Jason laughed, “And the other one?” “Zoe? She’s my main merch girl. Public relations, marketing, between the two of them they do a lot of damage control.” “Is there a lot of damage control needed here at Taboo?” Yup, interview officially started. Logan laughed, smiling, “Yeah when you got people filing cases against my artists claiming things like being the father of their child, we tend to need damage control.” “That was a big blow up in the media, how did yourself, your team and Joel Foster handle that situation? If you don’t mind me asking, your office has been very hush hush, do you mind giving an official statement on your artists behalf?” Logan shrugged, “Well it wasn’t true, so that made it easy. But uh, we’ve got our people who focus on the image of the artist, how can we play this to better their image, etc. Lawyers obviously were involved. Joel is really a good sport about everything.” “And it’s become very apparent that the allegations against Joel aren’t true, and the young woman dropped the suit asking for a paternity test?” “Yeah well, Joel wasn’t afraid to take it, he knew what the outcome would be.” “How are you all handling it now?” “Well seeing as it was all false, it’s just sad that someone would fabricate malicious, defamatory and demonstrably false claims. Joel is such a good sport about all of it, but we are pursuing legal action against her for defamation and libel. Sucks it had to come to that but it’s like, this is a kid’s reputation, he’s a worldwide icon. Someone needs to be held accountable for their actions.” “Very right you are. Speaking of Joel, he is engaged! Were you surprised?” “No,” Logan grinned, “Like I said Joel is a really good kid, super considerate of others. He knew I was gonna have to deal with a lot of press after he proposed, so he told me before he did it.” “You knew Joel was going to be proposing?” “Yeah, and I’m glad he told me. It’s unbelievable the speed of response something like that gets. It was good I didn’t get caught off guard.” “It’s been pretty apparent that Joel is very much a young Logan Renner, the shoot to stardom, modeling his career after how successful your was before you went producer. Do you approve of his fiancé?” Jason asked, eyes twinkling with the dirt he was getting, “Oh yeah, who wouldn’t like Tori? She’s a sweet girl, good for Joel.”
“So in the last year alone Logan, Taboo Records put itself on the map, went through the roof crazy successful, you’ve put out dozens of hits and platinum records, what is it that you were expecting when you started?” “Not all that.” Logan laughed, licking his lips. “You know I was living a good life, I was just an artist myself, recording records, doing videos, tours, performances, signings, the whole works. I didn’t really… anticipate taking this path. I had it made, what more could I really ask for? But it was like, you get to that point in your career when you can either push to keep your image your own, or you can become a puppet to your label. I didn’t want that. When I started as an artist, I was writing my own songs, doing my own choreography, all of the music that people heard, was straight from right here.” Logan pointed to his own head, continuing, “Then it was like, bigger tours, bigger promoting, they wanted me to collaborate with other big artists, which I wasn’t opposed to. But there was the slowly slipping away from what I had worked for, I was losing the image I wanted. They wanted me to sing stuff I didn’t want to sing, stuff I didn’t write. I’m not against that either, a great song is a great song, but that wasn’t the music I wanted to make. And you see that with every artist here. When I met Blake at our old label, she had asked me to help her work on a song she had been writing, she wanted it to have a bit of a different sound. You’ve heard ‘Better Than Revenge’?” Logan laughed, shaking his head. “Oh yeah! That is a very edgy sound for Blake, I think people can definitely see that you added a lot of Logan sound to that now that you say it. Was the first song you guys worked on together?” “Yeah that started it all,” Logan said, stretching his legs out under his desk.
“I had a studio in my house at the time, and Blake came over one night and we recorded the entire thing. Blake must have thought I was an insane one man band, recording every instrument one at a time, but it was worth it. We took it back to the label and they basically shit on it. Said it ‘wasn’t her sound’. But that’s the thing,” Logan leaned forward, so adamant about getting this across, “It should never be about what sound your label thinks you should have. That was the problem I was dealing with, that was what she experienced the second she stepped out of her comfort zone, that’s why we both left. I stormed out actually… not one of my shining moments,” he laughed a little, “But in a way it was. I took control of my career, I told myself I was going to start my own label where my artists would always have the first say and input on just exactly where they wanted their career to go. Blake writes what she wants to express to her fans, she is completely free in her writing process. Dani likes to tell people she really owes her image to me, but Dani still tells me what she is comfortable with and what she isn’t. I take her opinion much more into account than she realizes, and Dani writes what she wants. All Time Low runs their own recording sessions basically. If I told them I didn’t like something they’d probably tell me to fuck off or go to hell,” he laughed, adding, “Same with The All American Rejects and the Maine. All three of those groups have already established themselves and the type of band they are, they do whatever they hell they want. I just handle the business of it. Natalia is extremely involved with her image. Anabelle Hart is probably the sweetest southern belle you will ever meet. She makes her own image just by being the nicest person in the room sometimes. Some of my artists, Maroon 5, Braison Pierce, they have established careers. I can’t mold them, I can only guide their choices as far as business goes, make sure they get where they want to go. Alex Harrison of Cobra Starship is such a great producer himself, he and I usually work together on all their projects, if not just me approving his masterpieces later. LIGHTS too, she’s got some of the best ears around when it comes to music comp, she’s actually from the old label. They had been considering signing her and ultimately turned her down, she wasn’t what they were looking for. She was one of the first people I called when I started Taboo, I thought she was a genius.” “You seem to think so highly of all your artists.” “Yeah but at this point they’re more than just artists, we’re one big happy fucking family.” “You mentioned Maroon 5, isn’t there kind of some uproar about their switch to Taboo? What do you have to say about that?” “That we work well together. They are a great band, established, successful. I’m the same in my profession over here as a producer, why not feed off each other?” “How about Joel Foster, you say you are open to your artists basically controlling their images and the music they make, but his career is running parallel to yours back in the day.” “Joel… is on his own map,” Logan grinned, “Joel does control it all. I advise him as wisely as possible, and he soaks my advice in like a sponge, but he calls the shots. He know exactly what he wants, always has since the day he came in and hopped onto my desk. He’s in control because he works every bone in his body to get to the top. You think he would spend an entire night practicing choreography if he didn’t like it or didn’t think it was what he wanted? Of course not, Joel is one of the most dedicated people I know, he only puts his whole self into projects he is completely behind. He takes his career very seriously. And he’s a perfect example of artist/producer communication, based solely on the difference between his first two albums and his new one coming out. ‘Boyfriend’ has gotten such a good response, but I think it’s because Joel is getting older, his sound is becoming older. Definitely different than My World and My World 2.0, but it’s that necessary change to establish that he’s growing up.” “You’re saying it’s not so much that his career is modeled after yours, but that you and him just share the same dream and ironically similar dedication to your work.” “Yeah that’s what I would like to get across. When I met Joel he told me he wanted to be as big as me. I told him I was going to make him bigger than me. I think we accomplished that and then some.”
Jason flipped through his notes, “So what are we expecting soon?” Logan thought for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, “New All Time Low, new The Maine. Both have some videos coming out. Joel has another video debuting really soon. Maroon 5 just filmed video for their new single, featuring,” Logan added, smiling, “Mandi Collins, so watch for it. Natalia is out on tour, and that is a massive world tour type thing, so hopefully people can catch her show when she’s in their towns. What else…. We’ve got Ellie Ridgefield, she’s up and coming right now. I’m excited to start getting her stuff out there, she’s got a really different thing going than anyone here at the label, so that’s been fun.” Jason smirked, pausing as if he shouldn’t ask what he was about to but couldn’t seem to help himself, “How about the one and only Logan Renner, are we ever going to see music from him again? Or is he strictly a producer?” Logan sat back, crossing his arms loosely over his chest, “That is classified information. You may have to just wait and find out.” “Does that mean you’ve got a secret projects in the works?” “It means I’m not telling you shit about it dude,” Logan laughed, “But I do still enjoy writing and recording music myself. Right now it’s just been to humor myself, relieve some stress of the office. But I wouldn’t write it off just yet. I don’t really know. I’ve got a lot of other things on my plate.” “You’re being pretty discreet; don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up? “ “Well yeah, plus I just don’t know if that’s ever going to be in the game plan for me again. Just up in the air. At this point I’m way too busy with other things.”
“Okay so leaving music talk for a bit, you forgot to mention that you have a film about to premiere, is that right?” “Ohhhh yeah. I forgot about that,” Logan laughed, “Well it isn’t MY film, but yes ‘Footloose’ has been wrapped for some time now.” “Tell me how a recording artist turned music producer decided to start a film production company.” “Well. One just has to have enough money. And people to do paper work that they will ask you to sign. And voila.” “That’s funny. What made you decide to do this on a whim?” Logan shrugged, “Well, I know Gabe and Bailey, they play the lead roles. We have mutual friends, I was as excited about the film as they were. When I found out the financial backing fell through, it was like. I don’t know it’s films like that that were instant classics but kids these days don’t appreciate them. The stories the same though, so I think it’s a good idea to modernize it. It was sort of sudden, business move… but I think it’s going to be worth it.” "After ‘Footloose', do you plan on continuing to produce films from your company?” Logan tilted his head sideways, “you know, I hadn’t really thought about it, which is silly. I should have probably given that thought before I did it. You know what, I think I just might. I wanna get my hands on some scripts, talk to a kick ass director I know. I think something like that might be in the works.”
“Okay Logan, rumors have been going around, confirm or deny?” “Sure.” “You been allegedly making some real estate purchases and they aren’t vacation homes. Shed some light?” “Uh.” Was he supposed to confirm or deny, or shed some light? “Well I have made a couple of purchases, yeah. Neither of which I’m willing to shed light on. Just yet.” “Alright, fair enough. Logan Renner has some surprises up his sleeve.” “Yes.” Jason checked his notes, checking a few things off and then looked back up at Logan, “You have three interns, correct?” “Yup, you met two of them. Kiersten is around here somewhere working.” “Kiersten Bannon?” Jason asked, eyes lighting up, “American Heiress, Kiersten Bannon?” “Yeah, I guess she is that to some people,” Logan thought out loud, “But here she’s just my intern. She’s actually a producer in training, a lot of talent, that one.” “Not just because she’s an heiress?” “What?” Logan shook his head, “No, she’s somewhat of a music prodigy. Picks up any instrument, I swear they play for her instead of her playing them,” he joked. “Her and Joel in the same room is something to see, they could have a two kid band. Joel’s been teaching her how to play a lot of instruments actually. When he’s not knee deep in work that is.” “That’s funny. Now all the kids here basically go or went to the same school, School of Performing Arts right here in Manhattan, right? You’ve been working with the school on a music program on top of your internship program, can you tell me about that?” Logan nodded, “Sure. Um, basically with the music program, and it’s not exactly going yet, still in the prototype phase, but it’s the same idea as my internships. Get kids in here who want to get in this business, show them exactly how things work on the business side of things. There are so many talented kids at that school, singers, musicians, song writers. The idea is to create workshops and opportunities to put kids in real life situations.” “That sounds really cool.” “Yeah it’s kind of awesome. I mean, I’m not that old, I was them a few years back and look where I ended up. Kids just need a door in front of them for them to realize all they need to do is open it.” Jason seemed to take a moment to think about something then put on a serious face, “Now, this is the same school you brother graduated from correct? The school that had the shooting? It was all over the news, a lot of famous kids were in danger.” “Uh... yes.” “Okay, I know it’s a personal subject, very sorry to hear about your brother’s loss of sight, but I just want to say first of all I think what you did as a label putting on the benefit concert for the families of the victims, that was something you don’t see often. It’s easy to just donate money, but to dedicate your own time to something like that, that’s incredibly, as a label family.” “Thanks. You know, a lot of it was the fact that it hit so close to home. Our interns were in there, our siblings, girlfriends. People important to us were in there too. Having fame doesn’t make us invincible. We’re lucky to all still be here, and some families can’t even say that. I think we all just wanted to do something to help.”
Jason nodded, “Definitely. It sounds like family is really important to you, whether it’s your label family you’ve created, or your wife and baby…?” Jason smiled, and Logan offered a small smile, “Oh yeah, that’s my whole world right there.” “That was definitely a happy ending with you and Blake. A few rough patches here and there, but I think the whole world can see you guys are the music power couple. Is it difficult to balance your roles here at the label with your roles at home?” “Umm… not really. I mean, yeah sometimes we have like, the most whack schedules. Some days we’ve got Kenzie on play dates so we can both get some work done, or a lot of the time when Blake’s writing or in her little song bubble, Kenzie’s in the office with me.” “Work with dad?” “Ha, yeah. I’ve had many conference calls where Kenzie’s has offered her input.” Jason laughed, “Well she’s gotta learn early, huh?” “Oh yeah, she’s gonna be fine. But I mean, balancing home and work, Blake and I just make it work. It’s no different from other families where both parents work, we just adjust our schedules. At the end of the day, we go home, we do normal family stuff. Hang out, make dinner… well Blake makes dinner. She won’t let me near her kitchen. But you know, when were at home, that’s kind when I like, sit back and absorb… everything. I might have a hectic day up here, but at home it’s like, I have a great job, I have so many amazing people in my life, I have an awesome wife, awesome kid. I can sit back on the couch, kick my feet up with a beer, I got my girls. I try to enjoy everything as much as possible, you know, I try to remind myself how lucky I really am that I was able to build this life for myself and my family.” “You do seem to be one lucky guy.” “I am very.” Jason shut his notebook full of questions and sat back, crossing his arms across his chest, “So one last question, what’s the future look like for Taboo Records, what’s in the cards for Logan Renner?” Logan grinned shaking his head, “How should I know? Dude, your guess is as good as mine. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
After Jason had left Logan called Blake to check in, though he was sure she was having a delightful time doing girl things. He didn’t get much of a rest period though because Felicia was paging his office again, but this time it was to tell him Jake Russo was there to see him. “Really? Alright well have him come in… there hasn’t been anyone else?” “Are you expecting someone else?” “… I don’t really know.” “…Okay. After this I think it’s time you went home for the day,” she laughed. Jake came in and sat himself down, crossing his arms and looked at Logan after the door had shut behind him, “Hey man.” “Hey Jake. Not to be whatever but what the hell do you want?” Logan asked, laughing. “I am here to talk to you about the Dani situation. Now I know what you’re thinking, what does Jake know about it? Well I am going to just go ahead and clear that up, and this never leaves this room…” Jake looked at him and Logan looked back expectantly, “Okay?” “Well you somehow decided Zach was involved in the mafia, no? I mean, why else would you have gone to him. It just so happens that is… my family….” Logan stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing, “Your family is the mob?” “Yes...” “Oh my god. Well even though I wouldn’t have guessed that, that makes sense.” “What? Why?” “Because you’re Italian and you spend time with your extended family more than anyone I know.” “Whatever. Anyways, you wanted to know about the Dani situation. Basically this is it; her fucking dad, is an asshole and hired some thugs from prison to put cameras at our place and now Dani is worried a sex tape is going to get out, you know all that part.” “Wait you know that for sure, he hired people from prison?” “Yeah. So my people, Zach mainly, he’s awesome at hacking computers by the way went to the place who sells cameras like that and shit. And my cousins um… occupied the guy who worked there, Zach worked some magic, found who he sold the cameras to. Badda bing, badda boom, tracked ‘em down. I’m just sayin’, you hold a gun to someone’s, they’ll fess up-“ “Jake.” Logan laughed, “I don’t wanna know. Just… it was her dad though?” “Yeah. So we did all the dirty work, but how do you even prove it.” “Well at least we know.” “Yeah it’s like, if we could just whack him off, all Dani’s problems would be gone.” “I’m trying to figure out if you mean that literally… but given that I know things about your family that I didn’t want to know, I feel like I’m witnessing a crime having this conversation. Am I accomplice if he dies…” Logan rubbed his eyes, laughing, and Jake thought about it a moment, beginning to laugh too. Jake shrugged, “Look as far as I’m concerned, we never had this conversation, they didn’t do any snooping. We know what we need to, we’re gonna do what we gotta do.” “And that is…?” “Get rid of the fucker.” “Oh jesus.” “Don’t bring him into this man, I don’t think he approves of this method.” Jake sighed, putting his serious face back on, “I don’t know. It’s easy to think you can just fix it… I just hate like, not being able to fix it.” “ I know.” Logan sat back, “Well, at least we know. And if you guys… decide to do anything about it… don’t… feel like you have to … you know, tell me.” Jake offered a small smile, “I got you bro, I don’t normally know much about anything either. Acting is more my thing, not the family business. But… you know, it’s Dani.” “Yeah.” Logan dropped his head in his hands, laughing, “This is the weirdest conversation we’ve ever had Jake.” And hopefully the last one they ever had about this subject. Because hopefully the situation got… handled. Even though Logan didn’t want to know how, just hoped it did. Logan didn’t want to think about it, he was just ready to go home, snuggle up on the couch with a blanket, spend some quality bro time with Lance and not think about what might in store for anyone who ever laid a hand on Dani. It was good for her, having Jake around to apparently take care of things, just bad for the idiot who crossed him. Again, Logan was not going to think about it.
