Backdated ~ Log [Alison, Manuel] Mutant Radio...

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Backdated. Set on Monday, Alison and Manuel discuss things as Mutant Radio creeps nearer to being ready for a first air date. Playlists, colors and other things talked about.

Manuel looked at the playlist and frowned just a bit. He wanted a perfect playlist for Mutant Radio's first broadcast, and he was still agonizing over which songs to play when. He knew what format he wanted - an eclectic mix of trance, industrial, and rock. Give it a beat that you could dance to, and he was all over it. In the background, he had some Lacuna Coil playing, to give him ideas and provide some distraction. The mood around the Mansion had been fairly toxic of late, what with the new stunning redhead who had just arrived and thrown everyone into an uproar. He wouldn't mind getting a piece of that, he thought with great amusement.

She was, for once today, not late for something. That she was being a touch late with everything team related but not the music independent project appointments was something she could live with, in
the grand scheme of things. Particularly considering the explosion of team related things in her schedule since Saturday. Kurt and Sam, thankfully, were being frighteningly effective about taking over what needed to be taken over, and Haroun was making sure she didn't overdo it too much, as well. "Hey, Manuel!" The greeting was a bit preoccupied, Alison sidling through the door with files and portable in hand before heading for her desk.

"Hey." he said, and then frowned at her. "Damn, think you can have a few more worries on your mind?" he said as he stared at her head. "I'm trying to get a playlist down for the first show. This is what I've got so far - what do you think?" he asked, spinning his laptop around so that she could see his list. "I'm trying to make this not-suck."

"I could," she answered almost cheerful, suddenly amused instead of trying to go over fifty things at once while she dumped her things on the desk. The music room was blessedly calm and she took a few seconds
to drink that in, letting it settle on her as well. "Hrm. Well, you've got the one playing in the background you could use," she murmured, after a quick scan through of the list. "Maybe throw in a slower trance number here and there, too, just to highlight the more up tempo stuff? There's some remixed Enigma that would do nicely and still be danceable to." The definite angle to the song list was hard to miss and she guessed he'd want to stick to it.

Manuel swiped his Mac back and jotted a few notes down in the file he was using to generate his playlist. "And yeah, I've got some Coil in the list. I'd really like to try it live sometime." he said with a rogueish grin. "Interested? I need a female lead, and Terry thinks my kind of music is one step above toe-fungus." he lamented. "And I'm not asking Jay to sing it."

"You need a female vocalist for that, yeah," Alison nodded absently, pondering a few other options he might add to the playlist. "I'll send you a few files later, might be some groups there you like. Hrm. Also, signed a new band a month ago or so - some of their material you might like and it would be good exposure for them." It was still off to be a label owner, sometimes. "I'll see if they're interested." She grinned, then went back to considering his question. "Lacuna Coil, huh? Which song did you have in mind?"

Manuel hrmmed. "I was figuring that I might vault to the head of the line and go for the prime talent herself." he said with a laugh. "Think you can hack something with some real feeling, O Bubblegum Princess?"

Flattery, in this case, was never a bad thing to go for, and Alison laughed in return. "Well, I think I managed that once or twice before," she drawled out. It was nice to focus on something so simple, after everything else. "Only one way to find out if I can do it again, mmm?"

Manuel grinned broadly in return. "Sounds like a plan, then. Pick one of these that you like, and we'll work it out. Be good for the PCIF folks to hear what real passion in music sounds like. They're pretty good technically, but they're lacking feeling. There's no passion there." he said heatedly. "They ever decide to actually put some feeling into their music, maybe I'll give 'em a spin on Mutant Radio."

"I'll go through the lot you seem to have stashed on the server," Alison raised an eyebrow at that, making a mental note about the file path, "and pick a few." The comment about PCIF did not surprise her coming from him, as innacurate as it was - Manuel had distinct musical tastes, which were not what the band favored in terms of playlist at the moment. Lack of passion was hardly a problem in her opinion, but some people preferred specific musical styles and associated that to it, as well. And for someone who felt to extremes like Manuel did... "Why did you wear the glasses?"

"What, these?" Manuel said, taking his shades off and pointing one of the arms at Alison. "Habit, mostly. Plus it cuts the color down to a reasonable level. I don't like being overwhelmed." he said before putting his shades back on. "Besides, I look good in shades. You should try it yourself sometime - it helps to see the world how others see it, instead of the vibrant blazing colors we see the world in."

"You didn't wear them though, while your power was gone." Alison tilted her head to the side, considering the notion. "I like the colors. I probably don't see as many as you do, what with the auras and emotional color schemes as well, but I'll stick to seeing a bit more than most." Her lips quirked, slightly, dispelling the briefly somber mood. "Even if it means putting up with unintentionally disastrous color combinations sometimes."

"I wasn't me then." he said quietly. "Anyway, you've got a point about the color combinations. People need to stop bleaching their whites - it just makes them look blue. It's disgusting." he said with a grin. "So - back to the music. I made the changes you requested - I agree, the flow is going to be much smoother. Think I got some patter down that I can use between sets. Once the vocal distorter is in and working correctly this time, we can do the first broadcast. I've been thinking about how to let everyone else here know about it without me being the guy behind it hopelessly biasing things." he mused.

She let that comment lie without argument, considering the easier predicament to solve instead. "Use the internet. Best, easiest way to get a message of that kind across, especially with the audience you're trying to reach. Bet you even odds either Doug, Kitty or Forge are one of the first to pick up on it in the mansion that way."

"The internet? Hrm, that makes sense, as I'll be broadcasting over the Internet. I'm not all that savvy - where should I post a message? How should I do it?" he asked with a grin. "Normally, I'd charm Doug or Kitty into doing it, but as they're part of the target audience, and I don't want to prejudice them, and un-prejudicing them is easy but unethical..." he said with a sigh. "Too complicated."

"I'll have my marketing rep at the label email you with advice on that, later today." She'd neglected the label lately, she realized - then again, she supposed that was why one hired good people. So things would run smoothly when one stepped out of the way. "A year ago you'd never even have thought to say the word ethical." As though you possibly meant it, she didn't add.

"That'll work. May as well get some work out of 'em, the parasites." he said with a laugh, stretching out slightly and relaxing. "Yes, well, a year or so ago ethics was defined as whatever gets me ahead in the world." he said. "Now, it's not nearly that clean-cut."

A year ago, Manuel would have insisted it was and that this would never ever change, no matter what anyone said or did to him. "Mmm." A slight smile followed, a lightening of the spirits despite Manuel's predicament, or rather, because of it. "People change. And grow." He was nowhere near done there, she knew that much - but it was still better than the first set of responses he'd shown up with.

"I suppose they do." he said reflectively. "Never thought it'd be me, though. Wonder if I should write home, let my father know. He might actually be proud of me for once." he mused. "I think I will, actually. Maybe I'll let him know about Mutant Radio, see what he thinks of it as an avenue for social change."

His father would have nothing but contempt for what Manuel was trying to do, Alison reflected calmly, gazing down at her desk and the fountain pen that was there. It was the one she kept for class notes and nothing else, always on her desk. She would be surprised if he even bothered or cared to reply - though of course he would, she realized an instant later. It wouldn't do to loose the puppet whose mind he tried to rewrite once already, after all. "Mutant Radio. Going with that as the official name then?" They'd never discussed that aspect.

Manuel shrugged at that. "I suck at naming." he admitted. "I'm the guy who called himself after his power, after all. It's be like calling yourself Laser." he admitted. "Creativity in that way is not my strong point. Do you have any better idea? Too bad the Mutant Underground is already spoken-for." he said.

"Better idea, even. Why not make it a contest on the air?" Chuckling, Alison dispelled her worries for the moment and continued. "Invest your listeners in the station as early on as possible, by giving them
a sense of ownership and direct participation."

Manuel hrmmed. "I suppose I could do that. Keep Mutant Radio as a name initially, and then let the listeners decide what the station should be called. Guess that makes me the Voice from the Underground." He said with a laugh. "I like that. Consider the idea stolen."

"Freely given away, rather," was the amused reply. Some nuances he still had to learn about, clearly - but he had changed some from whom he had been on arrival. The signs were there, underneath it all. "Now!
We have still easily half of this meeting time left to sort out more playlists. Want to have a go at that?"

"Sure." he said, popping a CD into his laptop's drive and pressing PLAY in iTunes. "Here's an alternative mix I have for Day One. It's a little edgier, but a little more palatable towards people who like things I don't. And it gives my cousin some airtime, which I'm sure he'll appreciate." he said with a smirk. "Admittedly, he's a very, very distant cousin many times removed, but still."

Alison raised an eyebrow at that, as Rage Against The Machine's Killing in the Name Of started to filter through the speakers. She didn't comment on the family relation, instead tilting her head to the side to listen, while reading off the playlist track names under her breath.

She had no illusions about things. But it was a start.