Post by mashgirl on Feb 15, 2010 1:11:14 GMT -5
This chapter has nothing to do with Apolo (Sorry. I'll make up for it in the next chapter I promise lol) but it has important background information in it. Enjoy! 
***********************************************************
Chapter 2
Commonly Unknown
August 2002
Nicole, Erica, and I met on our first day as seniors in high school. It was destiny.
Nicole and I met in our music theory class where we struck up a conversation about our mutual love for music. She told me she played guitar and dreamed of performing on stage one day to a sold out crowd.
Erica and I met later that day in english class when I commented on our matching Good Charlotte t-shirts we were wearing that day. Turns out Erica was quiet and shy but loved punk rock music and played guitar in the school jazz band.
At the time I was the lead singer in my older brother's punk band. We played shows around our home state of Pennsylvania, as well as New Jersey and New York. Our band would be playing a farewell show in two weeks because our guitar player was getting married and moving to Virginia.
That day at lunch I introduced Erica to Nicole. We skipped school the rest of the day and spent it in my bedroom listening to music and playing guitar.
December 2002
By Christmas the three of us were hanging out everyday after school, and pulling all nighters on the weekends. We soon found ourselves writing songs and holding band practices in the basement of my house. We decided over Christmas break that when we went back to school we would have to recruit a bassist and drummer to complete our band - we called ourselves "Commonly Unknown"
April 2002
With our new bassist, Matt, and our drummer Scott, we wrote more songs and competed in any battle of the bands or talent shows we could. We won our senior class talent show, beating out fourteen other competitors. We were asked to perform at school fundraisers and to play our class song "Freebird", by Lynyrd Skynyrd at both prom and graduation.
May/June 2002
When prom and graduation came around everyone in school knew who we were and what we were doing. We felt like rock stars. We started playing shows in the same venues I did with my brother's band and despite some horrible performances we were having a blast.
The five of us decided that this was what we were going to do after high school. None of us had jobs, no one applied to college, and we all had amazing parents who supported us - nothing was stopping us! We put a promotional package together with our demo tape, a DVD recording of our performance of "Freebird" at prom, head shots, and one inch pins we had made to promote ourselves. The week before finals we shipped out twenty of these packages to major record companies, including EMI, Sony, BMG, Atlantic, Epic, and Capitol.
Fall 2002
By Thanksgiving we hadn't heard anything back from any of the record companies. Matt and Scott started working full time jobs, and both got girlfriends who didn't like the fact that their boyfriends were in a band with three girls. The Friday after Thanksgiving we got a call from an A&R executive at Capitol Records who had heard our tape and wanted to set up a meeting the following Monday in New York City.
We packed our van and trailer and headed to the city. Navigating wasn't a problem, neither was parking, but finding the right floor and office was. We ended up missing the meeting. We weren't allowed to wait for him to come out of the next one he was in and we weren't allowed to reschedule.
Not wanting to waste the day in the city, we set up our gear in central park and play a few songs - something we tried to do whenever we came to the city. We made a few dollars and after our impromptu set we started to tear down our gear when someone approached us. She introduced herself and told us that she worked in the A&R devision of Epic Records. In a strange turn of events she invited us to her office on the spot.
January 2003
We were signed to Epic Records December 30th, and in the studio on January 10th to start working on an album. We insisted we wrote all of our own material, but were still being pushed by the record company to change our image, sound, and even our name. We bent over backwards to please them during the recording process.
April 2003
After one too many disagreements with the label our album was shelved and we were dropped from Epic Records. We weren't happy but we were glad that we didn't let them change us. All of the bragging we had done to our family and friends was then rubbed in our faces when we went home to Pennsylvania. Matt and Scott quit the band a few days later.
September 2003
Our second chance came when we were booked to perform at the same music festival in Los Angeles that my brother was performing at with his new band. We quickly recruited a bassist and drummer for the festival and drove cross country in our van. Little did we know, an A&R guy from Capitol Records was in the audience that day. We were called back for another meeting in New York City - and this time we didn't miss it!
2004
We released our debut album, "Somebody Gets It" on April 20th, 2004, only six months after being signed to Capitol Records. The album was pop/punk/rock/dance, something we called "a compromise between the three of us and the record company". Our debut single, "Take It Off" was released in February, debuted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, then rose to #1 the following week. We were at the top of the charts for a record twelve weeks, the longest-running of 2004, then eventually knocked off the top spot by Usher with his hit "Yeah!"
We spent the summer performing across the nation, making promotional and radio appearances, shooting videos, appearing on magazine covers, and meeting fans. We felt so blessed, so lucky, and on top of the world. In August we attended, and performed at the MTV Video Music Awards where we won "Best Female Video", and "Viewer's Choice".
In October we embarked on Avril Lavignes' 'Bonez Tour' opening up for her during her North American and Canadian shows. By the end of the year our album sold over six million copies. "Somebody Gets It" was the 3rd best selling album of the year, behind "Confessions" by Usher and "Under My Skin" by Avril Lavigne.
I met actor Garrett Hedlund at the 'Friday NIght Lights' movie premier in October and we started dating. Meanwhile Nicole was dating her boyfriend from high school, and Erica was seeing someone from back home that she met before we got signed.
2005
I kicked off the year collaborating with Gwen Stefani on "Rich Girl", the second single from her debut solo record "Love. Angel. Music. Baby". In February we attended the Grammy Awards where we were nominated for "Record Of The Year", "Album Of The Year", "Song Of The Year", and "Best New Artist". We walked away winning "Song Of The Year" and "Best New Artist". We felt vindicated that night.
With all of our success came highs and the lows. We had money, houses, cars, fans, we were meeting our idols - we could get away with murder if we had to! The paparazzi didn't let us have a moment of privacy though, and rumors were always circulated about who we were dating, who we were partying with, and what trouble we were getting into. We were taking full advantage of the partying, and the three of us got caught drinking underage at an after party at the American Music Awards. We were often criticized for "not acting like ladies", and our "jeans and t-shirt" fashion sense.
We went back into the studio in March to record our sophomore album. We had most of our songs written when we went into the studio and had full control of the album, Nicole and I produced all fourteen tracks ourselves. We went on tour from May to July while recording tracks in the back of our tour bus. Nicole got engaged on the 4th of July, her engagement made the cover of People Magazine.
"The Story" was released October 5th and debuted at number one where it stayed for fourteen weeks, until Mariah Carey released "The Emancipation Of Mimi".
The week we released our sophomore album Garrett broke up with me stating that he couldn't handle us being apart and the pressure my success put on him. During the publicity work for the album I was linked to Jesse McCartney after we met at a charity event. We denied the relationship at first because we were both secretly cheating on our significant others with each other for months. After things calmed down we started a serious relationship.
2006
We spent the beginning of 2006 getting ready for our first headlining world tour. Our "C.U.W.T." (Commonly Unknown World Tour) kicked off in April, and was scheduled to last until October. The tour started out strong and we were selling out arenas in minutes. Day after day we did the same thing and night after night Erica got drunk and partied until morning.
In August Erica checked herself into rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. Since turning twenty one Erica has been partying twenty-four seven. She has skipped promotional appearances, showed up late for rehearsals, and even skipped recording sessions for "The Story". Nicole and I were forced to cancel the next two months of concerts, without rescheduling. We lost a lot of fans, a lot of money, and a lot of respect.
While in rehab Erica met her current boyfriend, Keith, also a recovering alcoholic. No one knew how long Erica's treatment would take, since it was up to her how well it would turn out. Nicole and I were forced to move on and make appearances without her. We started writing and preparing for the next album which we start working on in March.
The three of us were still on the cover of countless magazines, our songs were still played on the radio and our fans still wanted us. We didn't even know if we were a band anymore at this point because Erica started talking about not wanting to do music ever again.
In the meantime Nicole planned her wedding while I produced and collaborated with other artists. Jesse and I broke up a few days before Christmas. Two heartbreaks in two years.
2007
In January the three of us had a meeting with the record company regarding the recording of our next album. We had great songs written, great co-producers coming in, and everyone agreed it was going to be the best Commonly Unknown album we ever recorded. We all called it our redemption album after our drama in 2006.
Erica, who was still on the road to sobriety, walked into the meeting and told us she was quitting the band. She broke her contract with Capitol Records but didn't care. She wanted to do what she had to do to be happy, and she blatantly took no regard to how this would affect the rest of us.
She left Nicole and I out to dry. That was it. She was done. We couldn't go on as a duo, and we could audition for another member. We, as a band, released a statement on January 31st, that Commonly Unknown had officially broken up.
We made our last public appearance together on February 11th at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards where we presented the Best New Artist award to Carrie Underwood.
Since the Grammy Awards Nicole got married to Daniel, a graphic designer, in a multi-million dollar ceremony in Fiji. Erica attended the wedding as a guest, but flew back to California as soon as it was over. Nicole and Dan plan on starting a family before the new year.
I've kept busy writing and producing for other artists, most notably working with Avril Lavigne on her platinum release "The Best d**n Thing". I've been in the spotlight most recently for posing provocatively on the cover of Maxim and GQ magazine. I've also had to respond to outrageous claims that Erica has made regarding my personal life. I plan on releasing a solo album next year.
Erica moved to San Diego with Keith, who has relapsed several times himself since being out of rehab. They recently got engaged and want to get married as soon as possible. She plans on writing an autobiography to expose, what she says, is the many secrets of Commonly Unknown.
Nicole and I hang out any chance we get, despite living on opposite coasts. We miss Erica, and try to reach out to her as often as possible but our phone calls or e-mails are rarely returned. We don't want to give up on our best friend and all of the memories we have together, but it feels like Erica couldn't care less about the life we used to have, and what could have been.
***********************************************************
Chapter 2
Commonly Unknown
August 2002
Nicole, Erica, and I met on our first day as seniors in high school. It was destiny.
Nicole and I met in our music theory class where we struck up a conversation about our mutual love for music. She told me she played guitar and dreamed of performing on stage one day to a sold out crowd.
Erica and I met later that day in english class when I commented on our matching Good Charlotte t-shirts we were wearing that day. Turns out Erica was quiet and shy but loved punk rock music and played guitar in the school jazz band.
At the time I was the lead singer in my older brother's punk band. We played shows around our home state of Pennsylvania, as well as New Jersey and New York. Our band would be playing a farewell show in two weeks because our guitar player was getting married and moving to Virginia.
That day at lunch I introduced Erica to Nicole. We skipped school the rest of the day and spent it in my bedroom listening to music and playing guitar.
December 2002
By Christmas the three of us were hanging out everyday after school, and pulling all nighters on the weekends. We soon found ourselves writing songs and holding band practices in the basement of my house. We decided over Christmas break that when we went back to school we would have to recruit a bassist and drummer to complete our band - we called ourselves "Commonly Unknown"
April 2002
With our new bassist, Matt, and our drummer Scott, we wrote more songs and competed in any battle of the bands or talent shows we could. We won our senior class talent show, beating out fourteen other competitors. We were asked to perform at school fundraisers and to play our class song "Freebird", by Lynyrd Skynyrd at both prom and graduation.
May/June 2002
When prom and graduation came around everyone in school knew who we were and what we were doing. We felt like rock stars. We started playing shows in the same venues I did with my brother's band and despite some horrible performances we were having a blast.
The five of us decided that this was what we were going to do after high school. None of us had jobs, no one applied to college, and we all had amazing parents who supported us - nothing was stopping us! We put a promotional package together with our demo tape, a DVD recording of our performance of "Freebird" at prom, head shots, and one inch pins we had made to promote ourselves. The week before finals we shipped out twenty of these packages to major record companies, including EMI, Sony, BMG, Atlantic, Epic, and Capitol.
Fall 2002
By Thanksgiving we hadn't heard anything back from any of the record companies. Matt and Scott started working full time jobs, and both got girlfriends who didn't like the fact that their boyfriends were in a band with three girls. The Friday after Thanksgiving we got a call from an A&R executive at Capitol Records who had heard our tape and wanted to set up a meeting the following Monday in New York City.
We packed our van and trailer and headed to the city. Navigating wasn't a problem, neither was parking, but finding the right floor and office was. We ended up missing the meeting. We weren't allowed to wait for him to come out of the next one he was in and we weren't allowed to reschedule.
Not wanting to waste the day in the city, we set up our gear in central park and play a few songs - something we tried to do whenever we came to the city. We made a few dollars and after our impromptu set we started to tear down our gear when someone approached us. She introduced herself and told us that she worked in the A&R devision of Epic Records. In a strange turn of events she invited us to her office on the spot.
January 2003
We were signed to Epic Records December 30th, and in the studio on January 10th to start working on an album. We insisted we wrote all of our own material, but were still being pushed by the record company to change our image, sound, and even our name. We bent over backwards to please them during the recording process.
April 2003
After one too many disagreements with the label our album was shelved and we were dropped from Epic Records. We weren't happy but we were glad that we didn't let them change us. All of the bragging we had done to our family and friends was then rubbed in our faces when we went home to Pennsylvania. Matt and Scott quit the band a few days later.
September 2003
Our second chance came when we were booked to perform at the same music festival in Los Angeles that my brother was performing at with his new band. We quickly recruited a bassist and drummer for the festival and drove cross country in our van. Little did we know, an A&R guy from Capitol Records was in the audience that day. We were called back for another meeting in New York City - and this time we didn't miss it!
2004
We released our debut album, "Somebody Gets It" on April 20th, 2004, only six months after being signed to Capitol Records. The album was pop/punk/rock/dance, something we called "a compromise between the three of us and the record company". Our debut single, "Take It Off" was released in February, debuted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, then rose to #1 the following week. We were at the top of the charts for a record twelve weeks, the longest-running of 2004, then eventually knocked off the top spot by Usher with his hit "Yeah!"
We spent the summer performing across the nation, making promotional and radio appearances, shooting videos, appearing on magazine covers, and meeting fans. We felt so blessed, so lucky, and on top of the world. In August we attended, and performed at the MTV Video Music Awards where we won "Best Female Video", and "Viewer's Choice".
In October we embarked on Avril Lavignes' 'Bonez Tour' opening up for her during her North American and Canadian shows. By the end of the year our album sold over six million copies. "Somebody Gets It" was the 3rd best selling album of the year, behind "Confessions" by Usher and "Under My Skin" by Avril Lavigne.
I met actor Garrett Hedlund at the 'Friday NIght Lights' movie premier in October and we started dating. Meanwhile Nicole was dating her boyfriend from high school, and Erica was seeing someone from back home that she met before we got signed.
2005
I kicked off the year collaborating with Gwen Stefani on "Rich Girl", the second single from her debut solo record "Love. Angel. Music. Baby". In February we attended the Grammy Awards where we were nominated for "Record Of The Year", "Album Of The Year", "Song Of The Year", and "Best New Artist". We walked away winning "Song Of The Year" and "Best New Artist". We felt vindicated that night.
With all of our success came highs and the lows. We had money, houses, cars, fans, we were meeting our idols - we could get away with murder if we had to! The paparazzi didn't let us have a moment of privacy though, and rumors were always circulated about who we were dating, who we were partying with, and what trouble we were getting into. We were taking full advantage of the partying, and the three of us got caught drinking underage at an after party at the American Music Awards. We were often criticized for "not acting like ladies", and our "jeans and t-shirt" fashion sense.
We went back into the studio in March to record our sophomore album. We had most of our songs written when we went into the studio and had full control of the album, Nicole and I produced all fourteen tracks ourselves. We went on tour from May to July while recording tracks in the back of our tour bus. Nicole got engaged on the 4th of July, her engagement made the cover of People Magazine.
"The Story" was released October 5th and debuted at number one where it stayed for fourteen weeks, until Mariah Carey released "The Emancipation Of Mimi".
The week we released our sophomore album Garrett broke up with me stating that he couldn't handle us being apart and the pressure my success put on him. During the publicity work for the album I was linked to Jesse McCartney after we met at a charity event. We denied the relationship at first because we were both secretly cheating on our significant others with each other for months. After things calmed down we started a serious relationship.
2006
We spent the beginning of 2006 getting ready for our first headlining world tour. Our "C.U.W.T." (Commonly Unknown World Tour) kicked off in April, and was scheduled to last until October. The tour started out strong and we were selling out arenas in minutes. Day after day we did the same thing and night after night Erica got drunk and partied until morning.
In August Erica checked herself into rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. Since turning twenty one Erica has been partying twenty-four seven. She has skipped promotional appearances, showed up late for rehearsals, and even skipped recording sessions for "The Story". Nicole and I were forced to cancel the next two months of concerts, without rescheduling. We lost a lot of fans, a lot of money, and a lot of respect.
While in rehab Erica met her current boyfriend, Keith, also a recovering alcoholic. No one knew how long Erica's treatment would take, since it was up to her how well it would turn out. Nicole and I were forced to move on and make appearances without her. We started writing and preparing for the next album which we start working on in March.
The three of us were still on the cover of countless magazines, our songs were still played on the radio and our fans still wanted us. We didn't even know if we were a band anymore at this point because Erica started talking about not wanting to do music ever again.
In the meantime Nicole planned her wedding while I produced and collaborated with other artists. Jesse and I broke up a few days before Christmas. Two heartbreaks in two years.
2007
In January the three of us had a meeting with the record company regarding the recording of our next album. We had great songs written, great co-producers coming in, and everyone agreed it was going to be the best Commonly Unknown album we ever recorded. We all called it our redemption album after our drama in 2006.
Erica, who was still on the road to sobriety, walked into the meeting and told us she was quitting the band. She broke her contract with Capitol Records but didn't care. She wanted to do what she had to do to be happy, and she blatantly took no regard to how this would affect the rest of us.
She left Nicole and I out to dry. That was it. She was done. We couldn't go on as a duo, and we could audition for another member. We, as a band, released a statement on January 31st, that Commonly Unknown had officially broken up.
We made our last public appearance together on February 11th at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards where we presented the Best New Artist award to Carrie Underwood.
Since the Grammy Awards Nicole got married to Daniel, a graphic designer, in a multi-million dollar ceremony in Fiji. Erica attended the wedding as a guest, but flew back to California as soon as it was over. Nicole and Dan plan on starting a family before the new year.
I've kept busy writing and producing for other artists, most notably working with Avril Lavigne on her platinum release "The Best d**n Thing". I've been in the spotlight most recently for posing provocatively on the cover of Maxim and GQ magazine. I've also had to respond to outrageous claims that Erica has made regarding my personal life. I plan on releasing a solo album next year.
Erica moved to San Diego with Keith, who has relapsed several times himself since being out of rehab. They recently got engaged and want to get married as soon as possible. She plans on writing an autobiography to expose, what she says, is the many secrets of Commonly Unknown.
Nicole and I hang out any chance we get, despite living on opposite coasts. We miss Erica, and try to reach out to her as often as possible but our phone calls or e-mails are rarely returned. We don't want to give up on our best friend and all of the memories we have together, but it feels like Erica couldn't care less about the life we used to have, and what could have been.
Glad i'm not the only writer still lurking about, too, lol 
