CHAPTER NINE: LABEL BACKFIRE

September 18, 2003

 It’s now September, and No Rules are heavily promoting their single, Tonight. The song is now a fan-favourite. NR are now at Copenhagen, Denmark for a morning TV show. They performed the song live (while lip-syncing), but the interview was to be pre-taped in order to have Danish-language voiceovers. NR may not speak Danish, but they had a large fan base anyway.

 The members were in their dressing room, waiting to start the interview. They were talking about how fans of both NR and skate5 figured out that there’s a rivalry between both bands.

 Edward said, “You know, if Hudson hadn’t copied us, no one would’ve suspected that us and suck5 hate each other.”

 Charlie chimed in, “There was this time when we were recording our second CD, and our PR team met with our producers. I overheard them demanding our producers to reduce Edward and Ashley’s role on the CD. Then I told the PR team to reduce Alex’s role instead of Edward’s.”

 The members were shocked when they heard that. But Alex was furious when he asked, “YOU DID WHAT!?!”

 Charlie, apparently proud of himself, said, “Walsh, I’m not scared of you.”

 “YOU DAMN WELL SHOULD BE!!”

 Charlie laughed in his face, “Yea, a skinny bloke like you can beat me up.”

 With that, Alex grabbed Charlie’s shirt collar. Edward got himself between Alex and Charlie to break them up. He said to the two boys sternly, “Look, none of us are happy what both our f*cked up PR team and Charlie did. But we’re not going to beat each up over this. What’s done is done.”

 Then Alex gave an angry smile as he gritted his teeth, “Yea, let’s make the best of this.”

 Then Sophie took Alex aside to talk to him privately. She was irritated with him, so she said, “Alex, get a hold of yourself! I know you’re pissed, but now’s not the time to kick Charlie’s arse.”

 Alex, also feeling irritated, said, “Sophie, No Rules is headed for disaster thanks to Kimberly’s scheming. On top of that, Charlie has reduced my role on the CD.”

 He continued as his voice cracked with emotion, “I had enough of Declan! I want him out of the band! It’s bad enough I’m frustrated with what’s going on with the band. As long as I’m young enough to go to school and finish my exams, I’m not going back to Swansea. I’ll enroll in a school in London, just as long as I stay out of that hellhole.”

 She said to him calmly, “Look, No Rules won’t split up. We’re gonna fight. I know that you being in this band is an escape from your old life. It practically saved your life. Just don’t give up, okay?”

 Alex cried, and Sophie hugged him.

 Thirty minutes later, NR were about to start the interview. The host announced, “Hey, vi fik her Storbritanniens hotteste teen pop band, No Rules. Nu, da de ikke taler dansk, vi pre-taping dette interview, så ville der være en dansk-sproget voiceover. (Hey, we got here Britain's hottest teen pop band, No Rules. Now, since they don't speak Danish, we're pre-taping this interview so there would be a Danish-language voiceover.)”

 The NR members smiled even they had no idea what the host said. The host then spoke in English with a rough Danish accent, “So No Rules, your latest single, Tonight, is a favourite among your fans. Do you hope your new single will be a hit?”

 Edward said, “It would be nice. We hope we do well.”

 “Are you aware that back in Britain, you have numerous teen pop bands? Is there any competition?”

 This surprised the members. They knew the competition in Britain was stiff, but they didn’t think this was known throughout Europe. To not give away too much information, Ashley said, “Well, the charts are competitive. There are so many teen groups out there.”

 The host said, “Yes, but what are these bands?”

 Edward said as he laughed nervously, “Why do you want to know who they are? They’re probably barely known across Europe.”

 Alex added, though smugly, “Yeah. And besides, we’re known all over the world. Those other bands are obscure. Besides, none of them have me."

 The host said, “What about skate5?”

 Alex asked nervously, “What about skate5?”

 “They were trailblazers in bringing mixed teen pop groups. Then came you, S Club’s spin-off S Club 8, BubbleGum’s spin-off BG6, and the supposed ‘adult version’ of No Rules, B.A.S.E. Now there are rumours about Liberty X forming a teen version of themselves.”

 This really made the members even more nervous. The only bands that were well-known in Europe were skate5 and No Rules. S Club 8 and BG6 have sizable fan-bases, but they weren’t very famous. B.A.S.E. was just starting out. As for Liberty X, they were very well-known in Europe, but this was the first time NR heard about Liberty X forming a spin-off band.

 The NR members wanted to avoid the fact that they’re slowly being squeezed out by their rivals. skate5 is very strong and popular. BG6 has gained notoriety for their chav-like image. B.A.S.E. is gaining steam for their racy lyrics and provocative attire. But S Club 8, who are friends with NR, are starting to struggle with their dance-pop sound and sexy looks. As for No Rules, they having a hard time with their look and sound. It was described as if NR was going through an identity crisis. But it wasn’t their fault.

 So to change the obvious subject, Alex blurted this out, “Erm, Sophie and I are a couple. We’ve been together since the beginning of No Rules.”

 Sophie smiled as she said, “Sorry girls, but Alex’s mine.”

 With that, they shared a kiss. She added, “He’s a great kisser.”

 Ashley, watching what had happened, said hastily, “Erm, Eddie and I are a couple too! We been together as long as Alphie!”

 With that, Edward and Ashley kissed. Edward smiled, “Yeah, I’m taken. Sorry.”

 The host gushed as she pressed on. “Aawww, that’s sweet…but the audience would like to know if there’s rivalry going on with the other bands.”

 With that, Hannah stood up as she said nervously, “Who wants to dress like No Rules? No Rulers, stand up and show off your outfits!”

 So the NR members stood up, smiling nervously. She continued, “C’mon, everyone wants to dress like us! Our clothes are easy to access. Ooo, who wants our hairstyles? They‘re the coolest!”

 The host, getting restless, pressed on, “That’s nice, but the audience is waiting for the truth.”

 Alex said nervously, “Who wants to dance like us?! I’ll teach you lot!”

 “Stop stalling,” the host said sternly.

 At this point, NR couldn’t avoid the question any longer. Edward said angrily, “You want to know the truth? Fine! Skate5 and BG6 are our rivals! We don’t get along. They’re threaten by us. Satisfied?”

 After a translator translated what Edward said, the audience was quiet. Then NR sat down.

 Later that day, NR were back in London. Peter heard what happened, so he called Logan to meet with the NR members as soon as they arrived back at London. So NR were now at a boardroom at Dillon.

 Logan, feeling irritated, said, “Peter told me what happened.”

 Edward pleaded, “Look, we can explain!”

 “You’d better!”

 “The presenter kept pressing us with questions about our rivals. We tried to avoid the question if we have any connection with them. So I blurted out that we have rivals, and that we don’t get along.”

 Just then, Logan got a message on his pager, and left the boardroom.

 Thirty minutes later, Logan entered the boardroom. He looked frustrated. Edward asked, “What happened?”

 Logan explained, “Epic called me. They and Sony found out that you were secretly promoting your new music worldwide. Sony, as your international label, has dropped you, and Epic now owns all your songs. Epic is allowing your new single, Tonight, to be released worldwide. But your second CD will not released anywhere except in Britain.”

 This anger the members, so they stormed out of Logan’s office. They eventually arrived at Epic Records to confront the NR’s creative director. They barged into his office, and Edward demanded, “What the hell were you thinking, not letting us release our music?!”

 The creative director explained, “We were given an anonymous tip that you were promoting your music to other countries. Your managers allowing you to get around the ban.”

 Ashley said angrily, “You let us promote our music now! It‘s our music, not yours!”

 He told the members sternly, “If you don’t shut up now, you won’t release your third single from your second CD. In fact, you’ll be dropped!”

 With that, NR stormed out of the creative director’s office.