gold dust woman | daisy jones & the six

02

Cameron: Thanks to Rod, we had some steady gigs booked at McNasty's. Who the hell names a bar 'Filthy McNasty's'?

Billy: We were playing shows at McNasty's for some months, desperate for a breakthrough.

Cameron: We played there for months, and I never once got paid.

Camila was basically apart of the band. She came to every gig, always recording everything. She was making calls everyday, trying to get us a label. Obviously, none of those phone calls worked.

One of these gigs, Teddy Price was supposed to be there. He didn't show. All of us were disappointed, but Billy was the most. You had to feel bad for the guy.

We were at some diner afterwards, all seven of us crammed into the same booth. Camila was talking about all the producers that had passed us up, I was started to get discouraged real fast.

"Might wanna save half that toast for tomorrow, Eddie. This is barely enough to cover the rent." Camila pointed out, she wasn't wrong. We barely had any money.

Billy had started drinking more, I had taken a notice to that. At the time, I didn't think much of it. I mean, we were all getting drunk and doing drugs.

"How come I'm the only one without a bed in the house?" Warren chimed in.

"You could've had Karen's room," I reminded him.

"No way, that room is haunted," Warren said, jokingly.

"It's not haunted," I said, playfully slapping his arm.

"I'm eating pocket toast, so," Eddie complained.

"Why are we still called 'The Dunne Brothers'? Four of us aren't Dunne's, and the last time I checked, Cameron and I aren't brothers," Karen said. We were all thinking it, Karen was just the first to say it. Billy couldn't believe it.

"I personally think it's a great idea," I added.

"Well the name is the name. That's how people know is," Billy said.

"And exactly how many people know us?" I fought back.

"There's Immaculate Perception," Warren suggested.

"No, that's awful," Karen said.

"Hercules is still on the table," Graham said, sinking further into his seat as everyone disagreed.

"The six of us will never agree on a name," Billy said, he wasn't wrong.

"What about 'The Six'?" Karen suggested.

"I like it," I said. It was better than 'The Dunne Brothers', it was simple, and it made sense.

"Like the Jackson Five," Warren said, "better than Hercules."

Warren: It also sounded just like 'The Sex' which is why we went with the name.

Karen: That is absolutely not why we went with the name.

Cameron: Billy somehow managed to get Teddy Price to come and listen to us play. I couldn't believe it, Teddy fucking Price was coming to watch us.

We played him a song. I was so nervous, I think I about had a heart attack right there.

We didn't get a deal right away, which I think is what everyone had expected to happen. I don't know what gave us that idea. [laughs]

We continued to play gigs around different bars. After one of our numerous gigs, Teddy was talking to Billy. I hadn't been paying much attention to their conversation until Billy told us we were going to make an album.

"We're making an album?" I asked, completely stunned.

"It's about time," Teddy told us.

"We're making an album!" I shouted as I hugged Warren, I felt like I was on top of the world.

The first day of recording was one of the happiest days of my life. We were all set up, microphones and instruments. Camila was there, photographing everything.

Camila [holding up photo]: I got this really nice photo of Cameron and Warren. They kept giving each other these looks, I think they thought no one else could see them, but we all definitely saw.

Cameron: We recorded that album fast, I don't even think it took us a full week. We had some time off, then we were going to be on tour.

But the night before we were supposed to leave for the tour, Camila told Billy she was pregnant. Next thing you know, they had a wedding in our backyard.

Warren was put on photography duty, he took the only photo of Billy and Camila at their wedding, completely cutting off their faces.

Camila [holding up photo]: This is the only photo from our wedding.

Warren: Mescaline is a very powerful drug.

Cameron: It was a nice wedding. I hadn't been to a lot of weddings before, but it was a nice wedding.

They had this little 'dance floor' area, I spent most of the night on it. I would like to clarify, I'm not a good dancer. There was music and alcohol, I had just a little too much confidence that night.

I pulled Warren out onto the dance floor, I don't even think I asked him, I just dragged him out there.

Warren: She was not a very good dancer, but neither was I, so it didn't really matter much.

Camila: Cameron would've danced with anyone that night. But to Warren, that dance meant everything.

Warren: Yeah, it was a big deal for me. I was practically in love with the girl since I first saw her play at that bar back in Pittsburgh.

Cameron: I would never say it out loud, but I was falling for Warren. [sighs] I really was.