Picks was adopted at a young age by an older gentleman living in the rustics he calls “Pops, ” the town’s Fixer guy. Pops was nothing less than a grandfather figure to Picks and often encouraged trying out different things.
Whatever Pops was into, Picks would always want to try it. He’d repair all sorts of exciting gadgets and technology. Two of which, an old Extreme Gear and an Electric guitar, caught Picks’ eye the most. Seeing this, Picks came home one day to his own custom-built guitar and extreme gear from his Pops.
Picks played with both daily, often emulating songs he heard from his Pops’ old radio. Over time, Picks became a local musician in small towns. The more he played, the more he enjoyed playing in groups, developing a love for session playing.
Eventually, Picks got the urge to leave the nest and find his own way. This came to him from listening to a broadcast highlighting the World Grand Prix for Extreme Gear racing. Picks was ready to get out and wanted to head toward the big city.
He got a lucky break when a tourist came by and discovered Picks’ guitar playing. This tourist sought a session guitarist for a local joint on the city outskirts. Seeing this as his chance, Picks decided to leave. The town had a small little goodbye party for him on his last day, where his Pops gave him his last piece of advice before he set out: “Take care of people you trust,” he said.
Picks’ life was going great here. He practices riding Extreme Gear by day and session playing by night. He also became the local Fixer for various shops and pubs with the tinkering he picked up from Pops. Picks’ contract ran out, however, and the sponsor had no intentions of renewing it. It turns out that two of the pubs Picks was working in were closing down. Picks’ income was instantly cut in half, leaving him to find another job.
As a thank-you gift, the manager of one of these pubs provided Picks with some of the music equipment owed by the shop that he was willing to give to Picks. He also noticed he was good with his hands and knew a repair shop owner in the city needed a part-timer. Following this lead, Picks ended up working at a local repair shop and singlehandedly helped expand this shop into the realm of music gear. Picks repaired all kinds of instruments and equipment brought to him by other musicians. Because of his job and expenses, he couldn’t session play anymore, nor did he have time to ride extreme gear.
He passed the time trying other things, but he often thought about those two particular passions of his. While in thought, a guy from a local college came in looking to get his keyboard repaired. Finding out Picks played guitar, he offered to go into a jam session with Picks, who was all too eager to accept. He saw this as a way to start session playing again but it turned into something more. Picks developed a genuine love for playing in an actual band. The atmosphere and camaraderie between the members completely revitalized Picks desire to play guitar and decided to stick with this band. He talked with his boss from the gear shop and decided to find another job to make time for this college band.
Unfortunately, this didn’t last as long as Picks would hope. Eventually, other stress and drama soon filled the tension in the band. Picks tried his best to tame this mood and would usually succeed in mitigating stress. One day, it was just too much, and a bad fight broke out. Many members turned violent, Picks included from the pressure he also cultivated over time. Some used their instruments as weapons and ended up completely trashing the room. The loud noise caused the local authorities had to intervene and even arrested a few of them.
Picks ended up receiving a severe wound on his face and was immediately taken to the hospital. When he finally recovered, he realized his current job couldn’t help much with the bill. To his surprise, the boss from his old repair shop stepped in and was already helping to cover the bill for Picks’ recovery. In fact, his boss was the one who found and identified Picks after the police arrived. He didn’t like the guys Picks was hanging around so he stuck close by. It was here that Picks remembered his Pops’ advice to take care of people he trusts. After talking with his old boss, he decided to get his old job back. Picks returned to a backlog of orders. A few of these were Extreme Gears that customers wanted to get rid of, and the boss was saving for Picks.
One day, Picks received a call-in from a local school for an Organ repair for a Jazz band, the first of its kind for Picks. To his surprise, his client was a student there named Les. Picks succeeded in repairing the Organ but wasn’t sure if it’d stay fixed, so he gave a discount and asked Les to test it to ensure everything was okay. Though per protocol, Picks was utterly awestruck at Les’ playing. He’d never heard of this style until now and immediately got the urge to play guitar. Without thinking, he grabbed the nearest guitar off a nearby rack in the band room and started playing with Les, who also responded to Picks playing. This went back and forth for about three hours after Picks was due back to the shop.
Though cautious of a similar experience with his first band, he wanted to play with Les again and asked if he could swing by. Les accepted and this turned into a nightly pass time for Picks. He also ended up connecting with Les the same way he connected with the members of his first band. It made him miss playing guitar like he used to. Picks ended up clearing out the garage his shop was using so Les could move his Organ into the space since it wasn’t too far from his school.
One day, Les introduced Picks to Shell at this jam session, claiming that he played drums. Picks was instantly wary of Shell. Not only did he look dangerous, but he also looked similar to members of his old band. His attitude was offputting as well. However, he trusted Les, who claimed to have been saved by him from some school bullies. Turns out that Shell was into the same taste of music as Picks, and the two clicked instantly; almost better than Les.
After gaining more trust, Picks became very confrontable around Shell but still sensed something was off about him. These thoughts were put on hold when Les brought another stranger named Lowen to the shop. Though not as physically threatening as Shell was, he seemed like a schemer with his blank expression making it hard to get a read on him. Unlike Shell, Lowen confessed that he didn’t really have any experience playing guitar, which made him question why Les brought him in the first place.
Surprisingly, Shell was just as wary of him as Picks was, which helped them bond better as both kept an eye on him during sessions. One day, he came in with a complete shift in attitude. He was attentive and was even making an effort to keep up with the group despite trying to learn bass guitar. When Picks started getting a little confrontable with Lowen, Shell started leaving practice early and showing up less and less. Picks wasn’t sure what to do as he connected with Shell, thinking he was different from his other band members.
This mood was affecting Les as he too, grew to like Shell. Lowen suggested finding a replacement, but Picks wasn’t happy about that. One night after practice, Lowen approached Picks and told him that Shell was tied up in a gang fight protecting a family member. This lit a fire in Picks for many reasons. It confirmed that Shell was a good person and was likely going through something and needed a helping hand, as his boss did with Picks. It also made Picks question why Lowen was handling this the way he was, but at the same time, if Lowen didn’t care, why tell him?
Picks immediately went to back up to Shell, who was knee-deep in a fight when he arrived. As Lowen said, a younger guy was standing behind Shell. After the fight, Shell was grateful and even apologized for dipping out on the band. While Shell was recovering, Picks wanted to have a serious talk with Lowen. Picks no longer trusted his intention and didn’t feel comfortable with him being around Les and how he approached replacing Shell.
To Picks’ surprise, Lowen completely understood his concerns and told Picks that he intended to grow their band to a professional level. As proof of that, he showed Picks the royalties that they were expecting soon. On the topic of Shell, Lowen really couldn’t tell that he and Les cared about him so much given the contrast of their personalities. Picks was shocked at how much Lowen had worked behind the scenes for them.
He didn’t want to make this a big incident because it would’ve looked bad for future sponsors if the police got involved. He even learned about Shell’s financial situation and how to resolve it to get Shell back in the band. When he asked why he cared so much, Lowen went into his own backstory and how Les came across him. Picks even got a glimpse of Lowen’s emotions when he talked about his therapist. Like Shell, Picks completely misunderstood Lowen and knew giving him another chance was the right thing to do.
After Shell returned, Picks again recalled his Pops’ advice and decided to give playing in a band another chance. He trusted all of them and often made time for each of them in his own way. With the money he was making now, he managed to pay off the hospital bill faster than he thought. However, he occasionally works at the repair shop to help out his boss out of good faith. He’s even started collecting Extreme Gear to compete in a World Grand Prix one day.
