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// Vinyl, and an Interview with Takamine 
// Story: Dream On: Vinyl and Tavi's Private Weblog 
// by Koiyuki 
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Man, when I agreed to this interview thing, I thought she would just sling a few softballs at me while we enjoyed some bubble tea at the local donut shop. Just a chat between friends, you know? Did not count on her she was get as personal as she did, nor that I would feel up to committing all those intimate moments to the page. When she sent me the final copy, I was blown away at the things I shared with her, but part of me feels like the best thing for me is for others to see this side of me, no matter if it seems like a not so good look to do it. Maybe I'll send this to my folks later on, so they can better understand their little girl, something we often butted heads about as I got older. Before all that, though, take a look and tell me what you think, yeah? 
Name: Vinyl Scratch
Age: 25
Height: 5'7
Measurements: 32C-28-34
Weight: 110 lbs
Family and other Loved ones: SwayBreeze (Father/morning DJ for 92.4 The Sound, a local radio station specializing in classic rock), Hanafubuki, AKA Jushin Thunder(Mother/retired pro wrestler and successful restaurateur)
Occupation: DJ specializing in EDM and Hip Hop
Hometown: Manehattan, United States of Equestria
Tools of the Trade: Schwartzvald over-ear Headphones, KUROI Drum Machine, Ponisonic Mixing Board + Record Player x 2, various computer programs, instruments and specialized tools 
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Food: Tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) over chicken bouillon infused rice
Favorite Song:  “SONICTEMPLE” by YKZ 
Favorite Book: The Simarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Favorite Show: Fist of the North Star
Dislikes: Natto, chitterlings, raw veggies, contemporary rap, Sunday driving, Beni Shouga and 'fake' people

***

Q1: To kick things off, why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself, your profession, your hopes and dreams, and all that jazz?

Considering how much you got on me already, I'm not sure there's much else to tell. You know that being a DJ is my primary hustle, and I'm sure your boy told you plenty on what I'm about from all the time you two spend together. It's a trip, though, that I've gotten this far with what I'm doing and that the thing I loved to do as a kid would be the same thing that pays my bills. Damn sure didn't think that was happening when I was spinning parties for kids like me and getting paid near Jack Squat after expenses. Man, I remember when a local Japonican culture fair hired me to do what was essentially background music work with a few scratches thrown in, making sure the sound levels were perfect for all 8 of their acts. Not a bad gig overall, but that pop punk band's singer had a voice so pitchy, it felt like sticking needles in your ears, a voice I could even hear piercing through my cans. Couldn't wait to get paid after that thing was over and just about everyone went home. Grand total in my pocket after bills, though? Bucking nothing. 

Q2: I feel you on the paycheck thing. Paying for the equipment, transport, venue fees and all that eats into a lot of your paycheck, and if you aren't tough enough, you might think it better to just quit. May I ask what drove you to pursue your chosen passion in the face of all the bills, all the stumbles and all the other struggles you faced?

When I was still in the struggle, my folks gave me a lot of love, especially in the early days of my DJing. My dad did plenty to teach me about the business and craft side of things, while my mom gave lots of motivation and discipline whenever she felt I was slacking, mostly in the form of push-ups, running laps, jumping jacks and a bunch of other workouts. Apparently that hard edge mentality she grew up with stuck around when she moved here, because the instant she sensed a hint of it, that woman put me through the ringer, even when I was doing good. Pretty much knew, though, that she was only hard on me because she knew was I could do, and didn't want me to fall short because I threw it all away on something stupid. Been that way ever since we lived in Red Hook, also known as one of the worst neighborhoods in the nation for all the drug hustling, gangbanging and who knows what else happening right outside your door.

Q3: But if I'm not mistaken, your mom runs a pretty popular chain of Japonican restaurants and your dad is making a pretty penny spinning those old school jams. Why would people like that choose to live in Red Hook?

The short version is because around when I was born, they were still deep in that struggle, my dad trying to get his foot in the door at the local radio stations, and my mom using whatever she saved away from her wrestling days to get her first Teppan-yaki restaurant off the ground. Barely making enough to make ends meet, having to apply for govt aid, standing in line at the food banks, whatever they had to do just to get by, from what I learned. Shoot, there was one time my dad just up and cried from not knowing how he was gonna provide for the family. 
At the time, I didn't realize why he was so shook, but with all I've learned about things, I have much respect for the kind of pressure my folks felt on them to give someone they care for a better future, no matter how much they had to sacrifice to do it. That much became clear when I was 10, after my mom's restaurant found solid success, my dad started working his way up with the radio DJ ladder, and we moved right out of Red Hook and into a real nice condo in Bucklyn. It was on one of my first bike rides through the area where I found Tavi's iPepper player, which eventually to me meeting Tavi in the flesh.

Q4:  Speaking of, I was reading through the entries detailing all that, but even now something about it don't add up. No disrespect, but what about returning something someone lost would make them want to be friends with that person?

Don't even trip, man. When she asked me that, I wondered the exact same thing. What on the world would a rich kid like her see in someone as distinctly ghetto as me? At first, I thought she just liked me for my swag-and really, who wouldn't? From my understanding, though, it was the first time a stranger both showed her that kind of unconditional kindness and went that far to do her a solid. That much, combined with it being a gift from her pops and the fact that she really seemed to dig what I told her before we met left a deep impression, therefore, apparently, friendship. Kinda glad she stuck around, though, because when we became friends, she showed me things I never thought I'd see and help me learn things I never thought I would. 

Q5:  What, like that not all rich people think their shit don't stink?

Exactly! My folks both come from hard-working, get what you give kinda backgrounds, so I grew up thinking that people who had things served to them on a silver platter and didn't have to worry about a damn thing were basically the worst humanity had to offer. Seeing some of these same folks act like total pricks both on TV and in real life only affirmed those notions. Shoot, when we went clothes shopping in the new 'hood, one of the first things we saw was some punk ass kid full on chewing out her mom in front of everyone because the tube top she bought for her was the wrong shade of pink, or something. My mom was shaking the more she kept herself from marching on over there and getting in that kid's face about the nonsense she was putting her mom through, gritting her teeth, clenching her fist and shooting the kid the meanest look she could summon

Q6:  It can be tough sticking to proper manners sometimes, especially when things get that heated. In comparison, how was Octavia when you got to know her? 

If memory serves, she was super formal and mega mousey the first few weeks we were friends, prefacing her suggestions with, "If it's alright with you," and taking the greatest care she had not piss me off. Kinda funny the first few times we met, but I felt bad that she was walking on eggshells trying to be all prim and proper and junk, so one day while I was showing her a local burger joint, I told her straight up, "You don't always gotta act fancy with me, Tavi. We friends, ain't we? That means we can relax around each other, take things easy and keep it one hundred, you dig?" Not 15 seconds later, she let out a thunderous belch, which of course I had to answer with my own. Can't let that sorta thing go unchecked, you know?

Q7:  No doubt. I take it this means she started loosening up and showing you things you never thought you'd see?

Totally does, and let me tell you, the more she learned to let loose, the more capable she got at getting down. There was this one house party we went to where she was getting ripped on that spiked cherry punch, each one bringing out a little more of what she calls her Cockney side. On my mama, I saw Tavi get up in the face of some girl and say, "Ye 'avin' a giggle there, mate? I'll bash ye fookin' 'ead in, swear on me mum." after she heard her talking trash with her friends like she wouldn't hear it. Totally had to get between them to stop Tavi from doing anything stupid, which earned me a slap in the mouth from the other girl. At that point, I was on my last shred of patience trying to calm them down, so I immediately slap chopped her across her chest and gritted out, "I don't want no trouble, so unless you and your little girlfriends do, I suggest that you and your little girlfriends get to steppin', alright? Do not make me repeat myself, because if you do, I guaran-bucking-tee you won't like it"as she was clutching her girls and crumpling to the ground. I got kind of a mean ol' bitch rep at school but didn't and still don't care. My focus was on getting Tavi out of there safe and into a place where she could sleep it off, and that makes me a mean ol' bitch, I'll be the meanest bitch I gotta be.

Q8:  I imagine her folks weren't too happy with their little girl getting smashed on your watch. Did you have any rough patches with them?

You would think so, considering they come from a place known for looking none too kindly towards ghetto folks, but for the most part, they were pretty chill about me and Tavi being friends. It probably helped that I learned how to act right before the first time I met them, but as time passed, they totally warmed up to what I was about, eventually treating me like I was her sister from how often I had her back in tough spots like what happened at the party. 
In fact, when they met up with my folks at my mom's first restaurant they were super impressed with both the work ethic she had and how tasty the Kara'age, beef bowl and other food served up was, offering to help her expand her business in return for a chunk of ownership. From there, things really picked up and she took her kind of cooking to major cities on both coasts, even offering me ownership of the food trucks serving our grub in Manehattan, and a hole in the wall Izakaya she set up near our old home in Red Hook. Not bad for someone whose first job was serving it up in her first restaurant, right?

Q9:  Totally. I hope this means you'll be treating me to a meal there sometime soon. On a somewhat related topic, did that split you and Tavi have any affect your mom's business any?

Naw, the whole time we called it quits, our families get along great, to the point they were trying to get us to reconcile the first couple months. There was so much bad blood between us, though, that we were the only 2 not to go any get togethers or parties they threw, including B-day bashes and the holidays. Really strange not to see her those days, but what can you do? Both of us were being total buttheads, and thought each had to apologize to the other for their buck ups before anything could happen, even if that year was the absolute worst year in my life because of it. You were there for a lot of it, so you know how much of a wreck I grew to be as time dragged on

Q10:  Indeed. Now that you've gone through all that with her, what kind of relationship would you say you two have?

At this point? Tough to say, considering how tight we are. Can't say we're lovers or any of that, but we definitely ain't just friends, especially after we decided it wasn't worth it to throw away what we had and slowly but surely patched things up. Whole lotta pain to work through, but each time we faced the issues that drove us apart, I could feel us growing more open to each other, more willing to exposing our worst, most vulnerable side to each other, so our friendship could become that much stronger. I remember whenever I felt down, I didn't want to hit the hard stuff to take the edge off. Growing up in Red Hook showed me plenty on what that stuff can do to mess someone up, so instead of that, I became a thrill junkie, taking up drifting, skydiving, rock climbing, and whatever else looked like super dangerous fun. It was the most fun I had in ages, but without her there, it just didn't feel complete, you know? Pretty sure that every time we met, you saw that better than anyone, and knew the kind of emotional nightmare I was trying to and eventually ran outta steam to outrun. 
The night before you sent me that message, I was an angry, blubbering mess of emotions, and if hadn't got your message when I did, I probably would've done something really bucking stupid. Didn't matter if it was raining cats and dogs, I wanted to get out of the place and try to forget, the keys to my Hachi-Roku glimmering under the light above the kitchen table. That night, when I don't think anyone could see squat through the rain and the stormclouds, I looked over at that picture of Tavi in my workplace and said, "I'm sorry for being such an insensitive prick to you all these years. You deserve better than that...than me," sitting at my computer and writing out everything I wanted to say to her, but never had the guts to. It was only when I let her completely go did I feel like I could show her those raw, unfiltered emotions, which, after we started to reconcile, I did bit by bit. Now we're on the other side of all that junk, I have no doubts about her being the best friend I've ever had, and want to whatever I gotta do to be the best friend to her that I can possibly be