“Act like we’ve done this before,” Adam tells his friends while they wait in the lobby. The studio is downtown in a nondescript building Adam must have driven past half a dozen times and never noticed before, but the lobby says class. A backlit waterfall bubbles down one black marble wall, and the leather chairs squeak when he sits. Plush white rugs cover immaculate white marble floors flecked with blue and black chips in a modern design that makes Adam’s head swim if he stares at it too long. Lush potted plants roost in corners lit from narrow skylights cut into the ceiling above. It’s hard to imagine that just down the hall out of sight, musicians such as the ragtag bunch who call themselves Viral Blue lay down tracks and produce CDs.
The lobby is dominated by a black desk that appears
