VOLUME I:
This interview takes place in a cozy but dimly lit studio, adorned with vintage records, photographs, and some of the band's iconic gear. It's a Sunday afternoon in 2005, and the three original members of Wren & The Static—Malakai, Miles, and Bodhi—are gathered around to detail the band's origins.

INTERVIEWER: So, let's go back to the very start. You started as Static. Kai, Miles, tell me about growing up in that small town in Washington, Star Harbor, was it? Music seemed to be your way out.

KAI: [Leans forward, smiling softly] Stone Harbor, but, uh—yeah, it wasn't just a way out—it was everything. Miles and I were raised in a house full of music. Our mom was a model in the '50s, and she'd sing around the house sometimes. She was a superstar before people'd coined the term.
But it wasn't always glamorous; she struggled with her demons. After she passed, it was just us, Di, and Dad. He wasn't a conventional father, but he knew the industry, knew music.

In the 1950s, Margaret "Maggie" Calloway was a rising starlet whose beauty seemed to epitomize the era's ideal of glamour. She was tall and slender with porcelain skin and piercing blue eyes. She had a mesmerizing presence, a mix of innocence and seduction, that captured the public's imagination. At the height of her fame, she was often seen draped in luxurious fabrics. Diamond necklaces that sparkled in the Hollywood spotlight, her hair always perfectly coiffed in soft, blonde waves.

MILES: [Fiddling with a drumstick, looking pensive] Dad managed Mama back in her day, but after she died . . . he kind of turned inward. I think music was the only thing that held him together. It was the same for Kai and me. It was our escape.

Her manager and eventual husband, Gene Kelsi—a man whose devotion to her was obvious, yet deeply intertwined with the machinery of her career. Gene was a seasoned player in the business, a man who knew how to keep stars in the spotlight, but as Maggie's fame grew, so did the emotional distance between them. While Gene worked tirelessly to ensure Maggie remained at the top, he became increasingly distant from her emotionally. The more she shone, the more he demanded from her, until she felt like she was losing herself in a world she never fully belonged to.

The couple had three young children—including Kai and Miles, and their sister, Diana—each of whom she loved dearly. But Maggie felt torn between her family and the ever-present demands of her career. The late-night parties, the photo shoots, the endless premieres. It was all part of the life Gene had built for them, but it wasn't the life Maggie had ever imagined. She wanted to be with her children, to be a mother in the quiet moments, but her fame never allowed her that peace.

Over time, the weight of the public's expectations began to feel unbearable. Behind closed doors, she battled with crippling loneliness, depression, and a sense of hopelessness. The pills, the late-night drinks, and the whispered rumors of affairs and breakdowns. They all became part of a spiraling story that Maggie couldn't escape. She had been a star for too long, and the exhaustion of trying to stay on top, while pretending to have everything in order, eventually broke her.

Maggie overdosed on October 12th, 1970 at 35 years old. Kai was only 10, Miles—8, Diana—4. Maggie Calloway's name became one whispered in the quietest rooms, remembered as a beautiful soul lost beneath the surface of Hollywood's shine.

            INTERVIEWER: You two were really close. How did Bodhi come into the picture?

            BODHI: [Grins, tapping his fingers against his bass] I was the outsider. We all met in grade school. We'd always been tight, and of course, they labeled me their brother, but there's nothing like a blood tie.
            Anyway, we all started jamming when we were, damn, probably eleven or so? We cycled through band names as our sound developed. At one point, we called ourselves Neon Drift. Fitting for the time, but awful in its own right. [Laughs]
            We started taking it more seriously in high school. We'd waltz into random bars, random joints. We [Glances at Miles] were, what, sixteen and [Carries his eyes toward Kai] eighteen years old?

            KAI: [Chuckles] That's right. At first, it was just a fun thing. Static. But the more we played, the more we realized it was something bigger. Something special. The music just clicked. We all just clicked.

            INTERVIEWER: You all have a deep connection to music. Was there any pressure to make it big? Or was it just a natural progression?

            MILES: There was definitely pressure. But I think it wasn't from the outside world at first. It came from within us. Our mom's death . . . it left a mark. A deep one. So much unspoken trauma, you know? We buried a lot of that in music. And suddenly, it wasn't just an outlet. It was a way to survive.

            KAI: And we had Diana, too. She was just a little girl when it all happened, four, I think? But she was always there. Behind the camera, capturing our stories. [Pauses] I think she saw us in a way we didn't even see ourselves. She always called us rockstars.

            INTERVIEWER: Right, your sister. Diana was a photographer for the band. She had a unique perspective on everything. Did her presence affect the band's dynamic?

            MILES: [Nods slowly] Yeah, Diana was always in the background, but she was our anchor in some ways. She saw things through her lens that we couldn't quite see ourselves. She captured our highs and our lows. But I think it was hard for her, too. She's always been so sensitive, and . . . I don't know. She had been through so much, so much that she didn't deserve.

            BODHI: [Leaning back, looking thoughtful] I think Diana saw the cracks forming before any of us did. She understood that we were all running from something. We weren't just a band, we were a bunch of broken people trying to hold it together through each other.
            Broken doesn't mend broken, it just makes the wreckage all the worse. You can only be healed by someone who hasn't been splintered by a bunch of shit.

            INTERVIEWER: You eventually added Wren and Sasha to the group. Miles, I heard you discovered them at a local jazz bar?

            MILES: [A nostalgic smile appears on his lips] Yeah. There was this dive bar in town, The Silver Streak, and one night I was just there, sitting by the stage.
            I'd been going for a while, just watching the musicians. But this saxophonist, Sasha, caught my ear. And then I saw her best friend, Wren up there with her. I remember thinking, "Now, this is real music."

BODHI: [Laughs] And I think you just couldn't resist talking to [Sasha], huh?

MILES: [Chuckling nervously, his fingers scraping along the nape of his neck]

KAI: [Softly] I remember the first time I heard Wren sing. It was like . . . like hearing music for the first time. Wren brought something we didn't know we needed. But with her, it wasn't just about the sound. It was the way she made you feel. And Sash, man, she killed the sax. Made it her metaphorical bitch, you know?

INTERVIEWER: And that's when the real shift happened in the band. Wren & The Static, not just Static, but it wasn't all smooth sailing, right? Things started to change.

BODHI: [Sighs] Yeah, it was like . . . we had everything we wanted, and then things got messy. We got a little bigger, a little more attention, and that's when the cracks started to show.

KAI: [Looking down] Wren and I started writing songs together. We spent hours working, and somewhere along the way, we . . . connected, you could say. It wasn't just about the music. It was about feeling understood. But I think that caused friction with the rest of the band. Especially Miles.

MILES: [Eyes narrowing slightly] It wasn't just that. It was everything. [Pauses] Mikey joined us on the keys shortly after Wren and Sash, and at first, I thought it was perfect. But there were problems. She was using pretty heavy. I knew that kind of chaos. I knew that spiral.

BODHI: [Quietly] Mikey's struggles hit hard. And Miles, he was wrestling with a lot of shit. His mom's death, the drugs . . . it triggered a lot for him. I didn't know the extent of what all he was balancing until later.

MILES: [Voice faltering slightly] I was seeing Sasha. We didn't tell anyone. I didn't even tell my brothers. She said it would affect the crowd's view of her, the band's. It's not easy for women, not like it is for men. She didn't want to be labeled a slut, someone who sleeps with a member of a band to get in it. I understood it, I did.
But then Mikey and I . . . we . . . [pauses] Things were complicated. And I felt like I was trapped in this web of lies. My mom died because of that shit. And here I was, just running away from the same thing in a different form. Causing chaos along the way with no way to put an end to it.
            Loving two people at once is to dance on the edge of a really sharp fucking blade. One heart'll always be torn, while the other bleeds in silence. Love isn't meant to be divided. It is singular, and in choosing both, you choose none.

KAI: [Shakes head] And it wasn't just Miles. Mikey's behavior was getting harder to ignore. The band dynamic was shifting, and none of us knew how to hold it all together.

INTERVIEWER: [Turning to Bodhi] How did you handle all of this?

BODHI: [Looking down] I think I tried to keep it together, in my own way. But the truth is, we all needed something that we weren't going to find in each other. I ended up finding that in Diana. We connected on a level I hadn't been able to with anyone else.
But that only made things harder. She was going through her own struggles—depression, the booze. It was like we were all in this giant mess of our own making.
            It was a ticking time bomb, and when it all exploded, I'm not even sure any of us were actually surprised by it. We just didn't realize how catastrophic that explosion would be.

INTERVIEWER: So, with all of this going on, why did the band split up?

KAI: [Pauses] We're getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we? That's just the overview. You're here for the dirt, well . . . that's what we're finally here to give you. The dirt, the worms, the teeth. It's makes for a greater story.