Additional Character Info

If you have any questions about any of the characters in Rushing Whispers, don't hesitate to send me an email at kmunrowrites@gmail.com and I will be happy to reply!

If you'd like some visual references, check out this tumblr blog full of character vibes and aesthetics (there are spoilers in the tags on these post).

MAIN CHARACTERS

Emily Dupont was born in the fall of 1941 and raised in the suburbs surrounding Montreal, Canada. Following the death of her mother and her father’s subsequent departure in 1956, she and her sister moved in with their maternal grandmother, who was always supportive of Emily’s talent and love for painting.

Cameron Thom is the founding member and keyboardist of Amoeba, a progressive rock band based in Aberdeen. Cameron has always lived in the area since his birth in the spring of 1941, and has stated that he owes his morals to the community he loves. Both of his parents passed away unexpectedly during his teen years, leaving him to move in with his aunt in nearby Cruden Bay, who has always cared for him as her own son.

THE BAND

Willie (born William) Shaw was also raised in Aberdeen, and has been friends with Cameron since primary school. Playing guitar has long been his solace and he has found a comforting wall of privacy in the instrument he’s strived to master for the last fifteen years.

Lee Brodie was born in a small village on the shore of Loch Tay in the winter of 1943. His family briefly lived in Glasgow and then Edinburgh, until a short-lived woodworking apprenticeship in the summer of ‘62 brought him to Aberdeen. After being tasked with building a bass guitar for a customer, Lee set his sights on musicianship and left the trade. He joined Amoeba in the spring of 1969, just in time for the tour to support their first album.

Dale Kenney’s family moved to Scotland from their native Bristol in 1960 due to his father’s career change. At fifteen, Dale realized he could sing after spending weeks singing to his younger sister to calm her and lull her to sleep, and by his own admission, “it was all over after that!”

Colin Foster grew up in Liverpool and was bothering the neighbours early on in his life with constant banging on any flat surface. His parents bought him a small drum kit when he turned seven, and at fifteen he joined a local band that soon relocated to nearby Manchester. In the four years since, he has spent time in various bands in multiple cities until being recruited into Amoeba in February 1971.



ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS

Liliane Dupont is currently a department store manager, living in the same region in which she and her sister were raised. Of the two sisters, Liliane bore the brunt of the abuse dealt by their father, whose disappearance when she was sixteen helped them both in many ways. With Emily’s help, she was the palliative caregiver for their grandmother until her passing in April 1970.

Geoff Sinclair is the middle-aged man who went out on a limb for Amoeba after seeing them perform in a small club in the autumn of 1968. Having taken a break from managing bands after a successful run with a handful of popular acts in the ten previous years, Geoff signed an exclusive management contract with the still-burgeoning Amoeba.

Autumn Dunn has been best friends with Colin since they first met at the schoolyard over fifteen years ago. The pair have stayed close despite Colin’s departure from their native Liverpool in 1967 and Autumn’s prolonged sojourn in California, which transformed their regular hang outs into infrequent letters.

Steve Todd is a twenty-one year old native Aberdonian up to his knees in the rock music scene. He’s musically inclined⁠—wait until you hear him with a harmonica!⁠—and has previously lent a hand to Amoeba in times of need between drummers.

STUDIO DISCOGRAPHY & BAND INFO (as of winter 1971)

Split Milk [Released March 1969]

Osmosis [Released October 1969]

Missing Persons [Released August 1970]

Cabinet of Fools [Released August 1971]

Lion Rampant in America [Released December 1971]

Amoeba formed in mid-1968 with original members Cameron Thom, Willie Shaw, and Dale Kenney (who remain in the band), as well as James Tinfield and Max Wyle, who were respectively replaced by Lee Brodie and Clyde Mayfield later that year.

Their debut album, Split Milk, was received well by the critics, though Amoeba has made it clear that they don’t much care for what the critics think. Osmosis was released later in the same year and showed a clear progression in the band’s cohesive output. Both the Osmosis tour and the one to support their third album Missing Persons, were wildly successful in terms of gaining a fanbase and becoming a powerhouse on stage.

Their unique brand of progressive rock, oftentimes leaning towards the heavier side of said genre, has been a favourite of rockers across European soil since April 1969 when their first live shows in support of Spilt Milk, originally scheduled as a domestic tour of the UK, turned into a much longer tour of Europe.

Clyde remained behind the drum kit until the recording of their fourth album in the early portion of 1971, when he left the band and was replaced by Colin Foster. Drum credits on Cabinet of Fools are given to both men, who collectively have over twenty years experience with their instrument.

Currently, Amoeba is wading through the North American live venue market in support of their latest record, aptly entitled Cabinet of Fools. The band’s first live album— entitled Lion Rampant in America— is set to be released in December 1971, directly ahead of their four-month European tour.