Last time on Make or Break: The Linda Perry Project, the stakes got even higher. Noah wasn’t giving Linda the authentic emotion that she wanted, so she bid him adieu, much to the shock of his fellow competitors.
The next day, everyone is on edge and bummed out about Noah. There isn’t much time to wallow though, because Linda is taking the artists to the streets of Hollywood and Vine to busk. Linda gives busking (street performing) a lot of credit for her musical growth and strength of character as a young musician. She hands all the artists a tin can, tells them to “sing out Louise,” and sends them on their way. Everyone approaches their situation differently. Gabriel thinks he might have an advantage since he’s done a lot of busking. Vanjess has to rock it a capella since they don’t play instruments. Thankfully Anjuli is wearing her tomato slice earrings, which are everything. Mackenzie does her standard sweet acoustic thing but it’s not really drawing attention, so Linda demonstrates how to project her voice and grab life by the horns.
Anjuli is really drawing it in and has a great crowd listing to her smooth vocals and accompanying herself on the guitar. Linda is pleased to see Anjuli push herself out of her comfort zone and really excel. Linda actually thinks that Anjuli should really integrate the acoustic guitar into her sound.
Linda approaches Hunter Valentine and asks Aimee to step out and perform on her own. Aimee confesses to the camera that she really longs to be a lead vocalist. Linda is impressed with her chops and begins to wonder if Aimee deserves a chance to shine. When Kiyomi plays a tune solo, Linda hears a different side of her as well. She wants the band to pull that sensitive side out of themselves. At the end of the day, Hunter Valentine brings in the most money from busking. Before leaving the strip, Linda stops the artists in front of a male female duo named Omar, busking on the street. Linda announces that Omar will be joining the show. Omar, also known as Candice and Nick, have been feeling creatively stifled and are hoping that Linda can help revive them and their sound.
In the rehearsal room, Lauren walks in on Ivana and Gabriel making beautiful music together. Literally. They are jamming at the piano and there is definite chemistry there.
Hunter Valentine, Ivana and a few others head to Ultra Suede to drink up and decompress. While there, Kiyomi confronts Ivana about her feelings for Gabriel. She admits there is a connection that perhaps goes beyond music. Meanwhile, Gabriel calls his girlfriend to confess about his growing feelings for Ivana. She doesn’t take it well, as you can imagine.
Back at the house, the revelers all stumble in drunk. Kiyomi catches Ivana trying to walk into Gabriel’s room, but Ivana swears it was just to talk. Kiyomi is the ultimate instigator and after a little girl talk, she convinces Ivana to go into Gabriel’s room with her. After Kiyomi blabs to Gabriel that Ivana likes him, she leaves them to chat. Before they can get too far into their discussion, Jessica comes in to check on her sister and drag her back to their room.
Next up in the studio is Omar, and Linda is geeked to work with them. She sits them down and tries to get to the heart of their connection. Candice tells Linda about her recent coming out and how that has changed things a lot for her in the past year. (Current LPP lesbian tally: 5) Linda asks Candice to play an acoustic solo tune so she can hear her range, both vocally and emotionally. After Candice performs a heartfelt, emotive original, Linda is blown away and wonders why that isn’t the direction they are going in. Nick offers up that he’s more than willing to alter their sound to fit around Candice’s talent and Linda can’t help but notice that the guy will do anything for his bandmate. Linda, being Linda, asks Nick if he’s ever been in love with Candice. He says yes and the blood drains from Candice’s face. He’s never told her that before. Candice had an inkling, but now it’s out in the open and the air in the room suddenly gets much heavier.
Linda brings in the studio band to work on Candice’s song, and Nick struggles to blend in with a much mellower vibe. Linda knows that it’s a big transition to go from driving punk to plaintive, emotive indie, but she is more concerned about the new admissions that have come to light and how it will affect the band: “We just discovered two undeniable facts: One, Candice loves chicks, and two, Nick loves Candice. I don’t see how this is going to work.”
After their studio session, Nick sits with “Big Daddy” the house manager who asks Nick about his day. He tells Big Daddy about his admission of love and how he needs to come to terms with it. Candice then pulls Nick aside and tells him that the fact that he loves her makes things difficult, but they are getting the chance of a lifetime so they both need to buck up. Nick sits with tears in his eyes but he knows that she’s right.
Next time on The Linda Perry Project, the artists perform in front of a live audience with brand new songs.
