Post by Aaron Hoyer on Feb 2, 2011 16:27:31 GMT -5
1. Name: Aaron Hoyer
2. Age: 19
3. Band:Tears of Andromeda
4. Band lineup:
Stephen Aiken – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Will Davis- lead guitar, backing vocals
Brad Dreyer - bass guitar
Aaron Hoyer - drums, songwriting
5. Music genre: Emo
6. Biography:
What led the young Aaron Hoyer to become the drummer of Tears of Andromeda, a small emo band who's making their first steps toward what could be a successful musical career in the Syrinx Music Festival? A series of unfortunate events.
Aaron's journey began in Denver 19 years ago, in a setting plagued by poverty and urban violence when his mother got raped by a random stranger.
His father.
She was an innocent creature of only 15, raised by a couple of puritans, and too ashamed to speak of it slipped into a deep depression which she never recovered as her belly widened. When they discovered that she was pregnant, they decided to keep and raise the product of the sin.
But saying that he was living through hell would be as far-stretched as saying that he had a golden childhood. He wasn't abused for being the devil's spawn or none of the such by his family. You could even say that he had been provided everything he needed. Materially. He was fed when he was hungry and his diapers changed when they were full of dejection. But he'd also been provided with something else : Rejection. Of various shapes and strengths. His grand-mother was the most caring one, mostly driven by a sense of duty and pity. With his grand-father, it was a subdued aversion. As with his mother, it was a blunt and total rejection. At first, it was easy for her to ignore the fact that she had a child and let her parents take care of him. But then, he grew up and began to go look for his mother, and ask questions. But mother didn't want to play with him. She was tired, she was sick, always sick. And then words again, overheard from his favorite hiding place. Yelling. Weeping. Avoidance. Repugnance. He spent days alone in his child room, huddled up with his teddy bear who was very sick and couldn't leave his bed, taking care of him, humming songs and telling him stories.
He was a premature baby, born with a collapsed lung and he became a scraggy kid of pale composure with wispy blond hair that covered most of his face. Shy and introverted, he had an hard time making friends and ended up being the school punching-bag.
At 8, the family dynamic changed slightly as Mother, as he was calling her had met someone. Karl. So, she decided to move with him and after a few months, she came back. Alone. No explanations about what happened were given. When he asked if she'd be back soon, the brief affirmative answer he got accompanied by an embarrassed glance turned out to be as false as almost every answer he received, when he received an answer at all, so he stopped asking. The same pattern seemed to be reproducing a few times, each one being longer than the other one.
Then came 14 and the turmoil of the teenage crisis with it. All the unsaid, that had never been given the opportunity to be voiced out of fear or denial and had been building up for so many years in such a tense family climate proved to be an explosive setup. The quiet little boy became an angry teenager who started to go downhill. Sick of getting bullied, he fought back. Got bitten but loved it. Worked out and fought some more. Won more than he lost. Started to hang out with a bunch of older kids who initiated him to 'the real life' which translated into skipping classes, smoking, drinking, get into fights with other guys and getting a thrill at breaking any kind of rules. Alcohol was something that could have turn out to be dangerously appealing to him. And as he had just discovered the exhilaration of the drunken state, he decided to reiterate it, this time alone. But still new to it, he didn't realize the treachery of the alcohol he was ingesting and fell into an alcohol-induced coma. Fortunately for him, someone found him and got him in time to the hospital. Such a fright left a deep impression on his young mind, enough to prevent him from ever going down the alcoholism road.
The relationship with his family, who could no longer ignore him, worsened. And in a devious way, he enjoyed it. The fact that he was finally getting recognition, even if it was as a punk ass. His need for answers had grown so strongly that he finally gathered the courage to demand answers for things that were weighing for too long on his heart. The relief he was seeking by getting words on what was wrong with him was a bitter one as the anvil hanging over his head by a thread for years finally dropped on his head. Unable to deal at first with it, he ran away from the house and took refuge into a friend's house. There, after many vain attempts to know what was wrong, the friend finally got out the truth in an heart-to-heart talk. And it felt so good, such a relief to share it. But he saw it, the look on his friend eyes. Different. And the morning after, the whole school knew. He was the freak. The son of a rapist. And everywhere he turned he saw the looks, heard the comments that were echoing his own fears. OMG! Do you think it's genetic? Is he gonna be a rapist too? I always knew something was wrong with him.
The same night, he made his first suicide attempt. He was only 15.
Following it, her mother was stripped of her parental right as he was seized by the social services and subsequently spent time in several foster homes. But his life really turned around when he met Chad at one of his new schools and they became friends. Chad's father, Mr. Reeves, the manager of a local bar the Falling Rock Tap House that hosted a lot of live bands in Detroit, developed a particular affection for the damaged kid and revealed to be the closest thing to a father figure Aaron would get. An anchor on which he could held on during the most tempestuous times. Chad growing up in such an environment, developed a passion for music, and guitar in particular and dragged a most willing Aaron into his world. The drums were a natural fit for the young boy who got allowed to practice with the bar material whenever the bar was closed, turning out to be not only an extremely talented drummer but above all a striking songwriter, with his touching and dark lyrics and it wasn't long before he and Chad formed a band of their own called ironically Devil Spawn.
After that, he dropped out of school as soon as possible to focus onto his passion, music, while working as a bartender at the Falling Rock Tap House, performing on small local scenes without really taking off. 2 years later, he had decided to part ways with his group, Devil Spawn, as he heard that Tears of Andromeda, a promising group that they met before, was looking for someone to replace their drummer that just quit and jumped on the opportunity. It proved to be a perfect match and despite being the kid of the band, he quickly proved that he was one of them.
7. Additional info:
He has a criminal record of underage/drunken driving, and various other minor offenses. The worst one being physical assault. It happened one night where one of his acquaintances had dragged him into a wild house party. There, he overheard what seemed to be a guy about to abuse a girl, and barging in, started to hit repeatedly the guy, yelling incoherent words and when finally stopped by the plea of the girlfriend he came back to his senses, the guy was already unconscious and had to be taken in emergency to the nearest hospital.
8. Picture:
9. Name of portrayal: Steve Forrest
10. Questionnaire:
Name: Aaron Hoyer
Nickname:The freak
Instrument: Drums
Previous bands: Devil Spawn
Siblings: Unknown
Food of choice: Noodles
Drink of choice: Vodka
Weapon of choice: Lyrics
Accessory of choice: Wristbands to hide his scars
Movie of choice: Inception
Most inspirational artist (musician or not): Chris Cornell
Never goes on stage without: His drumsticks
Lucky charm: Wishes he had one, it could have helped earlier...
Preferred time of day and why: The night. It makes everything and everyone looks better.
If in an emergency, the one person you'd first think to call, and why: Mr Reeves (Chad's father)
Personal quote: Life is not about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself
