"I sought my soul, but my soul I did not see, I sought my God, but my God eluded me, I sought my brother, and I found all three." - William Blake
Apparently, today is Brothers Day (thanks for the info Snapchat). I (Ryan) don't have any fraternal brothers, but I do have brothers.
Let me take you on a little journey into my past.
I met my first brother in first grade. Our teacher had us marching around the classroom, for what reason I have no clue, and I thought that I'd be funny and climb up on a desk to show off. Little did I know, the occupant of that desk didn't like it very much and he shouldered me behind the knees and I went tumbling to the floor.
I met my second brother when I was 23 at The Jaggerbush, a local watering hole with great specials and good looking bartenders. We were introduced to each other by a mutual friend, and to be honest, I didn't know how I felt about this long haired, bandana wearing, "I wear my sun glasses at night" kid in front of me. As the night wore on, we exchanged conversation, but only as acquaintances
"How about this weather?"
"Right?"
"How about them Steelers?!"
"Good year so far!"
That kind of ho-hum conversation.
I met my third brother in the fall of 2010 through an ex girlfriend. Through These Walls was looking for a new drummer (because we were a TERRIBLE three piece, although Chris singing into a headset while playing drums was a sight to behold) and she knew of an excellent drummer with a million musical projects but was looking for something established to join. I passed along his information to Brad and Chris and he came to our studio for an audition and the rest, as they say, is history.
I don't have brothers, I have something better. Brothers don't get to choose their siblings. I had a choice. I could have walked away from these guys at any time. I don't HAVE to have a relationship with these guys. I chose to build relationships with my band mates. We've gone through our share of brotherly battles as any brothers do, especially Chris and I. We have had our creative differences and we both have type A dominant personalities, but we've learned to comprimise and grow as musicians with each other instead of in spite of each other. We came together as four individuals with a common love for music and we grew into brothers. We chose to be brothers, and I could not be more grateful.
Two days ago, Through These Walls celebrated our 8 year bandiversary. Many local bands don't survive this long. People move, get married, have kids, or just lose their passion for music, but not my band. Not my brothers. We've played in front of two people, we've survived as a three piece, we've all gotten hurt and played hurt on stage, but we've persevered though it all and came out the other end of it as a stronger band. So, in honor of Brothers Day, I would like to thank my brothers for everything, both musically and personally, that they have done for me. Happy bandiversary and happy Brothers Day.
- Ryan
"When we started this band, all we needed was a laugh. Years have gone by, I'd say we kicked some ass." - Motley Crue
