I am Daniel Evan Snyder. I split my time growing up in two small towns; Upland; and LaFontaine. I spent my age 3-12 in Upland and 12-19 in LaFontaine. In Upland, I found my first loves; Ratt; Ozzy; AC/DC; Van Halen; Twisted Sister; Scorpions; Judas Priest; Krokus; Great White; Motley Crue; Kiss; Dio; Alice Cooper; Led Zeppellin; Def Leppard. If dudes weren't wearing make-up, earrings, long hair, leather pants, or spandex, then I wasn't into it. My parents took us to see Van Halen at Market Square Arena in 1986 the day after we got out of the third grade. We were so stoked! I'll alway remember being in the car after the show and how bummed and exhausted I was when it was over. I could barely hear anything for hours after the show. I used to have asthma attacks. They sucked. Couldn't sleep, couldn't breathe, they were frustrating. I got an earring in the fourth grade. I can remember wearing pink Chuck Taylor shoes, ripped levis jeans, rock t-shirt or pro wrestling shirt, and a stonewashed Lee jean jacket. I always carried cassette tapes in my pockets.
LaFontaine had a population around one-thousand people. I started skateboarding at 13. My life changed. My musical tastes finally opened passed hair metal into punk and new wave. I still liked metal though. My attitude changed too. I stopped fucking with kids around me. I stopped getting into fights and name calling. Not that I was a bully but I was kind of a little asshole at times:) I played sports until the 10th grade like football, basketball, and wrestling. I was always bribed by my parents with a new skateboard to play sports. From age 6 to 12 I was forced to be a wrestler. I hated it and liked it at the same time. I was good but didn't really care about it. So after the 9th grade, no more school or AAU sports. I skated and got into smoking grass. I got a job at a Ponderosa steakhouse at 16. At 17/18 I was writing song lyrics to songs that were already written. I realized that from the time I was little, when I read assignments and books I would start singing the words to songs in my head. I liked to sing and sang in choir during jr and sr. high. I decided to take up the guitar at 19 to understand music a little only to compliment my singing. I was hooked on it. I let go of skateboarding for the next 11 years. I was an alcoholic from the beginning of college until I was 31. I started skating again a month after I quit drinking. It's kept me from going back to drinking. It seems like anytime my life started or starts to head down the wrong path, skateboarding has got and gets me back to the land of the living. I owe a lot to that sport. I would be dead without it. As for music, I got into country blues and blues at the age of 25. I love playing guitar like that. I spent a lot of time drinking beer and playing guitar by myself. It was great:) I had to quit drinking because I was experiencing serious withdrawal at least once a week. I can remember having the shakes at 24. That shit was tormenting and harrowing. It's hard to go from doing crazy skateboard stuff and then cutting it out of your life. It seems that most of my skateboarding friends turned to art and alcohol after skateboarding. But I got sober 6 years ago and continue to skate and play music whenever possible. I can't wait to get out of school so I can skateboard more than once a week again!
I think identity is predetermined and experience mixed. Identity does change. I love in Fight Club when Brad Pitt says, "you are not your past". I feel like a person can change who they are. Anyone can fall into mental illness. Being well is something that I must work for to achieve.
In a Twisted Sister video, a teacher yells at a kid and asks what he wants to do with his life. The kid says, "I wanna rock." That is why I am here. I wanna rock.
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