When I conducted my interview with Eyan Brisco to talk about their wrestling-related music, we didn’t talk much about Eyan as a person. While I worked on the story, much was going on in Eyan’s world, which came to a crashing end in June 2024, when Eyan committed suicide, at age 26.
Encouraged by their partner, Sara, to still write the story, I regret not talking to Eyan more about mental health challenges, trips to rehab, the arrests, and about music in the grander sense, something that can be both creative and therapeutic.
I’m left with quite the story, just not one Eyan Kai Brisco will ever get to read. Instead, it’ll live on for his family, friends, and those who never knew him.
Brisco began creating music with the goal of being able to combine the passions that were inside but in a unique way along with the resources that were initially available. Music had always been connected to Eyan especially throughout their childhood, and even preceding it.
“Being around before I ever was — at least, physically. My Mom would put headphones on her stomach while she was pregnant in order for me to hear the sounds and the songs,” Brisco told SlamWrestling.net.
Influence can go a long way even without realization which I found interesting while researching for this piece and even listening to the unreleased tracks Eyan was able to send over in preparation for the interview. “The Beatles, Jewel, Johnny Cash, 4 Non Blondes. Those were played more than anything else by my Mom, at least. My step-mom Mindy bought me a guitar from Target when I was either five or six and it started from there,” Brisco said. They were able to save up and eventually purchase a guitar of their own at the age of 12 or 13 showing the passion from an early age and proving that creation using music was something that could carry into later years, again even without realization.
This idea of using the music to display their feelings and without self-realization connects to me personally, especially after Brisco’s death and the realization of the sheer weight of the mental health struggles. Many use music or other creative outlets for self-therapy, so Eyan was not alone in that.
For the connection to pro wrestling, there is a split in the way Brisco had connected to the two over the years. Growing up, wrestling was banned and was not allowed in Brisco’s household during his childhood. “That made it the only thing in the world I wanted to see. It wasn’t until I was almost 10 that it was finally allowed for me to watch it on my own volition. At that point I realized my family had just been dying to not have to watch it with me.” Brisco explained.
The passions for music and pro wrestling had not crossed paths at that point, but would intersect a few years later, causing a mix of interests for a lifetime to come for a young Eyan Brisco.
“Then I went deeper into it. Starting looking at it from a historical context. I’d find matches from important years of life for my family members, or I’d find matches featuring stars they remembered from their childhoods. It brought us together,” Brisco said. “There’s an inherent nostalgia built into wrestling that helps draw the attention of anyone who’s watching, whether or not they’re even a fan of it personally.”
Once wrestling and music intertwined for Brisco, there was a passion project brewing inside to bring the two together for some sort of experience that only Eyan would be able to produce. Combining the old-school wrestling feel and subject theme to the classic-punk rock sound that would evolve into Eyan’s music.
However, it would not come without challenge. It is difficult to produce music when under arrest or in rehab.
Eventually, Brisco found the right footing to make the decision of producing music.
“The recording process for this project was the most involved out of anything so far. In the past I had avoided tracking drums because it’s hard to get a good drum sound with my restrictions. People would say, If it had drums then it would finally be a song,'” Brisco said. “That bummed me out, because I love so many songs that don’t have any drums at all and I can’t expect everyone in the world to know those songs too… But it did hurt to hear them called unfinished…
“A big part of it was rehab, as well. I unfortunately served 192 days altogether in Merced County Jail/Sandy Mush Correctional Facility over the course of 2021 and 2022. I had to do better and the only way I knew how to in that moment was with music.”
With that confession, the interview changed, a barrier broken.
It was at that moment that I felt like I was able to talk to Eyan Brisco, the person, not just the wrestling fan or songwriter. This is someone who not only picked up a hobby of making some songs during COVID and wanted to put some of it out to the world. Brisco was someone who has gone through real experiences and troubles in their personal life, but decided to use their passion for music as an escape to help themself and create an outlet to possibly help others with the same passions.
“The treatment that finally set in was Missions for Michael, through AM/FM Recovery in San Juan Capistrano. They trusted me with a steel string guitar in rehab for over 45 days and gave me access to a quality of therapy that I hadn’t encountered before. It was exactly what I needed when I needed it,” said Brisco. “The songs just started pouring out. I started writing songs about people I felt like I could see myself inside of, in a way.”
Taking initiative from the negative experiences leading toward rehab and jail, Brisco would use the home studio that was created in 2020 to officially take music production seriously. The DIY home studio, in his Atwater, California, home, was not fancy, with a budget that never extended beyond the initial investment.
The details of the music process followed.
“Creation of art is difficult, is what I’d say. Without an environment that I sort of made for myself, if you will, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as easy to draw the sketches of the songs… My software, Audacity, is free. The DAW [digital audio workstation] I used for this was from a local pawn shop. All in all, it cost me less than $10 a song for creation. As long as I do all the instrumentation by myself,” Brisco said.
“Secondly, I want to inspire any other bedroom musicians out there to know that you can record yourself to the point of making/producing listenable music to others for pennies on the dollar. Or at least much less than you’d expect initially. Punk rock is my main influence, in ethics and morals in life as well as music. So using utilitarian means in order to create something that seems to be greater than the sum of its parts, is the ultimate goal. To build something out of nothing, in a way. I call out to other people that make music and say you can do this too. I hope you do.”
Brisco had set goals, implemented them, at least in regards to music.
We had the chance to dive into the overall creation of a subject for the music that Eyan decided to write about and produce. For the creation of a song revolving around a certain subject, Eyan was able to detail the process and specifically for each track what thoughts go into them.
“There are certain things I had always wanted to write songs about because they just felt so emotionally heavy to me. Leland, being about Harley Race‘s first wife dying while pregnant, in the passenger seat of his car during an accident with an oncoming driver. It’s too much to even put into a movie, almost. It bridges the unreal. But it is real. It happened, factually. It’s an indisputable moment in his life and that’s what makes it so powerful,” Brisco said as one example.
“Jackie Fargo and Sputnik Monroe‘s songs lean heavily into anti-racism. Both of their characters were in their respective eras. That’s what made them heels. That is an unfortunate but factual side of America and I am not going to mince words. I am not conservative and the point of views I find in these songs aren’t either.”
The standout track highlighting Sputnik Monroe “The Sputnik Spot” gives off that influence of The Beatles combined into a rock like setting which is a unique mix of sound that really showcases the potential Brisco had in the space which I find pretty remarkable for someone just doing it in their DIY studio.
Another song, “Jackie Fargo’s Blues”, came together with the help of Jacob in Australia, who Brisco had met through X (formerly Twitter), @IQWrestler.
All in all, with bumps in the road and an independent outlook, Eyan was able to create some magic with their music, especially at the level of production considering the value of resources available to them.
“A goal in music would be to find a way to make some kind of living off of it. If I could find a way to bring in $20,000-$30,000 a year from music, I’d be happy. It’s funny, but I felt something like kismet or a gut feeling tell me to apply for The Smashing Pumpkins new guitarist slot. Since Billy Corgan owns the NWA, I thought it could be a good fit. But, they’ve had over 10,000 applicants, so what odds do I have? I will say though, how many other guitarists that applied are getting a write up in SLAM! Wrestling? Huh? Fair to say I think I’m the only one.”
With that energetic comment closing the conversation, Brisco and I said our goodbyes, and I set about working on the story. A first draft was submitted, and SlamWrestling.net producer Greg Oliver had some good insight, and a couple of emails with Brisco got me some follow-up answers.
It was Oliver who initially assigned the story, and shared some of the exchanges with Brisco:
– “I would be honored to have any of my music written about. It’s mostly been a personal outlet/alternative therapy for me and I’ve kept the songs unrecorded until these last few months.”
– “I turned my bedroom into a music studio to keep sane during the Pandemic.”
– “It’s difficult for me to fully illustrate how much it means to me, with absolutely no irony either. Thank you.”
Then came June 2, 2024, when Brisco ended their life. I heard from his life partner, Sara Scibetta, days later, who goes by Sara Parsons professionally in music. Her Instagram post told the sad tale:
My beautiful partner in music and life Eyan Brisco passed away as a result of self-inflicted injury after a lifelong battle with depression and recent complications with their chronic illness on June 2nd. There are no words to describe the sorrow and the impact on our community.
I am a whole person in my own right, but the love Eyan and I shared on earth is everything to me, and everlasting. Please join us in celebrating Eyan’s memory, and please remember to check on your friends and loved ones.
She encouraged the story to be finished.
Having read what Caron Russell, Eyan’s mother, wrote on Facebook about Sara after Eyan’s death, it’s no surprise she has been Eyan’s champion. “Sweetest Sara Rose Scibetta. Thank you for You!! Thank you for loving Eyan!! Thank you for showing and giving Eyan your unconditional love and encouragement. Thank you for always reminding them of their absolute value. Thank you for holding their hair up when they were sick. Thank you for giving Eyan a love and home full of excitement,” Russell wrote. “Most importantly you love Eyan the way they absolutely deserved to be loved by a partner in all lifetimes. Thank you for always showing up in every single way for them. Even still you love and Honor them in all your moments.”
According to the obituary, Eyan is survived by his mother and stepfather, Caron and Dana Russell, father, Todd Brisco, life partner, Sara Scibetta, older half-sister Lily Rife, younger half-brother Nathanial Lugan, younger stepbrother Indy Russell, grandparents Lorraine and David Passadori, grandfather and great uncle Rory and Kevin Matthews, as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins.
There was an open mic at a coffee shop in Merced, in his honor, on Friday, June 21, followed by a Celebration of Life the next day, and then a gathering on Sunday at Cloud 9, a hipster boutique.
As for this story, it took some time to come together. It’s not easy pivoting to write about someone in the past-tense when you had just talked to them for a fun feature story about Brisco’s fun, homemade wrestling-related music.
There was so much more to talk about; consider this part of his obituary: “Eyan also exhibited a thirst for knowledge. They were an old soul and from a young age could hold a conversation with any adult or keep an audience entranced by their musings. Besides music, Eyan’s special interests were film and literature. They appreciated well-crafted art of any medium and always surprised people with their breadth of knowledge on any subject.”
Having spoken with Eyan, hearing their story and music, I am pleased that, even in death, that their music will still entertain.
Brisco’s music can be found on YouTube, and more content, including covers of Eyan’s music from their partner, Sara Parsons, can be found here.
For anyone struggling with any mental health and depression, help is available, including at 988lifeline.org
