I must apologize, Cards Against Humanity lasted much longer than I thought (because I was playing with the people who own/work at the store we were able to stay past closing time) apparently they play once week with the game lasting until all black cards have been played. I also may or may not taken a little over an hour to find my picture.
Name: Matthew Pollaro
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Height: 5’7
Weight: 149
Instrument(s):
Guitar, Keyboard, and Vocals
Other Talents: Matt is an amazing cook and has worked numerous jobs as a cook (normally just short order but none the less). Beyond that he is intelligent and better than most at games of strategy. He is a fast learner.
Occupation: Currently a barista at a small coffee shop a couple blocks from a hole in the wall concert venue.
Bio: Matt was born in the small town of Harrisburg, New York. His mother had been an actress on broadway and his father had played trumpet for the New York City Philharmonic Orchestra but they had both retired from the performing arts to raise their family (Matt has a younger sister 3 years younger than him). So when their son had shown an interest in music at a young age (6), they started him on piano lessons. His little sister Gwen also showed a similar interest when she was about (5), whether this was because she admired her brother her because she was genuinely interested was hard to tell but eventually it became clear that she had a passion for the piano as even once her brother quit taking lessons (which happened when he was in the middle of 8th grade) she continued. For Matt the piano had been a way to dive into music at an early age but at the end of the 8th grade he turned his focus to learning a new instrument, the guitar. This came from his developing interest in post-hardcore and metal music and from the fact that his parents let him go into the city on Friday and Saturday nights with his friends (Vic and James, both of who were a year older than him). In the city with his friends they often hit up the smaller venues and watched the local bands play. Watching these bands play ignited a fire deep inside him. The three began jamming together and would continue to play music together (not as a real band but rather just friends in a garage) up until the time Vic and James left for college, James attending the University of Baltimore and Vic heading to Bellevue in Washington state. This left Matt pretty much on his own as he tried to figure out he was going to do with is life. His parents wanted him to go to college and he wanted to appease them as much as possible as they had made his lifestyle (concerts, music, band merch, etc) possible. Finally deciding that he wanted to see the west coast he applied and was accepted to Vanderbilt University in San Francisco (age 18).
In San Francisco well majoring in music performance he took lessons with Professor Wyclif who had become one of his favorite professors in his short time there. One day while he was waiting for the Professor he met his son Soren and the two introduced themselves and had a mildly stimulating conversation about the post hardcore and metal scene in the local area. After a year of attending school he decided that college just wasn’t for him. Not wanting to return home (to a family that viewed him as a disappointment) he found himself working odd jobs in LA to pay for a small apartment with some other guys. These guys would become the first of a series of bands that Matt would be involved in. This band was Aeon to Oblivion (length 8 months). This was one of the few bands he ended up parting on good terms with, as when Milo the head of the band asked him to step down for his sister Petra, Matt couldn’t find it in him to say no. Though that was rather beyond the point as a few weeks prior he had found out that the band Nephilim’s Curse (length 4 months) was on the look-out for a keyboardist. Putting his knowledge of piano to good use he soon found himself jamming Electronic Hardcore every Friday or Saturday night. When their original bassist/backup vocalist quit the band looked to Matt to fill the role of backing screams. Surprising both the band and himself he managed it with not the slightest of problems. Up until that point he had never done more than sing/scream in the shower or along with the stereo. When Curse found a new bassist, Kyle, Matt and he did not get along. Although the rest of the band meshed well with the bassist. One night the band was sitting in Luke’s (their lead vocalist) basement and the band informed Matt that they no longer had the need for keyboards as they had decided to backtrack all of the parts. Matt could see Kyle’s grin as the band broke the news to him. Standing up to leave, he hesitated and decided on a different course. Grabbing Kyle’s bass he smashed it into the bassist (as Kyle stood to grab it from him) and then threw it against the concrete floor before marching up the stairs and out of the house. He had only just made it back to his place when he was arrested on charges of aggravated assault. He spent the next few nights in jail before Curse was able talk Kyle into dropping the charges. For a month or so after that he just went to shows and jammed in private. It was one night when he was subbing in on guitar for the band Defy the Heavens (a total of 3 weeks of shows as a sub) that the band Tomorrow Never Comes (a little over 6 months) reached out to him to fill their need of backing vocals and guitar. After about 4 months in the lead singer quit without warning after getting into an argument with Matt over a girl that they were both dating. With only a week before their next show they didn’t have time to find a new lead singer so Matt stepped in to learn the parts. This was his first time singing clean vocals for an audience, though he had the band backing him for screams. So that week Tomorrow Never Comes took the stage by storm and what was a now a 3 piece band left the audience screaming for more. As the band continued to look for a new singer Matt stepped up to volunteer for the role full time. Although the drummer and cofounder of TNC, Jace, denied the idea believing that Matt was superior guitarist to vocalist. Deciding that if TNC wouldn’t let him sing then it was time to move on to another band that would. Joining up with a the smallest band he had played with yet, False Kings (3 months) he filled the role of rhythm guitarist well doing co-vocals. The band was six piece and honestly there was a huge disagreement among the band on what direction to take the music, the keys/programmer wanted a more EHM feel, well the lead guitarist and bassist wanted to do something with more of a classic thrash feel. The drummer had a strong preference for deathcore well the lead vocalist seemed to write more towards a pop-punk feel. Matt at the time was just looking for a strong post hard core style band. It was no surprise then that the band didn’t last long although it was the after-show parties that really made False Kings stick out to any fans they may have had and to Matt himself. It was at one of these parties that Matt met Parker, and the seed for the future band Harbingers was born. Parker at the time wanted Matt’s voice but Matt was already committed to trying to make False Kings work, even though less than three months later the band would implode.
After False Kings blew apart Matt took a break from the music scene, only going to the occasional show and didn’t really look for any bands (3 months). In this down time Matt met a girl named Tori who would proceed to become his girlfriend off and on for the next year and half or so. She it seemed had a great vocal talent so the two of them started a joint venture and ended up plugging in the original bassiest from Nephilim’s Curse and the drummer from False Kings they formed a lighter posthard/deathcore band. The band was Evening Tide (9 months) and together the band succeeded in making themselves well known in the local area partially for their unique sound, partially because of their talent and partially because the lead singer was a babe. They even went as far as to record an EP together (The Barren Glory EP). When Matt and Tori initially broke up the band fell apart as the dual vocalist were the center of the band. Less than a month after the explosion of Evening Tide Matt found himself in a new band by the name of One With Nothing (3 months) playing guitar and singing some cleans. The band was nothing special to be honest, they blended Emo style lyrics with the guitar and drum tone of post-hardcore and often found themselves being compared to a weaker, slightly heavier 30 Seconds to Mars. The comparison alone upset Matt. It was after one of the shows that he ended up hooking back up with Tori. She convinced him that night to leave OWN and join her new project Forever Unbound (5, nearly 6 months), a band that she had put together herself that planned on fusing power metal with the vocal styling and influences of post-hard core. With an astounding 3 guitarist (counting Matt), 3 vocalist (also counting Matt), two bassist, drummer and keyboardist the octet took Hollywood by storm. The band soon found themselves basically fast tracked for fame as they were signed to Nuclear Blast Records. It was after being with the band for almost 6 months that drama exploded and Tori and Matt’s relationship ended permanently(?). This was because it was at this point that Matt found out not only was she sleeping with their band mate, 3rd vocalist and bassist Draven, he also found out that she was sleeping with the manager from their label. It was when he found this out that he executed his revenge in a fashion only suiting one destined to become the rider of strife. He volunteered to take their latest demos to their manager after they had finished some new recordings one night. On the way to the label Matt made a stop by his place, cleared the actual files and left a message detailing the affair between Tori and the manager. Rather than leaving it for the manager he put it in the higher ups mail box. It was then that he quit without informing anyone. Naught but a few weeks later he heard that not only had Forever Unbound been dropped but the band had fallen into inner turmoil and been left in ruin. Over the next few months Matt never found another solid band instead he found himself occasionally subbing for any number of bands on any of the keyboards, vocals, backing vocals or guitar parts they had need for. During this down time Parker came back into Matt’s life and told of the band Harbingers that he was hoping to push forward with. With no band to call his own Harbingers not only seemed the best option it was really the only option. Now days Matt lives in a 3 room loft (bathroom, bedroom, kitchen/living/dining room) works at a local coffee shop, The Grind, and spends his free time writing lyrics and checking out local shows.
(7 bands over a period of 3 years and half years).
Personality: Matt is driven, he has an intense urge to see a band he is a part of become a mainstay of the post hardcore community. With no option of returning home he will do nearly anything it takes to make a band work, though he does want to make it through honest work. Matt is slightly arrogant but not overly so. The arrogance does come through in his day to day life but is more from insecurity than from true hubris. He fears that because of the last 7 bands and over 3 years of his life he will never accomplish anything that matters in life. He is quick to trust but when scorned even quicker to retaliate, often times with more than what could be deemed equal measures.
Appearance:
Matt can often be found wearing one of his numerous band shirts (most of which are local and over half of which are from his previous bands) and a pair of worn jeans. He has a number of jackets but his favorites are a writer’s coat and a leather jacket. While completely different he loves them both. Matt also has a partial sleeve on his upper left arm that has all of his bands’ names and a logo to go with them as well as other metal/hardcore imagery.
Connection: Justice, took lessons with Justice’s father. Lee Lee, was kicked out of her brother’s band to make room for her. Timmy, PARTY!
EDITS: Made the CS more visually appealing and easy to navigate and added occupation.
The Irish Tree
Damycles