Brandon Carlisle, Drummer For Punk Band Teenage Bottlerocket, Dies At 37
Brandon Carlisle, longtime drummer for the Laramie, Wyoming-based punk band Teenage Bottlerocket, has died. He was 37-years-old.
According to Exlaim, as well as the Teenage Bottlerocket Facebook page, the band’s drummer, Brandon Carlisle, was transported to the hospital on Wednesday, November 4 after his roommate found Carlisle unconscious and unresponsive in their shared home. At around 11 a.m., the unnamed roommate discovered Carlisle unconscious and called 911. When the paramedics arrived at Carlisle’s house, his heart wasn’t beating. Though they were able to get it beating again, Carlisle’s heart reportedly stopped beating another two times — once on the way to the hospital and once while in the ICU. Eventually, doctors managed to stabilize Brandon, but the 37-year-old was in a coma on life support. A Facebook post by Brandon’s twin brother and bandmate, Ray Carlisle, asked fans for prayers, stating, “We need a miracle.”
“All prayers and thoughts for my brother are greatly appreciated. I know Brandon didn’t want this to happen. He’s tough as nails and we are hoping for the best. Looks like we need a miracle. Love to all.”
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Sadly, on November 7, Teenage Bottlerocket took to their Facebook page once more to give fans an upsetting update: Brandon Carlisle had passed away.
It is still as of yet unknown exactly what caused the death of the 14-year punk veteran, but what is known is that the swelling on Brandon’s brain due to lack of oxygen and blood flow means the drummer was without oxygen for a substantial amount of time. What’s more, his body temperature was so low that doctors had to bring it back up gradually in order to not shock Carlisle’s system. Ultimately, an MRI on Brandon’s brain showed that “he is no longer with us,” according to Kill Your Stereo, quoting the band’s Facebook post.
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After the results of the MRI, Brandon’s family made the difficult decision to take him off of life support and let him “gently move on,” and he did so surrounded by family and friends.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Teenage Bottlerocket bassist Miguel Chen in order to help the Carlisle family pay for Brandon’s medical expenses and funeral costs. As of this writing, over $40,000 had been raised in memory of Brandon Carlisle.
Teenage Bottlerocket was started in 2001 by twin brothers Ray and Brandon Carlisle and their then-guitarist Zach Doe. They released an EP entitled A Bomb in 2002 on the Wyoming-based music label One Legged Pup. In 2003, the Carlisle brothers, along with new guitarist Joel Pattinson, released their first full-length album, Another Way. In late 2004, Ray and Brandon, along with their third guitarist in almost as many years, Kody Templeman, released another full-length album, Total, on Red Scare Records. It was this release that found them gaining some notoriety in the punk scene, and by 2009, they were signed to famous punk label Fat Wreck Chords, with whom they released They Came from the Shadows. Soon enough, the small punk band from Wyoming were performing shows with infamous millennium-era skate-punk acts such as NoFX, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
Earlier this year, Teenage Bottlerocket — comprised of Ray Carlisle on vocals, Kody Templeman on guitar, Miguel Chen on bass, and Brandon Carlisle on drums — released their latest album, Tales from Wyoming, which the band had just returned home from promoting at a festival in Flordia days before Brandon Carlisle was found unresponsive in his home in Laramie, Wyoming.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Brandon Carlisle, his family, friends, and fans. Rest in Peace Brandon, you’ll be greatly missed.
