Matt Brann

Matt Brann (born on 14 November 1980 and hailing from Ajax, Ontario) was Avril Lavigne's drummer^[1] and previously held a position as the drummer of high school band Second Opinion and Norman.

He started playing drums when he was 12, but it wasn't until when he attended Exeter High School that he started to play in a band called Second Opinion along with a few school friends (including Jason "Cone" McCaslin) at the age of 14. They played together for about 5 years around their local town and outside of Toronto. When he was about 19 he joined another band from Toronto called Norman, but Brann quit after about a year as they never really got along.

Then luck struck at 2002 when a friend of his who was on the same management as this "Skater Girl" called Avril Lavigne had just gotten signed and needed to put a band together. Matt called her management Nettwerk and they flew him to New York to meet her. He auditioned for the role of the drummer and successfully became part of Avril's band.

As Avril Lavigne's drummer, he performed at many different venues, including London Astoria and attended numerous award shows. But when asked what his most memorable moment of his career was so far, he said that having the honour of playing "Fuel" at the MTV Icon Metallica Tribute as he grew up listening to and playing Metallica so to have had them sitting right in front of him while he and the rest of Avril's band played their song was, in his own words, "wow".[1] As well as a being a drummer, he is also a songwriter. He (along with now ex-bandmate Evan Taubenfeld) wrote a track in Avril's second album Under My Skin called "Freak Out".

He also covered Blur's song Song 2 for Avril Lavigne's Bonez Tour, for which Avril played the drums, while he contributed the vocals.. After being in the 18-month Bonez world tour with Avril, which started in September 2004, he, along with the rest of the band, took a break whilst Lavigne pursued an acting career. During this time, Brann went back to the studio and worked with various Canadian bands such as The Operation and The New Cities with their albums.

Charity Organisations

Matt has been known to be involved in several organisations, most notably for his support for Autism Ontario - Durham Region. For the Toronto concert on 15 July 2005, he displayed the Autism Ontario - Durham Region logo on his bass drum to raise more awareness about the charity. He is also a supporter of animal-rights organisation PETA. In 2005, he donated autographed drumsticks to benefit PETA’s “Kentucky Fried Cruelty” Campaign. The donated drumsticks were up for auction with proceeds helping PETA make Kentucky Fried Chicken face the music and eliminate the worst abuses that chickens endure on factory farms.[2]

Trivia

• Matthew Brann
• He plays with custom DW Drums and Zildjian cymbals and uses Vic Firth drumsticks.
• He went to high school with Deryck Whibley and Cone from Sum 41 and are very close friends with them.
• He appeared in the video of "Makes No Difference" by Sum 41.
• He was a snowboarding instructor before joining Avril's band
• He was thanked in the albums "Detox" by Treble Charger and "Chuck" by Sum 41
• He is the manager of Toronto-based band Organ Thieves which features former Sum 41 guitarist Dave Baksh.
• He recorded and played live drums for The Operation M.D., a garage rock band featuring Cone McCaslin of Sum 41.

References

1. ^ Todd, Andea (April 2003). Avril lets go. p. 82. http://books.google.com/books?id=WyUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA82&dq=%22Matt+Brann%22&hl=en&ei=N0xgTLHIEYPGlQfnyqH1Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22Matt%20Brann%22&f=false. Retrieved 9 August 2010. 

External links

• Matt Brann Fans
• Avril Lavigne Bandaids
• http://www.avrilbandaids.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=17 Matt Brann Discussion Forum

Persondata
Name	Brann, Matt
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 November 1980
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death