John "Beatz" Holohan
John "Beatz" Holohan (March 15, 1974 - October 31, 2005) was an American drummer raised in Long Island NY whom gained his nickname from 80's rapper "big daddy kane", worked as a band director for St. Johns college's pep band and participated in many bands although he is best known for his work in the alternative rock group Bayside from 2004 until his death in 2005. Holohan's only release with Bayside was their self titled album in 2004. On October 31 2005, at approximately 3:13 AM in Cheyenne, Wyoming, after leaving their Boulder, Colorado show, the band hit a patch of ice, skidded off the road, and flipped over. Holohan was killed and Nick Ghanbarian was seriously injured.Bandmates Anthony and Jack escaped with minor injuries.
An acoustic album was released due to popular demand. This album features the track "Winter" which is written in memory of Holohan. This song features very personal lyrics. The band spent only 2 days at the Chicago Recording Company recording the record, which would go on to peak at #200 on the Billboard Top 200.
Several other bands recorded and released songs about Holohan and his Untimely death. The Sleeping, good friends and touring mates of Bayside, has a song, "Heart Beatz", on their album Questions and Answers, released in early 2006. Punchline's song "They are strong hands" features the lyrics "ain't nobody gonna bring me down 'Cause my boy John "Beatz" got my back." On Silverstein's album Arrivals & Departures, the song Here Today, Gone Tomorrow references "Beatz" as well as Silverstein's close relationship with him and all of Bayside, as they have toured together extensively. The Post-Hardcore band Aiden also dedicated the acoustic song "Silent Eyes" from their EP Rain In Hell to the memory of Beatz.
Anthony Raneri, Bayside's guitarist/vocalist, stated in an interview: “On Halloween I lost my best friend, big brother, mentor and band mate. I find a lot of comfort in knowing that I had a best friend, big brother, mentor and band mate in the first place, when so many people will never know what it is like to have someone as magical as Beatz in their lives. I'm so lucky for that and so lucky that I survived this thing to tell everyone about him. He will live forever in all of our hearts and in the music he created so passionately.”