Aaron "breakself" Anderson
Jonny_Paycheck
17,825 Posts
Those that knew him, know what a great dude he was. He was an early contributor to this site, with a deep and abiding love for soul and funk music, particularly that which came from Michigan, on little records with big holes.
From Dreas:
"it is with great sadness and relief that i wanted to let you all know that the one breakshelf/breakself/aaron anderson has passed away after a hard-fought battle with brain cancer last night. despite what was actually going on in his body, he always remained calm and maintained a sense of humor until the end which was seemingly painless. he will be missed by many people in many spheres of his life.
for anyone interested, we are planning a memorial/party of sorts which will include records, beers, and memories of aaron. this event is tentatively scheduled for nov 5, here in grand rapids, mi. i will post more details once they are confirmed.
with that, i leave you all to discuss amongst yourselves the most amazing human being i have ever known...
"When you arrive at the extinction of reality
There is nothing but the spontaneity of pure potential
There is no other way to dance in the sky." - Khandroma Yesh?? Tsogyel
RIP brother, i know you're off to bigger and better things."
A big hole is what is left in our community today. RIP.
From Dreas:
"it is with great sadness and relief that i wanted to let you all know that the one breakshelf/breakself/aaron anderson has passed away after a hard-fought battle with brain cancer last night. despite what was actually going on in his body, he always remained calm and maintained a sense of humor until the end which was seemingly painless. he will be missed by many people in many spheres of his life.
for anyone interested, we are planning a memorial/party of sorts which will include records, beers, and memories of aaron. this event is tentatively scheduled for nov 5, here in grand rapids, mi. i will post more details once they are confirmed.
with that, i leave you all to discuss amongst yourselves the most amazing human being i have ever known...
"When you arrive at the extinction of reality
There is nothing but the spontaneity of pure potential
There is no other way to dance in the sky." - Khandroma Yesh?? Tsogyel
RIP brother, i know you're off to bigger and better things."
A big hole is what is left in our community today. RIP.
Comments
RIP
Only the good die young.
RIP
RIP.
Although, I got to hang out with him only a couple of times, he was one of the most genuine people I have ever met.
Not only that, but he was on here since the early days and those key core of people I will always consider family.
R.I.P. my brotha!
Aaron Anderson and Brad Hales at Bumpshop NYC 3/7/2009 by peoplesrecordsdetroit
I never met the man but heard nothing but nice things about him and have been following the news of his illness as it trickled in. Sad day indeed.
damn.
will be rockin our show tonight in his honor. rest in power homey.
Great man, great music, important presence.
Nothing else to say right now.
Awful and sad news.
This a terrible loss to the Soul Strut community. He was a great guy, and I'm so saddened by his passing. I pray strength and comfort to his family and friends during this tragic time. RIP Breakself, the music you left us with will keep playing!
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
every interaction i had with Aaron was filled with his generosity, kindness and fun. easily one of the best guys in the game. and youd see rays of light coming off his body from how much he loved the 45s.
when i met him, he was in a record store, debating whether to drop a big figure on a detroit mythical raer.it didnt take long for him to make the plunge and i took a great picture outside the shop, Aaron leaning against a signpost, smiling and reeling a little bit from the high! ive never been able to find the pic, but it was a beautiful moment of a man's musical appreciation.
rest in peace Aaron
EDIT
i know this wasn't written by me, nor was it written for this exact situation..... but man, it's pure class and an excellent example of how someone close or peripheral should be remembered.
great words jonny, i hope you dont mind that i would use them for lack of my own.
Aaron and I exchanged emails, PMs, music and even a book or two over the years.
For no reason other than being a true lover of music and an incredibly kind and caring man, he sent me 45s that I just couldn't find in my neck of the woods.
It is hard to process the feeling of losing someone you've never met, but the loss goes much much farther than me.
Strength and comfort to all his friends and family.
My DJ night falls on November 5 - it goes without saying that it will be dedicated to him.
so sad. no one has ever crossed his path without being a little more enlightened. he truly is one of the few people in this world that was inherently great, and you can hear echoed through everyone he met. rest in peace aaron...
and to dreas, nathan, and all aaron's family and friends... you are in my thoughts.
RIP -- My thoughts are with his family and friends
I will be celebrating his mixes for years to come.
Aaron was the first dude here to send me a pm, about a 45 of course. He gladly gave me much needed
info on a record, and proceeded to broker the sale of it for me with some heavy hitters I never would
of been able to get with. Did it all for a not very rare LA 45 he didn't have, and even that I kinda had
to force on him. Truly just doing it for the love of the music.
We chopped it up over the phone a few times after that, and God did he know his 45s.
Great, kind, funny and as paycheck said, yoda like guy.
RIP
Just at a loss...