Mike Henneberger, author of Rock Bottom at the Renaissance: An Emo Kid’s Journey Through Falling In and Out of Love In and With New York City announced that actor and musician Tyler Posey (MTV’s Teen Wolf, Jane The Virgin, Five North) has joined the team to voice the audiobook for Rock Bottom at the Renaissance, due to be released later this year.
On choosing Posey to voice the audiobook, author Mike Henneberger shares:
I googled ‘young, hot, Latino actors,’ because I mention in the book that I’m half-Mexican, and if I eventually turn this into a TV series like I hope to, I’d like that representation to be there. So when I googled that, I only recognized one name: Tyler Posey. Of course I knew Tyler was Teen Wolf on MTV, but I also knew that he played in a pop punk band and had done some stuff with the Emo Nite LA folks. So when I saw his name there, it just seemed like fate. And when I looked more into him, I found some stuff online with him talking about mental health issues that he struggled with. At that point, there was no way I was asking anyone else until I got an absolute “f off” from Tyler. Anything less than that, and I’d just try to keep convincing him. Fortunately, I managed to convey that connection in a letter I sent to him with a copy of the book, and we were on the phone within a few days making plans.
Since I’ve listened to the chapters that Tyler has recorded, it doesn’t even feel like it’s about me anymore. And that’s exactly what I wanted. Because this book isn’t about me anymore, it’s about everyone who deals with depression or anxiety, it’s about everyone who has had a heartbreak that has felt like it could literally kill you. Just like how Tyler could take this and make it his own, I hope that everyone who reads it or listens to it can do the same thing.
Posey said:
This book is literally my life. We’re the same person in a different universe. No matter what [Mike] wanted to do, everything about it was just so captivating to me personally. I was in, no matter what–whether it was an audiobook, whether we do a TV show, I was just stoked.
[Mike] couldn’t have picked a better person to do the audiobook. The fact that we’re both half Mexican, both grew up in a similar scene… when [he] talks about being the young ska skater kid, that was me. Everybody in my class was a football player or a baseball player. I started skateboarding and I was that kid with the long hair, the Blink t-shirts. It’s just really cool how similar we are…I connected to every single line in this book…and being able to relate to it so much. I’m putting all of my experience into my voice for these moments.
The book is set in a hotel room during a weekend of self-imposed isolation and self-destructive introspection, and navigates the dark tunnels of Henneberger’s booze and drug-addled mind, but also takes in much of his past. Henneberger tells us of his Texas childhood defined by divorce, sibling rivalry, and an instability that forced him to navigate the most important years of a young man’s life without any sort of compass. He takes us through his minor successes-touring in bands, launching a magazine, and performing stand-up comedy-as he wonders if the sense of confidence instilled by those accomplishments is actually delusion. We get a glimpse into his time in the U.S. Army, which rather than increase his sense of purpose, only increased his chemical dependencies and triggered mental illness. At the heart of the book, are Henneberger’s quests to find love, and his relationship with music and its power to get us through life’s toughest moments.
Henneberger will be donating 50% of the royalties from sales of the book from September and October to The Continuance Foundation and Hope For The Day to support organizations focusing on mental health and suicide prevention resources and services for musicians and fans alike.