Nick Traina
| Nick Triana | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Nicholas John Steel Traina |
| Born | May 1, 1978 |
| Died | September 20, 1997 (aged 19) |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Labels | Asian Man |
| Associated acts | Link 80, Knowledge |
Nicholas John Steel Traina (May 1, 1978 – September 20, 1997) was an American singer, who was lead singer for the punk band Link 80.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
The son of the famous American romance writer Danielle Steel, Nick Traina's last name comes from his adoptive father, John Traina. He was raised in San Francisco where he attended Town School but owing to his mother's enormous success in writing numerous romance novels, the family also maintained an estate in the south of France. His biological father was Steel's third husband, William Toth, a burglar and heroin addict whom his mother later divorced. [1]
[edit] Music career
He started his first band, Shanker, at age thirteen with Max Leavitt. He joined Link 80 at age sixteen and played with them for three years, touring extensively.
After leaving Link 80 in August 1997, Traina formed a new band called Knowledge and recorded a demo with them that has since been released on Asian Man Records. A song titled "Gnat" was included on the release; the song was recorded years earlier with Max Leavitt.
[edit] Death
Because of the many problems Traina exhibited from childhood, his life included a number of psychiatric hospitalizations for drug abuse and for treatment of bipolar disorder. While his mother wrote that she tried everything at her disposal to get him the proper medical help, on his fourth suicide attempt at age nineteen he took his own life. Traina died of a self-inflicted morphine overdose at the home of Julie Campbell; a family friend.[1]
Traina was interred in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park cemetery in Colma, California. His mother told his life story and of the struggles with his illness in her 1998 book titled "His Bright Light: The Story of Nick Traina."
[edit] Influence
In addition to his mother's book, a handful of songs have been written for Traina, including All Bets Off's "Catharsis" by best friend Sammy Winston, Link 80's "Unbroken" by former bandmate Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, and "Hey, Nick!" by the White Trash Debutantes.
Traina was friends with Oscar Scaggs (son of musician Boz Scaggs), who died of a heroin overdose in 1998, as well as musician Max Leavitt, who died June 3, 2009.
On May 16, 1998, Danielle Steel hosted a memorial show for Traina at Slim's in San Francisco, featuring Link 80, MU330, the Bruce Lee Band, Powerhouse, the Hoods, Subincision, All Bets Off and the Blast Bandits.
[edit] External links
- Review of His Bright Light, in Psychiatric Services, 2000
- Nick Traina on Find A Grave
[edit] References
- ^ Steel, Danielle (2008) [2006] "1997" His Shining Light: The Story of Nick Traina Chicago Review Press p. 377 ISBN 1556527543, 9781556527548 http://books.google.com/books?id=bMBf3TYZigQC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA377#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved September 12, 2011
