As a child, Bryan Robles never even thought of playing guitar. Like most kids, he was more interested in sports, such as soccer, and wanted to become a professional athlete. He spent most of his time after school playing soccer at home and with friends.

His mother, Elena Bolanos, said, “Overall, Bryan’s childhood was based on playing soccer since he loved soccer and was all over it. A memory I will never forget is when he scored the goal to send his team to the final. It made me proud.”

Today, West Chicago Community High School senior Bryan continues to play soccer with his friends and sometimes with his younger brother after school and on weekends. When I had a chance to sit down with him in the Learning Resource Center on September 30, Bryan, clad in Air Jordans, expressed that he enjoys soccer almost as much as he enjoys playing guitar because he gets to play a sport he is passionate about, and gets to do it with friends.

“I play soccer since it is a very intense sport that I feel makes everyone have a great time and it’s simple to play,” said Bryan.

However, his passion is now for music. In December 2016, Bryan started playing guitar after finding an old instrument in a closet in his apartment. He became interested in guitar after this experience, and started learning how to play. He practiced for a few hours every couple of days when he had spare time.

Bryan said, “I started to learn playing guitar since at the time the whole music world was shifting into Mexican music with guitar so artists like Ariel Camacho and Alta Consigna started gaining popularity. I started listening to their music, which I completely fell in love with, and I remember watching their music videos and watching what their guitar players will do and it stunned me which was a major factor and me deciding to play guitar.”

After improving his technique, Bryan went on a search for a band so that he could share his love for music with others who are just as passionate about it as he is. He joined a couple of bands, but said they just did not work out for him. That is until his father’s childhood friend, Francisco Hernandez, invited him to join his own band which to this day remains unnamed. Bryan accepted the offer in the early days of 2021 and has stuck with the band ever since.

“I joined my band since it is the move that I need to possibly take my music career further and I cannot wait to accomplish the goals I gave in mind,” said Bryan.

Leaning in, Bryan added, “I enjoy playing with my group since I know all of them and they are like my second family since we have a great bond. I also like playing music with them since it is like a job, and I love it because I don’t really consider it as a job because every weekend I am going to events and meeting a bunch of people.”

His father, Jose Robles said, “To think that a guitar I bought for $30 and completely forgot about, that one day my son was going to pick it up and fall in love with it is special to me.” 

Bryan is also an overall great student; he is in AP Statistics and Enriched World Literature, which show he is capable of hard work. His favorite school subject since first grade is math because he likes working with numbers and solving equations. He always pays attention to the work done in class, and gets his assignments turned in on time. No matter what class Bryan is in, he always works hard to get good grades and has been awarded many honor rolls.

Senior Jose Rivas Vivaldo, a friend of Bryan’s, said, “I think that he is a great human being, he is kind, funny, respectful, and hardworking, and I have a lot of respect for him.”

In the future, Bryan would like to attend Aurora University to become an accountant, but says if he ever gets the chance to play music professionally, he would. He also says that no matter what, he would still like to have some sort of connection to music whether he is playing professionally, as a hobby, or even opening a guitar class. He sent a college application to Aurora University, and is awaiting their response. 

When asked to describe himself, Bryan said, “I am typically a pretty shy person, especially when I am meeting new people, but once those people get to know me, the real me, they see that I am a very kind, social, outgoing person.”