Russ Wheeler

Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, to Jack Wheeler and Linda Schwartz, Russ was interested in music from a very young age. His father Jack Wheeler, having been in psychedelic/garage rock band Sidewinder in the 60s/70s, was eager to teach him to play guitar (possibly in part due to Jack feeling guilt over having been in Vietnam when Russ was born). With much time and practice, as well as inspirations the likes of James Hetfield, Eddie Van Halen, Dave Mustaine, Lita Ford, and Yngwe Malmsteen, Russ became incredibly efficient at what he did.

Growing up, Russ was energetic and generally friendly, quickly becoming friends with Donna Stills and spending most of his time with her. The two consider each other siblings. In their late teens, they formed Blunt Force Trauma, a thrash/speed metal band, with Donna on vocals and rhythm guitar, Russ on lead guitar, their friend Kadosa Sabok on bass, and Lyle Söderström on drums. During this time, at the age of 19, Russ picked up a cocaine addiction that is present during the story.

Delving deep into the small but tight-knit metal scene in Boston, Russ developed a reputation for intense, dedicated guitar playing, drug use with his bandmates and fans, and a propensity to have sex with anything that moved. He had an arrogant, show-off attitude, but was happy to spend time with his friends and share techniques with other guitarists. When he wasn't focused on his band, Russ worked at his uncle's hole-in-the-wall record store, Banshee Records.

Russ' jealousy and competitive streak would begin to show more clearly when Dungeon Master rhythm guitarist Alex Church dropped out due to stress and the band would recruit Gibson Shepherd to fill in. This normally wouldn't be much of a problem, but Gibby's guitar skill neared that of both Russ and Bootsy's, which would throw a wrench into Russ' notion of Dungeon Master having to drop out. In addition to this, Donna would take notice of the newcomer and quickly strike up a flirty semi-relationship with him, which Russ felt was a distraction from their goal of being picked up by a record label.