The RockStar SuperStar Project was founded by Kris Kancler and his twin brother Marc.
Rock Star and Super Star are on a mission to teach teens that living a life without drugs and alcohol is the only way to achieve their dreams.
Furthermore, Super Star tells his story and shares his message about the impact of substance use. He has been in recovery for the past five years, after a 15-year addiction to cocaine and crack.
I’m pleased to share my interview with Super Star!
What is the RockStar SuperStar Project, and what inspired you to start it?
Super Star: It started out as a band with my twin brother and me, under the RockStarSuperStar Name. It was a musical project initially. That was a band that featured not only us but also other childhood rock stars we had grown up with, such as Kiss, Heart, and The Goo Goo Dolls.
We constantly got them together and wrote songs with them to convey a sense of self-love, sobriety, charity, and self-respect. The band morphed into a project similar to D.A.R.E that you see in schools. It has more of a rock-and-roll flair.
Furthermore, I’ve incorporated it into a club-based format, which I believe instills in teens the importance of a strong work ethic, creativity, and self-reliance. It encourages them to go out there and pursue their dreams.
Through these clubs, we give teens the tools to pursue their dreams responsibly. They are springing up in schools across the country, and we’re really excited about that.
What can a school expect from your presentation? What do you hope teens come away with?
Super Star: What I like to bring into these schools is the message of prevention and my own story. The presentation lasts for approximately 45 to 90 minutes. I love doing questions and answers. I share with my kids, through my story, the dangers of going out there and getting involved in destructive things.
My story conveys the importance of sobriety and going out there and achieving your goals. I not only touch on substance abuse disorder but also bullying, self-mutilation, texting, and teen pregnancy.
The three focus points are substance abuse, responsibility, and dream catching/goal setting.
I tie those things in because while we’re out there being constructive, we’re not destroying our minds by doing things we shouldn’t be doing. I want kids to walk away feeling encouraged that they, too, can overcome their obstacles.
I’m trying to create opportunities for them to go out and express any discontentment in their lives to the closest adult they trust. My hope is that they can find answers to some of their most difficult questions. They can put some of those things behind them, learn to deal with them, and then go out and pursue what is most important to them.
A contribution is extremely important, so I love having kids walk away with the understanding that it is so valuable to give back to everyone in our community. Extend a hand to other people who might be struggling with a disorder or a problem, so if they see their friend being bullied, they’ll know what to do about it.
Those are some of the tools I want kids to walk away with.
Why do you think you had a substance use problem?
Super Star: The bullying that I endured during school led me to try to find other things that would quiet my mind because I didn’t understand how to deal with the bullying.
I didn’t understand why a girl would want to break up with me. I put so much emphasis on leaning on other people to make me feel better, and when I could no longer find that, I became confused, my mind wandered a lot, and it got rather loud inside.
Drugs were an option for me to quiet my mind. Something as little as a cigarette at that time was larger than life for me, and I ran to it as a means to escape. I would be very uncomfortable with my thoughts.
I used drugs to deal with those feelings. The bullying, the breakup, the yelling between my mother and father at night when I got home after school was something I just couldn’t bear. I would close myself in my room, and when my music became not enough for me to escape, I ran to those other self-destructive devices.
What gave you hope in your darkest hour?
Super Star: I did have a moment when I saw that other people were accomplishing their wildest, craziest dreams and making them a reality. I’m blessed to have my health. Why can’t I go out and do those things?
I gained some momentum and created some opportunities. People responded positively to my initial work out there in the field. That was enough hope for me to try again the next day.
The hope was out there, and it came from the opportunities I began creating for myself.
Tell us about your book, The First 30 Days to Serenity: The Essential Guide to Staying Sober.
Super Star: It was a monster undertaking. I went to rehab three times. Every single rehab facility that I went to, there was somebody there nagging me and telling me to put down what I had in my head at the time.
That very first day when I finally did decide to get clean and sober, I began to write about my experiences.
Collectively, 30 days in a row, I wrote about my first 30 days in sobriety, my day-to-day account. It was extremely enjoyable and very therapeutic.
Those 30 days of writing turned into a book. I do recall vividly thinking many times that if this were to be a book, it would be a fantastically well-received one. It ended up being just that. So many people, such as prevention and addiction specialists, have embraced the book. I’m so very proud to have gone through that process.
It’s so important, and I convey this to my students too. I didn’t have a dollar when I started all this.
Seventeen years of running and using drugs, I had spent everybody else’s money around me. I conjured up all these ideas with relationships, the book, and the CD. I didn’t have a dollar to my name to put towards these efforts.
When I finally finished it, I shopped it around to 200 publishers, and they all said, “No, thank you.” I wanted that book on the shelves badly enough that I learned that industry rather quickly and found a printer who would publish my book on credit. He believed in my story enough to print 1000 books for me.
I convinced the Barnes & Noble distributor to pick up my books. They were on the store shelves, truly without a dollar to my name. However, I was able to pay that printer back. There they are now. I’m very proud of that.
This is that goal nugget that is so valuable that I do share with the students. Many of them face financial challenges. Just because you don’t have the cash to do something doesn’t mean that it can’t be accomplished. It’s about finding and working the angles, networking, and believing in yourself to find that next rainbow across that dark cloud.
What suggestions do you have for parents?
Super Star: Take the time to have a conversation with your child. It doesn’t need to be every single day, but consistency in their lives is so very valuable. With that comes a sense of comfort, belief, and trust. They feel it might be OK to open up, dig a little deeper, and share what’s going on in their lives. Making yourself available for a conversation with your child is very valuable.
I’m in the suburbs of Chicago, where baseball and softball with the kids are so rampant. These kids are outside on Sunday morning at 7 am playing soccer in the rain in a field. I don’t know how healthy that is for many of them, because I’m not sure what their home lives are like.
There could be a lot more balance with the teens today. whether it’s them being forced to do well academically and hence not having time at home to do something that they love or enjoy as a means to escape.
That could be a problem. Balance is about looking at life’s problems and figuring out ways to solve them, and having time to do that is essential. Leave time for your teen to express themselves creatively and do whatever it is that brings them happiness.
I think it is very important for kids to have some time in a world that is so stressed.
What are kids doing to deal with stress? A lot of kids use drugs to escape the stress of peer influence. Kids need to find better mentors and influencers.
Peer pressure is a big one.
My mother expressed her discontent with some of my friends. At the time, I didn’t like it. One particular friend did make me look at that relationship during that time in my life. I did steer clear of hanging out with that person.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I learned that this one specific person is in jail for the rest of his life. It did make a difference when my mother spoke up with her discontent with this person.
The genetic predisposition to addiction is definitely a reality, right?
We have to pay attention to what’s going on in our family. Our bloodline has reared its ugly head with some of our family members.
In addition, our children need to know that the genetic predisposition is, in fact, a reality. They need to know what they might be up against. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to become addicted every single time. However, if our uncles or fathers were addicted, it certainly doesn’t help.
I wish that I had known that. It may not have made a difference. However, I would imagine statistically it would make a difference to somebody out there. They might spend a little extra time and think twice.
Super Star, yes, that’s his legal name, is a musician, author, and motivational speaker. He was a former owner of a successful, cutting-edge computer consulting firm and lost it to drug addiction.
Today, he lives with a commitment geared toward anti-substance abuse campaigning. He encourages others to overcome obstacles with creative boldness and live with purpose just as he has.
He penned the critically acclaimed book The First 30 Days to Serenity and co-created Serenity, a CD featuring musicians from KISS, Heart, The Goo Goo Dolls, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Super Star shares his message to school assemblies and community groups, speaking on Rebranding Sobriety, Personal Responsibility, and Dream Catching. Super Star also hosts a Rockin’ Recovery Tour for National Recovery Month. Each September, at various venues across the country, music from Serenity is performed alongside an inspirational message.
Sadly, Rock Star passed away on November 29, 2017, & Super Star passed away on August 25, 2023.
Thank you for reading. You can get more tips in my email newsletter. Every other week, I share tips and ideas to help parents motivate their son or daughter to change if they are struggling with substance use. Join us by entering your email now.
