BY AARON DRAKE ARAM KIRAKOSIAN

LOCATION: Silver Lake

SIGN: Scorpio

SINGLE OR TAKEN: Single

HOW DID YOUR BACKGROUND AFFECT YOUR COMING OUT?It was more realizing I was gay that took some time and effort. I think I was indenial for a long time—dated girls here and there until I was about 19. I thinkeven they knew I was gay before I did! Then toward the end of my collegeyears, things started to make more sense. The Armenian community is prettysmall and sheltered, so I had to push the limits of my boundaries to really getto know myself enough to find what was at the center.

GOTTA KNOW ABOUT THE BAND! Well, we got booked for a Sprint com-mercial a couple months ago, and it’s been played everywhere. You know thePalm Pre commercial with the living Facebook page? That’s us. Since it’s aired,things have really been on a roll, even more so than before. So we got a newwebsite (io-echo.com), beefed up our MySpace site (myspace.com/ioecho) andhave since booked the opening slot for Nine Inch Nails’ Wiltern show on Sept.5. I’m so excited I’m going to crap my pants! After that, we’ll be having ashowcase at the Troubadour in West Hollywood on Sept. 29. I’ve had thesame bass since I was 13 and still use it on stage. I feel like I’m cheating onit when I use another one.

WHY DO YOU LOVE L.A.?: There is no place like L.A. I will defend it to thedeath. I used to hang out with people who constantly complained, and I eventook on that mentality for a while. But rather than run away, I took it onhead-first and realized that every city has its problems. It’s taught me to minefor the gems and jewels because they truly do exist. I’ve done a great job ofit these past few years. Good people, good places to be. The weather’salready here—so just fill in the blanks and L.A. will be good to you forever.

YOU PLAYED ON A GAY DODGEBALL TEAM? We’re called the Fun ActiveGentlemen’s Society (F.A.G.S. for short) and we began last spring. We foughtpretty hard, but we lost every game that first season. Then, when fall camearound, we reshuffled the team a bit, gathered our strength and won gameafter game, to everyone’s surprise. We took it all the way to the championshipat Staples Center, which coincidentally was on my birthday, and we won! Bestbirthday ever.

FAVORITE MEMORY FROM THIS SUMMER: Palm Springs trip with someof the boys from the team. We’ve made some pretty lasting connections,and that weekend was a riot. Let’s just say what happens in P.S. stays in P.S.New rule.

HOW DO YOU PLAN ON CELEBRATING YOUR END OF SUMMER?: I’mtrying to balance time with my friends (Hi, Hot Pockets) with time alone, exam-ining myself on a deeper level than I’ve allowed in some time. Reading more,cooking myself dinner. It’s easy to get caught up in the gay-world, and I’vetaken on the challenge of trying to figure myself out a little more, so that Ican have more fun letting others in. And it’s worked in my favor as summerwinds down—I feel like there’s a pool party every damn weekend. And thatdefinitely is not a complaint.

ARAM KIRAKOSIAN IS THE SEXY BASS GUITARIST FOR INDIEBAND IO ECHO AND RECENTLY MADE HIS ACTING DEBUTIN THE FILM HERPES BOY (DON’T WORRY, IT’S A COMEDY).BESIDES ACTING AND BEING A MUSICIAN AT HEART, ARAMSHARES HIS SECRETS ON LOVING L.A., WINNING GAYDODGEBALL—AND HOW HE’S GOING TO END SUMMER 2009.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN SKALICKY — ska l i ckyphoto.com

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