Photo: Draven Bennington
Draven Benningtonremembers sharing fun and laughs with his father growing up.
Born in April 2002, Draven remembers touring with the rock band growing up, recalling a trip to Australia with PEOPLE.
“I don’t know if it was my first time going with them, but it’s the first that I remembered at least. We went out there with a bunch of my siblings, and he had a couple of shows going on, but we also did family stuff. We went out and saw kangaroos at the zoo and went to the beaches and everything like that,” he shares. “It was a great vacation, and I remember we were standing out in one of the venues.”
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“I think my little brother was like taking a nap or something. It was just dad that was up on stage, just doing sound check stuff. And nobody was in there except for all the guys like setting everything up,” he continues.
When Chester wasn’t touring with the band, he was making sure to spend a lot of quality time with his kids.
“One of our biggest things that we would do together and to go rock climbing. And it would be me and my little brother, Tyler, and that would usually be our thing. Every now and then, we’d go out and go rock climbing at this place, Hangar 18. It was just one of our favorite things.”
Joking that he and his five siblings all have their father’s “big ears,” Draven — the only child of Chester and first wife Samantha Marie Olit — celebrates the “great bond” he’s had with twin sisters Lily and Lila, 11, and brother Tyler, 17, whom Chester shared with wifeTalinda Bennington, and older brothers Isaiah, 25, and Jaime, 26, from the singer’s previous relationship with Elka Brand.
“We’ve always had a great bond,” he says. “I definitely have a closer bond with my younger siblings, just because we’re closer in age, but they’re all great.”
“He wanted to wear something that nobody else had and so he would make those customizations himself,” Draven tells PEOPLE.
Draven also hopes to one day be able to match the impact that his dad’s music made on the fans who adored him.
“Every time I hear somebody’s story, telling like how much my dad’s music impacted their life, I just think it’s really beautiful. I think that’s really sweet how something that he was just doing as a passion, what he loved, had that effect on so many people,” Draven says. “I get so many just lovely stories of things like, ‘I had this really bad day and I threw on this song from your dad and it completely changed it around.'”
He continues, “I’m so happy that he was able to do that for people, and that’s something that I would eventually want to be able to do one day with my stuff. I think that’s the point of making music, to make an impact on people, to have fun and reach out and connect with others.”
source: people.com
