Randy Vanadisson has been described as a renaissance man. After the death of his father, the troubled teen dropped out of 9th grade to pursue a career as the lead singer of the rock group Damien. At 22, he signed to Select Records and appeared on two critically-acclaimed classical metal albums; Every Dog Has Its Day and Stop This War. With both releases, he earned a solid reputation as a vocalist and lyricist. He appeared on national television and radio.
With Randy's ongoing obsession with cultural and perceptional studies, he decided to go back to school and earn his bachelor’s degree in anthropology and graduated with two separate honors; cum laude and departmental honors. Randy states, "I was already studying things of this nature when I was 12 before I knew what the word anthropology meant."
After a thorough year-long exploration of central Europe and Scandinavia, Randy went on to complete his master’s degree in sociology, with a focus on cognitive studies and military psychological operations. After this, he joined the US army for a three-year commitment which ended honorably with the 102nd Military Intelligence Battalion in the Republic of Korea.
The events of September 11, 2001, had a profound effect on Randy. Shortly after 9/11, he became a Federal Air Marshal and held that position for nearly five years. He states, "I was honored to be selected and honored to do the job." In 2007, he left the Air Marshal Service and moved to the Pacific Northwest, the realization of a lifelong dream. This also marked the release of Randy’s first horror novel, Coven of Celsus – Elizabeth. The book is wickedly controversial and was dubbed by the initial publisher as "The most dangerous vampire story ever told!" Comments attesting to this quote can be seen on Amazon.com.
In the spring of 2012, Randy viewed Experts speak Out on Colorado's PBS annual fund raiser. He stated this one-hour moment in time nearly killed him. "I knew about cognitive dissonance, but had never been crushed by the real thing until I saw that documentary. It was the red pill from the Matrix. Two days later I came down with pneumonia and was down for about three months. I was coughing up blood. My life changed forever. Nothing in my life experience, my brutal adolescence, grad school, the army, nothing, prepared me for that moment. I survived and I’ve been wide awake ever since."
The next year Randy co-founded the Libertarians Motorcycle Club and was the organization's National President from its inception in 2013 until 2018. Regarding the club, Randy states, "The club will always have a special place in my heart. I love my brothers now and forever." What does he ride you ask – a 2016 Indian Springfield with a few modifications. He says his bike is a fierce female warrior named Pocahontas.
Today, Randy is finishing the trilogy of his horror series, singing and writing for The Haunted North, producing and publishing new artists, getting ready to pursue a PhD. in psychology, and is the principal writer for the website Vanaheim.Life which contains some very interesting blogs as of late. He is still involved deeply in independent research regarding perception, cognitive dissonance, Ethnobotany, and the unconscious mind.