Philip Rakoci
President
Philip Rakoci, best known as Wildman Phil, is a Casa Grande, Arizona native who has grown up with a passion for all things creepy, crawly, strange, and exotic. His unique brand of comedy has been enjoyed by tens of thousands of people annually, and his forays into wild places are frequent and legendary. His home is a living laboratory with over 150 amazing creatures including both species of venomous lizards in the world, the largest (and most dangerous) fresh water turtle species in North America, a porcupine, the longest 2 types of snakes on earth, a lemur, alligators, and the world-famous Stumpy the tortoise with a wheel.
He is a long-term board member of The BlackBox Foundation.
He is an enrolled volunteer at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park leading very popular interpretive walks.
He is the co-author and star of an interactive iBook about rattlesnakes.
He co-starred in episodes of The Discovery Channel’s Emmy award-winning series Breaking Trail.
He has appeared in episodes and worked closely with the infamous YouTube sensation and Animal Planet star Coyote Peterson and his Brave Wilderness channel.
He and his animals have appeared in Ghost Adventures, The Conan show with Conan O’Brien, and numerous other TV shows around the world.
He beat an illustrator of The Simpsons at poker.
He won an arm wrestling match against a professional linebacker.
AND…
He once rinsed his plate and put it in the dishwasher without his wife telling him to do so.
His giving spirit, desire for others to succeed, no-nonsense work ethic, community involvement, and personable nature allow him to be a valuable contributor to causes he supports.
Philip also enjoys diet Dr. Pepper, the 6 time world champion Arizona Rattlers football team, classic Spider-man comics, his family, traveling, exploring, and a good steak.
Rod Reasner
Vice President
Rod Reasner comes from Southern California and was in the early 80s punk rock scene of Orange County. First notable band he was in was a Ska-Punk group called The Pedestrians which had airplay on the world’s famous kROQ and on most of the college radio stations in Southern California. Second group was the punk band Monster X and after being kicked out for partying too much, he found God and left the secular punk rock scene. As a Christian artist he has played in popular punk rock and metal bands like Final Axe, Seventh Power, New Jerusalem and Nobody Special. He is credited on 4 albums with Robert Sweet the drummer of Stryper.
Rod moved to Casa Grande in 2006 and has been involved with bringing entertainment to this town ever since. He has been one of the founding members of the local band The Feel Good Factor for 12 years now. He also started a small venue called The Haven with good friend and band mate Bones Elias. It stayed open for a few years, but its legacy is still going to this day. Rod is always trying to get inspiring artists out from their garages and give them a place to showcase their talents.
He is married to his best friend Christy, and they have a combined family of 5 kids.
Krisenna Hancock
Board Member
Krisenna Hancock is a vocal/performance coach and dance instructor. She is also the director of the Amethyst World Dance Company and the producer of the Amethyst Dance Festival. Krisenna is passionate about performance arts and is thrilled to be a part of the Black Box Foundation.
Elias “Bones” Rodriguez
Board Member
Elias Rodriguez whose stage name is “Bones Elias” grew up along the Rio Grande Valley in a small town named Alamo, TX. Bones has also performed under the names Elias Andra and always enjoyed music as a youngster. His influences range from Motley Crue, Guns n Roses, Led Zeppelin, Pantera, Anthrax, to Prince and Duran Duran. Bones began playing drums at the age of 12. Playing locally in South Texas for many years, Bones relocatedto San Antonio, TX in 1999 and sang with his original band Psycho Plague and also played drums in the music scene there. Soon after, Bones moved to Hollywood, CA in 2003 after being discovered by guitar player DJ Ashba who is a member of Sixx A.M. and ex member of Guns n Roses. While in Hollywood Bones was able to make his dreams come true working with many of his favorite artists.
Bones has performed on the David Letterman Show, Jimmy Kimmel Show, and featured in music videos played on MTV, VH1, Fuse, and Palladia music channels. Besides being a musician, Bones is also a spokesperson for child abuse and bullying prevention. He has spoken at public and school events making child abuse, bullying awareness, and overcoming abusive and troubled childhood his main subjects. Bones currently records and performs drums for international act Julien-K which features members of Orgy. Touring acts in the past include Kobra and the Lotus, Rock Of Ages National Tour, Metal All Stars Tour featuring and performing with Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne/ Black Label Society), Max Cavalera (Soulfly/Sepultura), Joey Belladona (Anthrax), Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow/Deep Purple), Jasin Todd (Shinedown), Ross The Boss (Manowar), and other rock/metal legends. Bones has also performed with the late Chester Bennington from Linkin Park in Dead By Sunrise. Other artists include Heaven Below, John 5 from Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson, Christopher Hall from Stabbing Westward, Billy Morrison from The Cult, Steve Stevens from Billy Idol, Robbie Merrill from Godsmack, Angus Clark from Trans Siberian Orchestra, and last but not least Bones’ rock idol, Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue/Sixx A.M.. Elias appears with Nikki Sixx in the Sixx A.M. music video “Life Is Beautiful” for Heroin Diaries soundtrack.
Bones now resides in Casa Grande, Az area with his wife and two boys where he owns a tattoo shop called Sticks N’ Bones Tattoo Shop and sings in local cover bands Feel Good Factor and Hair Razer.