Boeykens was born in 1962 in Michigan/USA. He gained his first experience as a tuba player at the age of 15 in a youth orchestra and studied tuba at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the Yale School of Music. During his studies he received scholarships for master classes at music festivals and with chamber ensembles such as the New York Brass Quintet. Boeykens received his training in brass embouchure with the famous trumpeter Laurie Frink, and in the early 1990s he moved to Hamburg. There he took part in productions at the Thalia Theater, the Kammerspiele, and the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, and played in the NDR’s New Music and Jazz series with Vinko Globokar and Carla Bley, among others. He was also a member of the salsaband Mujeres, the international brass quintet Hannover, the London Dedication Orchestra, and played on European tours in the ensemble of the African-American tuba player and composer Howard Johnson. Boeykens has been living in Berlin since 2004. He has been performing regularly with the musician and performer Hans Unstern since 2012, plays on tours of the NDR Big Band and the Bremen Shakespeare Company, and is a member of the Rusira Mixtett and the Neues Kammerensemble Potsdam. Since 1992 Boeykens has taught low brass instruments for children and adults, and since 2013 he has been coach for brass registers in the Berlin women’s ensemble Holz & Blech.