New Zealand’s most successful rock band in the US was formed by brothers Chris, Kent & Matt Brooks just over a decade ago. Like A Storm has toured with rock royalty including Slash, Korn, Shinedown, Alter Bridge and many others as well as successful North American touring as the headline act. The release of their debut album The End of The Beginning introduced the world to their intense vocals, uncompromising guitars and use of the Australian Aboriginal wind instrument the didgeridoo. This would set them apart from their peers. Their sophomore effort Awaken The Fire would produce four consecutive top 40 Active Rock Chart singles. Both albums would see the Billboard 200 charts. Fans and peers in the industry have responded strongly to this new musical vision. The release of their latest effort, Catacombs, received a ringing endorsement by one of the greats, Alter Bridge axeman Mark Tremonti. Speaking about the single “Pure Evil”, Mark stated its a total killer song that will be badass live. RockRevolt had the opportunity to speak with frontman Chris Brooks just as Catacombs was making waves on the Billboard charts in the top 5 of the Heatseeker Chart, top 100 on the Album Chart and over 1 million Spotify Streams in it’s first week just to name a few of the accolades received by Catacombs.
Tell us about the writing process with the new record and how you came up with the theme for it.
The title of the record is inspired by the Catacombs of Paris. We were on tour, at the time, with Alter Bridge and we went to visit these catacombs. We had heard about them but nothing can prepare you for the actual experience of going there. You have this beautiful city on top where everyday life is carrying on. Beneath that you have millions and millions of these skeletons just stacked right on top of each other. We thought that was such a powerful metaphor for everything we’re carrying around. All these things inside ourselves we never wanted to face or address and acknowledge. And the idea if you try and bury them they are always with you. I think that idea for us was very relevant. Having toured the last three years so solidly, so many different places playing show after show every single night. There’s a lot of distractions that go on being in that routine. It’s an incredible routine, it’s amazing. It’s exactly what we want to do but there’s so much noise that goes along with being a touring band. Then when you stop to make the album all of a sudden everything else is quiet. All of a sudden you’re faced with yourself. Almost a voice that has been drowned out for the last three years. It was really interesting for us to have it be quiet and separate ourselves from all those distractions and address everything that had been going on with us for the last three years that maybe we hadn’t acknowledged.
One of the things I took from it nowadays where information travels in an instant and you see these celebrities that seem to have it all but underneath it that may not be the case. And it seems like we are seeing more and more cases of celebrity suicide. So on the outside it looks like they have this amazing life but inside or underneath it all it’s the opposite.
Yeah but I don’t think it’s just with celebrities it’s with all of us. We all have a darker side. The rate of suicide is just so sad how high it is. It goes to show people can post photos on social media but that’s no indication of what’s going on inside them. For us on the one hand it’s dark but it’s also a celebration of confronting those things. Overcoming all those things that have been weighing you down and acknowledging them. Ok I know how I feel now I can move forward, I can move past it, I can deal with it. If you don’t acknowledge these things you can’t deal with them. I think as a society we’ve all become distracted from our true selves. This album to us is about reconnecting with that whether you’re proud of it or not.
Is there a song off the record you might recommend to someone that is not familiar with Like A Storm that may be a good representation of the band? Or a song that happens to stand out for you off of the new record?
Oh man, to me I guess the new single “The Devil Inside” is amazing. I love that song because of the contrast in that song with the different vocal deliveries, the melodies and the way it plays off and push and pull each other. I really like that one. I have so many I like on this record for different reasons. “Hole In My Heart” to me, just having that on the album is a triumph because, like the last time, we produced this ourselves which is just a ton of work. We have very high standards and we’re pretty stubborn so we need to have things to meet the vision. We were working 20 to 22 hours a day to finish this and “Hole In My Heart” we actually had to finish while we were filming the video for “The Devil Inside”. We were in Los Angeles and the cut off for the album was in three days time and we were there filming a music video and having all these meetings about it. Every night we had to go back and work on the song until like 5 or 7am, sleep for a couple of hours then go and do whatever we were suppose to do. So to me that song, to have it on the record, I don’t know I guess it was a feeling of closure.
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And I get it asking that question is like asking a parent who’s your favorite child.
Yeah and it changes. The way we kind of put this album together there are songs that would be my favorite to listen to, then there are songs I think will be my favorite to play live. We wanted to have a strong energy throughout the record but we wanted to have different songs on it. Like “These Are The Bridges You Burned Down” was written as a song to be played live. And songs like “Solitary” we meant to be on a deeper level. I have a lot of favorites for different reasons.
Do you go about writing a record the same way each time or is it a different approach with each record? And does everyone contribute equally to this process?
We don’t have any rules. We want to ultimately make the best record that we can. One that is true to our vision. There are no requirements that this person has to write X amount of songs. The strange thing is that Kent, Matt and I had written equally a third of the album. It’s not something that’s planned out or spoken about. Creatively it didn’t really matter by the time the song makes it onto the album we’re all very attached to what’s going on. The three of us write and it can be a demo of a full song, it can a guitar riff, it can be a lyric or anything. We share those with each other and we’ll get together from time to time and collaborate in person on these songs or write something new. But often it’s just the three of us on our own in our studios, listening through and finding what the other guy’s song meant to you maybe and maybe it brings out a different vibe or different direction. I guess that’s what keeps it exciting for us, there’s no blueprint of writing the same song over and over again. You didn’t know what you’re going to hear or how it’s going to unfold.
In today’s environment where people can access music free or for very little cost do you think it helps or hurts you, especially coming from the other side of the planet in New Zealand. Seems like a double-edged sword where it can help with exposure but hurt on the financial side. What are your thoughts on that?
Sure. I know that development in technology has presented a lot of challenges for the music industry. But some things needed to change. I’m certainly not condemning it. As a general rule I think it takes a lot more money to make an album than people realize. I think it impacts the newer bands and fewer and fewer new bands are getting signed. There’s less money to develop those acts and reach that level of being a huge band. On the other hand the technology in recording has certainly allowed us to be much more hands on and control not only our music but our careers. Because we were able to record our album ourselves. We didn’t have to go and have somebody turn the knobs. We were able to get the sound exactly how we wanted. And we were able to do it in three different cities. That really allowed us to grow and develop as a band. I think it’s kind of, you have to take the good with the bad. I think for us to be in control of your own ideas has been positive. Of course I wish that more bands were able to put out albums. And that more people were buying albums. As both a fan and an artist. You just have to make the best of things, there’s not a lot of time for criticizing.
Like A Storm has had a lot of success in terms of your videos being played/streamed. Does that turn into any financial gain for the band? It’s obviously great for exposure but is there a financial piece to it as well?
It’s definitely less about any financial reward as much as it is about not only the exposure, but we’re allowed to have an artistic voice. It’s more than just a song. I think that is one thing that you lose when people aren’t buying them as much, there’s less importance placed on making the whole album as a concept or standalone piece of art. There’s less and less of that. I think that the rise of things like YouTube it gives us that voice to kind of create that vibe, that emotion of what the song is about. To be able to invite people further into that world. I really like it from that point of view. There are a lot of different ways revenue as a band is generated rather than just the record sales as it use to. Now it’s a lot of touring, a lot of merchandise and a lot of radio. Then these other new media platforms play into it. The main benefit for us is the exposure and the artistry of it.
Is Like A Storm at the point where you can make a living solely off of the band?
Absolutely. We haven’t done anything else, worked jobs or anything since we started touring. With that we’ve been really lucky. My dad was a business speaker and author when we were in New Zealand. He’s been really somebody that’s helped us in terms of looking at all the different things that people did want to consume. Rather than crying about the fact that people don’t want to buy records anymore. There are all these different experiences, collectibles and all these things that fans want to consume more than ever. He’s been amazing at helping us from that point of view and focusing on the financial part of what we are doing so we could focus on Like A Storm.
What’s going on with the tour for Catacombs?
The tour starts this month in Detroit, Shinedown/Godsmack tour. Massive amphitheater tour.
Tell us what a day in the life of touring is like.
Touring to us is great. Everybody I meet always assumes touring life is really hard. For me making the album was far more difficult in terms of the workload than touring. We don’t mind touring. When I’m on tour I get to sleep eight hours a night. I’ll wake up maybe mid-day have some coffee, whatever. Hangout with the other guys. Go into the venue, start playing the guitar and maybe get a feel for the venue. If it’s in the city, maybe a little walk around the city. Then you start sort of getting ready for the show. Any other projects we might having going on whether it’s writing music and spend that time writing. Then pretty much warm up for the show and go out and have the time of my life playing a show to these amazing crowds. Then we get to do these VIP meet n greets which is a lot of fun for us. And a lot of touring when opening for these other bands we get to go watch these bands that we love. Then we hang out with them after the show then on to the bus and travel to the next place.
I’ll ask you, but you may not answer. Any bands that you’ve toured with that are just a nightmare?
Yeah we have toured with bands that are nightmares but I will say not a single one of the big bands. We’ve been blown away by how nice and genuine all these huge bands have been. They’ve been so cool to us and they don’t have to. Some of the most down to earth people I’ve ever met in my life. And none of them have been anything but amazing.
Is there something that stands out as the most gratifying moment in your career up to this point?
Oh man that’s an interesting one because I’ve had a ton of gratifying moments. I would say for me right now is the release of our new album knowing we pushed ourselves and fulfilled the vision creatively that we wanted. Having produced it ourselves that we were all able to do it. I don’t know I guess all of our work and that we are able to do it and we’re still alive, sleeping two hours a night didn’t kill us. To have the single come out and everybody love it. And to get ready to go on such an incredible tour. Pretty surreal moment in time.
Final question, a bit off topic but it’s a big one here in the states. Any comment on the current political environment in the U.S.?
(laughing). I have to be careful because I’m a guest here. I’m going to say we have been lucky to play to a ton of amazing people every night. Anything beyond that I’m not going to comment on (continues laughing).
So I see you’re running for a political position, that was a very political answer (laughing). Any final words for the fans out there?
Thank you some much to the fans for supporting us and allowing us to continue on this musical journey. It’s incredibly gratifying to get to share it with them. Thanks to all of them.
Thanks Chris. Looking forward to seeing you on the road. Good luck with the new record.
Thank you man.
