INTERVIEW: Matt Brooks – Like A Storm
Having been a bit of an unknown quantity when they first took to the stage at Download Festival back in 2015, LIKE A STORM have been quietly building themselves a following over the ensuing years, culminating in new record Catacombs arriving with a real sense of anticipation. We recently caught up with guitarist Matt Brooks from the band to discuss the new record, their touring plans for 2018 and, wait for it, their rather unique use of a didgeridoo.
First things first, who are LIKE A STORM?
Matt: We’re a band from Auckland, New Zealand. Made up of brothers Kent, Chris and myself, with Zach Wood from Los Angeles on drums.
How would you describe your sound for anyone who’s not familiar with the band?
Matt: A lot of heavy riffage, intricate drumming, subtle programming, screams, but all around the framework of a song. Melody is king, to us. We’re probably best-known for incorporating one of the oldest instruments in the world, the didgeridoo, into rock and metal.
Your brand new record Catacombs is nearly here. What was the recording process like?
Matt: We produced Catacombs ourselves, and when you do that you’re involved in literally every note, every word, every tone, every drum hit. So it was intense. But we wouldn’t have it any other way. We have a vision of what we’re chasing, and love creating. It’s crazy to hold your album in your hands and go, “this didn’t used to exist at all, and now it does.” We’re lucky to be able to get to do that over and over.
LIKE A STORM have become synonymous with creating huge choruses thanks to tracks like Love the Way You Hate Me. Can fans expect more of the same from the new record?
Matt: Yeah, absolutely. When you grow up with your parents playing THE BEATLES, QUEEN, CCR etc, and then you discover NIRVANA, GREEN DAY, MUSE, PINK FLOYD etc, I think your understanding of what makes for good music is epic choruses everyone can sing, coloured by really cool and interesting ideas. So it’s kind of permanently engrained in us. Even songs where we play around with it being more thrashy, like These Are The Bridges You Burn Down (from Catacombs), there’s still a really hooky song in there by the time we’re done.
You paid a visit to the Paris catacombs while on tour. What was that experience like?
Matt: It was awesome, but very surreal and humbling. What struck me was how bizarre it was to have six million bodies buried below the streets of every day Paris. So up on the street there are cafes, bars, people sitting around smoking and drinking coffee. Then like five stories below them is the remnants of all this disease and decay. It hit me that that’s a metaphor for what we all go through in this life. We’re told to “keep a stiff upper lip” and present like everything’s okay on the surface, and bury any negative thoughts or feelings deep down below where no one can see them. So we wanted to explore that with this new album.
Has your visit led to any particular lyrical themes being present throughout the record?
Matt: Yeah it did, it made us really introspective. Because being in a band, we’re lucky enough to have music as an outlet where we can process something that’s eating us up inside. Tracks like The Devil Inside, Catacombs, Solitary, and Until The Day I Die all deal with that.
We have to talk about the didgeridoo. How did you first come up with the idea of including it within your music, and how difficult was it to incorporate?
Matt: My brother Chris learned to play it in Australia. So then back when we were playing in pubs in Auckland we had the idea to start our shows with it, to be different. Then we started adding it to the records. Then before we knew it, we’d become the “Didgeridoo Band” in the US, and radio and TV were asking us to bring it in for every visit. But it wasn’t like a premeditated thing, we just always thought it sounded really cool. To be honest, it’s actually really hard to mix into the music because it eats up every frequency. But creativity-wise, it’s not hard at all for us. We love coming up with a heavy riff, and then adding the didge playing a cool counter-rhythm that twists around the riff like a snake. That’s all over the new album.
Is it an instrument that’s commonly used in rock music from New Zealand or are you the trendsetters?
Matt: I wouldn’t say it was commonly used, as it seems to blow everyone’s mind when they first see or hear it! And it actually comes from Australia. We did our first tour there last year with ALTER BRIDGE, and we were interested to see how the Aussies would react to us incorporating it into what we do. But they loved it, and we had indigenous Aboriginal people telling us they were so happy to see it being used in a new way, which was really cool.
What influences do you all bring to LIKE A STORM?
Matt: Chris brings a strong sense of heavy, energetic music and big melodies. Matt brings a metal/symphonic metal influence and really emotive music. Zach brings a really intricate, but heavy blastbeat style of drumming. I bring the beers. Just kidding, I love writing riffs and trying to do something we’ve never done before with each song.
How are your touring plans shaping up for the rest of the year?
Matt: Getting busy, we just got invited to GODSMACK‘s full UK/Europe Tour. So we’re really stoked to be coming back. There’s nothing like playing the UK and Europe, we love it.
Do you prefer playing new songs in a live setting or do you love playing the fan favourites?
Matt: It depends. One thing we noticed is that live we gravitate towards the heavy and more high-energy songs in our arsenal when putting a setlist together. So that’s probably partly why the new album Catacombs is our heaviest record to date. I said to the other guys, “I just wanna play this whole record top to bottom, then come back out for an encore full of all the previous tracks.” This new stuff is going be really fun to play live.
How do live shows in the UK & Europe differ from shows in North America?
Matt: People in the UK and Europe are extremely passionate. We’ve seen people line up since 6am in sub zero temperatures just to get the rail. And the crowds are off the hook, in terms of their energy. Even when we first came over and no one even knew a single lick by us, the crowds were still right into it from the moment the stage went dark.
What other up and coming bands are you into at the moment?
Matt: Hmmm, I wouldn’t exactly describe any the following as up and coming, but I’m listening to a lot of PARKWAY DRIVE, ARCHITECTS and GOJIRA these days. I love stuff that’s heavy, dark and creative.
Time to wrap this up, describe LIKE A STORM in three words?
Matt: Damn, okay how about: Songs, Riffs, Live-show. That’s where we put all our focus, and the whole reason we do it.
Catacombs is set for release on July 13th via Century Media Records.
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