SHREDnews

Shred: Hi Guys! If you could just start out by stating your name and what you play in the band?

MATT BROOKS: Lead Vocals, Guitar, Programming.

CHRIS BROOKS: Lead Vocals, Guitar, Programming, Didgeridoo.

KENT BROOKS: Bass, Vocals, Piano

THOMAS KARANASAS: Drums

Shred: Now lets go back to the bands extraordinary beginning and formation. So the story goes, Chris, Matt and Kent, back in 2005 you formed Like A Storm and after just one rehearsal in your native New Zealand you decided to up roots to North America! That must have taken true belief and confidence to make such a decision, can you elaborate on that? Perhaps tell us what you were thinking at the time, who came up with the idea first and so on?

MATT: When Kent, Chris and I first jammed together, we knew we had a great chemistry. Growing up all we wanted to do was play music, and after playing in different bands for years, we realized that we had something special when we played together. We all had dreams of rock stardom, and we knew that we would have to leave New Zealand to follow those dreams. We had no idea that we would end up touring the US with bands like Creed, Staind and Shinedown! We just knew that we wanted to be a great band, and that moving to North America was the next step for us. I feel so lucky to have spent 2 years making ‘The End of the Beginning’ in LA, and now to be touring all around North America with these amazing bands.

Shred: Okay, so once you were settled in Canada you played your first live show – how did it go?

MATT: Man we moved to Canada expecting to get our asses handed to us by the bands we played with! Part of the reason for moving to a bigger music scene was to play with great bands – you learn so much from every band you play with. We practiced like crazy for that first show -  I still remember getting up at 5am to catch the bus to our rehearsal space and play through the set. It was at the Buffalo Club in downtown Vancouver, an awesome rock club that would go on to become our regular gig and watering hole. We played with a cool band called ‘Porn on the Cob’… still one of the greatest band names i’ve ever heard. It was such a crazy feeling to be onstage on the opposite side of the world, a real milestone man. I’ll never forget that first Canadian show.

Shred: Kai Marcus (Methods of Mayhem/Noise Therapy) was at this show and subsequently became a friend of the group. How did you actually come to meet? Did he approach you at that first show? And how did it feel meeting someone so experienced in the industry so quickly upon moving to Canada? It must have confirmed your beliefs that you had something special as a band?

CHRIS: Kai came up to me right after we came off stage at our first show in Canada and we hit it off straight away. He bought us a beers which was awesome cause back then we didn’t have any money! He was so cool and down to earth, so generous, and amazingly talented, and he had so much belief in us it gave us a lot confidence and determination. He became such a great friend and mentor, and he really took care of us and introduced us to a lot of really great people. We were so lucky to meet him, especially so early in our Canadian career. We got to hang out with him again last week at our Toronto show which was awesome and such an amazing suprise. He is a really close friend definitely a huge part of us being here now.

Shred: Marcus then introduced you to renowned producer Mike Plotnikoff in 2006. Can you describe your first meeting? Did you know from the start that he was the one to produce your first record?

CHRIS: Mike’s name had come up a lot when we were looking around for different producers, but I never thought we would actually be lucky enough to work with him. Mike flew up to Vancouver, and we met at friends house. He was such a humble and genuine guy, and had so much passion for music it was really inspiring. He went back to LA and we started sending demo’s and song ideas to him, as well as other possible producers. Mike would always get back to us straight away, and his feedback and suggestions really seemed to make sense to us and make the songs way better. A lot of people were trying to get us to work with different song writers to get ‘the hit’, but Mike really encouraged us to be true to ourselves, and express our own unique identity in our music, rather than trying to sound like what was popular on radio. He gave us a lot of confidence in what we were doing, and it became obvious that we had an amazing chemistry with Mike, similar to what we have as brothers. Mike invited us down to stay with him in LA to record three songs, afterwards we met up at his childhood home in Grand Forks B.C. to talk about doing a record. The demos sounded great but we agreed we wanted to try and push the envelope even further, and do something even more unique. Mike suggested bringing in Igor Khoroshev, an incredibly talented composer and arranger who studied at the Moscow Conservatory of Music, and who is without a doubt the most talented and eccentric musician we’ve ever met. Between the 5 of us we all came from totally different musical backgrounds, and had different tastes, but we were all united in  wanting to make a record that was special and unique, something that we were all passionate about and believed in one hundred percent. Thats when the madness really began!

Shred: Can you tell us how an Like A Storm song tends to come together? Does it start with music or lyrics? Do you sit down with the intent to write through jamming or rehearsal or do you approach each other with your own ideas?

MATT: One word… chaos! Kent, Chris and I all grew up writing songs, so when we formed Like A Storm we all brought our ideas to the table. Songwriting is one of our greatest passions, so we’re always jamming new ideas. Our songs usually start out as one person’s idea, but from then on they are open for everyone’s creative input. ‘Chemical Infatuation’ started as a guitar riff that Kent wrote, ‘Change Tomorrow’ started with a lyric that I came up with, and ‘Enemy’ was a badass track that Chris had been working on. There are no rules in our writing process, by the time the songs are finished everyone has left their mark.

Shred: What are each of your influences when writing? Do you draw from past experiences, current situations etc?

CHRIS: The End of the Beginning is such a personal record. We went through so many intense experiences since leaving our family and friends in New Zealand to move to the other side of the world and put it all on the line. We experienced so many extreme highs and lows, and were dealing with so much uncertainty and so many different emotions over this period of our lives. But out of that came a lot of material for writing songs and all those experiences and emotions are captured on the album. It was important to us that the songs and music were very personal and honest, and definitely the most personal song on the album is Galaxy, which was written as an offering for our Grandmothers funeral. She was such a huge part of our lives and she passed away while we were making the record. It was such a special song to us, and its been amazing to hear that the song connects with other people too, and has been played at other funerals. That is such an honor.

Shred: Is your music influenced by any favorite artists/bands?

MATT: Yeah absolutely, we love music man! We have always been really influenced by artists who push the envelope creatively… like Faith No More, Metallica, the Prodigy, Tool, Bjork. We grew up listening to a lot of different music, everything from arena rock to metal to electronica to punk. We strive to incorporate all of these elements into our music.

Shred: What was your main goal with your first album? What did you want to achieve and how did you want it to affect the listeners (if at all)? How did you want it to come across?

MATT: We moved all the way from the other side of the world to make ‘The End of the Beginning’, so all that mattered to us was to make a record that we loved and that we were proud of. We were so lucky to find Mike (Plotnikoff) & Igor (Khoroshev) who produced the record – together we all shared the vision to create a special record, rather than just a collection of songs. We also wanted the record to cover the spectrum of music that we love to play, from the heavy sludge of ‘Chemical Infatuation’ to the haunting ambience of ‘Change Tomorrow’. ‘The End of the Beginning’ is a snapshot of 2 years of our lives and everything we went through, so we really wanted to capture the emotion and vibe of each song. It’s been so amazing to hear from our fans how much the music means to them, I think as an artist there’s no greater feeling than to connect with people.

Shred: You worked on your album for over 16 months! Did you enjoy the studio and writing process? Are you happy with the final product and how it’s been received by listeners?

CHRIS: The writing and recording process was the most intense and chaotic experience of my life- nothing else comes anywhere close. We were so immersed in it, and we pushed ourselves and each other further and further into it everyday. It was a total roller coaster ride and im really surprised we all made it out alive! We were all so passionate and honest about everything, that there were many many arguments but also so many beautiful moments both in and out of the studio. I feel so fortunate to have had those incredible experiences with Igor, Mike and his family, and got to spend so much time with such amazing people, and make something so creatively fulfilling. I’m so proud of the record.

We were definitely more than a little anxious about releasing it to the outside world. Having locked ourselves away for so long and pushed ourselves to be we really had no idea how people would react to us! We are so overwhelmed by the response that we’ve been getting it means so much to us.

Shred: Do you each have a favorite track from The End of the Beginning?

CHRIS: I think mine changes every day! I love playing ‘Enemy’ live, because its such an energetic song, and the crowd is such a huge part of the song live, its just so fun to play. At the moment i also really like ‘Don’t Cry’. It was only in the final 2 weeks of 16 months spent on the album that we decided to record it! It was such a rush to finish it, but because of that we didnt have time to think about it too much, so its so raw and honest. Im really stoked we recorded it, I feel it really completes the album.

MATT: ‘Change Tomorrow’ – every time I listen back to that song I get chills. I really feel like we captured the haunting vibe of the lyrics and melody,  and the strings that Igor arranged are so beautiful man.

KENT: My favorite song would have to be ‘Galaxy’. It’s such a personal song, when were writing it the music and lyrics just poured out of us. It’s been so incredible to hear from people who have written to us and told us how much the song means to them too.

THOMAS: My favorite song to play would be ‘Keep the Pain Alive’. The parts are so much fun to play and more of a challenge. Being the last track on the album, everything is on a grander scale. Its such an epic song.

Shred: What three words would you use to describe the album?

MATT: Haha I could take the easy route and say ‘Like A Storm’, but three words that really sum up ‘The End of the Beginning’ for me are ‘aggressive’, ‘beautiful’, and ‘epic’.

Shred: What are your live shows like? How are the audience reacting to your music?

CHRIS: We’ve been totally blown away by the reaction we’ve been getting from the audience. After locking ourselves away for two years to make the record we honestly didn’t know how people were going to respond to us! For us the live show is really what we’re all about, and we love to put on a high energy rock show, and to feel that electricity from the audience. The crowds on these tours have been insane, its so awesome getting to rock out with them every night.

Shred: Has there been a particular stand-out show so far?

CHRIS: There have been a few shows that stand out. Our first ever show in the U.S. Is definitely one of them. It was the first show of the Creed tour and we played in Pitsburgh to 14,000 people. We’d never played to anywhere near that amount of people, but all the nerves went away as soon as we kicked in to Chemical Infatuation, and we had such an awesome time with the crowd. Another show that stands out was the last show of the tour with Shinedown, and Puddle of Mudd in Peoria. We’d been on the road with those guys for a month and the final show was the biggest of the whole tour. The crowd was huge and they were all so pumped to be there.

Shred: Whats your favorite part about being on the road?

CHRIS: Man It’s so hard to pick just one aspect of it! Everything about being on the road is amazing. Getting to play our music every single night, to rock fans who are there to have a good time is unreal. Also we’ve been lucky enough to tour with such great bands, who are all really cool down to earth people, so we have so much fun off the stage as well. It really is unbelievable to think that we get to do this every single day.

Shred: What have you got lined up for 2010?

MATT: We feel so lucky, 2010 is shaping up to be an awesome year for us man. Our single ‘Chemical Infatuation’ is climbing up the charts at US rock radio, and ‘The End of the Beginning’ is being released in-stores in both the US and Canada in the next few months. We’ll be out on the road touring North America with great bands and playing for amazing crowds every night. I’m especially stoked to play the Rock on the Range festival in May, so many of my favorite bands are playing there… from Deftones to Slash! It’s definitely an exciting time for us and we feel so fortunate to get the chance to follow our dream.

Shred: Final question, who actually came up with the name Like A Storm? Is there a meaning behind it?

MATT: It came from a line from one of our earliest songs. The name really captured the vibe of the band and the kind of music that we love to play – epic and larger than life. The storm metaphor also really speaks to the spectrum of music that we play, from heavy to haunting. A storm is about as epic as it gets – it can be so beautiful and yet so aggressive at the same time.

Shred: Anything else you’d like to add for our readers?

MATT: Thanks so much for taking the time to check out this interview! We’ll be touring in a town near you soon, so come on out – we always love rocking with new people. Check out www.likeastorm.com for all tour dates, music, videos and updates from the road!

Thanks to Like A Storm for their brilliant interview answers and to Benjamin from TA for hooking us up!

MySpace: www.myspace.com/likeastorm

Official Page: www.likeastorm.com

iTunes Buy Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-end-of-the-beginning/id331772395