Like A Storm comes full circle
Rmike.alexander@fairfaxmedia.co.nz HOMEGROWNcouldn’t be a more ideal homecoming for Like A Storm.
The Kiwi alternative metal band of brothers – Chris, Matt and Kent Brooks and drummer Zach Wood, whose dad Steve is now their manager – moved to Canada in 2007 and then the United States on the back of a recommendation from My Chemical Romance producer Mike Plotnikoff.
After spending 16 months working on their debut album, The End Of The Beginning, with Plotnikoff, he passed the album on to Creed, who were gearing up for their 2009 Full Circle reunion tour, and two phone calls later – one to say how much the band loved the album, and the second to ask if Like A Storm would support Creed – they were storming their way through an 18-date tour with their favourite bands.
Almost 10 years on from when they left these shores – and on the back of an unprecedented (for a New Zealand band) five mainstream rock singles in the Billboard charts – Like A Storm are coming full circle for their first New Zealand concert, at Homegrown on March 4.
The reaction to the latest of those singles, Pure Evil, has taken the band by surprise.
‘‘It’s crazy,’’ says frontman Chris Brooks. ’’We wrote that song when we were doing an a arena tour with Alter Bridge, Volbeat and Kojira last year. We wanted to put out a song that showed how we had grown as musicians. We never thought it would be played on the radio. If we did we would never have made it seven minutes long.’’ Cristel Brouwer
Like A Storm have been in the studio recently putting the finishing touches to their third album Catacombs. In typical fashion, most of the songs were demoed during their relentless touring schedule.
‘‘As a band you are always trying to push yourself, and extend your boundaries musically’’ Brooks says. ’’Since the release of Awaken The Fire, we have pretty much been on tour for two years. I think when you are playing together so often you grow a lot and start pushing yourself more.
‘‘This album is about that in many respects. It’s about everything you are keeping within yourself and not confronting. We were playing a show in Paris, France, and we got the opportunity to visit the Catacombs. It was an amazing experience. We thought the idea of Catacombs was a great vehicle for introspection.
‘‘We are incredibly grateful to get to tour to all of those places we’ve wanted to visit and be doing what you love. With all of these experiences that we go through, they leave a lasting impression and certainly, at the end of a tour, you get to reflect on these things, what has changed and how that challenged you and made you stronger.’’
When Like A Storm’s show was first announced, they were set to headline a gig at Auckland’s Powerstation. Things changed when the opportunity to play Homegrown came up and also the chance to support their good friends Alter Bridge on an extensive tour of New Zealand and Australia.
‘‘These dudes [Alter Bridge], have been absolutely amazing,’’ Brooks says. ‘‘We are so lucky that they have been supportive of us and done everything for us that they can. It’s a dream come true to be playing in New Zealand with a band that we have toured the world with.’’