Like a Storm

Like A Storm

Chris playing the didgeridoo live at the Melkweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands (February 12, 2016)
Background information
Origin Auckland, New Zealand
Genres Hard rock,[1] post-grunge[2][3]
Years active 2005–present
Labels Century Media (World), Warner Music (NZ)
Associated acts Yes[4]
Website likeastorm.com
Members Chris Brooks
Matt Brooks
Kent Brooks
Zach Wood
Past members Paul Sievers
Roye Robley
Thomas Karanasos
Notable instruments
Didgeridoo
Baritone guitar

Like a Storm is a hard rock band from Auckland, New Zealand, best known for combining heavy baritone guitar riffs and hard rock songs with didgeridoo. Formed by Chris, Kent, and Matt Brooks, Like a Storm have shared American & European stages with Alter Bridge, Korn, Shinedown, Black Veil Brides, Creed, Puddle of Mudd, Staind, Sick Puppies, and many others, as well as touring North America extensively as a headline act. Like a Storm are the highest charting New Zealand hard rock band in American radio history . Both of Like a Storm's two studio albums, "The End of the Beginning" and "Awaken the Fire", debuted in the Billboard 200. The band has toured with Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry, Three Days Grace, Steel Panther, Shinedown and Hellyeah.

History

The band moved from Auckland, New Zealand to North America.[5] They first began touring the US in 2009, when they were invited to join Creed on their nationwide "Full Circle" Reunion tour. Overwhelming fan response to the band's live show saw their first album, The End of the Beginning, enter Billboard's New Artist Charts at No. 61, as well as the Billboard 200 from tour sales alone.

The band continued extensive American touring into 2010, in support of their first single "Chemical Infatuation" - sharing stages with artists such as Shinedown, Skillet, Puddle of Mudd and Drowning Pool, as well as playing major festivals including Rock on the Range. "Chemical Infatuation" reached No. 43 in the U.S Active Rock Top 100.

2011 saw Like a Storm complete two tours of the US with Alter Bridge. In between tours, the band entered the studio to record "Like a Storm Unplugged", an unplugged album featuring acoustic and piano driven interpretations of some of their most popular songs. Like a Storm Unplugged, produced and mixed by the Brooks brothers, showcases the Brooks brothers playing a wider range of instruments - including didgeridoo, piano, church organ and djembe. In the words of singer/guitarist Matt Brooks, We all grew up playing any instrument we could get our hands on, and it's awesome to be able to explore these different ideas within the music of Like a Storm. We see it more as re-building the soundscape with different instruments and textures than stripping the songs down.

In 2011, Like a Storm played main stage slots at 3 summer festivals - Boonstock in Gibbons, Alberta, Canada; "Pain in the Grass" for KISW Seattle; and the PDX "RockFest" in Portland. In December 2011, the band was voted Tunelab's "Most Fan Friendly Band."[6] The Brooks brothers responded by thanking their fans on social networking sites. In January 2012, Like a Storm returned to their native New Zealand for a monthlong holiday, and recorded the band's first unplugged DVD "Southern Skies" which was released 22 February 2012. In the movie Chris, Kent, and Matt take viewers to some landmark places and tell of stories growing up in Auckland before playing acoustic versions of fan favorites while at those sites. Southern Skies also gives you a sneak peek at two new songs off of the upcoming album as well as Matt's humorous home video documenting the little time they spent in Australia. While in their hometown, Matt and Kent went on to do an interview with New Zealand's largest rock radio station. At the time singer/guitarist/didgeridoo player Chris was ill and could not attend. A filmed version of the interview can also be found on the "Southern Skies" DVD.[7]

In the Spring of 2012, the band went out on an acoustic tour of the United States with more than 50 shows to promote the Limited Edition Acoustic EP and their Southern Skies DVD.[8] In these shows the band frequently covered songs from other artists as well, such as: "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival and "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.[9]

Shortly after their acoustic tour, the band went back to tour alongside Creed in May 2012 with drummer Roye Robley. Like a Storm also played several festivals in Summer 2012. Shows include: Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Common Ground Music Festival in Lansing, Michigan, Jinxfest and Cornfest in Illinois; among others. The day after headlining Jinxfest, Like a Storm headed off to tour with Creed for several more dates. Details can be found on the band's Facebook page or website.

Their first show of their US headlining tour, titled "Unleash the Chaos", was held on 13 October 2012, in support of their EP, "Chaos Theory, Pt. 1." The first single from the record, "Never Surrender," has a music video that came out 21 November 2012. The seven-track "Chaos Theory Part 1," followed shortly after, being released just two days later. Included in the album is a cover of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" which has received airplay on multiple stations including Sirius XM's Octane.

In 2013, the band released the live double-album "Worlds Collide: Live from the Ends of the Earth". The album includes two live discs, recorded on opposite sides of the world. The first CD features Like a Storm's high energy rock show, recorded during an American arena tour - while the second disc showcases the band's unplugged side, and was recorded in their native New Zealand. The album features a range of instruments in addition to the traditional hard rock sound - including didgeridoo, djembe, piano, synthesizers, choirs and programming.

The single "Love the Way You Hate Me" was #1 on Sirius XM Octane in North America for 5 weeks. Its stateside success makes the band the highest-charting New Zealand rock act in US radio history. The song charted for 19 weeks on the Mainstream Rock chart and peaked at No. 21 there.[10][11]

Their subsequent single, "Wish You Hell" peaked at #17 on the Mainstream Rock chart.[11] It combines hard rock with delta blues into a sound referred to as "Voodoo Metal", and features slide guitar, jaw harp, and mandolin alongside a heavy rock band track. The third single, "Become the Enemy", peaked at number 11 on the same chart.[11]

The band is signed to Another Century Records. The band's second full-length studio album, and first with record label support, "Awaken the Fire", is also one of the first releases from Another Century. It was written, produced & recorded by the band. Featuring updated versions of the tracks on "Chaos Theory, Pt. 1" along with 4 new tracks, the album was released on 24 February 2015.

In 2015, the band toured in support of Hellyeah alongside of Devour the Day and play festivals including Rock on the Range and Rocklahoma. They also played at Bay City River Roar 2015 in Michigan, along with Devour the Day and Three Days Grace. The band also toured all across Europe supporting the release of "Awaken the Fire".

On January 7, 2017, Like A Storm announced that their upcoming third album, titled Catacombs, will be released sometime in 2017.[12]

Style

Like A Storm's musical style, which has been described as hard rock,[1] draws influence from post-grunge,[13] alternative metal,[13] progressive rock[4] and classical music.[4]

Discography

Like a Storm have six international releases to date:

Studio albums
Extended plays
Live albums
DVD's

Singles

Year Title Album Charts
NZ US Mainstream Rock[11]
2010 "Chemical Infatuation" The End of the Beginning — 43
2013 "Never Surrender" Chaos Theory 29 —
2014 "Love the Way You Hate Me" Awaken the Fire 6 21
2015 "Wish You Hell" 40 17
"Become the Enemy" — 11
2016 "Break Free" — 26
"Pure Evil" Catacombs — 33

Band members

Notes

  1. 1 2 http://www.hngn.com/articles/161864/20151218/like-a-storm-new-zealand-hard-rock-band-didgeridoos-american-success-freedom.htm
  2. ↑ "All Music".
  3. ↑ "The Rust Belt Chronicles".
  4. 1 2 3 http://www.mtv.com/artists/like-a-storm/biography/
  5. ↑ "Interview: Matt Brooks of Like A Storm". Cryptic Rock. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Most Fan Friendly Band". Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Southern Skies Unplugged in New Zealand". Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  8. ↑ "Like a Storm Acoustic Tour". Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  9. ↑ amvela2. "Like a Storm Acoustic "Simple Man" cover". Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  10. ↑ Number of weeks spent on the Mainstream Rock chart by Like a Storm's songs in the United States: "Billboard Chart Archive" (To access, type "Like a Storm" in the artist bar, then select "Mainstream Rock" in the chart bar.). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Like a Storm: Chart History". Billboard.
  12. ↑ http://toptun.net/1692-like-a-storm-catacombs-2017.html
  13. 1 2 http://www.allmusic.com/artist/like-a-storm-mn0002412213/biography

References

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