In this special episode of Burning the Ships, I sit down with Matt Brooks, guitarist and founding member of the hard rock band Like a Storm—one of the most successful musical acts to come out of New Zealand.
Matt pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to turn a dream into a worldwide touring machine. We talk about the band’s DIY beginnings, how they used grit, belief, and bold thinking to go from opening gigs to chart-topping international tours without a major label deal, and how Matt is overcoming the rockstar life he has grown to know for years.
From creative freedom to business strategy, this conversation isn’t just for musicians, it’s for anyone willing to bet on themselves when no one else will.
Key Talking Points of the Episode
00:00 Introduction
00:39 JJ’s Joke of the Week
01:29 Who is Matt Brooks?
09:27 Matt’s introduction to his passion for music
14:26 The challenges of being a musician in New Zealand
16:37 Where Matt’s love for music comes from
18:23 How playing in a band is like a business partnership
20:29 The pros of working with family in music
23:43 Making the decision to move to Vancouver
27:53 Why Matt and his brothers moved to Vancouver
32:39 The beginning of Like a Storm’s success
39:12 Joining Creed on tour for the first time
41:38 How resilience and determination helped Like a Storm succeed
43:24 The vicious cycle of the music industry
46:00 Finding challenges to foster continuous growth
48:24 The cliches of the music industry
51:41 Developing unhealthy coping mechanisms as a musician
53:57 How COVID impacted the music industry
57:11 Becoming dependent on substances to sustain a career
59:22 Overcoming the rockstar cliche
01:04:43 Life as a musician and life in the military
01:08:32 Matt’s wake up call during COVID
01:13:46 How addiction can affect children’s perspective in life
01:15:51 Matt’s mission to help musicians with their mental health
01:24:38 Learning how to be your authentic self
01:29:04 Get in touch with Matt Brooks
Quotables
“Our hope was always to end up touring the US but we knew this was gonna be a gradual process, so for us, Vancouver was a great place to start.”
“A lot of the cliches about the music business are true – which is that it’s this incredibly exciting, amazing adventure, and you have the chance to do a lot of things that people don’t but there’s a cost to that.”
“The only thing that I could commit to was that I was gonna keep trying.”
Links
Matt Brooks
https://www.facebook.com/likeastormmatt
https://www.instagram.com/likeastormmatt
Like a Storm
https://www.instagram.com/likeastorm
608B Capital
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.