Matt Brooks: Building a Global Band & Mental Health in Music

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 Episode00:00 Introduction00:39 JJ’s Joke of the Week01:29 Who is Matt Brooks?09:27 Matt’s introduction to his passion for music14:26 The challenges of being a musician in New Zealand16:37 Where Matt’s love for music comes from18:23 How playing in a band is like a business partnership20:29 The pros of working with family in music23:43 Making the decision to move to Vancouver27:53 Why Matt and his brothers moved to Vancouver32:39 The beginning of Like a Storm’s success39:12 Joining Creed on tour for the first time41:38 How resilience and determination helped Like a Storm succeed43:24 The vicious cycle of the music industry46:00 Finding challenges to foster continuous growth48:24 The cliches of the music industry51:41 Developing unhealthy coping mechanisms as a musician53:57 How COVID impacted the music industry57:11 Becoming dependent on substances to sustain a career59:22 Overcoming the rockstar cliche01:04:43 Life as a musician and life in the military01:08:32 Matt’s wake up call during COVID01:13:46 How addiction can affect children’s perspective in life01:15:51 Matt’s mission to help musicians with their mental health01:24:38 Learning how to be your authentic self01:29:04 Get in touch with Matt BrooksQuotables“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.”LinksMatt Brookshttps://www.facebook.com/likeastormmatthttps://www.instagram.com/likeastormmattLike a Stormhttps://www.instagram.com/likeastorm608B Capitalhttps://608bcapital.com