Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
After visiting your website and hearing your new song, it appears you are going to start doing full on country music? Well, I actually wrote this song many years ago when I lived in Florida and have always wanted to record it but never had the opportunity to do so until recently. I already perform a few country songs with my cover band Psychodelic Caravan, I have just never officially released anything like this before. Years ago I recorded a handful of Johnny Cash songs just for fun but never officially released them. My Aunt Dorothy really likes them.(wink/smile). So it may seem like this is a huge change for me but really I have always played many styles of music over the years including, blues, rock, metal, electronic, industrial and yes, even country.
On many of your recordings you playing all the instruments. How many instruments can you play? Lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, synth and a basic drums but the bass guitar is my main instrument now. I played drums with a thrash band in Orlando for a about 6 months called Brainspill but just until they could find a full-time drummer. I was also going to audition as the drummer for a goth band called The Unknown out of NY. I learned all of their songs and was all ready but The Rolling Stones Tribute Show opportunity presented itself and I decided to move in that direction. I’ve played keyboards onstage with many bands doing stuff like Mr. Crowley by Ozzy but I am just good enough on piano to perform a few well practiced songs live. I did write every song for the ‘A Circle Of Faith’ project on the piano though. A great songwriting tool it is!
When did you quit playing lead guitar and make the bass your permanent primary instrument? Tendonitis hit me first when I was touring as Keith Richards with the Rolling Stones Tribute Show called Satisfaction between 2002 and 2004. We were doing five and six nights a week with three months out and then two weeks off constant for the almost three years when I was with the band. They are still going strong as far as I know. I remember playing in front of thousands of people at Sturgis with tears running down my face from the pain I was going through. Then the tendonitis over time turned into Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) which pretty much shut me down. I was going to professional message therapists in the cities we were playing just to get me though a night or two which allowed me to play at full function even though it was still causing me a ton of grief. It took them a while to replace me but eventually they found a guy that could perform on that level. I tried to play lead guitar in a cover band a few years later in 2012 but realized my lead guitar playing days were over. Too much pain! So I thought my music career was behind me. I went on to start a dog rescue which turned into an animal shelter where with the help of many great people, we saved over 1000 dogs in rural Missouri. In 2018 Jett Blakk then asked me to play at a local amphitheater and a show at the Token Lounge outside of Detroit which made me realize I could still play the bass full on with little to no pain.
You have performed live with a lot of bands over the years. What are the names of all the different bands you have actually performed or recorded with throughout your career?: Fiancé, Bishop Steel, Bladerunner, Roxx Gang, Mojo Gurus, Hagas, Walter, George Lynch, Bernie Williams – NY Yankees, The Blessed Virgin Larry, Satisfaction – International Rolling Stones Tribute Show, Armure de Ruisseaux, Brick Top Social Club, Big Louie, Jett Blakk, A Circle Of Faith and Psychodelic Caravan.
Allen Brooks YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOolMDn61XQ8x_xkKuqVmQw
Tell us more about your current side project called Psychodelic Caravan.: We are a three piece power trio playing mostly classic rock but we have a handful of songs that cross every timeline and genre. Even though our drummer Doug Thompson and I sing lead on a handful of songs every night, Brion Holcomb is our main lead vocalist. Brion is also our lead guitarist. I do not think there is much he can’t play or sing. His technique on the guitar is epic and his vocal range is off the charts. Doug is our drummer and he also sings lead on around five songs every night and also helps out a lot with background harmonies. Doug lives in Iowa and we meet up at the shows in which ever State we are booked in. We have been rocking together for 6 years now and we can play any event booked for us from small clubs to giant festivals. We all wear tie dye clothing from head to toe and use our lightshow to help create a true Psychodelic Experience. (wink/ smile). The coolest thing about this band is we are all best friends. If we do have an internal conflict, it always gets worked out by trying to understand how the others feel abut the particular problem/topic of that day, but it’s very rare that we have any issues. A Band Of Brothers We Truly Are!!!
So is it true that you use to work for L.A. Guns?: No I didn’t actually work for them but more like I worked with them in a very small capacity. I use to work for a handful of music magazines and tabloids in Missouri and Florida giving me the opportunity to interview and rub elbows with a lot of different international artists. Since L.A. Guns was a fave band of mine, I would ensure they were on the covers of the mags that I worked with and would always try and get them not only the covers but 2 page centerfold spreads with pics and interviews for their different tours. So I worked more with their publicist and management but I got to hang with them when ever they came through town. I remember the first tour here was at Memorial Hall and then the second tour they did here in Kansas City was downtown at Kemper Arena. I also did the same for them when I was down in Florida. I always saw Phil and Tracii here and there but actually hung out with Kelly and Steve at the various venues and backstage, same in Florida as well. Super cool guys! I think I still have a few copies of the very first MusicMaker Issue so I will send you over a cover shot.
Your last interview primarily focused on the years you were in Roxx Gang/Mojo Gurus. Did Stacey Blades every contact you or respond to the interview?: Yes about eight months after the interview was published I got an email from Stacey. It was in my junk mail… He seemed pretty pissed off to say the least. He Greta Thunberg’d me ‘HOW DARE YOU’! He called me some names and threatened me with legal action. I wrote him back immediately and told him that he knew every word I said was the truth and that if he brought lawyers into this that it would only confirm everything I said about him. I told him I did not hate him but quite the opposite and all I know is that before I called him, I was in the band and after I called him I was not in the band any longer. I am very self aware and realize no one really gives two shits about me or what I have to say but It’s MY story and I felt it needed to be told. Stacey actually broke my heart with his response though. It would have been so very epic if Stacey would have simply wrote me and asked if I was okay and how I’ve been all these years. He could have said that he read my interview and we needed to talk. I was giving him the chance to fix everything with me, which I also did before that last interview as well by emailing him multiple times. But instead it was a very unfriendly email… So sad… I never heard anything after his initial response. I will say that he made a damn good decision not to fuck with me because I was completely ready for that too. But I don’t really want to fight. I actually still gots love for Stacey and I miss him. Fucking asshole! lol. Everything I said in the last interview was the truth and I realize it was pretty harsh, but there is a flip side to all of that…. I still gots big love for all the guys from Roxx Gang/Mojo Gurus and I do miss them them terribly. Jeff, Tommy, Stacey, Kevin, Brett and Dan… You must understand that I always thought of Kevin in very high regard and still do. I looked up to him you know? I mean he is fucking Kevin Steele! Anyhoo, Kevin and Brett were victims in this whole ugly thing and I regret the fact that I never even got to apologize to them after the dust settled. All of that shit still haunts me to this day. Jeff Vitolo and our stage manager Dan Campbell really helped me survive during those Roxx Gang/Mojo Guru years and I will never forget how good they both treated me… But now It is what it is…. I truly wish things were different and even though I have tried to reach out, I guess what happened will never be resolved, forgiven or put behind us. What is one to do except to keep on keeping on.
You’ve been in the music business in one capacity or another for most of your adult life. You mention one in this interview, do you have any other regrets?: Well, any person that tells you they do not have any regrets in this life is a fucking liar. So yes, I have my share of regrets. None of which I am going to tell you though. (laughing). Living life as a human being can be so very difficult but the good times always make up for the bad even when the good times are few and far between. Live is worth living and I challenge each of you to always move forward in a positive direction living the best life you can live.
Whats your future plans in 2023/2024?: I would like to keep writing and recording music of all genres and I would also really like to perform more. The band I am in now only plays about forty or fifty shows a year and I want to play more like 150 to 200 shows a year. I’ve been sending my bio out national agents and management companies in an attempt to maybe get on some tours in 23/24. I am always looking for opportunities to get back into the big game again with a national/international act.
Any last thoughts: I got a second chance in life after beating my liver disease and even though I am 61 now, I am still rocking hard and striving to live the best life I can live! Hold On To What You Believe In And Your Dreams Will Always Come True! Sending big love out to all of the awesome friends I have made along my musical journey! I look forward to future conversations. Peace out rawk dawgz!!! – Allen Brooks (09/25/2023)
We would like to thank Allen Brooks for doing this interview today. His main website is at www.allenbrooks.net. Check him out. Give him a shout out and let him know you saw this interview.
