Chris Brooks (guitarist)
Encyclopedia
Chris Brooks is an Australian rock, metal and fusion guitarist most noted for his debut instrumental album The Master Plan and his subsequent work with members of Yngwie Malmsteen, Black Sabbath
, Lana Lane
, and fellow Australians LORD
.
A few months before he was born, his father Ken scored a one-off gig playing drums for singer and Aussie megastar John Farnham
. His mother said a foetal Chris kicked a lot during the show. Brooks took organ lessons at age 5, but at age 10 he came home to find a 3/4 size Stella classical guitar on his bed in a gig bag, accompanied by a Mel Bay book. While Brooks reports to have taken lessons initially, his boredom soon kicked in and lessons stopped after six months.
In 1986 John Farnham
made a comeback, and Farnham's new band featured Brett Garsed
on guitar. A concert for the "Whispering Jack" album was broadcast on Australian prime-time TV and featured a tune called "Let Me Out", the extended Garsed guitar solo of which Brooks credits as a major turning point in his inspiration to resume playing the guitar. Brooks cites other early influences as Kee Marcello
of the band Europe
, Vinnie Moore
and Yngwie Malmsteen.
for a certfficate course in contemporary music. During his short time there Brooks was exposed to jazz fusion and began listening to guitar instrumentalists like Frank Gambale
, Allan Holdsworth
, Pat Metheny
and Richie Kotzen
.
On 9 March 2002 Brooks released his debut album The Master Plan, which showcased his guitar chops in dynamic and sometimes complex progressive metal / rock fusion influenced compositions. The album has (as of January 2009) sold 4,000 copies and gained critical acclaim from artists including Brett Garsed
, Vinnie Moore
, and Jon Finn
. Press coverage of the album included Metal Hammer magazine (Greece), Burrn!
magazine (Japan) and Young Guitar magazine (Japan) as well as numerous fan-maintained progressive rock/metal websites.
In 2003 Brooks joined the Sydney-based melodic rock band Feeding The Addiction. The band failed to have any success besides a publishing deal with Sony/BMG. Brooks left the group in 2006 to return to the instrumental guitar genre, beginning with the opening track "Unruly Elements" from the 2007 Liquid Note Records (UK) release "The Alchemists II". The album also boasted the talents of Brett Garsed
, Terry Syrek, Guns 'n' Roses guitarist Bumblefoot
and James LaBrie
sideman Marco Sfogli
.
album Edge of the World, which also featured guitarist Tony MacApline (Ring of Fire
), drummers Virgil Donati
and Vinny Appice of Black Sabbath
and Dio
, and keyboardist Erik Norlander
. The album was released by the labels Marquee Inc in Japan and Frontiers Records worldwide. Brooks also appeared on the Australian metal band LORD
's 2007 release Ascendence
, on which he contributed guitars to the tracks "Rain" and "Through the Fire". In 2009 LORD released a new album entitled Set in Stone, which features a new Chris Brooks solo on the track "Be My Guest".
In 2008 Brooks began work on his next solo instrumental album entitled The Axis of All Things. The album is due for release by Axiology Records (Brooks' own label) on 25 September 2011.
Custom 24 guitar in vintage Yellow finish, and a customised 1997 American Fender
Stratocaster in Teal Green Metallic finish and white pearloid pickguard. In December 2009 Brooks became an endorser of the guitar brand Suhr Guitars
, beginning with a model he chose the specifications of with the boutique guitar manufacturer, based on the "Standard" model.
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, Lana Lane
Lana Lane
Lana Lane is a North American rock singer. She sings lead in her eponymous band, and has sung backing vocals for the band Rocket Scientists and guest sung on Ayreon and Erik Norlander albums....
, and fellow Australians LORD
Lord (band)
Lord is a heavy metal band from Wollongong, Australia. The group began as a solo project for "Lord Tim" Grose of Dungeon in 2003 and expanded into a complete band when Dungeon broke up in 2005. They have released three albums and an EP to date. Lord has appeared with major acts that include...
.
Early life
Growing up as one of two sons of a career musician (drummer Ken Brooks), it was not really til he was 11 or 12 that Brooks realised that being a musician could be a career. He knew his father played the drums and that he was "bloody good at it" and that he did it a lot, but it was not until his own life-altering experiences with music that Brooks realised he could make a living and a life-long pursuit out of music.A few months before he was born, his father Ken scored a one-off gig playing drums for singer and Aussie megastar John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...
. His mother said a foetal Chris kicked a lot during the show. Brooks took organ lessons at age 5, but at age 10 he came home to find a 3/4 size Stella classical guitar on his bed in a gig bag, accompanied by a Mel Bay book. While Brooks reports to have taken lessons initially, his boredom soon kicked in and lessons stopped after six months.
In 1986 John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...
made a comeback, and Farnham's new band featured Brett Garsed
Brett Garsed
Brett Garsed is an Australian guitar player. He plays with, among others, John Farnham and T. J. Helmerich and is a former member of the band Nelson...
on guitar. A concert for the "Whispering Jack" album was broadcast on Australian prime-time TV and featured a tune called "Let Me Out", the extended Garsed guitar solo of which Brooks credits as a major turning point in his inspiration to resume playing the guitar. Brooks cites other early influences as Kee Marcello
Kee Marcello
Kee Marcello is a Swedish musician, best known as the former guitarist in the rock band Europe. He is currently pursuing his solo career.-Career:...
of the band Europe
Europe (band)
Europe is a Swedish rock band formed in Upplands Väsby in 1979 under the name Force by vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum and drummer Tony Reno. Although widely associated with glam metal, the band's sound incorporates heavy metal and hard rock elements...
, Vinnie Moore
Vinnie Moore
Vinnie Moore is a guitarist and a member of the English hard rock band UFO. Along with Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, and others, Moore is known as one of the most influential guitarists to emerge out of the shredder boom in the mid 1980s.-Biography:Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware...
and Yngwie Malmsteen.
The 1990s and 2000s
Brooks attended the Australian Institute of MusicAustralian Institute of Music
The Australian Institute of Music is a private not-for-profit institution originally founded in 1968 by Dr Peter Calvo, and then known as the Sydney Guitar School...
for a certfficate course in contemporary music. During his short time there Brooks was exposed to jazz fusion and began listening to guitar instrumentalists like Frank Gambale
Frank Gambale
Frank Gambale is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released eleven studio albums over a period of more than two decades, and is renowned for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.-Recording career:...
, Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion...
, Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
and Richie Kotzen
Richie Kotzen
Richie Kotzen is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.At a young age, Richie Kotzen was taken by music and first began playing piano at the age of five. At the age of seven he was inspired by the band KISS to learn the electric guitar...
.
On 9 March 2002 Brooks released his debut album The Master Plan, which showcased his guitar chops in dynamic and sometimes complex progressive metal / rock fusion influenced compositions. The album has (as of January 2009) sold 4,000 copies and gained critical acclaim from artists including Brett Garsed
Brett Garsed
Brett Garsed is an Australian guitar player. He plays with, among others, John Farnham and T. J. Helmerich and is a former member of the band Nelson...
, Vinnie Moore
Vinnie Moore
Vinnie Moore is a guitarist and a member of the English hard rock band UFO. Along with Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, and others, Moore is known as one of the most influential guitarists to emerge out of the shredder boom in the mid 1980s.-Biography:Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware...
, and Jon Finn
Jon Finn
Jonathan M. Finn is an American rock musician and guitarist. He is the founder and leader of the Jon Finn Group, and is a professor at the Berklee College of Music; he joined the guitar faculty there in 1988...
. Press coverage of the album included Metal Hammer magazine (Greece), Burrn!
Burrn!
Burrn! is a monthly Japanese magazine, published since 1984, for fans of heavy metal music. It is published by Shinko Music in Tokyo. The magazine's content is in Japanese, but the covers are predominantly in English.-References:* Japanavision...
magazine (Japan) and Young Guitar magazine (Japan) as well as numerous fan-maintained progressive rock/metal websites.
In 2003 Brooks joined the Sydney-based melodic rock band Feeding The Addiction. The band failed to have any success besides a publishing deal with Sony/BMG. Brooks left the group in 2006 to return to the instrumental guitar genre, beginning with the opening track "Unruly Elements" from the 2007 Liquid Note Records (UK) release "The Alchemists II". The album also boasted the talents of Brett Garsed
Brett Garsed
Brett Garsed is an Australian guitar player. He plays with, among others, John Farnham and T. J. Helmerich and is a former member of the band Nelson...
, Terry Syrek, Guns 'n' Roses guitarist Bumblefoot
Bumblefoot
Bumblefoot may refer to:*Bumblefoot , an infection found on the feet of birds of prey and some animals*Bumblefoot , alias of musician Ron Thal...
and James LaBrie
James LaBrie
Kevin James LaBrie is a Canadian vocalist who is best known as the lead singer of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater.-Early life:...
sideman Marco Sfogli
Marco Sfogli
Marco Sfogli is an Italian rock guitarist. He has appeared on several albums.- History:Born in 1980, his first attempt with music came in 1984 when he played with his parents in Schwetzingen, Germany during an encore. But the story starts in 1989 when he received his first electric guitar as a...
.
Guest appearances
In 2002 Brooks wrote and appeared on two songs on the Mark BoalsMark Boals
Mark Boals is an American rock singer, noted most for his work with Yngwie J. Malmsteen. He was born on December 5, 1958 , in Youngstown, Ohio, United States...
album Edge of the World, which also featured guitarist Tony MacApline (Ring of Fire
Ring of Fire (song)
"Ring of Fire" or "The Ring of Fire" is a country music song popularized by Johnny Cash and co-written by June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore. The single appears on Cash's 1963 compilation album, Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash...
), drummers Virgil Donati
Virgil Donati
Virgil Donati is an Australian drummer, frequent drum clinician and a producer. He is currently playing with the band Planet X and Seven the Hardway among other projects. Virgil is perhaps most well known for his fast, highly technical drumming skills...
and Vinny Appice of Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
and Dio
Dio (band)
Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...
, and keyboardist Erik Norlander
Erik Norlander
Erik Norlander is an American musician who describes himself as a 'keyboardist, composer, producer and engineer'. Norlander has produced albums for Rocket Scientists and his wife, Lana Lane. He also has a progressive rock solo project titled simply Erik Norlander...
. The album was released by the labels Marquee Inc in Japan and Frontiers Records worldwide. Brooks also appeared on the Australian metal band LORD
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
's 2007 release Ascendence
Ascendence
Australian bonus trackJapanese bonus track-Personnel:MusicalLord* Lord Tim – vocals, guitars, keyboards* Tim Yatras – drums* Andrew Dowling – bass guitarwith* Tania Moran – backing vocals* Gareth Michael – backing vocals...
, on which he contributed guitars to the tracks "Rain" and "Through the Fire". In 2009 LORD released a new album entitled Set in Stone, which features a new Chris Brooks solo on the track "Be My Guest".
In 2008 Brooks began work on his next solo instrumental album entitled The Axis of All Things. The album is due for release by Axiology Records (Brooks' own label) on 25 September 2011.
Guitar style and gear
Brooks is renowned for his legato technique and melodic phrasing which result in a fluid improvisational style. Brooks used Ibanez guitars for the first few years of his recording career and has been seen on numerous YouTube videos using a 2004 Paul Reed SmithPaul Reed Smith
Paul Reed Smith , is a luthier and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars.Smith is originally from Bowie, Maryland. He made his first guitar while at St. Mary's College of Maryland, and continued to build guitars after he finished college, making them one at a time, one a month...
Custom 24 guitar in vintage Yellow finish, and a customised 1997 American Fender
Fender
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, commonly referred to as simply Fender, of Scottsdale, Arizona is a manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers, such as solid-body electric guitars, including the Stratocaster and the Telecaster...
Stratocaster in Teal Green Metallic finish and white pearloid pickguard. In December 2009 Brooks became an endorser of the guitar brand Suhr Guitars
Suhr Guitars
Suhr Guitars is an American company that manufactures electric guitars and basses, guitar amplifiers, and effect units...
, beginning with a model he chose the specifications of with the boutique guitar manufacturer, based on the "Standard" model.