New Zealand rockers Like A Storm just released their new album ‘Awaken The Fire.’ Loudwire Nights host Full Metal Jackie recently caught up with frontman Chris Brooks, who talked their new album, his siblings in the band, their live show + much more. Check out the interview below:

Chris, what makes touring America so appealing to a band from New Zealand?

It's way bigger than New Zealand. New Zealand is such an awesome place but you can tour the whole country in about two weeks, which leaves about 50 weeks to work a real job. We don't want to work a real job, so we love touring here. We can play every night and the crowds are amazing. 

This band built its audience using a very hands on, do it yourself approach. What concerns you most about relinquishing some of that responsibility to an outside record company and PR people?

Nothing really. The main thing is for us to make this connection with people who love our music. We love our music so much; we play the songs that we feel so passionately about. We write about things that we believe in and we love performing those and then getting to hang out with people that the music touches them in some way. So, for us it's really not about record labels or anything but about connecting with people.

Two siblings have a hard enough time being in a band together, Like A Storm has three Brooks brothers. What's a positive result of sibling rivalry in your band situation?

Nobody expects any presents on Christmas Day. That's probably the good part, we're all equally useless and we know that about each other by now. There's no responsibility there. We've got such a great chemistry with each other, musically and as people. We have such an awesome time traveling around following this dream we believe in so much. People think we fight all the time, but the truth is we really get on so well.

Chris, why rework older songs for Awaken The Fire rather than start completely from scratch and write all new material?

We did this EP, Chaos Theory, and we made it ourselves and we did in a hotel rooms while we were on tour. We had this new music and we had this amazing group of fans and we just wanted to give them this new music. So we recorded that. We didn't think it would ever get played on the radio or ever amount to anything. Then "Love The Way You Hate Me" started getting played on these cage matches and stuff, doing really well. Then other stations started playing it and I guess it exposed us to a whole new audience that has never heard of us. So we started touring and we just couldn't stop.

Chris, what changes most about your songs when they're played live compared to how they sound on the albums?

We work really hard in the studio to make sure that they're fun songs for us to play live and make sure that they really retain the emotion. Then when we get up there live, combine that with the live show and the energy of the crowd. So, they always have that raw emotion or energy for the live show. That's what rock music is always about to us, so that's always cool.

Thanks to Chris Brooks for the interview. Like a Storm’s new album ‘Awaken The Fire,’ featuring the single 'Wish You Hell,' is available now at Amazon and iTunes. You can see their tour dates here. Tune in to Loudwire Nights With Full Metal Jackie and Tony LaBrie Monday through Friday at 7PM through midnight online or on the radio. To see which stations and websites air ‘Loudwire Nights,’ click here.

Watch the Video for Like a Storm's 'Wish You Hell'

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