Brooks Chats With Screamer Magazine

Brooks sat down with Screamer Magazine to chat about Life Is But a Dream..., The Rev, touring, the start of his music career, and more. Read the full article here.

Wackerman’s versatility has landed him gigs with Bad Religion, Blink 182 and Avril Lavigne before landing the ultimate gig with Avenged Sevenfold. “I always encourage musicians to go and study other styles [rather] than [just] the one they are playing so they have more of a musical vocabulary. Even if you’re playing rock music, you can pull from different styles, and that’s how you create YOUR style. All my favorite musicians are well-versed in many styles besides rock, so I was able to draw from each of them growing up and incorporate that into our sound. I think it just overall makes you a better musician. The artists and bands I’ve worked with have been very different in the studio, live and in the writing process. So, when I did Avril Lavigne’s record the songs were already written; I came in as a session musician and had never heard the songs before, so I just had to be adaptable to what was on the demo and listen very well. Walking into a new situation, you just have to kind of read the room and see the dynamic personalities that are coming your way and just be flexible. My motto is nothing is precious. So even if you think your idea’s the best, there’ll be another point of view that maybe you never thought of, so you just need to have an open mind on the creative process. I was a band member in Bad Religion, Blink 182 and now Avenged Sevenfold, so that’s more involved and I prefer that. Being a studio musician and only playing sessions are fun because you get to work with different producers, but the music hits different when you are creatively invested in what you are playing. That’s really where my heart is,” Wackerman concluded.