Video Interview: Brandon Cook (The Loyal Order, Black N’ Blue, & Metalmorphosis)
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Podcast Audio Interview: Brandon Cook (The Loyal Order, Black N’ Blue, & Metalmorphosis)
[Apple iTunes] [Anchor] [Stitcher] [TuneIn] [Google Podcasts] [Podchaser]Brandon Cook of the bands Black N’ Blue and the Loyal Order about his bands, playing with Metallica, Megadeth’s Marty Friedman, Kiss, toxic masculinity, and much more.
Hear the music at on Show 226
Photo: Dean Walker
Pariah Burke, Host of the Hard, Heavy & Hair Show ( https://www.pariahrocks.com ) interviews Brandon Cook of the bands Black N’ Blue and the Loyal Order.
Excerpts from this interview, along with much more music, appear on the Hard, Heavy & Hair Show no. 226, which aired on FM, AM, and Internet radio stations on 5 continents the week of November 10-17 2019. That show is available for on-demand streaming at https://2.clp.im/hhh226
00:01:35 – The Start of The Loyal Order
00:03:43 – Genesis of “Off the Grid Superhuman” and the end of the world
00:04:45 – Dante’s and American Bastard
00:06:15 – Songwriting inspirations.
00:08:54 – Evolution of “Half Life”
00:11:37 – The Slayer influence on “Half Life”
00:12:38 – Half Life guitar solo
00:14:38 – About “Fuck or Fight”
00:15:23 – Toxic relationships, healthy boundaries, and being a healthy romantic partner. How songwriting can be cathartic.
00:21:11 – Creative people and painful relationships. Brandon being vulnerable and candid about his healing.
00:28:55 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Paul and Linda McCartney. Fleetwood Mac’s disfunction.
00:32:14 – Healing and growing as a man has helped him grow as a musician and be more open to creating with other musicians.
00:32:42 – Metallica’s dysfunction and becoming a functional band.
00:34:41 – Invasive Species
00:34:46 – A troubled childhood leads to adult anxieties.
00:36:07 – EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
00:36:49 – On meeting rock star heroes and peers.
00:38:22 – Paul Lamb and the Invasive Species Progressive Metal project
00:39:45 – A concept album reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s The Wall.
00:48:09 – Invasive Species has moments like King Crimson and Voivod
00:48:59 – Getting raw like the spark of an idea exploding out of you, like Punk Rock playing in a Progressive Rock project.
00:59:15 – Toxic masculinity, expectations, empowered women, and Rock N’ Roll.
01:02:37 – 80s and 90s power ballads, male vulnerability
01:07:36 – Sharon Osbourne
01:08:15 – Loyal Order album release date
01:10:17 – The first Loyal Order order live show opening for Puddle of Mudd
01:11:02 – Records, albums, singles, cover songs and originals, AOR, and going old school with the Loyal Order, like the Beatles
01:13:19 – Patrick Young, bassist for Black N Blue
01:14:27 – Being a fan of your own band
01:15:55 – Build your Heavy Metal super group
01:21:33 – Playing with the great drummers
01:25:09 – Megadeth’s Marty Friedman bowed down to you
01:27:13 – What’s the click track?
01:31:39 – MegaCruise and playing with Todd LaTorre (Queensryche), Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth), David Ellefson (Megadeth), and Tom Hazart. and Kyle Baltes.
01:35:29 – I don’t want to just get through… I want to get on the cutting edge of everything.
01:36:53 – Playing with Metallica and learning to play at a world-class level
01:38:18 – Becoming a father and being a professional guitarist
01:39:30 – Harmonizing to Kirk Hammett’s “One” solo and Charlie Parker
01:41:55 – Playing “Black Night” by Deep Purple with Metallica; Ian Pace’s influence on Lars Ulrich
01:43:09 – When you’re starting a career in music
01:43:52 – Matt Starr and always be learning
01:45:32 – Marty Friedman and Britney Spears, choosing Madonna or Megadeth
01:52:22 – Kirk Hammett and the harmonic dive that no one can play
01:53:12 – Making art from mistakes
01:54:04 – Playing, parenting, gigging, and growing
01:57:46 – George Lynch and Dave Grohl
01:58:30 – Appetite for Deception and sweating the details
02:02:15 – What a band needs for success
02:04:04 – Glam to leather; Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, Stryper; Skid Row’s evolution
02:05:48 – Skid Row and Sebastian Bach, like your dad wanting anal
02:07:07 – Getting creative to get the sound you want
02:08:13 – Persistence creates progress; Marty Friedman, Chris Caffery, Jeff Plate, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Alex Skolnik, Al Pitrelli
02:10:48 – Upcoming shows
02:11:32 – Jukebox Heroes, as good as Foreigner
02:13:55 – Learn guitar and how to advance your career from a bonafide Rock star (with 10% discount!)
02:17:02 – How to be a member of a band
02:18:09 – Playing like Tommy Thayer
02:19:00 – KISS and Paul Stanley’s voice
02:19:30 – Technical difficulty
02:20:20 – Ace Frehley
