Interview with Ben Brookland - guitarist for The Treatment

Interview with Ben Brookland - guitarist for The Treatment
Phone interview July 12, 2012
by Eldon McGraw
Feedback Fury



The Treatment are a young rock band from England that are getting ready for a big tour starting on July 20, 2012 - they are opening for Motley Crue and KISS in the United States. This will be The Treatment’s first time touring in the United States, and what a great tour that they get to play on!

They also have their debut album, “This Might Hurt” coming out in the U.S. on July 17, 2012. Their influences are a blend of old school Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy, and UFO. But as you will see in this interview with guitar player, Ben Brookland, they also like to add in some punk and more modern sound too.

Even though they are a young and up and coming band, they have achieved a lot so far. They have played along with Black Stone Cherry, Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy, Steel Panther, and Motorhead. They have also played the European festivals of Sonisphere, High Voltage, Hard Rock Hell, and Download.

We chatted with guitar player Ben Brookland on the phone and discussed his thoughts on the upcoming tour with Motley Crue/KISS, his first guitar, the new album, and if rock and roll is dead.



I know you are getting ready to come to the United States soon to tour with KISS and Motley Crue. Have you been to the U.S. before?

A couple of us have, but I have never been at all. It’s really exciting.

So what are you expecting in the U.S.?

To be honest, I don’t know what to expect. We’ve seen a lot on TV and saw Motley Crue and KISS on shows before and seen the sheer spectacle before. It’s going to be a great surprise to head over and find out for ourselves. We are really looking forward to that.

Is there a part of the U.S. that you are looking forward to seeing?

Not in particular. I think it’s just gonna be a great experience to see literally coast to coast for the first time that we go there. A lot of people's dream is to drive coast to coast across America and see the different parts. To do that and be on tour with two of your favorite bands is just an unbelievable experience for all of us.

You are going to be opening the shows on the Motley Crue/KISS tour. How can you stand out among two legendary bands?

We are just gonna go out and do our show, play our songs, give it all we got and hopefully the crowd will pick up on our vibe and get what they hear. Their shows are so amazing and incredible and all that we can do is go out there and do what we do and learn from them and hopefully our show will come across equally as entertaining. It won’t be as far as the light show and pyro, but we can give it our best shot with what we’ve got.

You guys seemed influenced by the Classic Rock sound. Tell me about that.

We are obviously influenced by that classic kind of sound, but we are also into a lot of modern day stuff as well. It’s important for us to find a middle ground. We are all such young guys. For us it’s that youthful energy that is so timeless. We like to come together and have a great time.


You talk about having a great time on stage, but what about having a great time off stage?

Well, we all live together as well when we are not on the road. The laughs we have on the road continue when we get home. This is what we love to do. Obviously we love to let our hair down, but those stories we can’t probably talk about.

So who is the biggest slob at home?

Probably the biggest slob is Tag. He is messy, especially in the kitchen.

Who is the best cook and what is his food specialty?

I think we would all probably disagree. Tag would think he is the best cook. But I think Swoggle, our bass player would also think he is the best cook. Tag makes weird dishes like European dishes, like French stuff. He just adds so much olive and cheese to everything.

You are also going to be playing some headlining shows at clubs in the U.S. What do you think is the biggest difference between your headline club show and opening up for Motley Crue/KISS will be?

Probably the dynamic of the set. With Motley Crue and KISS, we have a half an hour opening set, so we really want to go out and play a really in your face set and get the party started for those two bands. We can play up and down a little bit and show off different sides of our music when we headline, which will be exciting.




Hip Hop and Electronic dance music is big right now. Is Rock and Roll dead?

It will never die. You can put on any great song from any great rock band and it makes you feel good. There's nothing that's gonna take away from the live show as well. It’s such a unifying experience for everyone. You just can’t get that from computerized things. I’m not saying that it's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think rock and roll and the live band will always come back.

You have a new album coming out. What can we expect to hear on the new album?

It’s the best of both worlds. Best of the old and best of the new. We tried to cover a broad spectrum of sounds. There’s a little bit of everything for everybody, whether you like punk music, heavy music, or those classic tunes. It’s all about the songs to us.


Do you think you can steal any of the ladies backstage at a KISS/Motley Crue concert?

(Laughs) That would be nice to think so. Hopefully the British charm will work on them.

You probably don't want the women that are the same age of KISS and Motley Crue.

We have open minds. We will try everything once, within reason.

When did you start playing guitar and what was your first guitar?

My first guitar was a Fender Squire Strat and I had to save up my allowance for like two years. I was like ten or eleven. It’s a good thing. It’s not one of those hobbies where you do it one minute then chuck it away.



Since you started at such a young age, what kind of tips can you give young guitar players?

Don't lose heart with it. Take your time. It’s important to not try and run before you walk. If you stick with it and persevere, nine times out of ten you get there in the end.

Tell me something you learned this week and something you did for fun.

I learned that Stevie Ray Vaughn had a helicopter crash at one of the places we are going to play in Wisconsin. For fun, we did a live acoustic session today in Birmingham at Kerrang radio.

Thanks for the interview.

No problem, take care.

For more information about The Treatment, please visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TheTreatmentOfficial


The Treatment music video for their new song "The Doctor".