Meet Fractured!!!

HEY, y’all! I am proud to welcome Brian Smith onto my humble lil’ blog!

Brian is one of the guitar players for the Georgia-based hard-rock band Fractured. And I gotta tell ya… Fractured stomps some SERIOUS ass, now!!! I found ‘em on FaceBook, and then I toddled on over to Spotify. Next thing I knew, I was throwing up the horns and banging my heads like a damn GROUPIE!!!

SO … let’s have a chat with Brian!!!

WELCOME, Brian Smith! It’s an honor to have you on our site today. So you’re a guitar player for the Georgia-based band Fractured. Can you tell our readers about how y’all got together?

Sure. Thank you for having me. I’m one of the guitar players in fractured, Dave the other guitar player, he’s the less pretty one … haha he also does leads. Rob and I were jamming working on some of his music with another friend of ours that was a drummer … when that didn’t really work out, Rob and I wrote a couple songs, thought about who else we could call, thought about Dave, known him since 1990 1989 somewhere around there. Let’s just say a long time, but we’d never even played guitar together before. He came down and it just clicked we started having fun and ride music, and Phil came in play bass, and now we have Greg as our drummer

I won’t tell Dave you said he’s ‘less pretty’, promise! Now you have a manager, and you’re touring. How did all that come to fruition?

Just opening up for different bands that came through town, and they’d like us and talk to their ‘people’ and the ball started rolling. And don’t worry, Dave knows he’s less pretty.

Haha! So did Fractured begin by playing the bar circuit, or did y’all start out more as a ‘concert venue’ kind of band?

We played a few bars but we’ve done a lot of charity stuff for The Wounded Warriors Project. Hometown Heroes. Playing quite a few Bike rallies. That’s a lot of fun when you get to do what you love while giving back.

Indeed it is. I’m listening to your EP ‘Alive’ right now, and what blows me away is how many diverse influences I hear in the music. I mean, ALL hard-rock fans are Children of Black Sabbath. But y’all go way beyond that. Can you tell us a bit about Fractured’s songwriting process?

We just started out having fun we didn’t have any specific genre or idea where we were going to end up. But the band and guitar player that I have always listen to is Black Sabbath. They are still my favorite band. And of course the other guys have all their influences that they bring in. you know it wasn’t just Sabbath for me it was Iron Maiden it was Led Zeppelin, LA guns, Guns n’ Roses, it was Van Halen all the greats. I listen to everything and I know that was the same for everybody else in the band. One of us will come in with a riff or a song idea, but we all put in our parts on the songs. Sometimes we just bust out a riff in practice and it turns into a song. Those are the best

I am VERY impressed with the music! It’s all fairly heavy, which makes the style consistent. But I hear some blues here and there, and some southern rock … Your band page says all the members contribute to the songwriting process. How does that play out during jam sessions, when everyone’s involved? As opposed to say, Metallica, where most of the music is written by a couple of men and then handed to the band to arrange?

Well sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it ends up just being a five minute Jam that we never play again. But then there are the special times when we keep working on, something to keep working on and it turns into something we all like. We’re just all feeding off each other

So does Fractured’s music come mostly from impromptu ‘jam sessions’?

Well, Dave and I usually have a riff. Maybe two parts of a riff that we put together, that we think is cool, and then the other rewrites the riff and we get mad at each other … ha … and then the next rehearsal Dave’s done something cool with the riff, or I have and we just take it from there. Usually Phil and Rob get together right away, but Rob always comes up with a hook or something to sing while we’re playing. Dave is really good at arranging parts of the songs and moving them around or whatever. It’s seriously a group effort

Ah, the ‘almighty riff’, as Kirk Hammett put it. I gotta ask, how did you guys meet your lead singer? I LOVE that dude! He’s very ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd’.

Don’t tell Dave I said that

Don’t worry, I won’t!

I’m met Rob probably 15 years ago, through a mutual friend of mine and his that’s a great drummer. I was playing in the band with the drummer, and Rob showed up one night to help him load in his drums in and out. Told me it was a singer, didn’t think much of it at the time. But then probably six months went by and I saw him again. I actually heard him sing, and I was like WOW I’ve got to get this guy in a band singing rock and roll!!! Then ten more years went by before we actually got together

GREAT acquisition! One thing I loved about the metal scene in my hometown was the sense of community. I was just the drunk ‘fan gal’, but I often got dragged on stage to tell the crowd about my books. I loved how supportive the hard-rock world was. Have you found that to be the case in your area?

Absolutely, the rock and roll crowd—the Hard Rock people that scare the hell out of everybody when they’re walking to the venue—will be the first to lend a hand to anybody who needs help. It is definitely a close Community; there’s a lot of great rock and roll bands and people that love rock and roll in Atlanta

I agree. There are those who say hard-rock fans are scary, but honestly? They’re the best people I know. Perhaps the challenges of being musicians keep them humble. So on that note … what are some of the challenges that come with being in a band? Balancing your music with your personal life?

Yes, your personal life becomes difficult sometimes. And being in a band is like being in a relationship with four other people because they bring in their good, their bad, their problems, and  their moods. But I’ve played in quite a few bands and this band is the easiest to get along with

Would you say it’s like having a whole other family?

Yeah the crazy side of the family!

Lol … So what’s coming up on the horizon for Fractured? New album? Tour?

Yes we’ve been working on some new songs. And also talking to some people. So yes to all of that!

NICE!!! I can’t wait to hear what’s next! ‘Alive’ stomped some serious ass, now. So before we go, what advice – given your decades of experience – would you give to a new/aspiring musician?

Thanks! Yeah, I love that song. My advice would be if you’re going to play music, play it for the love of it. Because no other reason will keep you going.

Amen. Writing is the same. Thank you SO much for taking the time to represent Fractured today, Brian. I for one am very grateful for your taking the time. And I promise not to tell Dave that you said he’s less pretty. I also won’t tell the other guys that Cheri said you’re the most normal! God bless you, and I wish Fractured ALL the best in future!

Seriously, Fractured whups ass! If you like hard rock, here’s where you can find ‘em:  https://linktr.ee/fracturedofficial

THANK you, Brian, for representing your band today! And here’s me wishing Fractured a bright and happy future!!!