“I was terrified of anybody knowing. Once I started coming out to friends [in the 80s and early 90s], I picked my friends wisely, and everyone was supportive,” said Steve Brooks, guitarist and vocalist of Miami hard rock / sludge metal band Torche, before their July 2 show at Dante’s in Portland, OR. The band – Brooks, bassist Jonathan Nuñez, drummer Rick Smith and guitarist Andrew Elstner – was in Portland to kick off their Summer 2015 Tour with co-headliner Melt-Banana. Following the Q&A; about Torche’s February 2015 Relapse Records release “Restarter,” their writing process and the new tour, Brooks and Nuñez discussed Torche’s social media celebration of the Supreme Court’s ruling affirming marriage equality throughout the United States. Brooks, one of the few openly gay musicians in the world of heavy metal, shared his personal perspective with Soundcrave Magazine’s John Baxter under the shadow of Dante’s iconic “Keep Portland Weird” sign, right next to Portland’s inexplicably famous Voodoo Doughnuts. “[There are] people who have struggled their entire lives. I know people who have been together for 40, 50 years.. who have never had the same [equality],” Brooks said. “What if something happens to one of them, and the family that disowned them has more rights than their partner, that they spent a life with?” Bassist Nuñez also noted how the Supreme Court’s ruling could help teens and adults coming to grips with their own personal identity, especially “someone that may be out there feeling alone, and feeling that maybe what they feel is right... is wrong, which is beyond the worst thing that anyone could be experienced,” he said. “But maybe they listen to a band, or like watching someone’s movies, or reading someone’s books, and they know that person is openly supporting it. That feels good, to know someone’s on your side.” Added Brooks: “All we’re doing is trying to prevent people from getting hurt, fired, killed... The rest of the world that commits those crimes is getting away with it. The only reason why I’m visible is because you need to be visible, because everyone needs to know someone that’s lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans.” Torche is on tour now through early August with Japanese noise rock / grindcore band Melt-Banana. To find out more about Torche or to get your own copy of “Restarter,” go to the band’s page on Relapse Record’s website – http://www.relapse.com/label/artist/torche.html – or follow Torche on Facebook at: Facebook.com/TorcheOfficial. #MarriageEquality #Torche #SoundcraveMagazine

• published: 05 Jul 2015
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