Review: BREAKING A MONSTER, Growing Up at the Speed of a Double Bass Kick Pedal

Three young boys from Brooklyn, NY - Malcolm Brickhouse, Jared Dawkins and Alex Atkins- inspired by entrance music played for wrestlers at events and theme songs of their favorite anime shows started their own metal band, Unlocking the Truth

 

Despite a history of talented African American musicians and bands rocking it out throughout the decades, from Chuck Berry to Jimi Hendrix to Living Colour the notion of an African American hard rock/metal band is still alien if not disregarded as a novelty. At least that is what some first thought of Unlocking the Truth when their videos of street performances in Times Square popped up on YouTube a handful of years ago. 

 

Ambitious and talented at their young age their videos racked up the hits and caught the eye of seasoned producer Alan Sacks. Sacks immediately saw potential in these youngsters and raced to sign with boys and represent them. Breaking A Monster follows the band and Sacks in 2014 as the band gets their first real taste of stardom and what it means to be a professional touring band. The band gets to play big gigs like Coachella, SXSW and Heavy in Montreal

 

When first meet Unlocking the Truth you know they want to be music stars. On the walls of their rehearsal space they have imaginary tours scrawled out on scraps of paper. They boys have dreams of becoming metal gods and selling out large venues and playing for their head banging brothers and sisters. 

 

 

At the same time they also want to be kids. Brickhouse loves to skate. Jared has a girlfriend. Alex loves playing GTA. They want to do all these things but signing with a label brings a length of restrictions and rules. Brickhouse wants to skate but what if he bails and hurts himself? You cannot play guitar when you have a broken arm. Likewise with the others, being a signed band means that a lot of your time is taken up with meetings, decisions to make about who produces their first record, what kind of shirt designs do they want. Being a paid band is more than just the music. Unlocking the Truth now has to hit the road and show off the brand. 

 

Then there is the social media spotlight. The three boys always have their personal devices at the ready so they are onto any mention of them the moment it happens. They prove themselves remarkably resilient to criticism. Dawkins gets a quick lesson in business etiquette as well. During a TED talk he prematurely announced their 2014 deal with Sony before the label to release the news through the channels of their own choosing. Anyone with a smartphone in the auditorium must have sent it out into the ethereal internet that moment so the opportunity to control that information was lost. 

 

But the boys do prove that they are smart as whips and no fools to what is going on around them. In an conversation with Sacks, Brickhouse says that Sacks is only there because of the money. Sacks denies that and learns that it is Brickhouse’s mom that has said it. None of this is surprising to anyone who has ever paid attention to how the biz works but Brickhouse proves he is no dummy either, not outright accusing his new boss of his motivations, but showing at his young age he also has some understanding of the why’s and how’s of the music business. 

 

The year before this all started coming to a head filmmaker Luke Meyer was already familiar with the band. He had made a short documentary with Brickhouse and Dawkins the year before, footage which is incorporated into the feature doc, so progression into the full length was natural once the band started drawing attention from Sacks and the like. Seldom is he heard throughout his picture and because of the familiarity between himself, the band and their families, they are open to him and easily share what is on their minds as working on the band further takes over their lives. 

 

 

Really special moments come when Meyer captures the band performing on stage. From small crowds and stages at SXSW and Coachella to playing in front of a mass of their own people at Heavy I just could not help but grin as the boys ground out grooves and riffs. There was also a touching moment when the boys and Sacks were listening to a mix of their song Monster and Brickhouse is sitting on Sacks’ lap as producer Johnny K rolls it out for them. You see that despite their professional relationship and generational gap (always evident when Sacks attempts to talk with the boys about how the business works) that there is a level of trust between them. 

 

Breaking a Monster is a coming of age story when growing up comes at you with all the fury of a mosh pit. It is a story where the dreams of stardom take a back seat to the reality of the business of music. These three young boys, their minds full of riffs and chord progressions, now have to think of other things that will have an effect on their band, their music and their lives. 

 

Breaking A Monster is required viewing for anyone, regardless of what music they like, for any youngster dreaming of becoming a professional musician. 

 

Breaking A Monster is a snapshot of these boys’ lives. Like a Polaroid picture that has taken a bit of shaking to develop the image, their lives have been a bit shaken by the reality of this turn in their professional lives; but a picture is beginning to develop and we catch a glimpse of who they will become. The picture has become a little bit clearer and before their youthful exuberance and innocence is completely enveloped by their future lives as professional musicians we catch a glimpse of what it is to be kid with stars in your eyes.