Custom paint on Brent’s
acoustic by Devin Brown
(IG: @1shotslinger)
Brent’s cocaine and meth dependency continued
through the birth of his son, Brixton. When asked
if his wife, Camille, had any idea of the depth of
her husband’s addiction, Brent confessed that
the ugliest truths were kept hidden. “She may
have known about the coke, but I don’t think
she had any idea about the meth,” he reveals.
“Meth is the bottom of the food drug chain. No
one wants to admit they do it, but once you get
into the lifestyle, you realize how many people
actually do and the lengths they go through to
keep it a secret.”
It was a Sunday, the tail end of a four-day binge.
Brent just played a show with Jonny Two Bags
from Social Distortion. “You don’t look so hot,”
Brent recalls Jonny saying. “I just realized that I
couldn’t do it anymore. I was living a double life,
straddling the line of having my shit together
but in reality, my life was in shambles.” Jonny’s
remark, combined with the pure exhaustion, and
knowing he was at the end of the line provided
the proverbial wake up call. “It was a higher
power, without a doubt, that held a door open,”
he says. “This voice said to me, ‘you have to
come now, and I am not going to make the
offer again.’” It was either continue looking at
life through bloodshot eyes or walk through that
door. Brent took that step.
Reno Divorce is the primary creative outlet for
Brent. He is the main songwriter, lead vocalist,
and guitar player for the three piece band.
Johnny Crow is on bass with Jason LaBella on
drums and both on backing vocals. The three
have an energy that gels in a way that didn’t
with the past lineups, and as Brent related, “It
was like winning the lottery twice.” The sound
is pure American rock and roll, with a mixture
of influences from the hints of reggae you
hear from the Police, the punk sensibility of
Rocket from the Crypt, and the hardcore punch
of Agnostic Front. The band recently shot a
performance video for “Ship of Fools” that
features gritty and stark images of drug abuse;
Brent admits that the subject matter is a bit
brutal. “I like to call it the trigger video,” he says
the song and video has resonated with fans and
it has reinforced Brent’s connection through his
songwriting.
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InkSpiredMagazine.com
InkSpiredMagazine.com
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