July 20, 1976 - Seven years to the day of man's revolutionary first steps on the moon, Diem Brooks was born...
Seven years later, Diem performs his first long awaited major solo performance at the Sydney Opera House on the piano accordion. After a warm welcome into the music industry by the eagerly enthusiastic audience, and receiving rave reviews in the newspaper, Diem knew there and then of his aspirations to make his musical artform longeval.
Diem, (born with the given name of "David Matthew", later accepted the nickname / pseudonym of "Diem" [pronounced D-M, ie. being short for "David Matthew"] to avoid constant confusion with other people in the entertainment industry of the same name) is the son of one of Sydney’s former leading session / live drummers Ken Brooks (John Farnham, Marcia Hines, Kamahl, etc) and younger brother of guitar virtuoso Chris Brooks (progressive rock soloist, Mark Boals [ex-Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist], Feeding The Addiction, etc).
(The) pre-teenage Diem, discovered a love of dynamics, rhythm, and arranging, leading him to study percussion and basic drumming rudiments and techniques, eventually evolving into strong improvisational skills in which he used by performing impromptu drum recitals between songs of his father’s bands. But with a love of rhythm and melody, Diem eventually wished to combine the two and at age 15 began playing the bass guitar.
After studying the bass guitar intensely, and playing with various bands, Diem discovered his own unique style and approach by utilising his rhythm and percussive skills combined with his melodic improvisational and soloing skills, which gave him the opportunity to play with one of Australia’s leading guitarist's Peter Northcote (Rick Price, John Farnham, Tom Jones, Shania Twain, Coke/Toyota commercials, etc.)
After being influenced by, and befriending fellow artists such as master bassist Billy Sheehan (Talas, David Lee Roth, Mr Big, Niacin, Steve Vai, etc), and Irwin Thomas (Irwin Thomas, Dweezil Zappa, John Farnham, Southern Sons, etc), Diem is more determined than ever to make his musical longevity dreams a reality.
Since the amicable parting ways of Diem's band "vienna circle", Diem has been performing solo shows (handling acoustic guitar and vocal duties) around Sydney, and is currently writing and recording new material and hopes to put together a new band soon.
Diem Brooks' talent as a bassist, songwriter / arranger, producer, guitarist, drum / percussion programmer, pianist, keyboardist, and singer, can be heard in the tunes featured in the "music" link @ www.soundclick.com/diem which features five bass demo tunes (primarily used to showcase Diem's bass style diversities), and Diem's solo vocal based rock tunes can be heard @ www.myspace.com/diembrooks
"I'm basically influenced by anything and everything... whether that be the sounds of birds singing at first light in the morning, or the crunching sound of a car crash...
In my opinion, influences are everywhere, it's just whether you can take the time to stop and listen to them, or let them pass you by...
My musical influences are varied... I appreciate most forms of music. Basically if it's cool, I dig it !
My CD collection mainly consists of many different genres of rock, - everything from late 80's / early 90's hard rock and instumental / progressive rock, up to todays top pop, rock, prog rock, and alternative bands..."
(current noteable influential bands / musicians include: nelson, silverchair, incubus, michelle branch, irwin thomas, jeff buckley...)
Although not endorsed by any particular brand or product, Diem uses D'Addarrio strings, on Yamaha 4 and 5 string basses, via Boss, and DOD effects units, through Eden nemesis amplification...
And... when performing solo, Diem uses Martin Strings on Fender telecasters, and Maton acoustic guitars !
"acoustica" is now available for the special price of $5 (AUS) at all gigs !!!