A Dirty Dozen with DERRICK BRUMLEY from CONQUEST – March 2025

According to a recent press release: “Last year, veteran Midwest metallists Conquest returned with their latest album, Paradox. And now, the lads are prepared to unleash their latest single/video, “Love Amplified.” And like their previous standout offerings, “Walking Dead” and “The Writings on the Wall,” “Love Amplified” merges metal with melody, and measures up mightily to the current competition. Local fans will be able to hear the song performed live soon, as several performances have been confirmed.” We get singer / guitarist Derrick to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Let’s talk Paradox. This record for us was a very cool process but long a lot of inner happenings taking place which made the process of writing the songs longer than usual. But when it was all said and done everything turned out very, very strong and we were very happy with the record. 16 tracks – 1 cover and 15 originals. That’s a lot of music for any band to produce and put out. I always thank the record label Dark Star for their help. This record has a very wide range of hard rock / heavy metal music. It’s not a one trick pony style record. Very diverse with some cool strong variations in the music styles. Hidden gems on this record, I think there’s quite a few of them from the different styles of music that we’ve not really touched on before and came across at least in our opinion, these are some of the things that make it a real cool record.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Growing up in the late 70’s and early 80’s music was everything and everywhere. I was totally into it I gravitated to the harder edged music such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, bands like that. By the time I was 13, I knew I wanted to play music and that s how it all began. I traded my hockey stick for a old red guitar in the corner of my buddys basement and I played it through my parents stereo as loud as I could.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Going through my earlier years, I liked all the music. It didn’t really matter what kind, but as I got older in my teens like I said, I gravitated to the harder edged music. I would probably say when bands like Van Halen showed up, Montrose, UFO, and many others that really led me down that path. I would say, when I saw Van Halen open for Black Sabbath, that was a game changer for me.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

That’s a tough question I must say but probably someone like Edward Van Halen, or Rob Halford something crazy like that. And why I would call them in is because you have two very unique style people who created some of their own styles in the hard rock heavy metal world. Obviously Edward Van Halen made the guitar very renowned and the ability for Rob Halford to scream in the fashion that he does influenced heavy metal in a big way. I love writing music, so that would be very cool to do.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

I like to be outside I like to go fishing, camping to the beach, fun stuff like that. Pool side’s always a good thing. But I truly get enjoyment out of writing music and arranging it and going through the process of recording it and figuring out all the cool ins and outs of the tune. So from a guitar standpoint, it’s one perception. From a vocalist it’s another and then in the producing world you have to keep focused on the whole outcome, not just an individual instrument. Always looking for a cool product in the end.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Describing Conquest music, it’s pretty simple to do. It’s hard rock, heavy metal. Very diverse. And we didn’t invent the wheel so we just like it to roll, hence the rock and roll part of it. We thrive on melodies on all the instruments that have strings or keys. A good quality guitar hook with strong bass vibes and aggressive drum pattern. We thrive on making. quality music with peaks and valleys not just one style of hard rock or heavy metal.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

That’s kind of an interesting question. Probably we all would contribute if we’re gonna barbecue or something. I usually cook, but everybody contributes. I’d say Mike bust out the guitar first. Just sitting around playing the guitar, Drinks would probably be Rob Lee over in the corner sleeping. Get ready for the show but we gotta eat good before we play so gotta have good food.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

That’s an easy question for me, because I don’t really get starstruck. I’ve met a lot of my metal heroes over the years. But always fun to find out who people really are so it’s kinda cool to get to hang around with some of them from time to time before shows and stuff, but not really a starstruck kind of  person. We all put our pants on the same.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Being a musician for me is keeping my sanity showing an sharing my creativity which brings usually some form of peace to my mind, and it’s just a blast. It’s a great way to exert yourself, express yourself, and it makes me feel good. So is there another job? Not really I like to make stuff. So sometimes building stuff’s fun. I also like to vacation. So I might be a professional vacationer, if there’s such a thing. Hopefully somebody will hire me for that job.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I don’t know if there’s one that I’ve never had, but I do appreciate it when people interview you ask you about what’s currently going on in your camp or your life, or your band, or whatever it is you’re reflecting on. It makes a lot more sense to me that way than to ask me about something from 30 or 40 years ago, like, you know, when you started playing music and stuff like that, that same old question to me is  redundant. And you could probably read that on 400 other interviews that’s been done. Now, granted, not everybody knows who you are, so a little upfront information is not always a negative, but the whole life story thing, to me, is kind of a waste of time.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Well, I could probably point to quite a few missteps. That’s life. If you’re not making a mistake, you’re probably not having any fun or doing anything worthwhile. Everything requires mistakes. That’s how you learn so that’s my take on that. That being said, if I could take a few of those mistakes back and make them victories, who knows what the future would look like? One thing about life, you can’t change the path you’ve already taken. You can just move forward in the right direction.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

That’s a pretty deep question. Got my brain scrambled a little bit. I don’t know. I’d probably like to be around when Judas Priest was recording Stained Class or maybe Long Live Rock and Roll by Rainbow. great historical records in the hard rock heavy metal world. That’s a cool question to be a fly on the wall in so many recording studios would be awesome, But to name a few, these would be my choices. Both these records were very influential over my musical career to my style of play, guitar and vocals reflected in both these bands. Still listen to them today.

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Category: Interviews