At The Park

Hi my name is Joel Brooks, I was born in Dallas,TX, April 23, 1982. I've been into music since I was born. My mom and biological father divorced when I was 3, so it was just my mom, little brother, and I until my mother remarried. When it was just the three of us we were so poor that we'd have to share a can of soup, so i learned to appreciate life and what little we had at an early age. My stepdad adopted us when i was 9, so we moved to Greenville, TX. where he had his law office.
I saved up a whole summer to buy my first acoustic guitar for $300, and I started playing guitar when I was 10 to impress and try to win my biological father's love (it was pointless). He was in a rock band and I used to just sit and watch him play as much as I saw him. It was the most amazing thing I had ever heard or seen, he was my hero. He gave up all his rights soon after.
My stepdad was very supportive of my music, getting me guitar lessons. I was the biggest AC/DC fan growing up and wanted to be just like Angus Young, so my dad got a 67' Gibson SG just like him. It was my first electric guitar. My neighbor growing up was Ben Kweller. He had a band at the time, so we use to rock out everyday after school. I learned a lot from Ben; he introduced me to The Melvins and Nirvana. I used to load their equipment to shows when I was 12. He was a real inspiration to me. Fast Forward awhile. I have been in a lot of bands since then and got in a lot of trouble. As a result, we had to move to Celeste, a little farm town outside of Greenville. It was there that I started AT THE PARK when i was 20.
We got our first show at the Galaxy Club in Deep Ellum with the ALL AMERICAN REJECTS, and at most there was 15 people there. The Rejects had no money or a place to sleep that night so I got them a hotel in Greenville. After that, Tyson and I became good friends. That's how we got on our first huge national tour. We toured with the ALL AMERICAN REJECTS, MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK, AND WAKEFIELD on the TO BAD FOR HELL TOUR. When we came home, the band just split apart. I struggled to keep anything together and actually managed to catch some good opening spots on WARPED TOUR. After that, it was just me for a while, along with a lot of DRUGS. After 2 heroin overdoses, 3 drug rehabs, 2 halfway houses, and many trips to jail, God has kept me alive to rock a while longer and sober.
I met Ryan and Cary in August 2005 and AT THE PARK began again. I've played with and seen some of the most amazing musicians in my life, and God gave me 2 of them. They aren't just my bandmates, but my bestfriends. "So here we are and were not taking things slow." SEE YOU ON THE ROAD!