Emerging within the energetic rock scene alongside bands like Royal Blood, Muse, and Queens of the Stone Age, the Canadian trio BRKN LOVE and their charismatic frontman,/guitarist Justin Benlolo, are making waves. Their third album, The Program, delivers a powerful and theatrical arena rock sound characterized by massive guitar tones and driving rhythms. While visiting Charleston, South Carolina, Benlolo unexpectedly found inspiration and began writing the album, extending his stay to capitalize on the creative momentum. Although not a concept album, “The Program” served as a central theme and muse for Benlolo throughout the songwriting process, subtly infusing the tracks with R&B, soul, and funk influences drawn from his deep appreciation of rock history. The resulting anthemic songwriting and soaring vocals create an epic and immersive listening experience.
Benlolo checked in to discuss BRKN LOVE’s third release, the challenges and triumphs of translating their recorded energy to a live setting, the surprising inspiration he found in Charleston, their approach to utilizing social media and creating compelling videos, and the surreal experience of meeting his musical heroes.
Considering the first album takes a lifetime, the second is rushed, what saying captures the experience of creating a third album?
JUSTIN: I might have heard somebody like Steve Lukather say this: your third album is your make-it-or-break-it record. If a band can make it past a third record, then you’ve actually done something. A lot of bands fall apart by the third record because it’s hard to find something to say a third time around. You’ve already done it twice, and many people fizzle out at this point.
I think the third record needs to be ambitious. You need to reach for something just a little bit outside your comfort zone. Your first record takes your lifetime, then your second record is kind of an update, almost like a polished version of your first record. It completes the idea of what you were trying to achieve initially. Unless you’re Guns N’ Roses or Boston and kill it out of the park with your first album. For most people—certainly for this band—that’s not the case. The third record is the “third record hump.” We had to make it over it, and I’m happy with what we achieved.
Nobody’s ever promised even a second record, so in some cases, you want to put everything into that first record, not knowing if you’ll ever have another chance. But on the other hand, many bands blow it by putting everything into their first record and then lose that creativity. I think you’re right—that third album is where your career really starts. It’s like the airplane metaphor: you’ve taken off, and now you’ve hit cruising altitude.
JUSTIN: I like that one. I’ve never heard that before. Every record feels like the end of the world in the sense that you’re going to throw everything at it. It’s impossible to get perspective on what the future will be when you’re in the moment. Of course, I’ve given my all every single time, but there is something to be said about now having a body of work. We’re in a much different place as a band.
I can actually look back at what we’ve done, which is an interesting point to be at. I have to be careful not to compare myself to a previous version of myself and trust that the decisions I’ve made now are the right ones. That’s part of growing musically—becoming more sure of yourself and the choices you make.
I made my first record when I was 18 or 19, almost 10 years ago. As a younger man, I was much less confident in my ideas and abilities. I really relied on my producer and collaborators to facilitate my vision. Now that we’ve gotten to this point, I’m more secure in my own ideas and thought process. This is the record I’ve been trying to make for years, and I just got in my own way for too long. In a year or two, I’ll probably be talking about my fourth record and saying, “This is the record I was trying to make my whole life.”
I’m glad you said that. I’ve been interviewing bands longer than you’ve been alive, and every band says, “This is our best record.” When I ask about their last record, they say, “Well, that was our previous best record, and now this is our best record.” I’ve never interviewed a band that said, “This one was just okay.”
JUSTIN: Of course! Nobody is going to sit here and tell you, “I don’t know if we did it on this one.” We’ll always think the current thing is the best because it’s a snapshot of our lives right now.
It’s interesting listening back to the old records. The other week was the fifth anniversary of our first record, and as a gift to myself, I decided to listen to it. It had been a long time. I could hear the growth and who I was back then in the songs and lyrics. I thought, “Wow, that’s stuff I probably wouldn’t do now.” It helped me gain perspective not just musically but in my life because it made me see personal growth.
I used the record as therapy at the time, and every record is kind of like that. It was interesting to hear the subject matter and who I was then versus how much I’ve grown since. Every record is a snapshot of a period in your life. Now that we have three, you can go through three distinct eras of BRKN LOVE and pick your favorite.
You seem to be a student of rock music history. Do you know the band Queenryche?
JUSTIN: Of course! I have Operation:Mindcrime on vinyl.
I interviewed Geoff Tate about 15 years ago. Since he was eight or ten records into his career, I asked if there were any songs they’d written that they’d never played live. He said there were some things they did in the studio that they just couldn’t replicate without extra people or equipment. Three albums into your career, have you played everything you’ve written live?
JUSTIN: No, there are certainly things we’ve left out. That question is a little easier to answer now because you can do almost everything live with modern technology. We don’t use any playback or anything—we do it completely live. So we’re not going to hire extra musicians to play keyboards or additional percussion, or add a fourth vocal that we can’t do live.
There are songs we’ve never played live, not because of production limitations but because I can’t sing everything extremely high all night. We have to structure the set so I can make it through every night. As we put out more music, we have to keep playing the songs everybody knows. Every time we release a new record, we can only really play about half of it without alienating the people who came to hear songs like “Shot Down,” “Flies in the Honey,” “Dead Weight,” or “Like a Drug.” We only have about an hour on stage if we’re lucky, so we can’t play the full record.
I think about the bands that I grew up listening to who are still touring and how they stick to the hits, mostly, even if they’ve put out newer material. I wonder how satisfying that can be 30 years into a career, always playing the same songs?
JUSTIN: It depends how much of a music snob you are. There are bands like Radiohead who practically play their whole new record when they tour—that’s their approach. They’re not a “hits” band. I come from the world of bands like KISS or AC/DC, where they play all the hits at their shows.
I love that because even at a Radiohead concert, a good portion of people in that arena are probably only there because they know “Creep.” You can’t deny the power of one massive hit song, and there are so many casual music listeners who don’t actually dive into your catalog. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t give people what they want.
I thought by this point I’d be sick of playing “Shot Down”—we’ve closed with it at every show for five or six years now. Honestly, I never get tired of playing it because people love it, and when they love it, I love it. That’s really what we’re doing this for. Yes, I have my own artistic goals where I want to make a statement, but I don’t feel too precious about it.
The records and live shows are supposed to be different experiences, which is why we don’t use backing tracks. If we wanted to give you the same experience as listening to the record, we would just play the record over the PA. It doesn’t bother me because they’re two separate entities. We have the capabilities in a studio to take songs as far as we want, and some things just don’t translate live. That’s okay with me.
I think it was Ace Frehley who said something interesting when asked if he ever gets tired of playing the same songs every night. He said, “I’m playing the same songs, but the audience is different every night. I take something from the audience. It’s not the same audience hearing it 20 times in a row; it’s 20 different audiences. I feed off that and get to see their faces and hear them sing along. It’s like playing it for the first time again.”
JUSTIN: That’s a good point. The crowd isn’t always the same, so why should you rob people of that experience just because you’re tired of playing a song? Your big songs are your big songs for a reason, and I don’t think you’re doing anybody a favor by avoiding them for whatever artistic choice.
We haven’t been a band for that long, so I can’t properly answer the question. Talk to me in 20 years, and maybe I’ll be sick of playing “Shot Down.” But at this point, it hasn’t happened.
In many ways, there are songs I’m happy we don’t play live simply because I don’t want to sing them—they’re difficult to perform. With modern recording, we don’t do everything live off the floor anymore. I’ll record a guitar part that I know later I’ll have to sing and play simultaneously when we perform. That’s tricky because I don’t want to hold back the guitar playing, but I have to do both, which uses two different parts of my brain. I’m not a wizard—I can’t just play everything and sing everything at the same time.
Even internally, the band has different opinions. There are certainly songs that one person wants to play and others don’t. We have conversations about it, but we make it work. As always, we’re going to play the hits because this is really for the people.
You went to Charleston with no plan, and it turned into a program. Was that truly spontaneous? What was the reason for going to Charleston?
JUSTIN: One of my best friends ended up going to law school in Charleston, and he actually tour-managed us on a tour. He decided to move there because we had such a good time when we passed through on tour. He coerced me into coming down because I had nothing to do—the album cycle for Black Box had just ended, and I was sitting at home twiddling my thumbs. There was a lot going on internally with my team, switching agents, and other stuff that had me at a standstill.
He said, “Just come down. I haven’t seen you in a while. We’ll hang out and have a good time.” I agreed, and to remain productive, I brought my gear. I didn’t intend to write songs, but I can’t go anywhere without a guitar. It’s not only my job but my favorite thing to do—I’d lose my mind without it.
The first night there, we had such a great time and met all these people. We made fast friends, and I kept extending my trip because we were having so much fun. While my friend was at school all day, I worked on riffs and melodies. By the two-week mark, I realized I’d written about three songs, and things seemed to be working well there.
I didn’t want to leave the people we’d just met—we’d entered such a fun little world. We became so close that I named the record after us. My friend kept using the phrase “the program,” saying things like, “When we went here tonight, that was good for the program,” or “Don’t do this because that’s bad for the program.” We named our text group “The Program” and would say, “Hey programmers, good morning programmers. Tonight we will be at such-and-such if you’d like to join—it would be good for the program.”
By the time I was halfway through writing the record, I thought, “This is a cool title.” It feels ominous. I know what it means to us, but there’s something mysterious about “The Program”—what does it all mean?
I kept staying because I had nothing else to do, so it became an extended vacation that turned into a working vacation. I felt endlessly inspired by the environment and the people. I only left because we got a tour offer and had to head back to Canada, but I’ve gone back a few times since because I love Charleston so much.
If your friend had moved to Austin, Texas, do you think you would have had that same creative spark? Or was there something about Charleston itself that worked its way into your blood?
JUSTIN: It’s impossible to answer, but I feel like any place is as good as its people. While the weather was great, there were palm trees, and it’s a smaller city unlike Toronto where I’m from, we made so many personal connections with people.
It was a new experience for both my friend and me—he hadn’t really established a serious social circle since moving there either. We were both making connections at the same time, which facilitated the whole creative process.
Every week my mom would call asking, “When are you coming home?” and I’d say, “Just one more week.” I seriously couldn’t leave. I was going to stay until we got a tour offer or I ran out of money—I was probably just blowing everything we made from the previous album cycle. I wasn’t working at the time, so I thought, “Let’s just keep going until I’ve got nothing.”
TikTok and social media have been instrumental in your career. Are you personally active on these platforms? Do you work with others on strategies, or does content take off virally on its own? How important is social media in your day-to-day job?
JUSTIN: I run all the socials myself, and quite frankly, I hate it. It’s a necessary evil, and I’m sure that’s not an unpopular response from anybody in this industry. It’s vital, but I’m not a TikTok or Instagram Reels wizard. I don’t put tremendous effort into it.
It’s probably something I could work on more given the current climate and how things take off nowadays with clickbaity videos. There’s an ongoing conversation where people tell me, “Justin, we need you to do more,” and I respond, “I don’t know what to do.” I don’t want to be cheesy or corny—it feels cringy if I’m singing a song into a camera or miming something. It doesn’t feel natural to me, but I can’t downplay how necessary it is in today’s world.
Have you ever been asked to lip-sync a performance on a TV show? There are famous videos of bands like Iron Maiden or Nirvana rebelling against that.
JUSTIN: No, that’s never happened to us yet, thankfully. I imagine if we do get asked, we’ll probably try to do something rebellious too, but I say that now—we might get in trouble. There are great examples of Muse and Nirvana doing it where the musicians switched instruments or did something hilarious. We’ll take that as it comes.
There’s a saying, “Never meet your idols.” As a rock historian, do you enjoy meeting your musical heroes? Were you the kind of kid who sought autographs? Have you met anyone who exceeded your expectations?
JUSTIN: When I was a kid, all my heroes were truly my heroes. I remember meeting KISS when I was about 14, and I cried. At that time, Justin Bieber fans were shown fainting at concerts, and I thought, “Get a grip—what’s wrong with you?” Then when I met KISS, I couldn’t hold back tears, and I thought, “Okay, I get it now.”
As for exceeding expectations, I got to hang out with Alice Cooper. I actually played guitar for him on a show in Greece two or three years ago. When dealing with people of that stature, it’s not uncommon for them to avoid interacting with the band—they show up, do their thing, and leave. I was part of a 30-piece band with an orchestra.
Alice was so cool—he went out of his way to say hi to everybody, shake hands, and have a moment with each person. I thought, “Alice Cooper, you don’t have to talk to me. I’m just some kid, and you’ve been doing this three times longer than I’ve been alive.”
That was particularly impressive because I did that show with several famous artists, and he was arguably the most famous yet the only one who was so genuine. There have certainly been some disappointing encounters too—people I’ve looked up to who turned out to be disasters. But for every one of those, there’s somebody who is exactly who you hope they’d be. I hope that if people look up to us or to me in any way, I don’t disappoint them.
I met Boy George and Culture Club at a meet-and-greet, and even though people paid $200 for a quick photo, he took the time to say, “Hey, Boy George here, what’s your name? Chip? Good to meet you, hope you enjoy the show.” That small interaction made my night.
JUSTIN: It makes a difference. With Alice Cooper, he introduced himself like, “I’m Alice,” and I’m thinking, “Of course, I know who you are!” That human connection where it’s just man-to-man for a second, like we’re on the same level—I really appreciated that from someone like him.
I’ve seen some people backstage who really believe they’re rock stars, and it’s disappointing. That’s why guys like Dave Grohl are so beloved—he’s an everyman, for the people. That’s what I’m striving to be. If I’m lucky enough to achieve even a portion of his success, I’d love to be seen in that light. Most people who’ve met me would probably attest that I’m just a regular dude. We do the music thing, but the other day I was making a grilled cheese at midnight and posted it to my story. You think I’m a rock star? I’m doing the same things as everybody else.
I read that you’re into ’70s funk and soul and are incorporating that into your music. I think I hear it in songs like “12 Wings” and “Break the Same.” Is that where you’re inserting that ’70s funk influence?
JUSTIN: There are several tunes with elements of that. “Break the Same” is probably the most disco-funky song, and “12 Wings” definitely has some of that too. “Shades of You” is a pretty funky rock song—it was originally called “Funked Up.”
Even on our single “Pulling Leeches,” there’s that disco guitar juxtaposing the really dirty bassline. There are elements throughout the record. For R&B influences, a song like “Cruel”—those verses are practically Backstreet Boys. “Unholy” is one of my favorites because it has the most evil riffs we’ve ever played—very minor, very dark—but the vocals are like an NSYNC song. In my mind, it’s literally NSYNC and Black Sabbath together, which creates a cool juxtaposition.
There are elements throughout the record that we would never have done before. It’s not a complete departure, but we took things to new places. We still have straight-up rockers like “20/20 Vision” or “Diamonds,” and “Wisdom Teeth” is a pretty straightforward rock song. But there are tracks where I hope people say, “Okay, that’s different, that’s catching me.”
What kind of vinyl collector are you?
JUSTIN: To be fair, I haven’t bought vinyl in a long time. I went through a big phase when I was living in LA—I lived down the street from Amoeba Music on Sunset Boulevard and spent so much time there buying records. I have a whole stack, but I haven’t plugged in my record player in ages. I have my speakers and Spotify now, which is kind of a shame.
I bought the whole Led Zeppelin discography, the entire KISS discography, a bunch of Prince and Who records. I remember at Amoeba, if you searched long enough, there was one record with a little sign that said “Best Record in the Store”—it was The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle.
Is there any obscure band or album you love that most people haven’t heard of? Or do you mainly listen to well-known stuff?
JUSTIN: I don’t go super deep. My friends don’t really listen to the kind of music I listen to—it’s not uncommon these days to not have many friends who listen to rock music, especially since I love older rock. Most of my friends were just listening to whatever was popular growing up and still do—they’re all into pop and alternative.
Even if I talk about a band like the Allman Brothers, they don’t know who that is. So it’s all obscure to my friends, but to people who are fans of rock and older music, I have most of the classic records. I’m looking at a Waylon Jennings record right now. I have some Dwight Yoakam records—I like everything, I’m not tied to any genre.
That’s why when I talk about disco, R&B, and pop influences on this new record, it’s genuine. I love that stuff. All that gatekeeping that used to exist in music is mostly gone now. Nobody really cares if you’re a punk guy who likes disco anymore. When KISS released Dynasty back in the day, it was the end of the world—“They went disco!” Nowadays that’s celebrated. Everything’s genre-bending. We live in a great time where music can just be music.
Do you ever toy around with side projects when you’re at home? Is there a country album in you?
JUSTIN: Maybe not country—I don’t know if that’s within my capabilities. But I’ve definitely thought about doing something seriously funky. A really funky side project would be cool. I have a song already written for the next record that’s really funky but still rock—I’m trying to blend it in my own way.
I would love to stretch those muscles at some point. I’d like to do an acoustic, almost folky thing, like Led Zeppelin III. I might even try to make a metal record someday, and that’s not really my wheelhouse either. I’m more of a rock guy than into super heavy, technical stuff. When I listen to metal, it’s more classic metal. But I think it would be fun to try different things.
I’ve been heavily into Michael McDonald lately. Me and my band have been obsessed with him and all the Doobie Brothers stuff for the past couple of months. I was also getting into Steely Dan, which I never explored growing up. These yacht rock things are really speaking to me now, along with Kenny Loggins. Amazing music.
You seem to be made for making videos—it doesn’t come across as painful for you. Are you basically making videos for YouTube, or are there outlets for you to get on TV somewhere?
JUSTIN: It’s predominantly just for YouTube, which is the biggest discovery platform, so it’s really important that we have those videos. I don’t put a lot of emphasis on music videos, honestly.
But you make good ones.
JUSTIN: I can’t take credit for the concepts or creative direction. I’m the music guy first and foremost. We’ve just been lucky to work with great people who have helped facilitate that part. Sometimes I’ll see our videos playing at the gym on the screens, which is always funny because nobody’s paying attention. But YouTube is where people discover music now—I didn’t know until recently that it’s actually the biggest music discovery platform of all.
What’s a behind-the-scenes tidbit about making videos, like for “Pulling Leeches”? Is it a full day of work?
JUSTIN: About 70% of the time on a video set, you’re not really doing anything. A lot of it is setup—the directors of photography and lighting directors setting up shots, getting angles, manipulating light. Maybe there’s too much natural light, so they put up a black sheet on a window or tilt lights a certain way.
They mark the floor with tape for positioning, then you do hair, makeup, and wardrobe. But most of the time, you’re not doing much. Sets are also really cold, so you’re freezing all day while they’re setting up. When it’s time to perform, we don’t play the song that many times—maybe three takes—before moving to the next setup.
For “Pulling Leeches,” we shot in a warehouse converted into a TV set with different rooms built inside a larger room. It’s like a sitcom set—looking at it, it’s just against a wall, but when filming, it looks like we’re in a complete room. We’d do about three takes of the song in each room, then switch to the next one, which was literally a foot away.
For almost every video we’ve done, call time is around 9 AM, which is early for rock and roll, and we finish around 9 PM. But we generally don’t start getting our first shots until 2 or 3 PM. It takes hours of setup for the crew to dial everything in.
Is the end result exciting for you? Growing up watching videos from bands you love, and now having your own?
JUSTIN: It’s cool. While shooting, you can see what the camera is capturing on a special high-definition screen—better quality than what YouTube will get. You can see in real time what’s happening, though they might add filters or coloring in post-production.
The fun part is going through edits afterward, getting updates from the directors, and making little changes. It is satisfying when something turns out great, though there are certainly videos I don’t love as much as others. But they all look professional.
I saw the “Like a Drug” video. How did Mel from Royal Thunder end up in it?
JUSTIN: That was a label thing. I think Mel and Royal Thunder were working with our label at the time, and we were shooting in Atlanta where she lives. We were looking for a side character or antagonist for the video, which had very little concept—we were just showing up to Atlanta with a director, renting a space, and seeing what happened.
The label suggested, “Mel from Royal Thunder lives out there, and it’d be really cool to have her in the video.” She’d bring a different audience, and she rides motorcycles, which we included in the video. I didn’t know this was happening until about a week before the shoot. We filmed it while on tour—stopped in Atlanta, did the video, and then headed to the next show.
That video is okay—probably one of my least favorites we’ve done, mostly because the concept was so loose. It’s hard to tell what’s happening, and looking back, we could have made a more coherent video that matched the song better. But it exists in the Broken Love universe, and I’m fine with that.
The real work starts when the album comes out. What does album promotion and touring look like for the rest of the year?
JUSTIN: Right now, we’re waiting for radio to pick up a little bit, which works in conjunction with touring. We’re having a lot of conversations about tour plans, but nothing we can announce yet. Quite frankly, I’m at a standstill with the American government over my visa, which has become increasingly difficult to obtain. That’s probably the main reason we haven’t announced an American tour yet.
We will be doing some Canadian shows in the meantime. Once we figure out the visa situation, we’ll be more proactive on the American side. Now that the record is coming out, the wheels are really starting to turn—everybody’s doing their job and pushing things forward. Just keep an eye out. We’re working on things behind the scenes, and there will be announcements soon.
I’ve seen bands who start touring before their album is released, and others who wait six months or longer. There’s no one right approach anymore.
JUSTIN: There’s no right way to do anything anymore—you kind of roll with the punches. It isn’t uncommon for bands to release records and then tour four or five months later, or to be on tour all year and put out the record at the end of the cycle.
Since we’re not a massive rock band yet, we can’t dictate exactly what we want to do touring-wise. We still rely on other bands, opening for them and doing our own smaller shows in between. There are only so many bands touring, and only so many who want to take us on the road with them. It’s a competitive field. We’ll be out there for sure, but it’s going to take a minute—especially waiting for my visa to come through.
I feel like in the ’70s, bands like KISS and Aerosmith put out records every year. Do you think you could handle that kind of schedule if the label wanted a yearly recording cycle?
JUSTIN: If it were up to me, that’s how I would do it—release music more consistently. But we’re part of a business with factors outside the band that we can’t control. This record has been done for well over a year, which isn’t uncommon these days.
If it were entirely my choice, I’d release music more frequently, even just singles every couple of months. We have the capabilities now to do these things. You can record almost anywhere—I have a microphone here, amps, everything. You can do about 90% of the recording in a bedroom now. We still like to use live drums, so I’d just book a day at a studio to record those, and that’s your song. It’s not like it used to be—we have the technology to make everything sound great now.
That’s mind-blowing—you could write, record, and publish a song today if you wanted to. How immediate things can be.
JUSTIN: I have songs ready to be mixed. If I were a great mix engineer, I’d have total control over everything. But I’m not, which is why we’re very thankful for the great engineers and producers in this business. They’re really the ones who polish everything. But if I could do that myself, I could legitimately release a song a week. They might not all be good, but with everything available in computers nowadays, you can make things sound analog and warm if you want to. The digital tools are that good now.
