Brian Markle

Brian Markle picked up a guitar at 14 and has been playing for more than 20 years. His dad raised him on Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper, and Green Day's American Idiot became the first album that truly meant something to him. Two decades on, it's still his favorite record of all time. But what actually made him start playing was a local show: he saw a band on a stage and fell in love with the idea of being up there himself.

His approach to guitar is a little different than most. "I try to look at music the same way rap and hip hop artists look at it," he says. "I'm simply making a beat for someone to sing over." He writes band-first, whatever makes the song the best it can be, and he gravitates toward players who think outside the box: Wes Borland, Tom Morello, Dimebag Darrell, and Zakk Wylde. He also draws from the spacey side of Incubus, the heaviness of Pantera, Machine Head, and Lamb of God, and the attitude of N.W.A. Lately he's had Ice Nine Kills on repeat.

Brian has played in more than 20 bands, most notably The Undone, along with Steal the Spotlight, A Damn Shame, and Houston We're Going Down. He also owned and operated The Crawlspace, a concert club in Ohio that gave local bands a place to perform and grow. He joined Storms Within in 2026, completing the band's three-guitar front line.

Off stage, Brian drives a semi truck. Or, in his words: "Semi truck driver, or professional Mario Kart driver. You pick." When he isn't playing music he's listening to it; it consumes his weekends. The best shows he's ever seen were Green Day, Lady Gaga, and Metallica: "not all in the same night. That'd be weird." The one band he never got to see is the original Pantera, and if he could share a stage with anyone, dead or alive, it would be Dime: "On top of learning from him, he just seemed like the coolest person." Something people wouldn't expect? He used to weigh over 400 pounds.

Before a show, Brian would prefer silence: locked in a room, secluded, thinking about the night ahead. That never happens, so instead you'll find him out meeting fans, chugging a 5-hour Energy on his way to the stage. The best show he's ever played is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and his favorite Storms Within song to play live is "Rage." His dream stages are the Danny Wimmer festivals and the big European ones.

What does the band mean to him? "It's everything. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to kick ass with these wonderful people. Storms has treated me like family. They've all been great friends to me, and they're just amazing people. I'm very grateful to be in a band with not only such incredible musicians, but incredible human beings." And to everyone listening: "Thank you for making this what it is. Without fans, music is nothing."