Singled Out: Brian Hunsaker's Lie To You

Hard rocker Brian Hunsaker recently released his acclaimed new single "Lie To You", which has a very unique back story. To explore that story, we asked Brian to tell us all about how this song came about. Here is the story:

A Song Built Across Three Decades

"Lie To You" wasn't written in a single session, year, or even decade. The song is actually a collection of musical ideas from different periods of my life that somehow found each other and became a complete piece.

The Lost Riff of 1995

The earliest section dates all the way back to 1995. As a young man obsessed with Rush and progressive metal, I wrote a "sticky" technical 5/4 riff that eventually disappeared into my archives. I had no idea it would resurface thirty years later as a key part of a future release.

Ghosts of 2005

A decade later, in 2005, I was playing with my first progressive metal band. During rehearsals, we developed the pre-chorus and chorus riffs that would eventually become the foundation of "Lie To You." We were fronted by an incredible singer named Chris Rush, but despite some memorable practices, we never made proper recordings. When the band ended, those riffs survived only in memory.

For years, the song remained unfinished.

The Ford Freestyle Studio

The breakthrough came in 2017 while I was living in Seattle and raising newborn twins. With no way to make music at home, I turned my Ford Freestyle into a recording studio. A microphone stand permanently mounted through the passenger-seat headrest allowed me to spend lunch breaks tracking guitars and vocals in the parking lot at my work.

Rewriting the Blueprint

By then, more than a decade had passed since those original rehearsals, and any vocal ideas from that era were long gone. I built the melodies and harmonies from scratch, drawing inspiration from the layered vocal approach of bands like Journey and Queensrÿche. During the process, I also made a significant change to the arrangement, replacing the original verse riff with a new 4/4 section that gave the song greater momentum and contrast.

Completing the Puzzle

The final missing piece came when I revisited my oldest demos and rediscovered that forgotten 1995 riff. It became the bridge and solo section, providing the perfect progressive counterpoint to the song's melodic core. Suddenly, ideas originating more than two decades apart fit together as though they had always belonged together.

The Team That Brought It to Life

With the songwriting finally complete, it was time to assemble the team that would bring the track to life.

Drummer Tony DelVecchio returned after his performance on my 2025 debut solo single, "Haunted," delivering power, precision, and a natural feel through the song's shifting meters. Diego Palma of Argentina added cinematic keyboard textures that expanded the song's atmosphere, while bassist Clif Chambliss brought the groove and foundation that tied everything together. Producer Matt Dougherty (Megadeth, Disturbed) completed the process, preserving the human energy of those original performances while giving the finished track a larger-than-life sound. Each collaborator brought something unique to the table, elevating the song far beyond what I could have achieved on my own.

Proof That Great Ideas Don't Expire

Seeing "Lie To You" premiere through Metal Injection, earn a Mainstage feature from EARMILK, and receive praise from international music publications has been incredibly rewarding. More than anything, the song serves as proof that great musical ideas don't have an expiration date. Sometimes they simply wait for the right moment-and the right people-to finally come together.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

Singled Out: Brian Hunsaker's Power Over You

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