My Darkest Days is a Canadian
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band based in
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, consisting of lead singer Matt Walst, lead guitarist Sal Costa, Bassist Brendan McMillan, Drummer Doug Oliver, and keyboardist Reid Henry. They were discovered by
Chad KroegerChad Robert Kroeger is aCanadian songwriter, singer, and guitarist best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Canadian rock band Nickelback...
of
NickelbackNickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....
, who signed them up for his production company,
604 Records604 Records is the production company of Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger and attorney Jonathan Simkin, founded in 2002. Their records are distributed in Canada by Universal Music Group....
.
In June
20102010 in music may refer to:*2010 in American music*2010 in Australian music*2010 in British music*2010 in Canadian music*2010 in European music *2010 in Irish music*2010 in Japanese music*2010 in New Zealand music...
, the band went on tour with
Sick PuppiesSick Puppies is an Australian rock band, formed in 1997. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Shimon Moore, bassist Emma Anzai and drummer Mark Goodwin....
,
JanusJanus is an American Alternative metal band based in Chicago. They formed around 1998 and are signed to REALID/ILG Records. They have released 3 studio albums, Influx , Armor , Red Right Return . They mix alternative metal with non-traditional rock instruments, such as auxiliary percussion, and...
, and
It's AliveThe glam-style metal band It's Alive was formed in 1985. Martin "Max Martin" Sandberg was one of the founding members of the band...
, and shot a video in
Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
to support their first single, "Porn Star Dancing," released on June 21, 2010. Kroeger appears in the "Porn Star Dancing" video, as does American rapper
LudacrisChristopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
and
Black Label SocietyBlack Label Society is a heavy metal band formed by Zakk Wylde, with nine studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, one EP, and three video albums released since formation of the band.-Formation and Sonic Brew :...
frontman
Zakk WyldeZachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...
.
History
The band was founded by Matt Walst in
2005-Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...
, who was born in Norwood,
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, and whose older brother, Brad Walst, is the
bassistThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
for
Three Days GraceThree Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer...
. Instead of playing in his brother's band, Matt decided to form one of his own with his friends Brendan McMillan on
bass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Doug Oliver on
drumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, and Chris McMillan on
lead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
. Chris McMillan was later replaced by Paulo Neta. In
2009The following is a list of notable events and releases in 2009 in music. Susan Boyle's album I Dreamed a Dream became the biggest selling album in the world for 2009, selling 8.3 million copies in five weeks; more than any other artist's in the whole year...
, a friend introduced Walst to
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
–based
singerSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
–guitarist Sal Costa, who later became the band's guitarist, replacing Paulo Neta, who became the guitarist for
ThornleyThornley is a Canadian post-grunge/hard rock band formed by Ian Thornley in 2002. The band was started when Ian Thornley returned to Toronto after the breakup of his earlier band, Big Wreck. With the help of Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, Thornley signed on to Kroeger's 604 Records...
. My Darkest Days has opened for many bands, including
Three Days GraceThree Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer...
,
DefaultDefault may refer to:*Default , the failure to do something required by law**Default judgment*Default , failure to satisfy the terms of a loan obligation or to pay back a loan*Default , a preset setting or value...
,
Theory of a DeadmanTheory of a Deadman is a Canadian rock band from Delta, British Columbia, formed in 2001. The band is currently signed to Roadrunner Records as well as Island Records. The band also includes traits of other music styles, such as country and acoustic, as well as their post-grunge and alternative...
,
SkilletSkillet is an American Christian rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1996. The band currently consists of husband and wife John and Korey Cooper , along with Jen Ledger and lead guitarist Seth Morrison. The band has released eight albums, two receiving Grammy nominations: Collide and Comatose...
,
Papa RoachPapa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California. Their first major-label release was the triple-platinum album Infest . The group's success continued with their gold album Lovehatetragedy , their platinum album Getting Away with Murder , The Paramour Sessions , and Metamorphosis...
, and
HinderHinder is an American rock band from Oklahoma that was formed in 2001 by drummer Cody Hanson, guitarist Joe Garvey, and singer Austin Winkler. The band was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2007.-Formation and early history:...
.
My Darkest Days won a contest called Rock Search put on by 97.7fm in St. Catharines, Ontario in 2008 with "Every Lie". This gave them time in a recording studio publicity in Niagara, Ontario.
When
Chad KroegerChad Robert Kroeger is aCanadian songwriter, singer, and guitarist best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Canadian rock band Nickelback...
heard My Darkest Days' music, he was so impressed he immediately signed them to his record label. The first song they wrote after being signed was "Porn Star Dancing," which became their first single. Kroeger decided he wanted to be featured on it, along with a friend of his,
Zakk WyldeZachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...
, lead vocalist and lead guitarist for
Black Label SocietyBlack Label Society is a heavy metal band formed by Zakk Wylde, with nine studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, one EP, and three video albums released since formation of the band.-Formation and Sonic Brew :...
and a former guitarist for
Ozzy OsbourneJohn Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
. Kroeger and Wylde both appear in the video, which was filmed at the Hard Rock Las Vegas
Vanity nightclub. There is also a remix of the single featuring American rapper
LudacrisChristopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
.
On their official
FacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page, My Darkest Days announced their debut
eponymAn eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous album was to be released on September 21, 2010. On that album, the song "Set It on Fire" features
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n singer/guitarist
OrianthiOrianthi Panagaris , better known simply as Orianthi, is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist. She is perhaps best known for being Michael Jackson's lead guitarist for his ill-fated This Is It concert series. Her debut single "According to You" has peaked at No. 3 in Japan, No. 8...
on lead guitar, known from her work with
Steve VaiSteven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
,
Carlos SantanaCarlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, and
Michael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. Also on the album is a collaboration with country-pop singer Jessie James, on the song "Come Undone".
The
Saw 3D soundtrack released on October 26, 2010 features the single "The World Belongs to Me."
My Darkest Days was named the “Best New Band of 2010” by hardDriveXL after hitting the #1 spot on
BillboardBillboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks ranking, as well as #1 on
FMQBFriday Morning Quarterback is a trade magazine which covers the Radio and Music industries in the United States. Its coverage includes programming, management, promotion, marketing, and airplay for music formatted radio. The magazine was founded in 1968 by Kal Rudman and is read by over 10,000...
’s Active Rock list.
In March of 2011, My Darkest Days was involved in a bus accident where their Bandwagon RV style bus flipped and fell into a ditch in rural Idaho. No major injuries were incurred, but drummer Doug Oliver suffered a sprained ankle and the band missed one tour date in Boise with Three Days Grace..It was announced on their Facebook page that they will be entering the studio in October 2011 with Joey Moi of Mountain View records to start writing new material for their next album..
My Darkest Days’ first major–label single, “Porn Star Dancing,” went gold in Canada last month.
Current lineup
- Matt Walst – lead vocals
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
(2005–present)
- Sal Costa – lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocalsA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
(2009–present)
- Brendan McMillan – bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(2005–present)
- Doug Oliver – drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, percussionA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
(2005–present)
- Reid Henry – Keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
, vocals (2010–present)
Former members
- Paulo Neta – lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocals (2005–2009)
- Chris McMillan – lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocals (2009)
Studio albums
Singles
Awards and nominations
| Year | Presenter | Award | Result |
| 2011 |
Juno Awards of 2011 The Juno Awards of 2011, honours Canadian music industry achievements in the latter part of 2009 and in most of 2010. The awards presented in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the weekend of 26 and 27 March 2011. A week of related events on 21 March 2011...
|
New Group of the Year |
|
External links