My Darkest Days have come a long way in a year and a half, after being embraced by Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger.
They have a hit on their hands “Porn Star Dancing,” which topped the charts in the U.S, and are playing a couple shows in the U.S. with vocalist/ rhythm guitarist Matt Walst’s big brother Brad’s band Three Days Grace.
They will be playing the Stone in Lethbridge, Saturday, Aug. 13 with opening act Double Jack.
“It’s really cool. He’s a great songwriter and guitar player and a really cool dude. He’s helped us a lot. So it’s very cool to have a guy like that care about your band,” said rhythm guitarist/ vocalist Matt Walst, just pulling into Portland, Oregon.
“We’ve been waiting a long time to have a guy like that care about the band,” he said adding Kroeger found out about My Darkest Days after touring with Three Days Grace.
They’ve since recorded their debut album in Kroeger’s house and toured all over the United States and Canada.
“We’ve spent the past year and a half touring. We’ve played in almost every state and in every province. There have been a lot of parties and lots of memories,” he observed.
Writing the hit “Porn Star Dancing” was one of them.
Written with Chad Kroeger, producer Joey Moi and Ted Bruner, it features guest vocals from Kroeger, a rap from Ludacris plus a scorching solo and sick riff from former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde.
“ Ted said we should write a song about a strip club. And I thought that was a good idea. Then Chad got Ludacris to write a rap for it. And Zakk Wylde is a friend of Chad’s so he took it down to Zakk’s studio where he recorded the solo and the riff,” Walst related.
“That’s how you know it’s Zakk, those squealing riffs. Zakk doesn’t play with Ozzy anymore, but you can hear they tried to keep Zakk’s sound on the new album,” he said.
Walst noted watching his big brother Brad achieve success as Three Days Grace’s bassist , has been very inspirational.
“He’s always been a big influence. Just watching him has given me a lot of first hand tips. We do the same thing, but it‘s a little different. But watching these guys play every night has been amazing because they are such a great band,” he said.
He couldn’t remember ever playing Lethbridge, but is looking forward to it.
“Just expect a party. We like to have fun and meet our fans afterward and have a good time with them each night,” he said.
They will be playing the music from their debut album.
“We‘re going to take some time off afterward and just chill and get the music together for the next album,” he said, noting he doesn’t know when it will be released.
“ We don’t want to rush it. We ’ll take our time because I feel rushed albums are not good. So we’re going to take our time and do it right,” he said.
he can’t choose just one highlight from the band]s career so far.
“There are so many highlights. This is what we wanted. There have been a lot of great parties and a lot of memories. But the highlight is just to be able to play music for a living,” he said.
Tickets for the show cost $30. Doors open at 9 p.m. with the show beginning at 10 p.m.
