Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

My Darkest Days are living pleasant dreams

Band to play GLC on Saturday
66073_l

WHO: Jägermeister presents MY DARKEST DAYS

WHEN: Saturday, March 19, 7 p.m.

WHERE: GLC, tickets are $10, available at Ticketmaster, Ticketweb or at the GLC

Yes, the tales of Motley Crue-style tour debauchery are still very real. Thank heavens, because there is still a legion of kids banging away in suburban garages for no other reason than to gain success and get bloody well wasted.

That's not to say that the boys in My Darkest Days are after this but their music does lend itself to a particular branch of seedy rock fan. This should be no surprise to anyone that has heard or seen the video for their lead single, "Porn Star Dancing."

"For musicians in general, when you have any type of success, it's weird that everyone wants to give you everything for free," says lead guitarist Sal Costa.

"Whether it's girls wanting to give themselves for free -well, you shouldn't be paying for them anyways, but girls will be throwing themselves at you.

"People will be offering to give you drugs just to say that they gave you something."

The band has been on the road non-stop for nine months and has just played a show at the Sound Academy with Papa Roach and Buckcherry.

Last time those two bands played together, Costa was in the audience, as a devoted fan. Three years later they were sharing the stage. He says it hasn't been easy.

"Even when you feel that you're garnering some type of success, it's the music industry and you always have to remember that it can disappear at any second," says Costa.

In that three year period, they were gaining more fans and getting more attention but were still a bit wary about what they were getting themselves into.

A story: a few years ago Costa was playing in another band at Tattoo Rock Parlour in downtown Toronto. Costa was talking to the sound guy about his favourite bands and Costa happened to mention I Mother Earth as one of his favourites.

Sound Guy said, "Well, Edwin [IMF frontman] is going to be here tonight."

"Really?" Costa said. "That's amazing, I've been such a huge fan."

And sure enough, Edwin walks in. Costa's blown away because this is, like, one of his heroes standing right there in the club. Edwin walked behind the bar and....started cleaning it.

Costa saw this, took note of it. Learned from it, that gaining success is different than maintaining it.

"If you think about it too much, you're not going to be as honest as a musician," he says. "When you start to stray away from what you actually got into the music industry for, that will be the demise of your career."

In the nine months MDD has been on the road, "Porn Star Dancing," off their eponymous debut album, has hit number one on the Active Rock Airplay chart and Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock chart (number two in Canada) and the album has gone gold in both Canada and the U.S.

"That was the moment when we went like, 'Wow, we're actually doing this,'" Costa says.

Not that they have had any time to digest this information. A touring band lives in a perpetual non-reality, moving from town to town and never quite connecting to the any of them. As a result, a band that hits number one while on tour has to gauge their own success based on the number of people singing along to their songs.

"The coolest part for me is watching people sing the other songs on the record, the ones that will never be released as singles but that we play live, which says to me that people are actually buying the record," he says. "Or at least stealing it." He laughs.

The band was formed in 2005 by vocalist Matt Walst -brother of Brad Walst, bassist for Three Days Grace - and in 2008 the band won a radio rock contest with their song, "Every Lie."

Shortly after that, Nickelback's Chad Kroeger was given a demo of MDD's music and signed them to his 604 label.

Yes, say what you will about Kroeger, the man's success speaks for itself, and he knows people in high places. With his help, MDD were able to score head Black Label Society honcho - and former Ozzy Osbourne axeman -Zakk Wylde and rapper Ludacris for "Porn Star Dancing."

"[Kroeger] is a business guy, he's a marketing guy and he knows how the whole industry works as a whole," Costa says.

"There are the people who are just artists and then there are the people who are just on the business side of things. He is all over the map.

Kroeger produced the band's debut album and helped out on guitar when it was needed. It's safe to say, Krueger's hand is all over the album, for good or ill. It's is a polished piece of Canadian hard rock that never strays too far from the Theory of a Deadman, Three Days Grace and, yes, Nickelback.

So, take with it what you will but this is hard rock for people who like to party while listening to hard rock. This is beer music and, yes, the dream for beer rock musicians is still very real.