Members

Matt Walst: Vocals/rhythm guitars
Brendan McMillan: Bass/backing vocals
Doug Oliver: Drums/backing vocals
Sal Coz Costa: Lead guitar/backing vocals

Biography

MyDarkest Days might be the last true rock band. They look the part — dangerous haircuts, piercings, lots of black clothing. They sound the part — songs like "Goodbye" and "Move Your Body," are pure fist-raising rockers. But most importantly, they live the part.
It's been a full year since My Darkest Days released their self-titled debut album and they've done everything a good rock band should: toured relentlessly, played for thousands of people, had wild parties and crazy adventures, and most importantly, they've made strippers dance. The reason for that? Their hit single "Porn Star Dancing." The track hit #1 on the Active Rock Radio chart in the United States and #2 in Canada. The single has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide, and the sizzling accompanying video featuring rapper Ludacris, ex-Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde and over 70 scantily clad ladies of the professional dancing-type is in the Top 100 all-time for iTunes video sales. The best perk of creating a song just as classic as Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls," though, is the fact it's become a true nudie bar anthem.

"You hear this song any time you're in a strip club, no matter what," says guitarist Sal Costa. "We've heard it, all the time, every time we go to a club." There's also another perk. "We go to these clubs in a lot of the towns we're in and obviously a lot of the girls love 'Porn Star Dancing,'" says bassist Brendan McMillan. "Club owners often invite us to their fine establishments for some free drinks and some dances." Lead singer Matt Walst finds comfort in that. "At least we know we'll always be welcome somewhere," he deadpans. Walst is selling himself and his bandmates McMillan, Costa, drummer Doug Oliver and keyboardist Reid Henry, short.

My Darkest Days are welcome in a lot of places.
The band have a hard time remembering the exact number of shows they've done in the past year, though they estimate it's upwards of 250. From the surreal power outage at the Pointfest Festival in St. Louis to a wild gig in Prince George, British Columbia, My Darkest Days have earned their road badges genuinely. And they've almost, literally, played everywhere with everyone.

"We've toured with Sick Puppies, Hinder, Papa Roach, Buckcherry, Seether, Three Days Grace," says Henry, getting started. "We've done shows with Stone Temple Pilots, Theory Of A Deadman, Bush X, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, Alice Cooper, System Of A Down, Linkin Park... and we've basically done 48 states in the United States three or four times, every province in Canada several times, as well as England."

This has, unsurprisingly, led to some checkered adventures. Meeting the stars of the original alternative revolution was one thing. The band have met idols like Stone Temple Pilots, Jane's Addiction, Deftones, Korn and Bush X ("I got to meet Gavin Rossdale. I was a huge, huge Bush fan. Still am," says Walst). Hanging out with their peers was quite another.

"We went out with Three Days Grace [which includes Matt's brother Brad on bass] to this mall of bars. It's just like the Eaton Centre [a shopping mall in Toronto], only everything was a bar," says Henry. "And they gave us bottle service at one of these bars because we were with Three Days Grace and it was great. Those guys are really responsible most of the time, but on the nights that they party, they party! I fell out of the back of a stretch limo with my pants down. Everyone was taking pictures of me..."

A different type of nudity scarred the band both physically and emotionally after an RV crash in Donnelly, Idaho left Oliver on crutches for some time. "We were all just in our underwear and sweaters because we were sleeping," says McMillan, recalling the accident. "Except Doug, he was naked...The first words screamed were not "is everyone ok". So much for sympathy for the wounded guy. The band have been pretty lucky that they can joke about this stuff, seeing how calamity always seems on their heels. "There was awhile where we were just driving from place to place and every place we'd leave would have a natural disaster," says Henry. "There was a fire in Texas, a tornado in Joplin, Missouri, a hurricane in Florida... we've just missed them, been dodging everything."

Up next? My Darkest Days will do it all over again. The band have begun writing for their second album, which is slated to be released in the first half of 2012 and will likely once again call upon the talents of Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and producer Joey Moi. "We're definitely excited for the future," says Walst. Just to make a new record and do it all over again. And we're going to keep writing songs about having fun. Life is too short not to"  

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