| My Darkest Days |
| February 16, 2011 |
| Matt Walst |
Katrina: How did you come up with the name for your band?
Matt: There was an album from Stabbing Westward called “Darkest Days” and my guitar player at the time had it as his MSN signin. My brother was like ‘Hey you
should put my on the front of it and make it more personal’. We just found that we write songs on our darkest days, so we are called My Darkest Days.
Katrina: Who are your musical influences growing up and have they changed?
Matt: They are still the same, Pearl Jam, Nirvana. A lot of the grunge like Sound Garden, Led Zeppelin I listened to growing up. My brother always had music going in
his room and it always rubbed off on me. So whatever he listened to I pretty much listened to it to.
Katrina: On the song “Porn Star Dancing” you had the chance to work with Chad Kroeger (Nickelback), Ludacris and Zakk Wylde. How did those relationships
develop?
Matt: Chad is one of our friends and he’s a cool dude. We were friends within the first week of working together. We just got along and he’s friends with everybody in
the music industry. We wanted to have a rapper in the pop version and he thought of Ludacris and he sent it off to him. I got to meet Ludacris at the music video, but I
didn’t actually meet him before. We wanted to have a rock version so we got Zakk Wylde to do a solo. Chad’s friends with Zakk Wylde and he actually flew down and
met with Zakk and they recorded it down there. I got to meet him at the video.
Katrina: Which artist would you like to tour or work with?
Matt: The guy from Linkin Park, DJ Hah, he’d be cool to work with. He makes some pretty cool beats. I’d like Timberland, he would be cool.
Katrina: What is your process on how to write songs?
Matt: Sometimes it’s just an acoustic guitar and I bring it to the band. We make it a live song instead of an acoustic song. Sometimes it starts off with a keyboard, it
starts the idea and we just take it to other places.
Katrina: What’s your favorite song to perform?
Matt: It’s probably “Porn Star Dancing” right now because everybody knows it. Last night was insane, we played in Minnesota and I think the song came out first here
so it was pretty crazy. The whole crowd was singing the verses and the whole song and the crowd was singing the song louder than I was, it was pretty cool. I was like
is my mic on?
Katrina: Have you noticed a difference in fans throughout the world in what songs they want to hear?
Matt: It would probably be the same in Canada, that was our first release so everybody knows the song.
Katrina: What’s your favorite venue to play?
Matt: I like doing big stages. We played an arena last night for about a few thousand people. Small arenas are pretty fun. We haven’t done the Air Canada Centre
size arena, we’ve done shows with Three Days Grace in the Direct Energy Centre. Small arenas are so much fun, big stages, that’s a lot of fun. I like playing clubs too
but you can’t run around on stage. Sometimes you are really compact, when you are on a bill with a bunch of people and there’s equipment upon equipment and so
you can’t move around as much.
Katrina: What’s your most memorable moment?
Matt: Just playing the shows and having people feel the songs, that’s awesome. That’s what makes me want to keep going and get bigger. That’s what makes me
happy and makes me smile when I see the whole crowd singing the song and right into it. Like last night, that was amazing. When I hear the crowd singing louder than
I am it’s pretty crazy. Is my mic even on> I can hear the crowd but I can’t hear myself.
Katrina: What advice can you give to someone who is wanting to create a band?
Matt: Just work hard, practice a lot and the two ‘T’s’, tuning and timing, that’s what you need to do. Concentrate on timing and tuning.
Katrina: What is one song you wish you wrote?
Matt: Poison by Alice Cooper. It’s complicated if you try to play it on guitar it’s very different. It’s not like the other hit songs, it’s not just four chords on four chords, it’s
really interesting. It’s catchy as hell.
Katrina: What do you like to do to prepare for a show?
Matt: A Jager shot before we go on usually between the whole band. We all warm up in our own way. A Jager shot would be our ritual, or a Jager Bomb.
Matt: There was an album from Stabbing Westward called “Darkest Days” and my guitar player at the time had it as his MSN signin. My brother was like ‘Hey you
should put my on the front of it and make it more personal’. We just found that we write songs on our darkest days, so we are called My Darkest Days.
Katrina: Who are your musical influences growing up and have they changed?
Matt: They are still the same, Pearl Jam, Nirvana. A lot of the grunge like Sound Garden, Led Zeppelin I listened to growing up. My brother always had music going in
his room and it always rubbed off on me. So whatever he listened to I pretty much listened to it to.
Katrina: On the song “Porn Star Dancing” you had the chance to work with Chad Kroeger (Nickelback), Ludacris and Zakk Wylde. How did those relationships
develop?
Matt: Chad is one of our friends and he’s a cool dude. We were friends within the first week of working together. We just got along and he’s friends with everybody in
the music industry. We wanted to have a rapper in the pop version and he thought of Ludacris and he sent it off to him. I got to meet Ludacris at the music video, but I
didn’t actually meet him before. We wanted to have a rock version so we got Zakk Wylde to do a solo. Chad’s friends with Zakk Wylde and he actually flew down and
met with Zakk and they recorded it down there. I got to meet him at the video.
Katrina: Which artist would you like to tour or work with?
Matt: The guy from Linkin Park, DJ Hah, he’d be cool to work with. He makes some pretty cool beats. I’d like Timberland, he would be cool.
Katrina: What is your process on how to write songs?
Matt: Sometimes it’s just an acoustic guitar and I bring it to the band. We make it a live song instead of an acoustic song. Sometimes it starts off with a keyboard, it
starts the idea and we just take it to other places.
Katrina: What’s your favorite song to perform?
Matt: It’s probably “Porn Star Dancing” right now because everybody knows it. Last night was insane, we played in Minnesota and I think the song came out first here
so it was pretty crazy. The whole crowd was singing the verses and the whole song and the crowd was singing the song louder than I was, it was pretty cool. I was like
is my mic on?
Katrina: Have you noticed a difference in fans throughout the world in what songs they want to hear?
Matt: It would probably be the same in Canada, that was our first release so everybody knows the song.
Katrina: What’s your favorite venue to play?
Matt: I like doing big stages. We played an arena last night for about a few thousand people. Small arenas are pretty fun. We haven’t done the Air Canada Centre
size arena, we’ve done shows with Three Days Grace in the Direct Energy Centre. Small arenas are so much fun, big stages, that’s a lot of fun. I like playing clubs too
but you can’t run around on stage. Sometimes you are really compact, when you are on a bill with a bunch of people and there’s equipment upon equipment and so
you can’t move around as much.
Katrina: What’s your most memorable moment?
Matt: Just playing the shows and having people feel the songs, that’s awesome. That’s what makes me want to keep going and get bigger. That’s what makes me
happy and makes me smile when I see the whole crowd singing the song and right into it. Like last night, that was amazing. When I hear the crowd singing louder than
I am it’s pretty crazy. Is my mic even on> I can hear the crowd but I can’t hear myself.
Katrina: What advice can you give to someone who is wanting to create a band?
Matt: Just work hard, practice a lot and the two ‘T’s’, tuning and timing, that’s what you need to do. Concentrate on timing and tuning.
Katrina: What is one song you wish you wrote?
Matt: Poison by Alice Cooper. It’s complicated if you try to play it on guitar it’s very different. It’s not like the other hit songs, it’s not just four chords on four chords, it’s
really interesting. It’s catchy as hell.
Katrina: What do you like to do to prepare for a show?
Matt: A Jager shot before we go on usually between the whole band. We all warm up in our own way. A Jager shot would be our ritual, or a Jager Bomb.
