Adam Gontier Was a Bit Nervous Before Three Days Grace Reunion

Last week, one thing occurred in Huntsville, Ala., that followers of Three Days Grace thought would possibly by no means occur: Adam Gontier reunited with the band.

On Thursday April 19, close to the tip of Three Days Grace’s set at Propst Arena, Gontier—the unique singer of Three Days Grace who left the band in 2013—joined his former bandmates for 2 highly effective performances of “Never Too Late” and “Riot.”

“It felt great, man,” Gontier advised Chuck Armstrong in an unique interview on Friday evening’s version of Loudwire Nights (April 28). “It had been so long. The last year or so, we’ve been talking a lot about getting together, doing that sort of thing. It felt pretty amazing to sing a couple of songs onstage with those guys. It was a pretty awesome moment for sure.

Though Gontier and the band had been talking for a while about this possibility, they never made any concrete plans. Instead, they were simply waiting for the right time that made sense for everyone.

“They got here by way of Huntsville and I dwell in Nashville and so they simply requested if I wished to come back and stand up onstage and do one thing,” Gontier said. “Of course I agreed. It was a lot of enjoyable. We have not actually been in the identical room collectively in about 10 years—it was fairly the expertise for positive.”

Whether it was with Three Days Grace or his current band, Saint Asonia, Gontier is no stranger to performing in front of thousands of fans. But this particular show brought back a bit of nervousness when he realized it was actually going to happen.

“There have been some nerves beforehand, for positive,” he admitted, “only for that motive that we hadn’t all been in the identical house for fairly a whereas. There have been some nerves on the way in which there and earlier than getting up onstage, however as soon as I received up and began to sing, it grew to become fairly comfy. It’s like using a bike, man, you always remember how you can do it and I’ve been doing it over time so it felt fairly pure to get again up there.”

He told Chuck that the nervousness he felt wasn’t about singing the songs but simply about the significance of the reunion.

“It’s a fairly huge second to share,” he said. “We have been all a little bit nervous about your complete factor, you understand? In the tip, it was superb. It was fairly epic—a lot of enjoyable. [Bassist] Brad [Walst] and I, we have been fairly shut buddies for a lengthy, very long time. We have been buddies in highschool and I knew [singer] Matt [Walst] when he was a little man. It was fairly wild to simply be in that complete situation and the way every thing form of comes full circle. It’s loopy stuff.”

As he’s been staying in touch with the members of Three Days Grace over the last couple of years, a major change occurred in his relationship with drummer Neil Sanderson, and that’s the simple fact that they were able to bury the hatchet and move forward from any tension their friendship previously had. Now with this onstage reunion under their belts and friendships rekindled in a fresh, new way, fans wonder if there is more to expect from Three Days Grace and Gontier down the road.

Gontier isn’t sure—but he is comfortable leaving the door open.

“We chatted a little bit about the potential of performing some stuff sooner or later,” he explained to Chuck, “however we’re not 100-percent positive what that might seem like, precisely when that might be. It’s onerous to say proper now. They’re fairly busy doing their factor for his or her latest album and I’ve received Saint Asonia going full steam proper now and one other aspect undertaking. It’s undoubtedly robust to say. Anything’s attainable … We’ll see what occurs.”

It’s Going to Be a Busy 2023 For Adam Gontier

A week after the onstage reunion with Three Days Grace, Gontier was on the road kicking off a run of dates in Canada with Saint Asonia. They’re touring in support of their two EPs they released in 2022, Introvert and Extrovert. While fans may have expected a more typical full-length album from them, Gontier is happy that they decided to release their new music in two smaller installments.

“With the pandemic taking place…we knew there could be a lot of artists placing out music [at the end of it] and we did not wish to overdo it,” he said. “We had a bunch of songs, we had in all probability written about 12 or 15 songs over the pandemic. We had them able to go, we simply figured it will be simpler for followers and new followers to digest if we kind of put out an EP with a few songs. We at all times had the intention of placing out a second one, too.”

The latest song that has caught a lot of attention for Saint Asonia is the opening track on Extrovert, “Devastate.” It was a cathartic track for Gontier to write because it allowed him to express some feelings about a few individuals in his life who had caused a lot of pain.

“[There were] a couple of individuals specifically that I spent years with that simply appeared to go away a little path of destruction behind them wherever they went,” Gontier said. “I had some folks that simply actually tried to convey me down over time and that was, for me, what I wrote the music about, these individuals in my life that have been simply dangerous individuals. Evil.”

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Saint Asonia have a lot of plans for more live shows throughout the year, including playing some fairs in the states with Shinedown, and he hinted at a potential tour in the fall, too. In the midst of all of that, though, he’s also working on a new side project called DIVIIDEDBY with friend and musician, Jason Parsons.

“At the very starting of 2020 when all people was caught at house not having the ability to exit, I linked with Jason from a band referred to as USS,” he said on the show. “We despatched some music forwards and backwards. He’s a actually nice DJ and a nice songwriter usually. We simply began sending concepts forwards and backwards … He requested me if I wished to begin engaged on music to see the way it goes. We began writing some songs and we received some demos completed.”

Gontier seems really excited about the new music with DIVIIDEDBY because it’s going to be different than anything he’s done in the past. The way he describes it, fans should expect a more alternative sound, “a bit extra like Twenty One Pilots with some fairly cool beats and guitar … It’s fairly highly effective stuff.”

He’s still doing a lot of singing with the new project; as of right now, they only have one show scheduled, but they’re hoping to get an EP out and schedule more concerts this year.

“I’m happy with the music we have completed to this point. It’s going to be a lot of enjoyable to introduce DIVIIDEDBY to individuals.”

Adam Gontier joined Chuck Armstrong for Loudwire Nights on Friday, April 28; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station. Stream Saint Asonia’s EP, Extrovert, at this location and then check out their full tour schedule.