Dark New Day Vocalist Brett Hestla Talks about Band's Beginnings

Dark New Day Vocalist Brett Hestla Talks about Band’s Beginnings

2012-03-09

Story by Anne Erickson

Dark New Day singer says band members first talked about playing together in their teens

Powerhouse rock supergroup Dark New Day are back in full force with their sophomore full-length, “New Tradition,” which arrived late last month. The disc — which brings together brand-name players including Will Hunt (Evanescence), Clint Lowery (Sevendust), Brett Hestla (Virgos Merlot), Troy McLawhorn (Evanescence) and Corey Lowery (Stereomud, Eye Empire) — transports track after track of ominous hard rock, brought together by powerful riffing and singer Hestla’s thick vocals.

Hestla says the guys in Dark New Day had a vision to get together and start playing music back when they were still teenagers. “We actually started talking about doing Dark New Day in various formations for years, but it wasn’t called Dark New Day yet,” he told Audio Ink Radio. “We actually were talking about playing together when we were all 19 years old!

“Back when we all started playing the club circuit, we would share the stage with each other and get on the same bill as each other in different bands, and we became friends. I’d always talk to Clint and all of the guys and ask, ‘When are we finally going to jam?’ We were all huge fans of each other. We would talk about how cool it would be if we could do a project together. So, 2004 was the first opportunity where everybody had time, and we went for it.”

As for touring plans, Hestla says those are on hold for now, due to band members’ various projects. “The complicated situation we’re in is that Troy and Will are in Evanescence and Clint is in Sevendust and Eye Empire, so he’s out supporting them right now. I’m busy producing in my studio, too. But, our hope is that the stars will align when the single is out and being worked and we can start putting runs together during the off time. There’s nothing we’d love more than to get together and to be able to perform these songs at long last in front of people and finally realize that vision that we have with these songs.” (Photo credit: Stephen Jensen/Josh Hartzler/Katie Hestla.)

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based music reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.