Life on the road for rock groups is often depicted as a touring version of “Animal House” — night after night of crazy, fun times that leave outsiders envious and wanting in.
But at a time when Three Days Grace should have been on a high — touring the nation off the success of their 2003 self-titled, debut album — all lead singer Adam Gontier wanted was out. Plagued by unspecified “demons,” the songwriter and guitarist left the group’s last tour feeling despondent.
“Lots of different stuff was going on with me,” Gontier said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I had problems myself that I had to do deal with ... I think one of the most difficult things I had to face was starting to figure out who I was as a person.”
Gontier’s road to healing is chronicled on the Canadian band’s sophomore CD, “One-X,” out June 13. With titles like “Pain,” “Time of Dying” and “Let It Die,” Gontier put his difficulties on display for the band’s millions of fans.
“The record is a lot more personal to me than our first record, just in the sense that our last record was sort of written about our friends, and things that happened around us and growing up in a small town,” said Gontier. “This record is sort of more about my life over the last few years.”
While Gontier declined to specify what exactly brought him down, he did say that constant touring and being away from family and friends left him feeling alone and disoriented.
“There was a point where I kind of felt kind of numb to everything that was going on around me, and I didn’t know who I was,” he said. “I think when I got home off the tour, I think the hardest thing was trying to take some time for myself and actually straighten things out and trying to figure out who I was.”
Gontier’s music helped him to find that out. After the band’s tour ended, Gontier and the other members — guitarist Barry Stock, drummer Neil Sanderson and bassist Brad Walst — holed themselves up in a cottage outside of Ontario and just started writing — much needed therapy for Gontier.
“I had a whole bunch of stuff happening, at home and on the road, so it was just a pretty tough couple of years, and when we got off the road, it was pretty natural to sit down and write down what happened to me,” he said. “And that’s basically what ended up on this record.”
But Gontier was quick to point out that “One-X” is far from a downer. The record has a variety of songs on it, including mellow tunes, he noted. And “Never Too Late” might be one of the band’s most inspirational tunes.
“I guess it’s like feeling like you’re at the end of your rope and deciding whether or not to completely give up or whether or not to try and sort of keep making it through another day,” he said. “That song is about not giving up.”