THREE DAYS GRACE Bassist Says Reunion With Ex-Vocalist ADAM GONTIER For High School Honor Was 'Powerful'

Ex-THREE DAYS GRACE singer Adam Gontier and two members of the band's current lineup, bassist Brad Walst and his younger brother, vocalist Matt Walst, were inducted into the Norwood District High School Hall Of Honor on June 29 in Norwood, Ontario, Canada. Brad Walst spoke about the experience in a new interview with Tommy Carroll of the 97.9 WGRD radio station. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's funny 'cause the high school's been calling us for years. And, obviously, we've all had kind of different schedules, and Adam's been doing his thing and we've been doing our thing. And until recently, to be honest, we hadn't really spoken that much — we'd text and stuff. But Adam's moved back to the area, and he's got a great family and a great wife. And we've all kind of been chatting and hanging out. Yeah, I called him and just said, 'They want the three of us' — they want Matt, Adam and myself. And everyone agreed, and it was, like, 'Okay, let's do this.' So it was pretty cool to see [our] high school, where you grew up… It's nice to be acknowledged."

He continued: "It's funny, 'cause I texted Adam, 'You made the Hall Of Fame.' He's, like, 'Yup. Straight-B student.' [Laughs] But I think just having us together in that room was way more powerful, for sure. So it was a pretty cool feeling."

On June 30, Gontier took to his Instagram to share a photo and video of the ceremony, and he wrote in an accompanying caption: "About last night… thank you so much to Todd Murray, Jason Lean and everyone at Norwood District High School for inducting myself, Brad and @mattjpwalst thanks into their Hall of Honor. And a HUGE congrats to all of the 2022 NDHS graduates."

In 1992, Gontier, Brad Walst, Phil Crowe, Neil Sanderson and Joe Grant formed GROUNDSWELL while most of the members were still in high school. That band broke up in 1995, but two years later Gontier, Sanderson and Walst reformed as THREE DAYS GRACE. Gontier left the band in 2013 and was replaced by Matt, the vocalist from another Norwood band, MY DARKEST DAYS.

In a 2007 interview with The Oklahoman, Gontier said that he met some of his first bandmates while they were freshmen at Norwood District High School.

"I ended up hooking up with Brad because we had the same love of music," Gontier said. "He didn't play anything at the time. I suggested him getting a bass, and he did."

Gontier said that Canadian bands, including THE TRAGICALLY HIP and OUR LADY PEACE were early influences, along with the Seattle rock scene, particularly the group SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE.

Gontier initially went into rehab in 2005 in Toronto after admitting an addiction to Oxycontin. The rehab stint influenced some material which would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's "One-X" album, including the songs "Pain" and "Over And Over".

Gontier left THREE DAYS GRACE in the spring of 2013. At the time, the Canadian rockers cited unspecified "health issues" when his departure was announced. Adam later released a statement explaining he exited THREE DAYS GRACE to pursue new projects, and not to deal with addiction.

Gontier is currently a member of SAINT ASONIA, which also features STAIND guitarist/founding member Mike Mushok. The band will release a new EP, "Introvert", on July 1 via Spinefarm. The quartet is rounded out by Cale Gontier (bass) and Cody Watkins (drums).

THREE DAYS GRACE's latest album, "Explosions", was released on May 6 via RCA Records. The LP's first single, "So Called Life", was No. 1 on Mediabase's Active Rock chart and Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart. This was the band's 17th No. 1 song on the Mediabase chart and 16th No. 1 on the Billboard chart, and tied the internationally acclaimed and multi-platinum certified Canadian band with SHINEDOWN for the artist with most #1's on the Billboard chart.