THREE DAYS GRACE's NEIL SANDERSON Is 'Grateful' For Band's Chart Success

During a recent appearance on "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, THREE DAYS GRACE drummer Neil Sanderson spoke about the fact that his band has had 17 No. 1 singles on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs chart. Asked if he is someone who pays much attention to the charts, Neil said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yes and no. I look at the charts and it's always a reflection of the fans and the music industry and people like yourselves just supporting us on this journey that we're on. And this journey that we're on has had a lot of twists and turns, and we wouldn't have those numbers and that success and those hits and stuff if we didn't have that really big support system."

He continued: "For us, what we try to do is stay true to ourselves, be honest in the lyrics, maintain the fact that THREE DAYS GRACE always writes about what's going on in our heads and in our hearts, no matter how crazy or painful that may be. We try to get it out on the outside and put it in the song. And I think that our fans connect with us on that level because it becomes real to them. And so there's that powerful connection that I think is the nucleus of this whole thing, is that we've been true to ourselves and true to the fans and the fans have been there all along the way. So in that way, when I look at the numbers, I think I'm grateful; pretty much that's the feeling."

THREE DAYS GRACE's latest album, "Explosions", arrived in May via RCA Records.

Sanderson told the Toronto Star the title of the album refers to the crackling tension simmering in our souls.

"This whole record, there was definitely a common thread going through it of everybody having that boiling point inside of them," he explained. "It's not necessarily a boiling point out of anger and frustration, but it's … the need to express yourself and be yourself, and to say what you want and do what you want.

"[The] 'Explosions' [title track] represents that boiling point of something ticking inside of you that's going to come out and explode. I don't know if that's always the best option, if it turns into something that's destructive — and then a song like 'So-Called Life' contemplates the fact that you're at that point and either you are going to explode or you're going to find something to take the edge off, fill that void, distract you or kind of calm you down, whatever that is."

Regarding how he and his bandmates were affected by the pandemic, Sanderson said: "In some ways, we got fairly lucky. We toured so much in 2018-2019, just constantly — we did a lot of stuff in Europe and Russia — and we decided that we were going to take 2020 off of touring. Obviously, it ran into 2021 and, by that time, we had figured out some different techniques to collaborate remotely. So we were able to do a pretty good job of efficiently co-writing over the Internet."

The multiplatinum record-breaking band from Ontario, Canada has amassed billions of streams and millions of album sales, sold out arenas on multiple continents, and reached unprecedented heights. The band's veritable arsenal of No. 1 hits includes "Chalk Outline", "The High Road", "Misery Loves My Company", "World So Cold", "Good Life", "Break", "Never Too Late", "Animal I Have Become", "Pain", "Just Like You" and "Home".