Exclusive: Saint Asonia's Adam Gontier talks sports, national anthems and more
Saint Asonia – named Loudwire's Best New Artist of 2015 – sparked into life four years ago when former Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier and Staind guitarist and founding member Mike Mushok decided to turn their joint ambition to make music that is "raw, real, and straight from our hearts" into a new band and a fully-fledged studio outing. The result was Saint Asonia's acclaimed self-titled debut, released in 2015, which charted Top 10 in Canada and entered the Billboard U.S. Rock Albums chart at #2.
A 'supergroup' of sorts, the members of Saint Asonia -- Gontier, Mushok, bassist Cale Gontier (Art Of Dying) and drummer Sal Giancarelli (Staind) -- are collectively responsible for 28 Top 10 U.S. Rock Radio hits, including 17 #1's. The latest studio effort from Saint Asonia is Flawed Design, which was released on October 25th and includes an appearance by Godsmack's Sully Erna.
A few weeks prior to the release of Flawed Design, I spoke with singer Adam Gontier by phone about a variety of topics, including his history with sports. The full chat is embedded below, while parts of the conversation have been exclusively transcribed for Sportskeeda.
On whether sports are a part of his life when not touring:
Adam Gontier: (laughs) Hockey, for sure. I'm a big baseball guy and I'm a big hockey guy. My wife's not too keen on that, but hey... (laughs) I was born and raised in Canada, so it's hard not to get excited over the hockey season when it starts.
On whether he has ever sung the national anthem at a hockey game:
Adam Gontier: You know what? Not at a hockey game. I did sing the national anthem at a [New England] Patriots, [New York] Jets game a few years ago. That was amazing, that was fun. I also sang the national anthem at a NASCAR race in Phoenix. I've done it a couple of times, but not at a hockey game. I think we're maybe talking about doing something like that this year if we can.
On whether he sings both the American and Canadian national anthems at those games:
Adam Gontier: When I sang them in the past it was just the American national anthem. But at a hockey game, it's usually both, but it just depends on where the team is playing... I know them both pretty well now. I've lived in both countries for long periods of time, so I know them both well. (laughs)