Saint Asonia
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Saint Asonia (stylized as SΔINT ΔSONIΔ) is a Canadian-American rock supergroup consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Gontier, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Cale Gontier, and drummer Cody Watkins. In 2017, the band's original drummer, Rich Beddoe, left the band and was replaced by Mushok's
Staind Staind ( ) is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, and ...
bandmate Sal Giancarelli, and one year later bassist and backing vocalist Corey Lowery left the band to join
Seether Seether are a South African Rock music, rock band founded in 1999 in Pretoria, Gauteng. The band originally performed under the name Saron Gas until 2002, when they moved to the United States and changed it to Seether to avoid confusion with ...
and his place was taken by Gontier's cousin Cale Gontier. The band formed in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Canada in 2015 after Gontier's departure from
Three Days Grace Three Days Grace is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Asphodel–Norwood, Norwood, Ontario, in 1992 originally as Groundswell. Groundswell played in various local Norwood backyard parties and area establishments before disbanding in 1 ...
in 2013. Their second studio album, titled '' Flawed Design'', was released on October 25, 2019. On January 26, 2020, Art of Dying drummer Cody Watkins became the new drummer for Saint Asonia replacing Sal Giancarelli.


History


Formation and self-titled album (2015–2018)

In April 2014,
Staind Staind ( ) is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny April, and ...
guitarist Mike Mushok and ex-
Three Days Grace Three Days Grace is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Asphodel–Norwood, Norwood, Ontario, in 1992 originally as Groundswell. Groundswell played in various local Norwood backyard parties and area establishments before disbanding in 1 ...
singer Adam Gontier began writing songs together, without the intention of creating a band. They ended up writing 11-12 tracks and were impressed with what they had written. They recorded a three-song demo and garnered the interest of
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
. The duo later enlisted former
Finger Eleven Finger Eleven is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1990. They have released seven studio albums (six as Finger Eleven and one as Rainbow Butt Monkeys), with their album ''The Greyest of Blue Skies'' bringing th ...
drummer Rich Beddoe, and former Dark New Day bassist Corey Lowery to complete their lineup. The band released their first teaser early May 2015, which featured the fact that "25 Top Ten Rock Singles" were shared between each member, 17 of which are number ones, and teased the band's first single, logo and clips of the band. On May 15, 2015, the group released their debut single " Better Place". They made their debut live performance at Rock on the Range as the opening act for the main stage on May 16, and were billed as a special guest. When asked about the title of the band, Gontier stated that they are "...more like refugees that just hit it off creatively." In June 2015, the band announced that their debut self-titled album would be released on July 31 that same year via
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
featuring 11 tracks. Johnny K was secured as the producer for their debut album. The album's lead single, "Better Place", reached the US
Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...
chart and the Canada Rock chart at number eight and number nine respectively. The band premiered a new track titled, "Blow Me Wide Open", on June 29. The album's second single " Let Me Live My Life" was released on July 17, 2015. Their debut self-titled album peaked at number 29 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and sold 13,000 copies in its first week. The album also topped the US Top Hard Rock Albums chart. Saint Asonia embarked on a headlining tour in August 2015 in support of the album. They also joined
Seether Seether are a South African Rock music, rock band founded in 1999 in Pretoria, Gauteng. The band originally performed under the name Saron Gas until 2002, when they moved to the United States and changed it to Seether to avoid confusion with ...
in a fall 2015 tour. In February 2016, Saint Asonia joined the first part of the 2016 Disturbed tour, as an opening act. On April 29, 2016, Saint Asonia released a cover of the
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
song, " I Don't Care Anymore" on their
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel, which was later released in the iTunes Store on May 6, 2016. On June 5, 2017, drummer Rich Beddoe confirmed that he had left Saint Asonia on good terms to do other things. On July 12, 2017, the band played their first show with Mike Mushok's former Staind bandmate Sal Giancarelli on drums. Lowery departed the band during the summer of 2018 to join Seether full-time and was replaced by Art of Dying bassist and Gontier's cousin Cale Gontier.


''Flawed Design'', ''Introvert/Extrovert'' and temporary hiatus (2019–2024)

On February 21, 2019, Saint Asonia announced that they signed with
Spinefarm Records Spinefarm Records is an international record label. Founded in Finland in 1990, Spinefarm was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2002. History Spinefarm Records began as a mailorder distribution company, founded by Riku Pääkkönen. The c ...
and that a follow-up album to their first album was in the works. The group began recording their second studio album in 2019 with producer Brian Sperber. On July 24, 2019, the band revealed their new single " The Hunted" featuring
Sully Erna Salvatore Paul Erna Jr. (born February 7, 1968) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter, best known as the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for rock band Godsmack. He is also a harmonica player, drummer, and percussionist, performing these ...
. The song serves as the lead single from their second studio album '' Flawed Design''. On September 20, 2019, Saint Asonia released a new track, "Beast" and announced the release date of the album. ''Flawed Design'' was officially released on October 25, 2019. The album peaked at number 171 on the ''Billboard'' 200. On January 26, 2020, it was announced that Art of Dying drummer Cody Watkins had joined the band as their new drummer replacing Giancarelli. The group played three shows in Canada in March 2020 with The Standstills joining them. The band was set to open for
Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American Rock music, rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips (musician), Scott Phill ...
on their Walk the Sky tour in the spring of 2020, as well as
Breaking Benjamin Breaking Benjamin is an American Rock music, rock band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, formed in 1999 by lead singer and guitarist Benjamin Burnley and drummer Jeremy Hummel. The first lineup of the band also included guitarist Aaron Fink an ...
on their summer 2020 tour, but due to the
Covid-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, their tour with Alter Bridge was postponed and their tour with Breaking Bejamin was cancelled. On November 18, 2021, the band released a cover of " Blinding Lights" by
The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...
. On April 19, 2022, the band teased a new single on their
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account with an image taken from the new music video, along with the lyrics "We've been drowning for far too long." The group premiered the new single on May 6, 2022, titled, " Above It All". Along with this release, they announced an EP titled, ''Introvert'', which was released on July 1, 2022. The group announced another EP, ''Extrovert'' that was released on November 18, 2022. In addition, the band released the lead single "
Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...
". The band released both EPs physically as '' Introvert/Extrovert'' with bonus tracks on December 9, 2022. They joined Theory of a Deadman and Skillet on the Rock Resurrection tour from February to March 2023. A fall leg of the tour was later announced with the group re-joining them. The band also embarked on the Devastate Tour in May. In November 2023, the band released a new version of "Wolf", featuring John Cooper of Skillet. In December 2023, Gontier was featured on Thousand Foot Krutch's 2023 version of their single, "Let the Sparks Fly". The band joined Black Stone Cherry on a US co-headlining tour from February to March 2024. In July 2024, it was announced that the group was joining Theory of a Deadman on their Unplugged Tour in October and November. However, on September 13, 2024, the group dropped out of the tour citing "personal matters." Shortly after, on October 3, Gontier returned to
Three Days Grace Three Days Grace is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Asphodel–Norwood, Norwood, Ontario, in 1992 originally as Groundswell. Groundswell played in various local Norwood backyard parties and area establishments before disbanding in 1 ...
full-time, with Matt Walst (who replaced him in 2013) remaining a lead vocalist as well. Saint Asonia promptly announced a temporary hiatus and that they would be back soon.


Musical styles and influences

Their music has been described as
post-grunge Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s alternative rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox, Colle ...
,
hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
,
alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
and
nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...
. Their debut studio album has been described as post-grunge and hard rock, blended with "catchy vocal melodies." The album was compared to their peers, including Filter and
Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...
. Their second studio album ''Flawed Design'', has been described as
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
. The album's material was inspired by Gord Downie, Chris Cornell and
Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...
. The band's EP, ''Extrovert'' focuses on hooky and melodic riffs, and has been described as alternative rock.


Band members

Current members * Adam Gontier – lead vocals, rhythm guitar * Mike Mushok – lead guitar * Cale Gontier – bass, backing vocals * Cody Watkins – drums, percussion Current touring musicians * Tavis Stanley – lead guitar Former members * Rich Beddoe – drums, percussion * Corey Lowery – bass, backing vocals * Sal Giancarelli – drums, percussion Timeline


Discography


Studio albums


Compilation albums


Extended plays


Singles


Promotional singles


Music videos


Awards

Loudwire Music Awards , - , 2015 , , Saint Asonia , , Best New Artist of 2015 , , Canadian Radio Music Awards , - , 2016 , , "Better Place" , , Best New Group or Solo Artist: Mainstream Rock , ,


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2015 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian nu metal musical groups American post-grunge musical groups Canadian post-grunge groups American alternative metal musical groups Canadian alternative metal musical groups Canadian hard rock musical groups 2015 establishments in Ontario Canadian musical quartets American musical quartets Rock music supergroups RCA Records artists Spinefarm Records artists