The Midway State is a Canadian

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 ...

band from Collingwood and

Wasaga Beach Wasaga Beach (or simply Wasaga) is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. Situated along the longest freshwater beach in the world, it is a popular summer tourist destination. It is located along the southern end of Georgian Bay, approximatel ...

, Ontario, signed to Remedy Records for

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and to Universal Publishing for the world outside. They debuted with ''Holes'' in 2008, followed by ''Paris or India'' in 2011.

History

The band has done several tours throughout

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, opening for acts such as

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie (commonly abbreviated to DCFC or Death Cab) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been classified as indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock. The ...

, Silversun Pickups, Kate Nash,

Shiny Toy Guns Shiny Toy Guns is an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, in 2002. The band comprises guitarist/vocalist Chad Petree, vocalist/bassist/keyboardist Carah Faye Charnow, keyboardist/bassist Jeremy Dawson, ...

, Mika,

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Mesa, Arizona, in 1993. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach ...

, Third Eye Blind and k-os. In May 2007, their song "A Million Fireflies" was featured on the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

compilation disc "Canadian Blast" that was released as a promotion attached to the magazine. " Never Again" from the album, ''Holes'', was used as the default ringback for customers on the

Rogers Wireless Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of just under $15.1 billion in ...

network in Canada. In 2009 the band recorded a cover of

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

's "Don't Give Up" with

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

. They later shot a music video. Never officially released, the track and video were leaked to the world online. The band was nominated for two

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

s and voted Best New Artist at the MuchMusic Video Awards by viewers.Their song "Unaware" was featured during the final minutes of the Fox show '' The O.C.'' On Thursday May 5, 2011, they opened for Third Eye Blind at the Sound Academy in Toronto. Their second album, ''Paris or India'', was released on July 19, 2011 and debuted at #42 on the

Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...

. On July 25, 2011, they were the support act for their old bandmate, Tyler Armes' band, Down With Webster, at Edmonton's Capital Ex. In 2016, they released a song called "Crystalized" under the name, ''Nathan John and the Midway State''. Ferraro has gone on to be a songwriting and producing collaborator for other artists, notably on

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's 2024 single "

Texas Hold 'Em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, community cards ...

Past members

*Nathan Ferraro – Vocals/Piano/Synths *Daenen Bramberger – Drums *Mike Wise – Guitar *Mike Kirsh – Bass

Discography

''Paris or India'' (2011)

# Alive # Atlantic # Fire # All Anew # Paris or India # Lightning # Hartley Salter's Kite # Heart Of Glass # Litebrite # St. Paul And The Wolf

''Holes'' (2008)

# Never Again # Change for You # Nobody Understands # Fireflies # Unaware # Can't Stop Waking Up to You # Holes # Where Did We Go? # Hold My Head Up # Fire Keeps On Burning # I Know # No Crying # Time to Move On (

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Bonus Track)

''Met a Man on Top of the Hill EP'' (2007)

# Met a Man on Top of the Hill # Change for You # Nobody Understands # A Million Fireflies

''Eponymous'' (2006)

# Met a Man on Top of the Hill # Change for You # Unaware # Nobody Understands # A Million Fireflies

''Wide Eyed'' (2003)

# Barefoot # Amie # Everytime We Die # Stupid Love Songs # New Girl # Hold On # Ruby

''Stay Calm...It Will Always Be'' (2003)

# Not the One # All His Angels # My Breath Away # A Million Fireflies # Reckless

Other work

# " Don't Give Up", originally by

and

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

(Duet with

). # "

True True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * ...

", a

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

cover, along with a song of their own titled "New York Sky" was featured in the soundtrack to the film '' Textuality''. # " Run To You" (a

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

cover) was used for the promotion of the mini-series '' Camelot'' by CBC.

Awards and nominations

*In 2009, Holes was nominated for "Best Pop Album", while Ferraro was nominated "Songwriter of the Year" at the

Juno Awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...

*On June 21, 2009, they won "Favourite New Artist" and "Best "Independent Video" for " Never Again" at the

MuchMusic Video Awards The iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards were an annual awards show broadcast annually on Much (TV channel), Much from 1990 to 2018, and Fuse (TV channel), Fuse from 2010 to 2013 that honoured the year's best music videos. Originally debuting in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midway State, The Musical groups established in 2007 Musical groups from Ontario Canadian alternative rock groups 2007 establishments in Ontario