Midway State Debut Album

06/27/08 5:30pm

by Ciara McCann (CHARTattack)

The Midway State will make their full-length debut with the Remedy-released Holes on July 22.

Holes was recorded at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, Ont. with Juno Award-winning producer Gavin Brown (Three Days Grace, Billy Talent). It was mixed by Randy Staub (Avril Lavigne, Metallica) and Michael Brauer (Coldplay, Paul McCartney). The video for first single "Never Again" was shot by Grammy Award-nominated director Frank Borin (Eminem, Simple Plan), while the video for "Change For You" was directed by Sum 41's Stevo.

You can hear "Never Again," "Change For You" and "A Million Fireflies" on The Midway State's MySpace page.

"By the time I was 15, I had this thing going where I challenged myself to write a song a day," says lead singer, songwriter and pianist Nathan Ferraro. "I've still got boxes and boxes of tapes from those days.

"When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but at one point I had to admit to myself that the only option for me in life was music. This is it for me. The day I realized that, I dropped out of university before my first day had even begun and I've been focused on this ever since."

Ferraro is joined in the group by guitarist/vocalist Michael Wise, bassist/vocalist Michael Kirsh and drummer Daenen Bramberger. The Toronto-based, emo/pop/rock band also have an international deal with Interscope, which will release Holes in the U.S. and Europe in the fall.

The Midway State won the Fan Choice Award at the North By Northeast Music Festival earlier this month. Their music was featured in the television show The O.C. and will soon be heard in the Kirsten Dunst/Simon Pegg movie, How To Lose Friends & Alienate People.

The Midway State have toured with the likes of Kate Nash, Silversun Pickups, Evanescence and Silverchair, among others. You can see them here:

June 29 St. Catharines, ON @ Big BucksJuly 12 Calgary, AB @ Flames CentralJuly 24 Montreal, QC @ Les SaintsSept. 6 Toronto, ON @ Virgin Festival

Here are the tracks on Holes:

"Never Again""Change For You""Nobody Understands""A Million 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"