What is a winning formula for a band?

If you're Dark new Day, you get five best friends, split up into other bands such as Sevendust and Creed, work the industry for twelve years, then one day all quit your bands simultaneously and form the dream band you've always wanted.

"If you came to each guy and said, 'Hey, if you can put your own band together outside of your current band, who would you grab,' we were the guys that always said that we'd like to play with that guy," said drummer Will Hunt [formerly drummer of metal band Skrape] before their recent show in Atlanta. "I'd like to play with Brett, or with Troy, all of them. The stars just kind of aligned, we all got involved with other things, and finally those things dissipated. We all had other record deals. Then we started this band. Things just happened in that order."

The title of the album, Twelve Year Silence, reflects the time that the band members were apart before re-forming as Dark new Day, which houses the hit single "Brother."

"We've definitely gotten some record sales off of that, and some good touring off of it," Hunt says. "I think it got to number five on Active Rock, which is a huge deal. Everyone that was ahead of us or five spots behind us was a multi-platinum artist."

A video for the song helped with major spins on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball. Set in a desert town, the video shows twin boys chasing after their father while he is leaving them for the road. "It was just perfect, and we had a great shoot. It tells the story of the song, basically, about Clint and Corey and their brother and their father being a musician. They come from a real musical family, and it kind of shows the story."

Checkout Twelve Year Silence

"I think that it was coincidence that it happened," Hunt says, "particularly in that song, and something we did notice when it was finished, particularly with the subject matter of the song. Brett naturally has a way of making things go in a darker 'Radiohead' kind of [way]. It just wound up that way, all the songs are different, and they all kind of go in different places. But the vibe of every song is the same as far as being dark."

The very idea that the songs are written about and sometimes even for other band members gives the album a feeling of togetherness and being able to look ahead, despite the any troubles that may come along. Written in Florida during 2004's hurricane season, the destruction that was going on around the recording only seemed to have fed the explosive nature of the album.

While most members of "conglomerate" bands such as Dark new Day often lose their signature sound or come off like a mass assortment of big egos, Twelve Year Silence manages to offer a new sound plus keep the individuality of each member intact.

"When you put together a real band," Hunt says, "that's what it is, three, four or five people, however many it is, coming together and bringing their own thing to the table, and making it work. Led Zeppelin, prime example. Each guy in that band was his own entity, but brought in these amazing ideas, and each person gave it his own flavor. And without one of them, they wouldn't have been that. I'm not comparing us to them at all, but that's the idea of a band, there's no ego involved in it. We're all old...well, not old...well versed in this business to know that ego doesn't get you anywhere."

If you are a fan of Sevendust, Skrape, Stereomud, or just plain love anthemic rock and roll, check out Twelve Year Silence and make sure to catch the band when they play in your town. Get ready for the next single, "Pieces," which should be all over radio soon, and if you need more information about the band, check out www.darknewday.com.

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