The Midway State is ready for the big time.

The band, which is comprised of Nathan Ferraro (lead singer) from Nottawa and Daenen Bramberger (drummer) from Wasaga Beach, guitarist Michael Wise and bassist Michael Kirsh, released their debut album in Canada on Tuesday. The album, which is called Holes, will be released in Europe and the United States in the fall.

Ferraro told Simcoe.com that the album took three months to record and describes it as a "piano-rock record," with a lot of harmonies and a focus on vocals.

Ferraro, 22, said the group recorded some of the album in London with an orchestra and completed the rest in Toronto.

"It's like being in the playoffs," he said.

He wrote all the songs, but said when it came to arrangements and music, it was a team effort.
Ferraro said the toughest part of the process was the end.

"You have to be really obsessed about something," he said. "The hardest part is letting go and saying we are finished."

Ferraro said he is already thinking ahead and has some ideas for the next album.

The band is signed to an international deal with Interscope Records, the same label as Gwen Stefani and Sheryl Crow.

With the album in stores, Ferraro said the band will be hitting the road to promote the record.

"We are ready to grind and fight," he said. "I love it so much."

Touring is nothing new for the group, which has been traveling around the world over the past year.

The group will be returning home for a record signing at Vibe Music and Clothing on Hurontario Street on July 31. The time hasn't been set yet, but for more information call the store at 444-6418.

The quartet will be appearing on Canada AM on July 30 and will be opening for Avril Lavigne in Sudbury and Toronto on Aug. 5 and 6.

They will then be heading across the pond to play in the United Kingdom, which will be followed up by a U.S. tour as well as a trip to France and Italy.

Having played in front of thousands of people, Ferraro said sometimes it's overwhelming. He said this happened when they were on tour in Paris.

"When you are in front of 4,000 Parisians singing a song that you wrote at your piano in Nottawa, Ontario. It's pretty cool," Ferraro said.

It's a long way from the Mountainview Hotel, where the band played its first gig in 2002.

"We played everywhere booking our own gigs," he said, "We played with hardcore bands, pretty much everything under the sun - we were always the first of five acts on a bill."

Bramberger and Ferraro and two former bandmates lived in an apartment and slept in bunk beds for several months in Toronto.

"We stayed in an apartment for $75 a month each with two old bandmates. There were four of us in bunk beds in one room," he says. "But we knew it was where we had to be to move forward."

His instincts were right. In time, their demo fell into the hands of multi-platinum, award winning producer Gavin Brown. Things clicked and the band recorded its first EP.

A few months after the EP was done, the band's indie video found its way to a few U.S. record company executives and ignited a spark.

"That's when everything changed. It wasn't too long before we found ourselves talking with Jimmy Iovine (president of Interscope Records) about his work with artists like John Lennon and U2," recalls Ferraro.

"You have to understand, where I grew up we had no cable TV and no Internet. My house was so remote we didn't even have a proper address."

Before those trips Daenen and I had never even been on a plane or seen a palm tree. It was nuts. I feel blessed. We were very lucky."

The album is available at all major record stores and locally, it is available at Vibe Music and Clothing. On the Internet, the album is available on the iTunes site.

For more information on the band click the link provided.