nickelBack

Chart Attack

For a band originally from Hanna, Alberta, Nickelback have done pretty damn well for themselves internationally. The mention of the band's explosion onto the charts around the world causes vocalist Chad Kroeger to reflect on how the success of Silver Side Up has affected a small town boy.

"It's kinda like Pinch Me syndrome," says the vocalist as he scans the posh hotel room he's only just been led into.

Success is what every kid with a guitar and a tale to tell dreams of when their head hits pillow, and for Chad, Mike Kroeger (bass), Ryan Peake, (guitar) and Ryan Vikedal, those dreams are more than a headfull when they get the little sleep they do. According to Chad there are noticeable plateaus that stick out in his mind in the early morning.

"There's several, sort of, instances ' having it (Silver Side Up) go to number one as quick as it did in America, our first week of sales that allowed us to debut at #2 in Billboard and seeing us go from 2,000 seaters to 8,000 seaters to 12,000 seaters in Canada," he says of those guitar magazine dreams.

Now that Nickelback have busted things wide open internationally, Chad has to deal with the realization that there are a lot of ears listening and that hits home in a big way when he's writing lyrics.

"I'm just trying to keep in the back of my mind when I'm writing songs that I need to make it as clear as possible as to what I'm writing about these days because I'm not just writing for kids in Canada, or North America," he says, before thoughtfully, adding, "So throwing a metaphor in that a kid in Canada can barely understand is just going to make it impossible for a kid who doesn't speak English."

When success comes to a band another inevitably is usually the critical backlash which accompanies this. Chad takes it all in stride as he reclines in a baby blue hotel chair.

"When you come from a small town like we do you tend to see things differently, and you just try not to believe some of the shit they say," says Kroeger.

"If you start to believe that stuff, and you take it seriously, you'll wind up with your head so far up your ass that you won't remember the light of day," he laughs.

The vocalist seems to have his mind on remaining grounded these days since sudden stardom can wreak havoc on the brain.

"You kinda go through phases when sometimes you have to do a little Playstation instead of drinking and engaging in all the good reindeer games," he explains.

One of the reasons for Nickelback's success has been the non-stop roadwork and touring. It's a course to success which was paved successfully by the Barenaked Ladies a number of years ago. But the road life can be a rough life.

"It's like me living seven days in each day 'cause you're in a new city all the time and everyday you're so busy. And then you put on a rock 'n' roll show, it's pretty bizarre because you can go on the road for a week and it feels like a month."

And Chad expects to tour Silver Side Up for about 18 solid months, and in those months who knows who he'll run into.

"I was just in the studio with Scott Ian, watching him track guitars," says the visibly happy Anthrax fan. "Me and Jerry Cantrell from Alice In Chains were watching Scott play some killer tracks."

In addition to Chad's encounters with his teenage heroes, his face to face encounters with fans he has become hero to has also had an impact on him.

It's a long way from Hanna, Alberta to having millions of ears around the world hear your music, but for Nickelback hard work has paid off, and now Chad is getting the chance to play the big arenas and experience the world the way his heroes did. But in the end, it all comes back to the song.

"It's verification when a person says 'you know your song really got me through a tough time,' because it was very therapeutic for me to write it," he says.