nickelBack
CHART
Dec2001/Jan2002
Cover Story
Nickelback- Artist of The Year
pg. 33
by: Erik Missio
The Biggest Canadian Band in America
Nickelback- Artist of the Year
It's a chilly night in Portlan, Oregon but the rock fans (from giddy
Britneys cell phoning their parents to wizened 50-somethings nursing their beers)
are out in force. Hometown heroes Everclear are headlining the show tonight, but
their top billing is more a formality than anything else. The buzz in the crowd
gives you an indication of who the people are really here to see.
And from the second they take the stage until about 20 minutes after they leave
it, Nickelback own the good people of Portland. Frontman Chad Kroeger, white
cowboy hat and all, leads the way through a myriad of recognizable radio hits
and crowd pleasers. His brother, bassist Mike works the crowd with confidence,
while Ryan Peake rocks out stage right, playing his guitar like this is is one
and only shot and greatness. All the while, Ryan "Nik" Vikedal pounds
the skins, a jazz enthusiast rocking out in a country-western-inspired shirt.
gthe 'Back have gained a reputation for being a live band first and foremost and
tonight they're owning up to the hype. "Where Do I Hide?" gets
elevated by an impromptu jame session, "Worthy To Say" is transformed
into a funky-as-all-hell masterpiece and "Leader of Men" (and every
other song, for that matter) becomes a campfire singalong. Throughout the show,
the band lovingly hurls water bottles at the crowd in the same way an opera diva
blows kisses to her followers....
THE SPIRIT OF THE RADIO
Less than an hour before they're due to take the stage, Mike Kroeger is sitting
in his dressing room, dealing with some uncomfortable stats regarding the band's
current single, "How You Remind Me"- a song that's been played on
American rock radio more times than any other song in history.
"In the US, a radio station starts playing it every 3.2 minutes. I can't
deal with that," Mike says, shaking his head in disbelief. Somewhere in
America, right as these words are being written, Chad Kroeger is screaming out,
"Are we having fun yet?"
"Surprisingly, we've been getting a lot of guys who've been saying that
they relate to [the song]," Chad says. "We thought we'd get that from
a female audience, but we've got male fans who'd typically be into Slipknot- and
we know this for a fact because an extreme rock station in Boston wouldn't play
the song because it didn't fit into their core audience [until fans forced them
to]. It went to #1 in two weeks."
In most markets, the album did too. Released in September, the band's Silver
Side Up debuted at #1 on canada's Soundscan charts. Since then, it's come close
to achieving double platinum status in the US and triple platinum status in
Canada. In fact, Chad can't go into bars without being recognized (thought, as
Mike gleefully points out, people tend not to notice bassists in public).
Eventually, though, with overexposure comes backlash. Thankfully, the band has
already selected the album's second single, lest people get sick of their sound.
Up next is "Too Bad," a riff-rocker that explores Chad's childhood
relationship with his estranged father.
"We're very excited to get to the new single because of all the feedback
we've been getting," he explains with a tone that suggests that maybe- just
maybe- even the band's frontman is getting tired of hearing the same song on the
radio all the time. But if "Too Bad" fails to come close to the
unexpected triumph of its predecessor, are people going to start writing off the
band as nothing more than a passing fad, a one-hit nu grunge wonder in the wake
of Kurt and Eddie?
BIGGER IS BETTER
Quite simply, at this very second, nickelback is the biggest thing in American
rock. From a commercial standpoint, there is no other Canadian rock artist that
has accomplished what they have over the last 12 months. But while detractors
cry "Derivative!" and eagerly anticipate the band's destruction, the
boys in Nickelback aren't flinching. It's clear by their faces when the subject
turns to how they deal with accusations of creatve redundancy, that they've
heard it all before.
"I hate having to justify it. We've had people say, 'Are you influenced by
Creed?' or claim that we're the same as 3DD and [that all of these bands] are
all happening as some sort of movement," shrugs Peake. "We've been
doing this for so long and we've been kicked in the teeth for so long because
this just happens to be the type of music we like to play."
Guitar-driven rock has been what the band has played since their formation a
half-decade ago. Their current success isn't some sort of carefully calculated
marketing plan to unleash the right sound at the right time, it's what they've
always aspired to be since their early days in Hanna, Alberta. And although the
band now calls Vancouver home (finding major radio airplay in a small Albertan
town was rather difficult), it was in Hanna that they were born, competing with
the other struggling bands that stole each other's musicians and took turns
playing in the local bars.
"I don't know if there's such a strong music scene there any more, but when
we were growing up it was cool," Chad says. "When you were done riding
your skateboard, free-styling on your bike or what not, you'd just pick up an
instrument and play."
But eventually you'd want to play that instrument in front of larger crowds. In
1995, Peake and Chad borrowed some cash and trekked down to Vancouver to hook up
with Mike, who had becun his own musical exodus earlier. There, with
Kroeger-cousin Brandon on drumes, Hanna's barbarians became Nickelback,
releasing a debut indie EP, Hesher, and a full-length album, Curb, later that
same year. Vikedal stepped in as the band continued to gain some serious support
from Vancouver rock station CFOX and cultivated a grassroots fan base.
Eventually scrounging up enough cash to put out 1998's The State, the band sold
a staggering 10,000 copies without a record label or management. Instead, they
embraced a DIY ethic and kept track of the radio exposure they were getting in
each city they traveled through, often pimping their wares to various record
shop owners and DJs themselves. On their own, Nickelback succeeded where many
big shot record labels and management-types fail: they were able to rise above
their peers and gain national attention in Canada. Then they achieved one better
and conquered America.
After singing with EMI Canada and RoadRunner Records in the US, the band
re-released The State and proceeded to tour the hell out of the US, playing some
200 shows last year alone. Unlike other Canuck acts who've tried to make it big
in the States and failed miserably, Nickelback struck a chord with the American
markets. Some claimed it's because they "sound" American- a vague
suggestion that the band still tends to endorse. In any case, along the way,
Nickelback started to become friends with the very bands that critics drew
comparisons to: Creed, Staind, incubus, and others. These were artists without
any sort of airs or pretensions about them, these were bands that were first and
foremost about the music.
"It's cool to have worked with Big Sugar and all those bands [while in
Canada], but when we first ran into 3DD in Milwaukee it was something totally
different from anything that we ever experienced," Vikedal relates. "It
opened our eyes... They were just so respectful to us and we had such a good
time touring together. That had never happened before. [Until that point] it was
always, 'Yeah, you guys can't have this dressing room,' but with them we were
equals, friends."
"Other bands can talk shit about us," he continues. "We know who
respects us and who we respect."
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Although it might be hard to top a year that saw the success of The State and
the unprecedented supernova of Silver Side Up, Nickelback intend to keep busy in
2002. Having just returned from the Land Down Under, the band are currently
finishing up a US tour before returning to headline shows in their home and
native land after Christmas. And, after all these years of touring, the group
are starting to find sutble, intricate nuances in the cultural differences
between nations.
"When Aussie fans and Canadian fans are having a good time, they don't give
you the finger," Mike says. "[In the US], the better time you're
having, the more middle fingers you're going to see."
"It's a Slipknot thing," his brother offers.
"No, it's a Limp Bizkit thing. It's all Fred Durst asking fans to give him
the middle finger," he replies with a sigh. "Okkaaaayy... If that's
what having a good time is all about, then give us the finger. You don't see
that in Canada or Australia, though."
Endearing finger alutes aside, what's not immediately clear is whether Default,
the Vancouver band mentored by Nickelback, will be joining them on the road.
"I hope these guys do well," says Peake. "They're growing down
here... It's not that we're some big, huge band and we like sitting back and
watching the baby bands grow. It's just that they're really cool guys and it's
great to watch them progress."
Default won't be the band's only proteges in the coming months, though. Chad
lets slip that he's set up a production studio and is looking to land a
distribution deal, although he remains tight-lipped on whether he already has
some acts in mind. Still, it's a safe bet that the band will be bombarded with
even more demo tapes from hopeful would-be rock stars in the future. After all,
Nickelback have already realized what almost every kid with a guitar and a
garage thirsts for: in many ways they're the manifestation of the Great Canadian
Rock'n'Roll Dream. They are, after all, the first Canuck band to claim US rock
radio since the Guess Who's "American Woman," some 30 years ago.
Is it hard to be so successful so fast? To feel this much pressure?
"I don't have a clue. We're kind of busy right now, doing all this touring,"
Peake says. "We've got our heads down and we're working hard. We just want
to see how far we can take this."