nickelBack

Revolver Magazine
Jan/Feb 2002
pg. 54
by Alan Paul
NICKELBACK 
Chad Kroeger survived the journey from troublemaker to hitmaker, and he ain't going back Sometimes the third time really is a charm. The members of Nickelback discovered that recently when, after receiving lukewarm responses to both of their two previous releases, they scored a smash hit with Silver Side Up (RoadRunner). To its credit, the Canadian quartet earned its success the old-fashioned way- by playing one loud, sweaty gig after another. Following the 2000 release of The State, Nickelback's American debut, they spent more than a year on the road building a grass-roots following. They clearly did their work: Silver Side Up debuted at No.2. But playing music all the time is something the band is used to. After all, there weren't many other options in the small, remote Canadian town of Hanna, Alberta, where singer/guitarist Chad Kroeger, his bassist brother, Mike, and guitarist Ryan Peake grew up. "There wasn't much to do in Hanna except play music or get into trouble," says Chad Kroeger. "I did plenty of both."

Revolver: So what kind of trouble did you get into while growing up?
CK: It started when I was 13 and a bunch of us were skateboarding near our junior high school. We found an open window, and the next thing you know, we were inside. We found the combination to the safe in the office, and from then on a bunch of us would go in there every weekend to make withdrawals. I think I made the down payment for my first guitar from some of that money.
But of course we got caught, and I- and I alone- was sent away to a detention center. The judge dubbed me the ringleader and said I was taking the lion's share and thought I had to be taught a lesson. But I wasn't really ready to learn. Actually, I did straighten out for a while. When I got back, I failed the grade I was in and figured I should stop screwing around and take my schooling a little more seriously. I slacked my way through and graduated.

Revolver: Was that the end of your bad-boy ways?
CK: For a while. Mike, Ryan, and I formed a cover band, which really helped me stay out of trouble. We were really good and got a decent following around Western Canada, but we got sick of playing other people's music and broke up. Everyone went back to their day jobs, and I went back to getting into trouble. Then one day I found myself in a holding cell, looking at some big trouble, and I said, "That's it. If I can beat this, I'm getting out of here and changing my life."
My stepdad loaned me $4000, which was really nice of him. I got a good lawyer, got out of trouble, and used the rest of the money to move to Vancouver and make the first demo of songs that I had written myself.

Revolver: What were you in the cell for?
CK: I'd rather not say because I committed the crime and my lawyer got me off. The Gallagher brothers [of Oasis] got arrested after going on a talk show and talking about all the things they had gotten away with. Though I'm sure the statute of limitations has run out for me, I really am trying to put all that in the past and move ahead.

Revolver: You guys did a lot of touring behind The State, playing with Creed, 3DD, Sevendust, Godsmack, and many others. How were you influenced by them?
CK: We would see these bands just crush people live, and it made us realize exactly what we had to do to take it to the next level. Sometimes you start to think there's no real difference between successful bands and unsuccessful bands except luck and exposure, but when you see a great live band up close, you realize that there's a whole lot of skill involved as well. For instance, we saw Sevendust had all of its members running everywhere and interacting with the audience, and we realized we all had to go wireless. But more generally, you see that the bar has been raised and that you have to either step up or go home. You see exactly how good you have to be to make the next step, and you go for it.

Revolver: There's a long history of successful Canadian bands flopping in the US. What do you think allowed you to break through?
CK: I can name three factors: One, we sound very American. Two, RoadRunner Records was so much behind us that it was hard to screw up. And three, 3DD took us on five or six tours with them and made sure we were playing in front of full houses. We owe them a lot. And we were bound to make a dent after touring ceaselessly for 14 months. We dedicated ourselves to cracking this market rather than just playing the small number of big halls in Canada. There are just so many people to play for in America. We would play all over the country and say, "I guess we're done." Then our label and management and booking agents would say, "The first single just got released. Go start all over." We did that three times and kept playing to more and more people. Everybody just kept pushing out the door, and we knew that is what it took, so we kept going back out there. This may be why Canadian bands don't make it here: you have to start all over and work really hard, playing five or six days a week for months on end.

Revolver: Do you think that most of the people buying Silver Side Up know you're Canadian?
CK: Eighty percent don't have a clue. I think it works lots better if we have a fan first, then they find out we're from Canada. If you go, "Hi, we're Nickelback, and we're from Canada," most Americans go, "Okay, who are you knocking off?" Once you make them a fan, however, then it's kind of a cool thing: "And they're Canadian, too!"