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Nickelback
April 14, 2002
After the runaway success of their single "How
You Remind Me," and then "Too Bad,"
Canadian band Nickelback
is rockin’ the spotlight this week with "Yanking
Out My Heart," also from their latest album "Silver
Side Up."
 With
influences that bring to mind everything from Led
Zeppelin to Creed, Nickelback formed in Vancouver
in 1996, with brothers Mike and Chad Kroeger on lead
vocals/guitar and bass, respectively. The Kroegers’
cousin Brandon handled drums and longtime friend Ryan
Peake was on guitar duties. Chad wrote the lyrics,
while all four members collaborated on the music.
Their first two outings, a seven song demo "Hesher"
(a title derived from slurring the phrase "Hey,
sure") and their full-length debut "Curb,"
were well received in Nickelback’s native Canada and
the band toured ceaselessly to support them. Nickelback
later burned through six drummers, finally clicking
with Ryan Vikedal, an old friend of Peake's.
Mike Kroeger says Nickelback got
their name thanks to his employment at Starbucks Coffee
at the time the band was forming. "We couldn't
decide what to call ourselves and after recording
our first songs, we still didn't have a name. I was
working as a cashier at Starbucks Coffee and let's
just say... coffee was $1.45," he says.
Released in March of 2000, Nickelback's
"The State" did well in Canada, with both
"Breathe" and "Leader of Men"
going Top 10 on the Mainstream Rock charts and "Old
Enough" hitting Top 20 in the format. The band
toured ceaselessly behind "The State" and
200 shows later, the band had gone from virtual unknowns
to playing in front of over a million people alongside
the likes of Creed, 3 Doors Down, and Fuel, among
others.
To record "Silver Side Up,"
Nickelback decided to work with veteran rock producer
Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog). Recorded
at the same studio as "The State," Vancouver's
prestigious Green House studio, the quartet whipped
through the recording of the album in five short weeks.
After wrapping up, they handed the finished thirteen
tracks over to Randy Staub (Metallica, U2) for mixing
at The Armory.
No matter how big Nickelback gets
though, their philosophy remains simple: "We
just like writing good songs with good melodies that
you'll sing at our shows and remember when you walk
away," says Peake.
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