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Top Of The Pops - September 2003
TOTP:
On 'Someday' there's a sense that you're always putting things off, is that
true?
Chad: Not the case! I think everyone in our
situation feels the same way.
Mike: It's more like being a workaholic which makes
you put things off on a personal level with your friends and family.
TOTP: Is it hard to find a balance
between the rock star life and normal life?
Chad: There is no balance. You literally just have
to say "Look, it's going to be chaotic for a while but we won't always be
popular. Let's enjoy it while it's happening." I'm sure that there will come
a time when we'll really want to tour and there won't be a tour. So when the
female is saying "What about me? When do we get some time without the cameras
and the interviews and the touring?" 'Someday' is kind of addressing that.
TOTP: So do your girlfs appreciate that
gesture?
Chad: No [laughs]. We could even use their names in
it and they still wouldn't care. They'd say "We'd trade the song in a
heartbeat for a week in Mexico!" They don't care [laughs some more].
TOTP: So what's the biggest thing you've
put off, for how long and why?
Mike: Mine is my honeymoon. After getting married I
didn't have my honeymoon for two years. Everything was good until after we got
home afterwards.
Chad: I guess mine was cutting my hair. It took me
at least ten years before I cut my hair. But now I have [strokes hair
jokingly]. But you know, before you say anything, there was no emotional
attachment or anything like that, I just didn't care.
Ryan P: I know what mine would be. Promising my
girlfriend a dog. I took about eight months to finally get her one, and it was
the day before we were supposed to go on tour. So it was really convenient.
"Here's your dog, see you soon!"
Ryan V: I've just had a boy and that was it. I
think it was all us us, me, me, me. And I really wanted to have a boy before I
was 30. I didn't, but it was close. But now we're happy.
TOTP: What kind of a journey did 'The
Long Road' take you on?
Chad: Well, some people in the band already think
that we've had a long journey. We've been going for seven years and it's been a
lot of work and I definitely think we have paid our dues. We've done the van, in
the snow, touring back and forth across Canada for four years before we even got
signed. So I think some of us view it as though we're in the middle now, but
this is going to be a long journey. Hopefully, there's some road for us to
travel yet.
Ryan P: I think that 'Silver Side Up' enabled us to
get our foot in the door, and do all that stuff like tour the world. Now we've
done that and opened all those doors, it's time to check out ourselves and how
far we can take things. That's the new test for the band.
TOTP: What did you mean when you said
that fans of real rock would be surprised with the new album?
Chad: Did I say that? Where did you get that from.
[Chad is told the official Nickelback site]? Oh. I don't think anyone should
judge the album by the first single, because we have definitely recorded some of
our most aggressive material on the new album.
Mike: Well [backtracking], unless you really love
the first single. In which case you should totally make a judgement based on
that.
Chad: No. I'm still gonna stand by what I say.
Don't judge the album on the first single. The album is significantly different
than the single. Two of the new songs are absolute metal and there's no way
around that. We've never recorded anything as heavy as the songs that are on
here, and it was fun stretching ourselves with that.
TOTP: We've had Pop Idol, and P Diddy is
busy making an R&B Idol (Making The Band II), so how far off is Rock Idol?
Chad: I don't know. Don't really care. If I don't
care about who won American Idol, I don't care who's surviving on whatever
island, and I don't care about who's eating the most bugs without throwing up.
Mike: It's not even about accomplishing anything
anymore as it is about getting to watch people get rejected. That what those
shows are about.
Ryan V: It's not really what rock music is about
either. Rock music is having a couple of kids grabbing instruments and actually
playing instead of sending some guy out with a .dat tape.
Chad: Hopefully there will never be an American
Rock Idol.
TOTP: You guys don't look like a rock
band, is that deliberate?
Chad: Thank god!
Mike: We look like a rock band onstage. I think
everyone would agree with that.
Ryan P: We wouldn't have made it in the '80s and
'90s, if that's what you mean. We were like this when we were starting out.
Mike: It's just not us. Maybe some kids went to
school in eyeliner and leather pants. But we're not them. This is us and the
music is us.
Chad: You'll also notice that not one of us has a
tattoo. Not one of us has a piercing. Personally I think a lot of bands build
themselves on image. I don't think that in this day and age you get into a band
because they're music is OK but you love the way they look.
Ryan V: I think we're just lazy. We're like, "Oh
man, I can't be bothered getting dressed in these 6 inch heels AGAIN!"
TOTP: So here's an image breaker, what
records do you own that you're not proud of?
Ryan P: Maybe Warrant. But if it counts. I brought
the tape home and listened to it and then never went back.
Ryan V: I got 'Open Up And Say Ahh' by Poison. And
I gave it to a French girl and never saw it again.
Mike: There was this band from a long time ago
called Kingdom Come who were just basically regurgitating old Led Zeppelin
songs. I'm kind of embarrassing about those.
Chad: I'd rather not say.
