95.9 The Rat's Robyn Lane checks in with Nickelback.
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00:00Hi. Hi. How are you? Good. How are you? I'm alive and well. I'm Robin Lane from 95.9 The Rat in Jersey on the Jersey Shore.
00:10Robin, we've met many times. We have several times, in fact. It's been a while.
00:16I appreciate you catering to the fact that most musicians are brain dead.
00:19Oh, but you guys have always been very welcoming and we welcome you. I'll tell you, it's been quite a while since we last saw you.
00:31Back for the Attack, Nickelback. It's been quite a while. I know you released Charlie Daniels cover a couple of years back, but you got new music coming.
00:41Your first album in, what is it, about five years now, and I heard the new tune, San Quentin, and boy, oh boy, is that a smash.
00:52Very cool. Thank you. It is.
00:54I appreciate your vote of confidence.
00:58So tell me, instead of telling me what you did on your summer vacation, why don't you tell me what you did on your corona vacation?
01:05Well, that feels like it's very cross-collateralized. It's one and the same.
01:15Well, we should have been making a record a lot sooner with all that time off, but it's weird to say this, but for 25 years, it feels like someone's been standing behind us with a cattle prod.
01:28And, you know, telling us, hey, records got to be done at this time. We're going to tour at this time.
01:35You know, we got to get, we got to do Australia and then we're going to go do Europe and then we're going to come back.
01:39We'll go across Canada, then we'll hit America and then we'll go to, you know, so all these things are like, just like every other band that has to do this stuff.
01:47You know, if, you know, you want to get a chance to see your fans all around the world.
01:51Um, but with this, we were just like, well, we'll get to it when we get to it.
01:59We had a lot of that going on.
02:01Um, and, uh, yeah, we just, we took our time with it, which was just a wonderful luxury to be able to sit back and, nope, I'm going to play this guitar solo 40 more times, you know, for another three days and just make sure it's just exactly how we want it as opposed to deadline, deadline, deadline.
02:21Are you, um, normally very precious with the way you record music?
02:27Are you just like, are you over, you know, over involved with the details of it all or you're, you play by feel?
02:34How, how do you do that?
02:36Over, um, I think all of that, actually you were hitting all the beats there.
02:41Not precious, not precious, but, um, very analytical because we want the songs to be the best that they can be.
02:49And so if you're just slap happy and throwing down whatever, like, I, I just, I'm not a fan of the phrase good enough and it's like, Oh, good enough.
02:57No, if it could be better, be better.
02:59You know, if we're going to take the time to, to get in there and, and create something, I want it to be good.
03:06I want everything to be goose bump worthy.
03:08Um, and you know, that's what we've been doing for the last 25 years when we record now, that's not true.
03:16We've been doing that for probably the last 15 years we've been doing that prior 10, there was a lot of good enough.
03:23And I hated that.
03:24Like I listened back to some things and I, I love them for what they are, but I still look back and go, ah, that could have been better.
03:32That could have been better if we had more time, you know, like we made silver side up in five weeks because road runner wanted us back on the road.
03:40Um, I can't believe we got us, you know, that record just completely done and back on the road in five weeks.
03:49I know.
03:50I know.
03:51It's, uh, yeah, I mean, it, I think where you're at in your career can kind of dictate that as well.
03:55So, so you released this teaser clip for this forthcoming song.
04:00And if you didn't attach your name to it, do you think people would know that it's Nickelback?
04:06I think as soon as you hear my voice.
04:08I mean, it's loud and it's heavy.
04:10It's melodic.
04:11I think it is.
04:12Yeah.
04:12Uh, it's funny.
04:13We've been hearing that quite a bit.
04:15It's actually interesting because I think, I think Nickelback then would know for sure.
04:21I don't think, I don't think it's, it's, uh, unusual for that, that type of song for us.
04:28But, um, we've also only teased one song.
04:32Yeah.
04:32So it's like, it's not necessarily indicative of the whole album necessarily, but, but as far as rock, it's a, it's a heavy rock.
04:38Um, and if you've seen this live, you would definitely get it too, I think, but it's kind of nice.
04:44I kind of, I kind of like that people are, are feeling like it's a surprise that, you know, we could write, or we can have rock songs like that in the repertoire.
04:52Uh, because we just need to adjust my volume.
04:56I'm sure you can edit that out.
04:57My computer's kind of new.
04:58I'm home now.
04:59Let's say, uh, you don't, you don't have an engineer to help you.
05:03No, no.
05:04I'm at home today.
05:05You are the, you are the engineer.
05:07I am the engineer.
05:08Well, it's a new computer.
05:09I have, I bought a new laptop.
05:11I treated myself anyway.
05:14Um, you know, it's funny ever since I got a hold of this new song, I had been playing it every single day since it was sent to me.
05:24And yesterday, before I went on the air, I cranked it up in the studio in audition.
05:29Obviously we're not going to be playing it yet.
05:31And I had people from the office coming and going, what is that?
05:35That's awesome.
05:36I go, that's Nickelback.
05:37Really?
05:37This is awesome.
05:39So just the response from people around me.
05:41And of course, I'm looking on the message boards.
05:43I think everyone has a very similar response.
05:47Um, is the rest of the album going to be like that?
05:50Or is it mixed up?
05:51Are you going to mix it up?
05:53Uh, all, all, all of our records are all over the map.
05:58You know, um, we don't have one record.
06:01That really sort of sounds the same in terms of songwriting, uh, from, from top to bottom.
06:12I mean, they're, they're, they're all, all over the map and, and I absolutely love that.
06:17And I, I don't know how we sort of did that or how, like, and when, how we got the acceptance from our fans to be able to do that.
06:27Yeah.
06:28Um, but we're very lucky because we don't.
06:31We don't have to record the same kind of music thinking to ourselves, oh, well, the fans are expecting this.
06:36So we just got to give them, you know, a whole album of that.
06:40Um, we can, we can kind of do whatever we want.
06:44And it really does.
06:45It's, it's, it's, it's, it's so all over the map and it's, it's fulfilling, um, as an artist, you know, to be able to get in and like, and as a songwriter, you know, for us to be able to get together and go, let's do something completely left field.
06:59You know, let's try, let's try something heavier than we've ever done.
07:02Let's try something, um, lighter than we've ever done.
07:05Um, you know, just whatever we're feeling that day.
07:08Um, we just do it.
07:10Mm-hmm.
07:10Um, where did you send Quentin?
07:13What made you write that?
07:15Is that, is that, um, a metaphor for something, maybe feeling imprisoned or is it just one of those just fun songs to write?
07:22Um, I met the warden at a party.
07:26Oh my gosh.
07:28Yeah.
07:29And, um, I couldn't believe, I couldn't believe how young he was.
07:33Um, I just, I was just like, there's just no way that you're the warden of San Quentin.
07:37And everyone's like, yeah, he is.
07:39Um, I was at, uh, Guy Fieri's, uh, a buddy of mine and he was at, it was his birthday party a few years back.
07:50And the entire time we were talking, I'm like, I'm speaking to this guy, but in my head,
07:56and all I can think about is like, I'm going to write a song called San Quentin.
08:00That's it.
08:01Um, and I stuck it in my notes and my phone.
08:04And then once the rip was down, I just, I think I screamed out this line.
08:09Um, could somebody please keep me the hell out of San Quentin?
08:14And we just took it from there.
08:19That's normally how you get your inspiration just by, you know, real life things, meeting people or, you know,
08:26something that goes on in a relationship.
08:28I mean, that's basically where you get your inspiration from.
08:31It seems, I mean, you've written some really fun songs, you know, aggressive songs, like something in your mouth and animals and stuff like that.
08:38And then you get those, you know, nice ballads, like photograph and, um, how do you, uh, how you remind me?
08:45Is that it?
08:46Yes.
08:47Yeah.
08:48Which was, I think the most played song you ever had on the radio.
08:52Um, for sure.
08:53Between, I think between that and rock star, I think those two are pretty close.
08:57Rock star is awesome too.
08:58Uh, we, we've, Hey, we've been really lucky, you know, we get in the studio and we, we create and, uh, then we hand it over to the record company and, and they give it to the world.
09:10Um, and we're lucky enough to be able to, you know, do that.
09:14And then, you know, jump in tour buses and airplanes and travel around the world and go play these songs for people.
09:21And, and, uh, it's been a quarter of a century doing that.
09:25Please God, don't let it end.
09:2797.
09:28Did you ever envision that you were going to have this, you know, over two decade career?
09:32I mean, I mean, that's something you dream of when you become a musician and luckily for you, it took off for you.
09:39Um, do you think about stuff like that?
09:41I think our bar was really low.
09:43I think we just thought, I think if we thought like, honestly, cause we just looked around at these other Canadian bands.
09:51And I was always like, like these guys get to do this for a living.
09:55I just always thought if we could be a big Canadian band and be able to travel back and forth across the country, strumming our guitars and screaming into microphones, uh, that would just be fantastic.
10:06I mean, uh, honestly, I never thought, I didn't think that we even get a, an American record deal.
10:13Cause most Canadian bands sign Canadian deals and their career rarely makes itself at the 49th parallel.
10:22Um, we were, you know, we got really lucky, uh, with how you remind me, um, globally.
10:29And then, you know, we've just been able to just kind of keep this, this ride going and, uh, Oh, it's amazing.
10:38It's incredible to be able to do what you love every single day.
10:42Um, and get paid for it handsomely.
10:45We're, we can, you can say we were tenaciously rudderless for years.
10:49Wow.
10:51That's two, that's two really good ones today.
10:53That's kind of about it.
10:54I'm sure you can come up with a song based on what he just said for sure.
10:59We, we don't get to play the song until September, uh, on the rat.
11:05And then I hear next year, we're getting the album in November of this year, but you're not coming, you're not doing a U S tour until the summer of 23.
11:14So, uh, we invite, when you do come to our neck of the woods, we certainly invite you to come to the radio station for a little sit down.
11:21If you, uh, if you have the time, I know how these tours, um, can eat your time up, but we would love to have you come by.
11:27Can we, yeah, you came by back in the late nineties and, uh, we'd love to have you back again for sure.
11:34We're, we're bad guests.
11:35We need to actually, that is not true at all.
11:40You had everybody in the building cracking up and, you know, you're self-deprecating and you're entertaining and you are welcome to our studio anytime.
11:51If you're, uh, ever in Jersey, please look us up.
11:54That's one.
11:55We got one.
11:55We got one.
11:58Anyway, really a pleasure.
12:01Uh, Chad Kroger and Ryan peak.
12:04You guys have a great, uh, you know, time promoting the new album and we will see you next year here in New Jersey.
12:11Can't wait.
12:11That sounds great.
12:12Thank you so much.
12:13Thank you so much.
12:15Right on.
12:15Take care.
12:16Awesome.
12:17All right.
12:17Bye now.