Nickelback are returning to Australia in May for their “No Fixed Address” Tour. AMNplify’s Pauli Dee caught up with the band’s lead guitarist, Ryan Peake and chatted about writing, recording, the new album and touring.

Pauli: Hi Ryan, thanks for chatting with me.
I saw you mentioned on your Facebook yesterday that Nickelbacks “State” album was released this month in 1999.
You’ve come a long way since then. How is the 2015 Nickelback different to the 1999 Nickelback? Or how are you the same?

Ryan: Oh Jesus, wow! We’re 16 years older! … hmmm, That’s a good question!
Ummm.. We’re definitely… more… global-savvy! Can I say that? In 1999 we were pretty fresh and it was right about then when we got our first US tour. We had only been touring Canada up until that time so we were pretty green and doing anything we could do to play to anyone that would stand for us to play in front of them! …I don’t think we’re wiser!!! Hahaha I think we’re still just as bewildered about things happening in this business as we were back then! There’s still a little bit of innocence in us I think!

Pauli: And the music? Do you think your music is the same? Different? Or a little bit of both?

Ryan: Hmmm… well… the song-writing was always primarily Chad… for the most of it back then & coming up to the present as well but I, personally have done a lot more song-writing since then so I’ve learned the craft a bit & I think that’s how our music has changed a bit to where we’re focusing on trying to become better song-writers as well. In the early days it was just about cranking up your amps and just being as loud as obnoxious as you could be on stage, which… that’s what you do! I mean rock’n’roll is a young man’s game man & that’s what we were doing! Hahaha

Pauli: well in regards to that – the writing, I mean Nickelback are in the top 10 of the highest selling bands of all time, so your music obviously connects with people, so when you’re writing a song are you aiming to connect with a certain demographic or are you just telling your own story and hoping that people pick up on it?

Ryan: No, I wouldn’t say we’re aiming for a certain demographic at all, with this last album we put out, “No Fixed address”, we were bouncing around everywhere recording it & its the first time we hadn’t sat in the one studio and plugged away for the whole time, so it just made for different inspirations & different takes on things & very open to what would just come out of your mouth or the riff that would happen. You know, we would definitely come with certain ideas, but it’s hard to keep up with the band internally… you know, to put out a good solid rock song these days, when life is good with everybody & it’s all good; we’re like “listen, we gotta get gritty here! We gotta try and unearth those rock nuggets that you like to get!” We’re finding that the melodic stuff seems to come pretty easy for us these days & the rock stuff; I mean, that’s what we do, but it’s tough to be as full of angst as we were when we were in our early 20’s you know, to try & get out there and do some good rock tunes…

Pauli: Yeah well the ballads the softer songs are still appealing to an audience & people are connecting with that, so it’s ok, right?

Ryan: Yeah, I don’t mind. If we tell a story that relates to somebody, that’s the big thing and that’s what I always like hearing if someone’s like “that is my life,” because that’s what I like, I still listen to songs where I want someone to tell my story! Hahahaha

Pauli: So you were saying you were all over the place when you were writing “No Fixed Address”
Do you have half-written songs that haven’t made it to the album that are just floating out there”?

Ryan: That’s a tough statement for us because we’ve got ideas… I definitely wouldn’t go as far as to say half-written songs. If we don’t feel like we’re on to something relatively quick, and by that I mean within the first day or two of putting down a riff and going with it, it tends to sort of get left aside. We do have one from the last album, one really, really heavy riff & it was a struggle, we just couldn’t find a direction lyrically. Melodically it wasn’t sitting for us but the riff was really good & heavy, we were just like “oh that’s a great rock riff” so we didn’t put it out of its misery, but we have definitely put it into cryogenic status!

Pauli: Well maybe it’ll come out one day when you’re not thinking about it & it’ll come back & hit you & bang – There you’ll have it!

Ryan: That’s what I’m hoping! Hopefully I’ll have this epiphany where it’s like “THIS is where that song should’ve went, OK, we gotta bring it for the next album!”

Pauli: You guys have been working together for so long. Do you feel like you’re all on the same page now or do you still very much have different concepts or ideas about what will work and what won’t work?

Ryan: Ummm, for sure, we work together closely enough that we know each other well enough like “this content’s gonna work, this content’s not necessarily gonna work” or where we should go with things, but for sure we’re definitely different people and you always come to certain… I wouldn’t call them arguments by any means but definitely heated discussions about what you think is the important direction of this song: lyrically, melodically and how it should build and how it should change and I think that the more we do this, the more people start to voice their opinions and it’s a good thing, in a sense. It can make it a bit of a stressful recording process to a degree when everybody thinks their idea is THE idea, but it also brings so many more options, which is great!
When we walk into the studio, it’s always about making the song better, so you do have to sort of check your ego at the door & say sometimes “Maybe this isn’t key so I can give on this” so there’s still a lot of give and take going on.

Pauli: Do you exhale a massive sigh of relief once an album’s released, or are you still tense, waiting to see what the reaction is?

Ryan: It’s a relief for sure, once we get the album out, but outside of that I’ve disconnected myself from any sort of numbers or anything like that. These days it’s so confusing as to what’s a gauge for anything. For me it’s very important to see how people are taking it, we were doing a listening party in London in November and they rent out this place and they have the songs playing and we were supposed to come out after it and answer some questions & I went and stood behind the curtain and I just listened to the songs from over there and I sort of peaked my eyes from around the corner like “did they like it? Oh I hope they liked it! Hahaha” The thing is, I’m still curious! I wanna know! I still like to come up with something and play it for my friends or my brother and I’m like “What do you guys think? Do you like it?” That’s the fun part of interacting with music, I like masking it, if you guys like hearing it, it’s a great match!

Pauli: Is that where touring comes in? How important is it to tour after the release of an album? Is that where you get your feedback?

Ryan: Absolutely! It was good that we released most of our dates when we released the album as well, but it’s key…we started this as it’s all about the live playing, it’s all about the live shows. We used to test new songs on stage all the time & just see like “oh there’s not a big reaction to this” or “Oh this is going to be great, we’re gonna love recording this song,” so it was all about the feedback we get live & it still is because I think that’s just the thing you can’t put your finger on, that live experience… It’s amazing for the band, we hope it’s great for the fans& it’s something you just can’t replicate, so we’re really looking forward to it & we’ve got so many cool places to play, so we can’t complain, we can’t complain at all!

Pauli: Your Australian fans are very passionate and loyal. Your sales here show that. What do you think of Australia?

Ryan: Hahaha – I’ve been doing Aussie media all day and I mean this as genuine as possible; It literally is one of our favourite places to go. Everywhere you go it’s based on the people & the people there are so good to Canadians, number 1; you know, they find out you’re from Canada & they’re just super friendly & we’ve always felt like a welcoming feeling& we still go there trying to make sure everyone enjoys the show, but when we go down there, the people tend to support us pretty heavily& we can’t thank them enough for that!

Pauli: Will it be all work and no play when you get here? Or will you have time to relax and maybe do a bit of sight-seeing?

Ryan: I think we might do a little bit of play! I’m not sure exactly what we’ll end up doing, I know Mike went down & did some shark cage diving in Adelaide at one point and I went to Perth last time, I rented a jeep and I think we had 3 days off and we went up the coast and down some mine valleys. Oh yeah. I think we’re getting to that point too where we’re getting our asses out of bed before noon so we can actually see stuff! Hahaha! I plan to see more of your beautiful country this time around!
Good to hear! I saw you play last time you were here on the “Here & Now” tour in Melbourne and it was a really high-energy show. When the tour’s over, do you feel like you need to go and sleep for 6 months? Is it exhausting?
Sometimes it feels that way! It’s usually at the end of the tour, but you’re gonna catch us down there at the beginning of the tour, so we should be pretty fresh! It should be good!

Pauli: OK, I have LOADS more questions, but I’m being told I have to wrap it up! Did you have anything you wanted to say to your fans or the people that will be coming to your shows in May?

Ryan: I don’t always have a message, but I would say we plan on bringing a big sing-a-long circus! That’s sort of the motive, or the motif that we’re going for this time. We’re just looking forward to bringing it out and making it a big, gigantic sing-a-long party.
People, if you like the band, come out to the show, you’re gonna like it. If you DON’T like the band, come out to the show I think you probably will like it! Hahaha

Tickets for Nickelback’s Australian shows are available HERE