Mike Kroeger - Nickelback (05/02/2015)
Touring Australia this May on the NO FIXED ADDRESS tour, The 59th Sound's Cassie Walker caught up with Nickelback's Mike Kroeger to chat about their upcoming shows, and the twenty year legacy of the band.
Hi Mike, how are you?
I’m well thanks, how are you today?
I’m good thank you, I’m good. Thanks so much for for giving us the opportunity to talk to you.
Aw, my pleasure.
Now, what are you doing right now as we speak?
As we speak, I’m sitting in my car in Hawaii, talking to you on the handsfree. It’s actually me and my wife’s 15th wedding anniversary today, and she's, well I think she’s getting her hair done or something, and I’m in the car doing interviews with Australia today.
Well congratulations and thank you and good decoy of booking her to get her hair done so you can actually do work on the side, I like that” *Laughs*
Yeah, you know it’s kind of a funny job to have but, it is an occupation never the less.
And I guess the band has been around for 20 years, you just said you’ve been married for 15, that must have been quite a challenge. Managing both a relationship and a new band and then becoming one of the biggest rock bands in the world and becoming a husband, how has managing those two been for you Mike?
You know what, it has been a challenge, for sure. No doubt about that, its been a challenge ... a worthy fight to have, you know, to balance a career like this, that is somewhat all encompassing thing. You know, it doesn't really have compromise in it, you’re either working 100% or you’re just not, which you know can make it hard and it can be quite an adjustment period for any relationship to do what we do, you’ve have get a lot of understanding, a lot of respect, a lot of trust. And ah, luckily for me, we have that.
And you know that she’s just not after you for the fame and money because she's been there from the start, that is nice. *chuckles*
*Laughs* Yeah my wife and I, she found me. I didn’t have 5c to my name and she was paying for my coffee and cigarettes at that time, so you know ah, she definitely wasn’t in it for the money. *laughs* Especially not in the beginning. you know and you know as time has gone on we have two children, life has shown me that she’s just the best.
*Laughs* “Well make sure when we do show her this interview as well, cause I can’t imagine a better anniversary gift than getting a beautiful story and your beautiful appreciation for her written in Australian media, so we’ll definitely have to make sure she sees this one.
Yeah” *Laughs* “Well she knows how I feel about her, you know, we’re both sort of each others biggest fan, and I think that it’s the way it’s gotta be, obviously there are challenges for any relationship and you know there's more challenges but they are worth meeting the challenges and pushing through from this and getting past them because there will always be more anyway. Life is a challenge, but sometimes, sometimes its worth it. In this case it's looking back at you know there has been a lot of challenges and a lot of work for both of us to do to keep this thing going throughout this crazy ride that Nickelback is but you know, in hindsight so worth it, so worth it.
Now the band have been, Nickelback has been around for 20 years, how is the relationship within the band family, because it is a family affair, and is it all business or are you still the guys you were 20 years ago?
Well, it kinda, a duel kind of life, like when were all together we’re kind of working, we're a gang, we're family,we’re connected 110% when we're not working, we're truly off work, we just don't see much of each other. I live in Hawaii, my brother lives in Toronto, Ryan and Daniel live in Vancouver. We're just we sorta not really apart of our everyday life ... Theres kind of assumptions that there's this band house and everyone lives at the band house together and all we ever do is play music together and go on tour together and that's it, and in the beginning that's not too far from the truth but as you get older and, you find a wife and you have children, you have to carve a life out for yourself, besides from what your career is and your music, and that becomes that sort of an alternate kind of life you know, the two don't really co-exist because family life doesn't have enough room for the band and the band life doesn't have enough room for family, so you have to choose which one you are in at any given time. And sometimes at the stress of the other.
The band just announced, a 61 date tour across North America, so I mean, you’ve got plenty of time to spend together. Do you take your family on the road with you for such, for those long stretches?
You know, to this point, my children are getting to an age now where there not too keen on going on tour, which I never really, I didn’t ever see that one coming. You know, they have always had so much fun on tour and to not going to school, but now they are starting to take their school more seriously, and there doing things like, theatre productions in school and music, athletics and sports. We're at the point now where were having to reassess how we do this and keep them ingrained in their communities at school and try to do it, where I am actually away for a while and we can get through it without too much problem. If it becomes too much of an untenable situation, if it becomes something that's just not working ah, then we buy the plane tickets and bring them out.
And we’re just, we just decided were gonna read this one, one day at a time, where we used to just take them. You know, I’ve brought them to Australia, and New Zealand before and and other places Europe and North America as well, and it's just this time its getting a little bit harder to do and like I say, it was a real bombshell, when my son, especially my son was like “You know, I don’t wanna go on tour anymore”.
And I was like, "what the hell are you talking about?" Like how, how can you not wanna go on tour, and I was like well it turns out that my son is kind of a homebody, and I never would have guessed it, but he likes his room, his bed, his guitar and amp are where they are everyday and he's cool with that, you know he's decided he doesn't really wanna do the world traveller thing anymore. Which is really funny for me, because I love it.
That's a great attitude and finally, because we are being wrapped up, I just wanna say, we are excited to have you back here in Australia and it’s no ah, its hard to approach, but its also no secret, there is such a strong hate for the band, and I just want you guys not to be deterred from that because there are a lot of lovers in there and there is a lot of great fans and hearing you speak today is just, you know I hope that a lot of people will read this and see that the true side of Nickelback is just about the music and heavy rock, and what you guys have done for heavy rock commercially is just incredible, and given so many bands opportunities so, we do look forward to having you here and what can we expect from your Australian tour when you guys are here in May?
We're just looking forward to getting into those people in Australia and playing the music again, you know it is as simple as that, the people come to the shows and see us play the songs, sing the songs and that is what they are gonna get, and Australia has a very special place in Nickelback’s heart, from the very humble beginning we had, we always felt the very enthusiastic positive from Australia, and in every city we have been in Australia, has been outrageous supportive. We just can't wait to get back and live in Australia for a couple of weeks.
It’s only five dates so it's not that long, unfortunately, we don't have the 61 cities for you to visit like you can in the states. *Laughs*
I wish there were more tour dates then we have in Australia, really, you know I love it there so much, and its like I say quite often actually, I find Australia to be very much same to Canada, being that we’re Canadian ... It reminds me of what Canada, (was) like when I was growing up there, you know? It's a lot of politeness, you get your pleases and your thank you’s, everybody is pretty upbeat and happy and nice and there's not enough of that in the world today.
Well we look forward to having you here and thank you so much for the chat and congratulations on your wedding anniversary Mike.
Well thank you very much
Your welcome, have a great day.
Alright, you too, bye.
Cassie Walker
ROD LAVER ARENA, MELBOURNE
FRIDAY MAY 15
SATURDAY MAY 16 *NEW SHOW!
ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, ADELAIDE
MONDAY MAY 18
ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, BRISBANE
WEDNESDAY MAY 20
ALLPHONES ARENA, SYDNEY
FRIDAY MAY 22
ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, NEWCASTLE
SATURDAY MAY 23 *NEW SHOW!
PERTH ARENA, PERTH
TUESDAY MAY 26
*TICKETS ON SALE MIDDAY THURSDAY FEBRUARY 12
*Fan club pre-sale: 10am Monday Feb 9 until 5pm Tuesday Feb 10
*My Live Nation & My Ticketek pre-sales: Midday Wednesday Feb 11 until 9pm Wednesday Feb 11
Hi Mike, how are you?
I’m well thanks, how are you today?
I’m good thank you, I’m good. Thanks so much for for giving us the opportunity to talk to you.
Aw, my pleasure.
Now, what are you doing right now as we speak?
As we speak, I’m sitting in my car in Hawaii, talking to you on the handsfree. It’s actually me and my wife’s 15th wedding anniversary today, and she's, well I think she’s getting her hair done or something, and I’m in the car doing interviews with Australia today.
Well congratulations and thank you and good decoy of booking her to get her hair done so you can actually do work on the side, I like that” *Laughs*
Yeah, you know it’s kind of a funny job to have but, it is an occupation never the less.
And I guess the band has been around for 20 years, you just said you’ve been married for 15, that must have been quite a challenge. Managing both a relationship and a new band and then becoming one of the biggest rock bands in the world and becoming a husband, how has managing those two been for you Mike?
You know what, it has been a challenge, for sure. No doubt about that, its been a challenge ... a worthy fight to have, you know, to balance a career like this, that is somewhat all encompassing thing. You know, it doesn't really have compromise in it, you’re either working 100% or you’re just not, which you know can make it hard and it can be quite an adjustment period for any relationship to do what we do, you’ve have get a lot of understanding, a lot of respect, a lot of trust. And ah, luckily for me, we have that.
And you know that she’s just not after you for the fame and money because she's been there from the start, that is nice. *chuckles*
*Laughs* Yeah my wife and I, she found me. I didn’t have 5c to my name and she was paying for my coffee and cigarettes at that time, so you know ah, she definitely wasn’t in it for the money. *laughs* Especially not in the beginning. you know and you know as time has gone on we have two children, life has shown me that she’s just the best.
*Laughs* “Well make sure when we do show her this interview as well, cause I can’t imagine a better anniversary gift than getting a beautiful story and your beautiful appreciation for her written in Australian media, so we’ll definitely have to make sure she sees this one.
Yeah” *Laughs* “Well she knows how I feel about her, you know, we’re both sort of each others biggest fan, and I think that it’s the way it’s gotta be, obviously there are challenges for any relationship and you know there's more challenges but they are worth meeting the challenges and pushing through from this and getting past them because there will always be more anyway. Life is a challenge, but sometimes, sometimes its worth it. In this case it's looking back at you know there has been a lot of challenges and a lot of work for both of us to do to keep this thing going throughout this crazy ride that Nickelback is but you know, in hindsight so worth it, so worth it.
Now the band have been, Nickelback has been around for 20 years, how is the relationship within the band family, because it is a family affair, and is it all business or are you still the guys you were 20 years ago?
Well, it kinda, a duel kind of life, like when were all together we’re kind of working, we're a gang, we're family,we’re connected 110% when we're not working, we're truly off work, we just don't see much of each other. I live in Hawaii, my brother lives in Toronto, Ryan and Daniel live in Vancouver. We're just we sorta not really apart of our everyday life ... Theres kind of assumptions that there's this band house and everyone lives at the band house together and all we ever do is play music together and go on tour together and that's it, and in the beginning that's not too far from the truth but as you get older and, you find a wife and you have children, you have to carve a life out for yourself, besides from what your career is and your music, and that becomes that sort of an alternate kind of life you know, the two don't really co-exist because family life doesn't have enough room for the band and the band life doesn't have enough room for family, so you have to choose which one you are in at any given time. And sometimes at the stress of the other.
The band just announced, a 61 date tour across North America, so I mean, you’ve got plenty of time to spend together. Do you take your family on the road with you for such, for those long stretches?
You know, to this point, my children are getting to an age now where there not too keen on going on tour, which I never really, I didn’t ever see that one coming. You know, they have always had so much fun on tour and to not going to school, but now they are starting to take their school more seriously, and there doing things like, theatre productions in school and music, athletics and sports. We're at the point now where were having to reassess how we do this and keep them ingrained in their communities at school and try to do it, where I am actually away for a while and we can get through it without too much problem. If it becomes too much of an untenable situation, if it becomes something that's just not working ah, then we buy the plane tickets and bring them out.
And we’re just, we just decided were gonna read this one, one day at a time, where we used to just take them. You know, I’ve brought them to Australia, and New Zealand before and and other places Europe and North America as well, and it's just this time its getting a little bit harder to do and like I say, it was a real bombshell, when my son, especially my son was like “You know, I don’t wanna go on tour anymore”.
And I was like, "what the hell are you talking about?" Like how, how can you not wanna go on tour, and I was like well it turns out that my son is kind of a homebody, and I never would have guessed it, but he likes his room, his bed, his guitar and amp are where they are everyday and he's cool with that, you know he's decided he doesn't really wanna do the world traveller thing anymore. Which is really funny for me, because I love it.
That's a great attitude and finally, because we are being wrapped up, I just wanna say, we are excited to have you back here in Australia and it’s no ah, its hard to approach, but its also no secret, there is such a strong hate for the band, and I just want you guys not to be deterred from that because there are a lot of lovers in there and there is a lot of great fans and hearing you speak today is just, you know I hope that a lot of people will read this and see that the true side of Nickelback is just about the music and heavy rock, and what you guys have done for heavy rock commercially is just incredible, and given so many bands opportunities so, we do look forward to having you here and what can we expect from your Australian tour when you guys are here in May?
We're just looking forward to getting into those people in Australia and playing the music again, you know it is as simple as that, the people come to the shows and see us play the songs, sing the songs and that is what they are gonna get, and Australia has a very special place in Nickelback’s heart, from the very humble beginning we had, we always felt the very enthusiastic positive from Australia, and in every city we have been in Australia, has been outrageous supportive. We just can't wait to get back and live in Australia for a couple of weeks.
It’s only five dates so it's not that long, unfortunately, we don't have the 61 cities for you to visit like you can in the states. *Laughs*
I wish there were more tour dates then we have in Australia, really, you know I love it there so much, and its like I say quite often actually, I find Australia to be very much same to Canada, being that we’re Canadian ... It reminds me of what Canada, (was) like when I was growing up there, you know? It's a lot of politeness, you get your pleases and your thank you’s, everybody is pretty upbeat and happy and nice and there's not enough of that in the world today.
Well we look forward to having you here and thank you so much for the chat and congratulations on your wedding anniversary Mike.
Well thank you very much
Your welcome, have a great day.
Alright, you too, bye.
Cassie Walker
ROD LAVER ARENA, MELBOURNE
FRIDAY MAY 15
SATURDAY MAY 16 *NEW SHOW!
ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, ADELAIDE
MONDAY MAY 18
ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, BRISBANE
WEDNESDAY MAY 20
ALLPHONES ARENA, SYDNEY
FRIDAY MAY 22
ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, NEWCASTLE
SATURDAY MAY 23 *NEW SHOW!
PERTH ARENA, PERTH
TUESDAY MAY 26
*TICKETS ON SALE MIDDAY THURSDAY FEBRUARY 12
*Fan club pre-sale: 10am Monday Feb 9 until 5pm Tuesday Feb 10
*My Live Nation & My Ticketek pre-sales: Midday Wednesday Feb 11 until 9pm Wednesday Feb 11