Chad Kroeger, singer and guitarist, Ryan Peake, guitarist, Mike Kroeger, bassist, and Ryan Vikedal (aka: Vik), drummer. Those names may not mean anything to you if you are not interested in Rock music. Those four names are the members of the group Nickelback. Their rock sound and catchy lyrics are what have gotten these small town boys to the spot they are at now.

            Originally from Hanna, Alberta, Chad and Mike Kroeger moved to Vancouver in 1996 and started a band with their friend Ryan Peake and their cousin Brandon. Mike came up with the name from when he worked at Starbucks. He said people would pay $1.5- for $1.45 cup of coffee and he would always have to give them a “nickel back”. Chad’s job was to write the lyrics, while others wrote the music. They worked on making their first, independent, demo CD, named Hesher, and also doing live gigs. 

            Later in 1997 they released an independent CD, Curb, in Canada and started to go on tours to help their CD become big. When Brandon left the group in 1997, Nickelback went through plenty of drummers. It was not until Ryan introduced his friend Ryan Vikedal that they finally were satisfied with their drummer.

            Nickelback released their second independent CD, The State, in Canada. Their music was only making it in Canada, not in the United States yet. Their song ‘Leader of Men’ was the first hit from their second CD, making it a top twenty hit. Roadrunner Records heard their hit and got them to sign. They re-released The State, not only in Canada, but also in the US, now with a record label they sold about 1,000 copies the first week and sold 500,000 copies altogether. Their CD went Gold. They toured for 14 months making fans everywhere they went. Suddenly they went from small town boys, to guys known all over, but it was a long trip getting there. 

            2001 seemed to be their year though. They released their third CD, second CD signed with Roadrunner, Silver Side Up (8x platinum in Canada) with he number one song on Billboard’s Hott 100, ‘How Your Remind Me’. In a little over a month they have sold more than three million copies and have gotten the most-played song for ‘How You Remind Me’ on the United States radio. Another hit from this CD is ‘Too Bad. In the Much Music Video Awards, 2002, ‘How Your Remind Me’ was up for the nominations for best video, best rock video, and the People’s Choice Award for favourite Canadian group. ‘Too Bad’ was up for the nominations of best video, best director, best rock video, best post-production, and best film making. They may not have won, but by being nominated it helped their fan base. 

            2003/2004 is proving to be a great year for Nickelback. They released their fifth CD, also fifth CD released with Road Runner Records, The Long Road. "We've pushed things further in every way possible. We're very proud of this album", front man Chad Kroeger says of the release. "Fans of real rock music are in for a surprise." They released the first hit off their album, ‘Someday’ in 2003, which got a major response. The video is almost like a movie in some ways. It is about a girl who lost her boyfriend/husband in an accident and than is followed by his ghost, but she doesn’t know it. She is than very upset and gets in her car and leaves her apartment. While driving she gets hit by another vehicle, and she comes out of the vehicle to meet her boyfriend/husband. Their second video from The Long Road is ‘Figured You Out’, released in 2004. It’s just showing the guys having a good time with their fans at some a concert.  Their third video is ‘Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good’, also released in 2004. In ‘Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good’ it starts with Chad picking up, what looks like a firefly, from the middle of a dark street. He opens his hand and the ‘firefly’ is released and it circles Nickelback, attracting an audience to watch them perform.         

            2004 brought not only a new CD, but also a tour to promote it. They made a cross Canada tour starting in Prince George, BC, and continued to Eastern Canada. It was a huge success! They than made it into a double tour, by coming back and hitting all the places they went on their way East, only this time West. I was lucky enough to see them on their second gig in Calgary, Alberta. One awesome thing about Nickelback is they put everything, and I mean everything, into their shows! The pyro in the show was awesome! They had flames, big huge flames, and fireworks to close the show! It was awesome! I will never forget it, I swear! After finishing their tour they headed to Edmonton, Alberta, for the 2004 Juno Awards.          

            At the 2004 Juno Awards (Canadian Music Awards) Nickelback opened with a stunning performance             “Figured You Out”! They had everything that their concerts did! Not only did they have a rocking performance but they won Juno Fan Choice, Group of the Year and were nominated for Single of the Year with ‘Someday’, Juno Fan Choice Award, Album of the Year with The Long Road, Group of the Year, and Rock Album of the Year with The Long Road.

            The lyrics are what fans love the most about Nickelback. Chad writes the lyrics from a real personal view. They almost seem to be a way for him to tell what he is thinking of feeling, doing what he loves best. His lyrics for their song ‘Too Bad’ are about his gather, he says in an interview with Much Music. The chorus is saying how he wishes his father had been there for him. All there are either telling a story or telling how something is. Chad is blunt with the lyrics telling it how he sees it.

    Though Chad writes a lot of the songs for Nickelback, he writes songs for other bands as well. He has his own recording company, 604 Records, located in Vancouver. Along with him working on 604 Records is Jonathan Simkin. With 604 Records Chad has worked with such bands as Theory of a Deadman. Outside of 604 Records he has worked with Default on their new CD Elocation. The song 'Hero' Chad actually wrote to be used on Nickelback's CD, although it never quite got there. He new the song had the chance to be a big hit. Than it took off and became the theme song for the Spider-Man movie. He also did a song with Sanatana called 'Why Don't You and I'.

            “We just like writing good songs with good melodies what you’ll sing at our shows and remember when you walk away”—Nickelback’s Philosophy; Ryan Peake, guitarist

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