Some back talk from NICKELBACK

July 12, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By Melissa Ruggieri

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA

Nickelback has never been a critical darling.

Singer Chad Kroeger even noted, with a self-effacing laugh, on a recent conference call with journalists that he doesn’t ever expect to see the band in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, either.

But face it, Nickelback writes radio-magnet tunes with arena-ready choruses. The Canadian rockers, fronted by gravelly voiced Kroeger, have sold more than 21 million albums in the U.S. since breaking through in 2000 with “The State” album.

They might not win awards, but they’re clearly doing something right in the court of public opinion.

After all, it would be a challenge not to have heard a Nickelback song in the past decade, whether sung by “American Idol” contestants (“Savin’ Me,” “Hero”), attached to a sports promo (“Burn It to the Ground”) or perhaps in a strip club (“Bottoms Up,” “Figured You Out”).

Then there is the string of radio hits — “How You Remind Me,” “Someday,” “Rockstar,” “Far Away,” “If Today Was Your Last Day” and many more.

The band — Kroeger, his bassist brother Mike, guitarist Ryan Peake and drummer Daniel Adair — is on tour behind its seventh album, “Here and Now,” released in November.

During the chat with journalists, Chad Kroeger and Peake talked about their flying stage, opening acts and how they’ve adjusted to social media.

Q. What has the crowd’s reaction been to your new material?

Kroeger: The new material went over great. I think I realized how hard it is to sing some of the old stuff. So, we brought back “Never Again” from “Silver Side Up.” We took out “Too Bad” and “Savin’ Me.” And we put in (from the new record) “This Means War.” That one is no picnic to sing, either! “When We Stand Together,” “Bottoms Up” and “Lullaby” off the new record seemed to go over really well.

Q. How does this show compare to past runs that you’ve done?

Kroeger: This is so over the top. We’ve got this flying stage that comes down and picks us up and takes us across the arena and starts spinning. ... It’s just absolute insanity. We’ve got this massive screen that splits apart in six different sections, and we’ve got these ... conveyor belts that transport us from parts of the stage.

Q. Do you feel like doing this kind of show is what’s necessary in this day and age? That you have to keep giving people more and more and bigger and bigger?

Kroeger: I guess the mind-set I’ve always had is (to say), come on guys, bigger, bigger, bigger, better, better, you know, more of everything. But it’s served us well. We try to keep our tickets lower than everyone else and bring more of a show. In this day and age with everyone seeing everything on YouTube and everyone’s been to Vegas before ... it’s tough to bring something new, you know?

Q. So you’re OK with people putting stuff on YouTube, especially at the start of a tour?

Kroeger: I kind of have to be OK with it, I guess.

Peake: I don’t really have a choice in the matter, that’s for sure!

Q. How did you settle on the opening bands (Bush, Seether and My Darkest Days)?

Kroeger: We got lucky. I think we’ve got a great package. I mean, counting singles (among all of the bands) throughout the entire night has got to be up around 45 or 50. We even shortened our set. It was usually about two hours, but we got off stage in about an hour and a half, just because that is a lot of music.

Q. With the changing industry with technology, has your approach to writing songs and recording and performing changed at all?

Peake: I think we’re less prepared than we used to be. You know, we used to have all these songs written far, far in advance of going into the studio. And we would’ve tried the songs live. But you can’t do that anymore because it’ll be on YouTube in four minutes. ... I personally kind of struggle with what we talk about as a band because I want to embrace the social media. But then sometimes I miss that mystique of a band.

Kroeger: I mean, we were starved for any information about our favorite bands (growing up). We would have to wait for some guitar magazine to come out, and we’d see someone reading it and it would be like, “Dude, head to the store, buy the new article. It’s amazing and there’s a new picture of the band in it.” And you’d read what was going on with Guns N’ Roses or Metallica and you’d think, “Oh, my God, I can’t wait to see this band play when they come to town.” I think a little bit of that is dead now. And it’s kind of a shame.