Kickin' Back with Nickelback -- Newsday.com

On March 29, 2006, Newsday subscriber Mike Papillo of West Babylon - winner of the Newsday Subscriber Advantage Interview Nickelback Contest - had a chance to kick back with Daniel Adair of Nickelback.

Mike: There are not a lot of rock bands doing well. Why do you think that Nickelback is doing so well?

Daniel: The beginning was a lot of hard work, you know, I mean, the guys did band tours across Canada over and over again, sleeping on the girl friends couches. But, the most important aspect was when the band started to figure out how to compose music, how to write songs. And, conveying your ideas and conveying emotion while having it in a format where people want to hear it over and over again, I mean, it's kind of like, all of the stars aligned. Chad writes the bulk of the songs and he'll bring them in and then we'll change some parts, we'll change some lyrics. He's the main song writer and he is so accomplished now.

Mike: He is so good at what he does.

Daniel: He's writing songs for everybody. Like, every song he writes now, everyone wants it.

Mike: I know.

Daniel: He's a prolific song writer. So, I think that's the main thing. Chad has a very distinguishable voice, too. You know, you have to have a character to a band, also. He's got the distinguishable voice. He's got the look. He's got the songs and a lot of luck, I guess.

Mike: It was just announced that for the Stadium Tour that you're opening up for Bon Jovi. What do you expect from the crowd?

Daniel: I think that it's a similar type of crowd. You know, we're going to have a short order set, so we're going to be playing basically a whole set of number ones which is kind of undeniable. I think that people that don't know Nickelback will go "Oh. I know that song". So, they'll be a lot of people singing along. I'm hoping that we get a warm reception. I mean, it's arena rock, like we are, so it's not like we're opening for Slipknot or something. You know what I mean? It's similar.

Mike: Your favorite Bon Jovi song?

Daniel: It's gotta be "Living On A Prayer".

Mike: I spent a lot of time doing research on your website. I noticed that you have a lot of photos of a lot of celebrities, rock stars, and athletes. Who was your favorite one to meet?

Daniel: It's a toss up between my drumming idol, a guy named Dennis Chambers. He's like a jazz fusion drummer. It's between him or Alex Lifeson from RUSH. We went to his house for dinner.

Mike: Oh, wow.

Daniel: Yeah. When I was at Three Doors we did some B-Sides with Alex, so when we hit Toronto he phoned Chris and said "Hey. Come on over. I'll make you a seafood dinner". He had thousand dollar bottles of wine. You know, I was raised on RUSH so I was completely star-struck. After four glasses of wine I finally broke down and said "Oh man, I love you so much".

Mike: Is there anyone who you'd still like to meet?

Daniel: Yeah. Neil, the drummer from RUSH. Actually, I met the drummer from Tea Party and he's really good friends with Neil. So, the next time I'm in Toronto I might hook that up. So, hopefully you'll see that picture on there within this year.

Mike: With everyone raving about your drum solos, I was going to ask you what drummer you admire, but I assume that it's Neil Peart and…

Daniel: Neil Peart, Dave Weckl, I'm a big John Bonham fan. Led Zeppelin, a lot of fusion guys that mainstream wouldn't know. Who else? Let me think of someone…. Danny Carrie.

Mike: What do you guys like to do to pass the time on the tour bus?

Daniel: Our bus is ridiculous. I'm on the production bus with a couple of the other crew members.

Mike: How many buses?

Daniel: Seven buses. We got this thing. It's so lame. We make the best sandwiches on the bus. We don't even get after show food anymore. We don't get pizza. We have, like, a sandwich bar. We drink beer and eat sandwiches. Really, by the time you get to the bus, you want to go to bed. There's actually not a lot of time on the bus.

Mike: What bands did you listen to growing up?

Daniel: Well. Like the drummers - RUSH, Led Zeppelin. A lot of heavy stuff. I had three sides. I had extreme metal, like Death Metal. Then I had jazz fusion. And, then, my sister's room was right next to mine so I wound up listening to a lot of Madonna and George Michaels. And, she would always sing, so that got me into singing too which I do with the band. It was a good combo of everything.

Mike: What do you currently listen to?

Daniel: I just got the John Mayer Live. I'm really enjoying that. I just picked up Rust In Peace with Holy Wars on that. I'm actually listening to that.

Mike: Who is that? Nick Menza?

Daniel: Yeah. Nick Menza.

Mike: If I were a rock and roll fan just getting my feet wet, what CDs must I have?

Daniel: Rock and Roll fan. Must Have. A drummer? A singer? Those are different things.

Mike: You're on an island and you have 10 CDs that you could bring with you. Name two or three of them.

Daniel: I'd have to have Led Zeppelin – one to three. And, I know it doesn't rock as hard, but Pink Floyd, The Wall is good. It has a lot of composition. And, I'd have to say RUSH, Moving Pictures for sure. Metallica, Master of Puppets. All the classics.

Mike: Playing the casinos. Did you get any chance to do any gambling. And if you do, what games do you like to play?

Daniel: I don't really gamble at all, but everyone else plays Texas Hold 'em.