Surrounded By Thieves

Way back in 2002, when he unleashed High On Fire's breakthrough sophomore platter Surrounded By Thieves, little did Matt Pike know that he was accurately predicting his own future. Fast forward to 2012 and Pike finds out that his prized Les Paul guitar has been pilfered from a Santa Rosa recording studio. To say he's slightly miffed is an understatement.

“No way anyone could mistake that guitar for their own,” he spits. “It's got my pickups on it and PIKE is written on the case in large white letters! It's got a lot of sentimental value to me and I want it back – so if anyone knows anything, please get in contact!” Through his anger Pike is still able to see the lighter side of life, though. “One thing that is funny is that just before the guitar went missing I got it into my head that I needed a second guitar – a backup. So off I went and bought a new Les Paul – lucky I did, I guess.”

Other than his guitar going missing, life has improved for Pike ever since he made the difficult decision to enter rehab for a severe alcohol addiction. Despite having to forego a prized spot on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, Pike believes it's the best decision he made in years. “It got to the point where I'd been in tour/party mode for so long that it's a real trip to your psyche when you stop for a minute and take stock of your life,” he explains. “I realised that I'd basically drank my liver into submission. My playing was starting to be affected a bit, but most of all I felt awful all the time – to the point where I was hospitalised for a few days. It got so bad that I knew that if I kept drinking I was going to die. I realised that I wouldn't be much use to anyone dead, except maybe selling a bunch of swag, so I did the obvious thing and checked myself in. Since I've got out I've been feeling great and looking forward to getting back on the road.”

Thank god for rehab: Australia finally gets to see a fully-blown High On Fire tour. Not to mention one where there's little chance that Pike will keel over mid-set. “Every time we've been to Australia we've had a great time,” says Pike. “Thing is, apart from a couple of shows we played in Melbourne, we've usually only ever had 30 minutes or so to play because we've been out there as part of a festival or supporting other bands. Even if you get warmed up before the show, when you only have a short time it doesn't really let you hit your stride. We play better as our shows go on, so to finally have the chance to play a full headlining tour for you guys is something that we're really looking forward to.”

Now that the band has six albums under its belt, what can we expect in the way of set lists? “Funny you should ask about that, because me and Jeff (Matz, bass) were working on the setlist just before you called,” offers Pike. “We're not exactly sure what we're going to do yet, but since this is pretty much our first headlining tour, we'll probably just do a mix of everything with a little bit extra from the new record. To tell you the truth, the setlist for Australia is extra important for us because we're planning on doing a live record pretty soon. So we have to start getting prepared for that and the best way to do it will be to work out the set when we come down and see you guys.”

Pike's newfound sobriety is not the only reason that High On Fire is at the top of their game. Their recent release, De Vermis Mysteriis, has been hailed as the band's finest release, and one that has quieted down dissident voices unhappy with the relatively 'sterile' sounding Snakes For The Divine. “We couldn't have been happier with the new record,” says an enthusiastic Pike. “Oddly it was a real struggle to make because of the personal circumstances of the band with addiction and things like that. At one point I wanted to scrap everything we'd done because I didn't think it was any good. Thank god I didn't. Basically, we were in a really dark place that at the same time was a really spiritual place. I think that flows on through the record and contributes to it being one of the best things we've ever done as a band.”

So we can explain the album's concept of Jesus having a twin who died at birth to give him life, and then himself became a time traveler, as the result of, er, excess spirituality? “That's one way to put it,” laughs Pike. “People always ask how I came up with the concept for the album and I struggle to answer them. What can I say really: I was doing a lot of thinking, a lot of my own reading and I was in a really weird place – and out of that we got the album.”

Choice of producer has always loomed large over High On Fire albums. Billy Anderson (Surrounded By Thieves) and Steve Albini (Blessed Black Wings) got the nod from fans while Greg Fidelmen (Snakes For The Divine) was the subject of wild disagreements among the faithful. Does Pike think that Kurt Ballou's handling of De Vermis Mysteriis has contributed to the positive reception on the album? “Look, I've enjoyed working with all the producers we've used over the years,” says Pike in an uncharacteristically diplomatic manner. “Each of them has brought their own unique take on our sound. As far as Kurt goes, there's no doubt he did a fantastic job with this record, especially getting it to sound as heavy as it does.” While some artists are loathe to talk about past projects, Pike is still happy to chat about his 'old' band, the legendary Sleep, whose influence and stature continues to grow even now. “It's fantastic that people are still interested in the band,” he enthuses. “Sleep has turned into the ultimate 'collectable' band – there's so much stuff for fans to pick up and enjoy. I think it's great. Recently we did some reunions and they were fun because it gave a lot of people who never got to see us the first time a chance to check out the tunes live. If only Sleep were as big then as we are now,” he laughs.