Nickelback: Blue Collar Blues.

Nickelback play M-One at ANZ Stadium on October 5.

Nickelback could not have picked a more auspicious date to release their now massive Silver Side Up album. September 11, 2001. While history has that date set aside for a far more monumental moment in world events than the release of a mere rock album, for the Canadian quartet, this now infamous date also marked the start of a rapid rise to rock stardom.

Silver Side Up’s breakout single How You Remind Me quickly found the band reaching for the top of worldwide charts, and in a matter of months an act with four albums under their belts yet virtually unknown outside of their home country, had found international recognition. Not bad for a band that formed by a group of high school friends in the small town of Hanna, Alberta. Despite the trappings of fame, guitarist Ryan Peake remains remarkably down to earth about the bands well deserved, and certainly hard earned success. Having already made a trip to Australia last year for sold out gigs in Sydney and Melbourne, the quartet are ready to embark on their second antipodean jaunt.

“It kind of reminded us of being in Canada a little bit,” he explains of their last Australian experience. “We were in Sydney, and that was kind of like being in Vancouver with everything around the harbour. The people were all really cool. You can’t help but want to come back again.”

The M-One Festival is the band’s destination with their second trip, and those who caught last year’s club shows are in for a totally different experience.

“We are definitely a different band on a big stage, because in a club we can’t bring our whole stage set up. One of our people here thinks were crazy because we like to do festival, but this was we can do the full show. I don’t know if we can bring it over there, but we’ve got this full staging thing pyro crazy thing,” he enthuses, sounding like a kid left along with a box of crackers and some matches. “With the small clubs you don’t get all the toys and stuff. When you play a bigger stage you have to give people some eye candy, I guess. Who doesn’t like to look at flame towers? It’s cool.”

You guys obviously grew up seeing big rock shows…

“Absolutely. But the good thing, and we do really appreciate it, is the fact we made it from having nothing to work with other than the songs. We don’t have a crazy image, and we didn’t have other gimmicks on stage. It was just amps, drums, guitars, that’s it. We built up a fan base with just songs, and now we can give something back.”

Just getting off the track a little bit, how many truckloads of gear and production are we talking about for a Nickelback show?

“We’ve got four semi trucks full of gear at the moment. It was funny, we went from a bus with a trailer in October last year, so we’ve had some growing pains. It’s all a good thing.”

You mentioned before that the band had come up based on songs more than image, and you still come off as being fairly approachable. Is this something that brings the fans closer to what you do?

“I actually think so. We’re not trying to fool anybody. This is exactly who we are, we’re no different off stage than we are on stage. We’re just four guys from a farm town near Calgary. You see us up there in boots and jeans, and that’s just the way it is. Unlike some other bands, we don’t have to put make up on every night, or dress in a clown outfit or whatever.”

“Everybody has their thing, and that’s fine. Somebody here called us blue-collar rock, and I kind of like that term. We’re not rednecks… well I guess we could be rednecks… but we’re straightforward rock and roll. We’re not gimmicky. Hope fully we write songs that will stick in people’s head, and that they can keep singing when they walk away from the gig.”

While Silver Side Up, and its predecessor The State have now gained wider release, the chance is there for the band to get back and re-issue their earlier recordings.

“Our first disc was like a seven song EP that didn’t get released everywhere. The Curb is being re-released at the moment, but we’re not expecting any sort of global attention. I hope people are interested, and if they enjoyed The State and Silver Side Up I think they’ll enjoy Curb. It was really a snapshot at the time in our lives, when you could wear your hearts on your sleave a little more. It’s kind of embarrassing, but it shows the growth in song writing in the band, and I’m quite proud of it. We paid $5000 Canadian, so we’re pretty happy with it.”

I think the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar are on pretty equal footing…

“So it’s just equals nothing,” he laughs. “When you work in the states all the time it’s like the Canadian peso… You can’t buy anything with it.”