NICKELBACK's MIKE KROEGER: 'We Have Been Mistakenly Judged As Taking Ourselves Too Seriously'

In a new interview with Colombia's Radioacktiva, NICKELBACK bassist Mike Kroeger spoke about he and his bandmates are sometimes inaccurately perceived by the media and the record-buying public. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Rock and roll can be very serious. And in the past we have been mistakenly judged as taking ourselves too seriously. And that's funny, because anybody who knows us [knows that's not true].

"We did an interview a little while ago in Toronto, here in Canada, and the interviewer asked us if we do take ourselves very seriously or too seriously. And my brother [NICKELBACK frontman Chad Kroeger] gave an answer to it — and Ryan [Peake, NICKELBACK guitarist] gave an answer to it — and then I told the interviewer that I was so close, so close… I was just gonna stand on the table and take my pants off, just to prove how 'serious' we are. And it was funny, 'cause the interviewers, they didn't really know what to say. But my guys, the band guys were all just, like, 'Thank you for not taking your pants off on national television. Thank you.' Because we don't take it seriously.

"We want, like anybody, to be treated with respect, but we don't think we deserve respect or that people have to treat us in some special way," Mike explained. "We're not a protected class, that's for sure. We're happy to take the shots.

"Believe it or not, there's more NICKELBACK jokes from inside NICKELBACK than there is from outside NICKELBACK. [Laughs]"

NICKELBACK's tenth studio album, titled "Get Rollin'", was released on November 18.

NICKELBACK's history dates back to 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, where they got their start playing covers in a band called VILLAGE IDIOT, a nod to the small-town nature where they played and grew up. In 1996, Chad, alongside Ryan, made the 10-hour trek west to follow Mike to Vancouver, British Columbia, where the band still resides and continues to make music today.

The band's numerous smash hits, coupled with worldwide sales of over 50 million albums sold, seals their status as one of the top-selling acts of all time and the second best-selling foreign act of the 2000s in the U.S., behind only THE BEATLES. The wildly popular smash hit "How You Remind Me" was named Billboard's "Top Rock Song Of The Decade", which was a contributing factor in the publication's decision to crown NICKELBACK "Top Rock Group Of The Decade" shortly after.

Beyond their Juno Awards, the group has received nine Grammy Award nominations, three American Music Awards, a World Music Award, a People's Choice Award and seven MuchMusic Video Awards. They were inducted into Canada's Walk Of Fame in 2007.