Formed nearly a decade ago in Calgary, Nickelback has kicked the Canadian curse. Songs such as “How You Remind Me” and “Someday” have been enormous hits on modern rock radio. The band's post-grunge anthems have found a fan base comprising the same listeners who like Creed and Three Doors Down. Guitarist Mike Kroeger, who founded the group with his brother Chad after they had played together in a cover band, called recently from his Vancouver home. — Jeff Niesel

You're on tour with Three Doors Down, who have a pro-war anthem in “When I'm Gone.” How do you feel about the war in Iraq?
Wow. How long is this interview? I've never heard anyone say this, but I think the U.S. were baited into it. It doesn't look good. Nobody was as attractive a target. It was completely a baiting, and now you're in a situation where you have to get out of it. That's the long and short of it. The guy was a bad guy, but we do business with bad people around the world. Namely, China. If you want to pick on every bad leader in the world, you better get your boots on, because you are going to be busy.

Was Nickelback really named after a café that gives a nickel in change for purchases?
That's when I was working at a coffeeshop. I was working there when we were recording our first demos. We were fucking dying to find a name. Then I realized I was saying “here's your nickel back” all the time. I had tried so many names previous to that. It was the one that no one hated. When it comes to naming a band, holy shit, it's hard. God willing, you have to live with it for a long time. We have friends in a band called Finger Eleven, and they were called Rainbow Butt Monkey for a while. It's going to follow around you around for your career. I think they're much happier being Finger Eleven.

You started as a cover band. What were some of the songs you used to play?
I don't want to name an artist. We used to play places that catered to thirtysomethings and up. They wanted to listen to blue-collar rock with a “w” in it. We played the stuff the college kids wanted to hear. All the kids would come in. They would come to our gigs and have a great time and rip the place apart. You can't get blood from a stone. College students can't buy beer with lint. I know this. There was no money to be had. 

Yeah, but with Canadian beer, you get more bang for your buck.
Your beer is considerably less strong. That brings me to a story. We played a Canadian festival with Three Doors Down. They started hooking into the beer. Our Bud is different than yours. They were twisted on that beer. They were drinking it at an American pace. They had a good time. Before you know it, it creeps up on you and you're blotto. From what I remember, that's what happened to them. It was after they performed. They're pretty serious about going out sharp, especially when there's fire and shit going off. Mainstream rock music isn't the hardest thing to play, but when there's explosions and propane flames, you generally don't want to be impaired.

Coming from Canada, was it difficult to find a U.S. audience?
We didn't have that much trouble. I had heard from people, both Canadian and American, that Canadian music doesn't work. It seemed like the bigger challenge was the mindset of the listeners. We'd get off the stage in Galveston and people would say, “That's some good Southern rock.” Once you got 'em, you got 'em. If we flew the Maple Leaf around, they'd be disenchanted.

I can't remember — did you win your Monday Night Football battle of the bands with the Barenaked Ladies?
We didn't. We got destroyed. It was Doug Flutie, but we've been watching him beat people up for years. He played for Calgary for a while, and he's a clutch player. He did it to us too. We're not the first ones.

Have you been to the web site that plays “Someday” and “How You Remind Me” simultaneously and suggests the melody is exactly the same?
No, I haven't. I'm quite a student of music, actually, and if you want to get into it seriously, we can. I think that's remarkable for somebody to notice that there's a hit quality. If all hits sound the same, then sorry. When you are a band that has a distinct style such as us or AC/DC, that happens. When you have a distinct style, you run the risk of sounding similar. We won't turn around and write a Jennifer Lopez record. We have an idea of what Nickelback sounds like. I don't think we did that. Maybe that person got thrown out of a show.