3 Doors Down and Two Bands To Go

3 Doors Down and Two Bands To Go

by Lisa Hummel

The three bands set to hit the York Fair stage on September 11 have more than a few things in common. All are from towns not exactly known for being hot beds of music — namely Escatawpa, Mississippi; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Dallas, Texas. All are currently in the throes of their career, albeit at three different stages: one is five times platinum; one is a Canadian import wrecking havoc on the American charts; and one is just hitting the ground running, having released their first major label debut album on August 21. And all have had major personnel changes — two of the bands recorded their albums before the addition of a current band member. More than that, however, the three bands in question — Three Doors Down, Nickelback, and Seven Channels — are all heavy hitters in modern rock, having created quite a buzz for themselves in recent months.

Three Doors Down
Long before “Kryptonite” was a household favorite, Richard Liles was hearing it on WCPR-FM in Biloxi, MI. The station was being bombarded with requests to hear the song, then just a demo from local rockers Three Doors Down. Like everyone else along the Gulf Coast — and, soon, like everyone across the country — Liles couldn’t escape the tune. Nor did he ever see himself as part of the band’s line-up.

Until its split, Liles was the drummer in a band called Isle 9, a local act that played the circuit with Three Doors Down. The two bands did a few shows together and were friendly competitors in the music scene, but while Isle 9 was going its separate ways, the members of Three Doors Down were signing a record deal.

The original members — singer/then-drummer Brad Arnold, bassist Todd Harrell, and guitarist Matt Roberts — got their start as a cover band, mixing their originals with favorites from bands like Bush and Metallica. The trio added guitarist Chris Henderson, signed a deal with Republic/Universal Records, recorded an album, and moved Arnold from behind the drums and into the forefront. In need of a drummer to take over Arnold’s responsibilities, they called Liles.

“When I came in, they gave me a CD and I had about two weeks to learn it so it was like, ‘this is it, it’s either do or die,’” Liles remembered. “We played our first show in Mobile, Alabama for about 8,000 people, we did a few legs here and there, and it was pretty much ‘c’mon, let’s do it.’”

Liles joined the band in September of 1999. The “Kryptonite” craze came just four months later. The song hit the charts with a fury, topping Billboard’s Mainstream and Modern Rock charts and pushing the band’s debut release, The Better Life, to its current five-time platinum status. Long a part of the band’s repertoire, one would imagine that performing the song night after night would get old.

“I was hearing it on the radio for a year on our hometown station before they ever got their record deal,” he said. “You play the song so many times, but I don’t think it’s an issue of playing it or not, it’s an issue of the crowd’s reaction. Every time you play it and you hit those first three or four notes, and the crowd just goes bananas and the energy is totally there, so, no, I don’t think we ever get tired of playing it, we might get tired of hearing it, but playing it is a blast.”

The Better Life has spawned a slew of hits, including “Loser,” “Duck and Run,” and the band’s current single, “Be Like That,” which can also be found on the American Pie 2 soundtrack, which recently went Gold.

On tour since February of last year, the band has been packing in the audiences, both in the United States and around the world. When the band stops in York Fair, they will be fresh off their third visit to Europe. And while life on the road takes its toll, Liles attests that nothing compares to performing live. “It definitely has a lot to do with the audience. You get tired, you’re going for so long, but when you get on stage and you see the people and the reaction it just totally restores everything,” he said. “We put on a good rockin’ show. We get out there, we give the best we can.”

Nickelback
Though they are based out of Vancouver, Nickelback — guitarist Ryan Peake, guitarist/vocalist Chad Kroeger, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Ryan Vikedal — is no stranger to American audiences. They’ve spent much of the past three years on the road, touring with the likes of Fuel, Creed, and the aforementioned Three Doors Down and the band is set to release their second stateside album, Silver Side Up, on the night of the York performance.

A new record, a new tour, the opportunity to headline venues in the fall — is the band excited about the prospects of things to come?

“Excited is a heavy understatement,” laughed Peake. “And with Silver Side Up — it’s been three years since we did The State and we’ve been dying to get a new album out. It’s great that everyone likes the last album but that was us three years ago, we want to show everybody what is us now.”

Maturity — in songwriting and musicianship — are two differences Peake noted between Silver and The State, the band’s first American release. Where the lyrics to The State were more metaphorical and left open to interpretation, Peake attests that Silver is more straightforward and more solid than before. “Sonically, I think we put in everything we had to make it a decent sounding album,” said Peake. “And we’ve gotten a lot tighter as a band, especially. Our drummer, Ryan Vikedal, flew in a week-and-a-half before we recorded The State … so we’ve had the three years to get used to his style. We’re gelling better from being on the road, from experiencing the crowds — it’s been a fantastic time.”

With a successful take-over of America under its belt, Europe may be the next land to conquer — if their recent stop in Germany was any indication “We were playing a festival at 3 o’clock in the morning and 12,000 people stayed to watch. At 3 o’clock in the morning! It was like, ‘wow, they must really like the music.’ That’s a pretty cool feeling. We had people singing the lyrics to the new single and it hasn’t even been released here yet.”

Released in early July, the new single, “How You Remind Me,” became the highest single debut ever in the history of the band’s label, Roadrunner Records. And it almost didn’t make the album.

“We put it together in about 10 minutes. All of the sudden it came together, about a week before we went into the studio,” Peake said. Chosen to be the first single because of its “undeniable melody” — “Hear it a couple of times and it will stick in your head,” warned Peake — “How You Remind Me” is currently sitting high atop the Mainstream Rock Charts and shows no sign of slowing.

Neither does the band.

Seven Channels
As part of the 3DD tour, the members of the up and coming band Seven Channels are taking the stage one city at a time, learning the tricks of the trade while making sure to take the opportunity to enjoy the sites and sounds of the open road. Case in point: while they are no strangers to big cities — two of the band’s members grew up close to Houston and the band got much of their start in the Dallas area — the group’s first visit to New York City came just over a month ago.

“Its just mind blowing,” laughed guitarist Dallas Perry. “We were at an industry party the other night, on the 16th floor of an apartment building, and it was just like a scene out of Superman, standing on a balcony, looking out on the skyline. It was amazing. We’re getting to see things we’ve never seen before. We’re exploring America together, it’s totally cool.”

Pieced together over the past few years, the band —Perry, lead vocalist Kevin Kirkwood, and drummer Ben Holt — developed a hefty following in their home base of Dallas, Texas before entering a number of band competitions to test the waters. In 1999, the band finished second in Ernie Ball’s Battle of the Bands and was selected as one of VH-1’s Best Unsigned Bands before winning Mars Music’s Quit Your Day Job competition. The prize? A record deal with Palm Pictures. Wasting no time, four of the five members of Seven Channels entered the studio, recorded the tracks, hired bassist Dalton Humphreys, and awaited the release of their self-titled debut album, which hit stores in late August.

“Our album just came out a week ago and as surely as I can say that, it just doesn’t make sense to me. We even went into a record store and there it was, on the shelf,” marveled Perry. “It’s been such a lifelong dream and at the same time it’s been so many days of blood, sweat, and tears in the making. It’s not like we were just doing our thing and ‘boom’ here’s our album on a shelf. We’ve labored day in and day out to build this thing piece by piece so in that sense it seems like its been a long time coming. Surreal is probably the best word for it. It’s here, it’s in front of my face, I realize it, but it doesn’t make sense to me. It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.”

Though they have released two independent works, Seven Channels is the band’s introduction to the majority of the listening public and Perry knows his work didn’t end when the album hit the shelves.

“I’ve finally realized something that I dreamed about for forever, but at he same time it’s like ‘now we’ve got to sell albums,’” he said. “Nothing’s guaranteed. In this industry, you’re only as good as your sales are each week. It’s a bizarre world, but we’re having the best time learning it. We’re thoroughly enjoying ourselves.”

For tickets, call 848-2033 or visit yorkfair.org.