Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger admitted to American Songwriter that he was a ‘troublemaker’ as a kid. The singer reminisced about his high school years by saying:
“I was such a troublemaker, God; I was a bad kid. If it was an island, they would have drowned me, or I’d have been voted off real quick like we got to get rid of this one; this one’s causing problems.”
Chad also shared a behind-the-scenes look at the band’s ‘Photograph’ music video and where they shot it. He added:
“Shooting the video for ‘Photograph’ was really cool for us. We played our part in the gymnasium of what was my junior high school, but way back in the day, like 50 years before. It was the actual high school before we built a new one, so it still says Hannah high school and the top.”
Kroeger even confessed to having several criminal records that made it into a lyric in the track. The rocker continued:
“We’re walking into the building, so we get in there, and I broke into that exact school. I think I have 11 counts of breaking an entry on my criminal record, but I say, ‘I think I must have done it half a dozen times’ in the song.”
The frontman finally shared that the shooting of the music video was ‘awesome’ as he had so many people from his previous life there to witness it. He explained:
“Then my principal Mr. Brinton came out, and all the people that were there when all of it went down like it was crazy. Canada’s MTV MuchMusic; had a full camera crew there. The whole town is watching us play in the gym like there were so many people from my past; it was awesome.”
Regarding Chad’s inspiration for the hit, the rocker told Planet Rock that although the lyrics might not have been the best, they came naturally to him. He said:
“It was so random that we just sort of locked our way into it, so you’re talking about the picture. And this is where I grew up, this is where I went to school, and we start listing all those things… We just got so lucky, and then when you listen back to it, you’re like, ‘This is really good. These guys are good songwriters.’ ‘No.[We] just kind of fluked our way into that.'”
You can watch Chad Kroeger’s interview with American Songwriter, Planet Rock and the music video for ‘Photograph’ below.