Why doesn't High on Fire guitarist and vocalist Matt Pike wear shirts on stage? Why did have to have his toe amputated? When will Sleep release a new album? We have answers to two of those three questions!
Pike recently spoke to Metal Hammer when Pike's usual shirtlessness of course came up in conversation. Long story short, he just likes not wearing shirts on stage.
"Well, I do that because I am comfortable playing like that!" said Pike. "I've always done that and some of my stage kung-fu comes from the way my strap slides across me in the way I catch the neck on it. On occasion, I throw a wrench and wear a shirt. I have this dirty bartender shirt that I bust out every now and then and it's fucking horrifying! It's got lapels and it's made out of polyester. It's brown with green poppies.
"People are like, 'Why is he wearing a shirt that is so offensive?!' People will give me shit if I wear a shirt – it's become a thing and it really doesn't drastically affect my musical abilities but it's how I'm comfortable!"
Pike also discussed having his toe amputated a few years back. Pike said he ended up playing a show with a hot dog in his sock before his toe got amputated, which is confusing. Wouldn't you need the hot dog after the amputation?
"I had a grueling shitty tour and I didn't have any days off," he said. I had dirty showers and my toe had been infected from a previous injury. Then, I got a bone infection. There's bacteria and bad shit everywhere, and when I took a dirty club shower it blew up. I played the last shows with a fucking hotdog in my sock! Eventually, I went to see my podiatrist and she was like, 'I have to amputate' and I'm like, 'Fuck it, good riddance!' That toe caused me nothing but problems so fuck that thing.
"I wouldn't have canceled the tour if I didn't have to, but because of the bone infection I was on serious antibiotics and I need a sterile medical environment to change my dressing every day. I had to wait until the stitches came out and by that time we would have been halfway through the tour and, quite frankly, I needed the time off. In a way, it was really a blessing in disguise."
Read the full interview here. High on Fire is currently working on a new album.
