Here at Exclaim!, we spend slow news days dreaming about CanCon crossover stories just like this one, so we must send a personal thank you to Chad Kroeger for his dedication to the metric system. His ride-or-die attitude almost led to an altercation with Hinder drummer Cody Hanson, who has just told the story for the first time ever.
The fellow butt rocker was a recent guest on The Jesea Lee Show, where the topic of "super cringey" memories with other bands was broached. He started to recall Hinder's time touring with Nickelback, and how they spent summers in Vancouver recording with Kroeger.
"One night … we were sitting outside of a hotel, and it was us and our crew, and Chad and a couple of girls," he said. "They were like these country girls sitting in back of their trucks, and they start talking about horses. And my drum tech at the time, he starts laughing, he's like, 'Cody, man, come here, Chad says there's no such thing as quarter horses,' and he's laughing, kinda poking fun at him."
He continued: "So, I think to myself, 'Maybe 'cause he's Canadian and they use the metric system,' so everybody starts laughing. I wasn't trying to be a dick … so, he comes over and wraps his arm around my neck, and I think he's joking, right? And then I notice he starts really squeezing … so I kinda shove him off and am like, 'What the fuck are you doing, dude?' And he's like, 'If you wanna make a person from Canada mad, the first thing you do is call him a Canadian.'"
Allegedly Kroeger and his bodyguard immediately stormed off, and while following them, Hanson began to cry: "Being drunk, once you get so mad, your emotions overtake you. I started crying like a little bitch."
In the morning, Hanson said, Kroeger approached him and the rest of Hinder with the only peace offering that could possibly make sense: a handful of Viagra.
So next time someone spouts off the highly-exaggerated myth that Canadians are overly nice, test out the theory by calling a Canadian exactly what they are — a Canadian. Watch the whole interview below.