Matt Pike

Pike was born in Southfield, Michigan.{{Cite web|last=@Loudwire|date=November 16, 2016|title=Matt Pike - Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1cFj55NNtI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/G1cFj55NNtI |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|access-date=October 14, 2021|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} He moved to California after spending time in military school while living with his mother in Golden, Colorado. Arriving in San Jose, he realized the hardcore punk and heavy metal scenes were more active than the ones in Colorado. He made friends, attended shows, and eventually joined the sludge metal band Asbestosdeath. When playing around the Bay Area they developed a much heavier and slower sound more akin to doom metal. The quartet soon gained a following and changed their name to Sleep.{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p887554|pure_url=yes}}|title=Biography: Asbestos Death|last= Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=March 19, 2010}}

file:Sleep @ Roadburn Festival 2019-04-14 180.jpg

When fellow Sleep guitarist Justin Marler quit the band, Sleep became a power trio. The band's second album, Sleep's Holy Mountain, illustrated Pike as a young Tony Iommi, playing Black Sabbath-styled riffs.

As a result of the increased press, the band's demographic and following widened greatly, and major label deals soon began surfacing. However, instead of following a path to mainstream exposure, the band fled further underground, turning down countless major label deals{{Citation needed|reason=please give a reliable source for this assertion. Musicians like getting paid, make the records they want to anyway, and "countless" is a bit heavy|date=March 2011}} and submitting the one-song, full-length record Jerusalem in mid-1996. In 1997, the band called it quits after London Records refused to release the Dopesmoker/Jerusalem recordings and the pressure the members were experiencing became unbearable. Pike couldn't come to terms with the break-up and became depressed. He soon realized that his career as a musician was far from over, and began inviting people to jam in his garage. Deciding to work in a power trio again, he brought in Desmond Kensel (drums) and an old friend George Rice (bass) to play in his new band. Within six months, the jams were headed to fruition and High on Fire was developing from a simple need to play guitar again.{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5456/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Biography: Sleep|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo |publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=March 19, 2010}}

While Pike's guitar tone remained largely the same in his new band, High on Fire, he began playing faster and more aggressively than he had in Sleep. Pike handles both guitar and vocal duties in the band, as well as writing a bulk of the material.{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p417193/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Biography: High on Fire|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=March 19, 2010}}

Pike was the frontman of the Bay Area psychedelic-metal band Kalas (formerly Scum Angel) that featured members of Econochrist, Samiam, and Cruevo. Pike set aside the guitar for Kalas, as they already featured two guitarists; his vocals were surprisingly melodic,{{According to whom|date=January 2019}} especially compared to his snarling growls in High on Fire. After only releasing a self-titled album, Kalas split by October 2006.{{Cite web| title = KALAS Calls It Quits| publisher = Blabbermouth.net| date = October 30, 2006| url = http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=61240| access-date = October 30, 2011}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

As a guest star, Pike provided the voice of a Klokateer in the Adult Swim rock comedy Metalocalypse.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1546693/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm|title="Metalocalypse" Fatherklok (TV Episode 2009)|website=IMDB.com|date=December 13, 2009}}

In 2012, Pike made his problems with addiction public as he dropped off the Rockstar Mayhem Festival during the summer and went into rehab. He cited health problems caused by his heavy consumption of alcohol as the reason. He admitted to having "fallen off the wagon" a few times since. In addition to this, he has admitted to suffering from bipolar disorder, and has sustained bodily injuries from relentless years of touring.{{cite web|url=https://archives.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2013/06/24/high-on-fires-matt-pike-on-life-after-rehab-every-single-day-is-a-struggle|title=High on Fire's Matt Pike on Life After Rehab: "Every Single Day Is a Struggle"|first=Dave|last=Pehling|website=SF Weekly|access-date=January 10, 2019}}

In 2018, Pike's band High on Fire announced they would be cancelling their upcoming tour due to Pike needing a partial amputation of one of his toes.{{cite web|url=http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/high-on-fire-drops-off-coming-tour-due-to-matt-pikes-medical-emergency|title=HIGH ON FIRE Drops Off Coming Tour Due To Matt Pike's Medical Emergency|date=October 29, 2018|website=Metal Injection|access-date=January 10, 2019}} Again on January 7, 2019, they announced via their Instagram that High on Fire would be cancelling their 2019 Electric Messiah tour because of Pike's risk of losing his big toe or part of his foot, due to complications from diabetes.{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BsV2ip1FTIQ/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/instagram/highonfireband/1951705889422782992 |archive-date=December 25, 2021 |url-access=registration|title=𝕳𝖎𝖌𝖍 𝖔𝖓 𝕱𝖎𝖗𝖊 on Instagram: "High On Fire will not participate in the 2019 "Electric Messiah Tour" sponsored by Revolver Magazine. Fans can refund their tickets through…"|website=Instagram|access-date=January 10, 2019}}{{cbignore}}

On August 17, 2019, Pike married musician and tattoo artist Alyssa Maucere in a small ceremony in Las Vegas.{{cn|date=May 2023}} He also has a daughter from a prior relationship. Through her, he has one granddaughter.

File:Matt Pike 2016.jpg

;Sleep

• 1991: Volume One
• 1992: Volume Two (EP)
• 1992: Sleep's Holy Mountain
• 1999: Jerusalem
• 2003: Dopesmoker
• 2014: The Clarity (single)
• 2018: The Sciences
• 2018: Leagues Beneath (single)
• 2019: Vault Package #39 – Sleep Live at Third Man Records
• 2022: Vault Package #52 – Sleep Dopesmoker

;High on Fire

• 2000: The Art of Self Defense
• 2002: Surrounded by Thieves
• 2005: Blessed Black Wings
• 2005: Live from the Relapse Contamination Festival (live album)
• 2007: Death Is This Communion
• 2010: Snakes for the Divine
• 2012: De Vermis Mysteriis
• 2015: Luminiferous
• 2018: Electric Messiah
• 2024: Cometh the Storm

;Asbestosdeath

• 1990: Dejection (EP)
• 1990: Unclean (EP)
• 2007: Unclean Dejection

;Kalas

• 2006: Kalas

;Pike vs. the Automaton

• 2022: Pike vs. the Automaton{{Cite web|title=Pike vs the Automaton: Pike vs the Automaton|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/pike-vs-the-automaton-pike-vs-the-automaton/|access-date=2022-02-22|website=Pitchfork|language=en-US}}

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• {{allMusic}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPsCOq0NZss/ 2013 interview with Matt Pike]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDHZ7NhB5yE/ 2016 interview with Matt Pike]

{{Sleep (band)}}

{{High on Fire}}

{{authority control}}

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Category:American lead guitarists

Category:Musicians from Denver

Category:Living people

Category:1972 births

Category:Grammy Award winners

Category:American heavy metal guitarists

Category:American heavy metal singers

Category:Guitarists from Colorado

Category:High on Fire members

Category:Sleep (band) members

Category:Asbestosdeath members

Category:21st-century American singers

Category:21st-century American guitarists

Category:Thrash metal musicians

Category:People with bipolar disorder