Matt Pike Offers Updates on New High on Fire + Sleep Albums [Exclusive Interview]

We sat down with High on Fire and Sleep's riff general Matt Pike during his stop in New York City. For fans who may be accustomed to Pike's notorious lack of a shirt, this video will be surprising from the get-go as we can only assume he was operating under a "no shirt, no shoes, no service" policy. During our discussion, we asked the legend about working on two new albums expected to arrive in 2017 from both High on Fire and Sleep.

"It's my schizophrenic personality, I can be one or the other," Pike quipped when asked how he's balancing the writing duties for both groups. Walking back the joke, he offered, "No I'm a pretty persistent, determined guy" before explaining how he's managed his time.

"High on Fire is so busy all the time, all the time and I'm trying to get that thing to the next level," Pike mentioned when talking about scheduling, adding he is possibly the busiest member of either group as everyone in Sleep have other bands (Om, Neurosis).

"Sleep's at this level where we can't deny the fact that we need to be playing shows and making another record because it's been 20-something years and we did really good on the single we made," the guitarist / vocalist added. He also revealed that "The Clarity," Sleep's standalone 2014 single, gave the band a "good footing" as far as what direction to take the writing.

Watch the video interview above to see what else Matt Pike had to say for two of metal's most anticipated 2017 releases!

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