Fresh off releasing an illustrated lyric book, High On Fire frontman (and Sleep guitarist) Matt Pike has announced his debut solo album, Pike vs. the Automaton, due February 18 via MNRK Heavy (pre-order). The album was produced by Billy Anderson, who's worked with both Sleep and High On Fire, and it was recorded with drummer Jon Reid (ex-Lord Dying).
"I was just going bonkers during the pandemic. It was like really, truly miserable. And then all the riots here in Portland and all the political shit. I was trapped in my garage, which was the only place I could go and jam and do anything," Matt says. "I was trapped in there ‘cause I couldn’t go jam with High on Fire, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do that, no one could fly. I was going crazy. My friend Jon Reid, who was the original drummer for Lord Dying, had moved to Portland and was babysitting my dog, Crom, and he was drumming for my wife’s band, so he had his drums already set up at my place. I finally said, “Dude, do you want to come over and just start jamming? So, I just started this thing with my friend Jon. I was like, “Dude, fuck it. Let’s start a side band and we’ll just demo this and act like we’re starting it as teenagers, you know?"