MATT PIKE HELPED codify stoner metal as a genre in the 90s with his band Sleep and their landmark releases Holy Mountain and Dopesmoker (aka Jerusalem), before launching the no-less-celebrated High On Fire. Along the way, there have been struggles with booze (he’s not sober) and even an amputated toe. With his first ever solo album, Pike Vs The Automaton, on the horizon, we asked Matt to guide us through the lessons that helped turn him into a modern metal icon.