I have very strong feelings about this
there's just a link in parenthesisThroughout his career as a musician and guitar virtuoso, Matt has been known to figurehead the bay area stoner/sludge subculture, being all but self-conscious about his appearance, drink heavily, promote NWO-themed conspiracy theories, smoke green and contribute to the 4:20 reference jungle; even including some of the vast number of synonyms and pot-related nomenclature in his lyrical exploits, e.g. the "Weedians" (a fictive nomadic tribe that features in Sleep's epic Jerusalem/Dopesmoker). At first glance, he's in some respects a dead ringer for the now deceased Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead - an obvious inspiration, musically and maybe philosophically - with the whiskey-rough singing voice sometimes accentuated similarly, employed in Overkill-era harmonies; the willfully unsophisticated steam engine delivery, the embracing of the constraints of three-piece instrumentation, the self-destruction through indulgence tolerated or even considered quaint thanks only to the eccentricity label, the lax misanthropy expressed through pop culture conservatism, the unpronounced but factual rock n' roll-/metal-zealotry. They both leave behind a diverse and masterful body of work, even if slightly autistic in its motif, a monologue, exceedingly stagnant by age. Pike met Lemmy of Motorhead on several occasions (most famously in '06 to interview him for Revolver Magazine) considered him a hero and had a tattoo made a few hours after his passing in December '15.
In 2012 Matt Pike made his problems with addiction public as he had to drop off the Rock Star Mayhem Festival during the summer and go into rehab. He cites health problems caused by his drinking as the reason. He admits to having "fallen off the wagon" a few times since.
(https://archives.sfweekly.com/shookdown ... a-struggle)
During Sleep's early success, When asked by a fanzine about where he got the inspiration, the melodies, ideas for Sleep's low-down, slow, dirty yet seductive and hypnotic guitar layers, Pike disappointed an interviewer (probably looking for a anti-social narcotics-related answer) by kything his faith in Christ and implied his riffs had divine origins. Jesus was to thank. This firm belief in the importance of a personal relationship with God seemed to be shared by the other 2/3 of Sleep, vocalist/bass player Cisneros and drummer Hakius. There is a dedication in the liner notes of their '98 LP Dopesmoker, to: "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost". Pike has since at least once aired his doubts about by-the-book christianity: during an interview with Close-Up Magazine in '07 he spoke about desperation, defaitism and friends dying, and how that personal darkness may have infused then-new LP Death is this Communion with even more of an occult, maleficial vibe than 2005's Blessed Black Wings had, when the interviewer reminded him of how he thanked Jesus for the riffs a decade earlier, proceeding to ask if he still believed in God. Pike replied light-heartedly that he's been swaying theology-wise a bit since his 20's and that he may switch deity one day.
and fucking KYTHING: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kything