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 When it comes to success, Sum 41 followed the durable
workhorse: small town boys make it big.
A four-piece collective of bored high school students from a small town
in Canada
shaped tunes that were catchy and powerful, with brutally honest lyrics that defined
their exuberance and unapologetic youthful naivet.
Now several years and a few successful chart-topping CD"s and singles later, they"ve garnered international attention.
The time between their new release Underclass Hero, and their last
outing Chuck, saw guitarist Dave Baksh leave to explore classic heavy
metal
while the other members did side projects.
The interview began with a passing mention of a famed
independent record store that closed down after 50 plus
years in business
Deryck Whibley: Ive been hearing about that
lately. The sad thing is
that Im not surprised that its closed down. Its going that way. Its been
going that way for a while. It sucks but its not surprising at all.
Is that somehow indicative of how the music business is
changing?
DW: Well definitely the music business is changing.
Physical CDs are pretty much dead.
Music is branching out in so many directions, there used
to be just one or two kinds of punk and now there are dozens. How do you characterize your music?
DW: I
see us as just rock n roll. Our music comes from a wide variety and many different
types of music like punk, heavy metal and older rock. I dont see it as being
just one thing.
How do you define
punk rock?
DW: I dont know. I mean, to me the thing that
attracted me to it is the energy and the attitude. A lot of the bands I used to
listen to, are actually really good. The melodies are great. I dont really
know how to define what punk rock really is.
Is it just a personal
thing?
DW: It is yeah, but I dont really think about
it too much. When I was young it was all those things that attracted me to it and
the fact that nobody really knew about it in my school. It was just me, Dean and a couple of the other
guys.
You guys grew up in a
small town and your music grew out of boredom.
DW: Yeah.
Now your situation is
rather different. Does the success inhibit
any of the passion that drives your music?
DW: No. Not at all. Weve just been doing this long enough that
this is what we do in our lives.
Do you still get bored?
DW: Oh yeah we get bored all the time, but its
not in the same way of being in a small town and the boredom of going to high
school every single day knowing that it doesnt matter.
Its been said that
John Lennon wrote what he felt, McCartney wrote what he thought and Harrison wrote what he saw. What do you write?
 DW: Im definitely all about feeling.
Everything in my life is all about how I feel about something, but I think what I write is what Ive been through. Something I feel is honest.
Thats what this new
record seems to be about. You decided to
produce it yourself? What led to this?
DW: I really didnt want to. I produced it more
out of necessity because we were trying to look for a producer but there were
really only a handful of guys that I actually really think are worth anything.
We talked to all the people who I thought were really good but by the time we
wanted to go to the studio it wouldnt work out with anybody that we wanted to
work with. It was about two weeks before it was supposed to start and we still
didnt have a producer so I just said f**k It why didnt I just do it?
Were you able to take
more chances?
DW: It wasnt that we were able to take more
chances because I would have done the same things I would have done regardless
if there was a producer or not. If I have an idea Im going to say Hey I have
an idea and this is what I want to do. I dont think it allowed me to do more
things, it was just I was able to do things quicker because I didnt have to
check with anyone or say Hey what do you think about this because basically
once the drums and the bass were done which we did right away in the first two
weeks, then I was just on my own. I mean I play guitars, and everything else, so I
was left alone to do whatever I wanted.
You found yourself
caught in a war zone while filming with War Child of Canada in the Republic of Congo. How has this affected your music?
DW: You know people ask me that all the time
like how does that affect my life?, how did it affect my music? I really
dont know how it has. I think anything you ever do in your life, every single thing, from the
small to the biggest, every day of your life... I think all of those things end up
coming out in defining your view of existence. You dont really realize how
its changed you or why its changed you. It just does. It just becomes a part
of you. So I definitely think all of the experiences like the Congo and
everything else in my life have definitely come out in my music somehow. But I
cant say well Im different now because of this and I choose this now because
of that. It just becomes a part of you.
Is music becoming
more political more proactive, and do you see this as a trend?
DW: I think it always comes from a personal
thing. I dont think you can say something like that. Like politics or
something that is going on in the world is a fad or a bandwagon thing. Its
just real life and either you ignore it or you are knowledgeable about it. You
dont have to be into politics because youre in a band but if you are in band
and you are into politics then theres nothing wrong with that either. I dont
think its a new trend or anything, I just think its always going on. Its just
the certain kind of people who are getting into it.
Mick Jagger is 64. Do you see yourself doing this when youre
64?
DW: I
dont think much past a couple of weeks.
I definitely couldnt see what Im doing when Im 64. I have no idea.
What are your plans
for music in the future? Do you see a new direction or are you just happy doing
what youre doing?
DW: I dont know what the direction would be,
but I do think that every single one of our records always sounds really
different from the one previous and this latest record is so different. It sounds like
something we havent done before so Im sure our next record will be something
different. It will be something evolved from this. Im sure there will be some kind of evolution for
sure.
Check out ACED's review of Sum 41's latest endeavor.
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