Simple Plan
GET WITH THE PLAN
Boyish Punk-Pop Troupe Mature -- Just a Little -- on Their Sophomore Disc
While the competition for the title of Best French-Canadian Pop-Punk Band might not have been particularly fierce, Simple Plan are more than big fish in a small Francophone pond. With their debut disc, No Helmets, No Pads...Just Balls, the Quebecois quintet established themselves as the logical successors to maturing forebears such as Green Day and Blink 182, thanks to plenty of post-adolescent angst and instantaneously catchy melodies. Nearly three years later, they've returned to action with Still Not Getting Any, which showcases a similar array of pop-savvy hooks and enough heart-on-the-sleeve sentiments to win over those with no intention of braving the mosh pit. Yes, the disc shows a creeping acceptance of adulthood -- and a markedly less self-centered worldview -- but it also reflects the innate goofiness that ensues when five pals engage in pull-my-finger revelry. Three-fifths of the band sat down with Barnes & Noble.com's David Sprague to explain the simple and complex parts of The Plan.
Barnes & Noble.com: It seemed like you were on the road endlessly promoting the last album. Was it good to get back into the studio?
Sebastian Lefevbre: The two and a half years we were on the road was fantastic, actually. It was a slow rise, which is really cool, but honestly, we did need to get some new songs. We went in with a big desire to make a great record and knew we didn't have much time. We couldn't wait to work with Bob Rock. He was awesome.
B&N.com: How did working with him differ?
David Desrosiers: He was good. [laughs] He knows so much about getting a sound down that the process actually goes much faster. I was nervous. I'd seen that Metallica making-of-the-black-album video, and he was whipping on those guys, telling the guitar player, "Dude, you've got to go back home and practice." But with us, he was super Zen and brought the best out of us.
B&N.com: Were you consciously trying to change direction this time around?
Jeff Stinco: We didn't want to do the same record twice -- some bands try to do that, and if that works for them, fine. But we've always liked bands that showed growth. We look up to bands like U2, the Beatles, Weezer -- bands that managed to reinvent themselves often but did so from inside, not responding to outside pressures. The changes that came, well, on that first record, we were like 19 and 20, and hopefully, we've evolved since then.
B&N.com: Was there more pressure, given the success of your debut?
DD: You can do that, but you end up killing yourself. We are perfectionists, and we worry about it, but honestly, the desire to make a great record was there from the start. On the first record, we put in everything we had, but this time, we're a little better -- as musicians, as writers, on just about all levels. We wanted to make a record with no filler at all, and I think we got pretty close to that.
B&N.com: What were you trying to capture on the song "Welcome to My Life"?
JS: After touring for so long, we met a lot of people at our shows, and they'd tell us about the things they were going through. The song, I guess, is just about the feeling of being isolated, being in a bad place and wanting to let it out. It's sort of reflecting what they've been telling us.
DD: And really, we have the same sorts of problems. I mean, we have a great life, but there's dark days, rainy days. We're very fortunate, but that doesn't mean you don't want to cry sometimes.
B&N.com: Is it easy to maintain close contact with your fans at this level?
SL: I guess some bands decide to keep a distance, an enigmatic status or something. From the start, we wanted just the opposite. From the start, we wanted to be accessible, break down as many barriers as possible. Obviously, we're on a stage and there's a little bit of a limit, but after shows, we still go out and talk to people. We get out into the crowd and sign things and talk.
DD: We don't feel famous. Some people say we are, but I don't feel that way. I still feel like a kid who goes to shows the same as anyone else. We did a show for Music Plus, which is like the Montreal MTV, and we played for this huge crowd; then afterwards, I took the subway home and not a single person recognized me.
B&N.com: The title of the record -- Still Not Getting Any -- can't really be accurate, can it?
SL: It depends how you fill in the blank. Still not getting any funnier? Maybe so. Still not getting any good reviews? That's okay with us.
JS: It ties in with the album cover. The concept of it is basically us at different ages, getting older. So you start with us at the present time, and we go till we're 95 and really in bad shape. And it's just a tongue-in-cheek thing. You know, the record's a little deeper now. The lyrics are maybe more introspective. We still want to have fun, we're still here to party, and the music is still fun. It's not a record to open your veins to.
October 2004
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