Post by Heather on Jul 5, 2012 16:57:22 GMT -5
Thanks to Deryck for taking the time to answer these questions!
FC: First off, how is your back doing and how do you feel about touring again?
D: It hasn’t been giving me much trouble lately
FC: It's been a year since the release of Screaming Bloody Murder. What experiences/techniques did you gain while writing and recording SBM that you may apply to future works?
D: This record was recorded very differently than any record we’ve done before. I like the freedom and challenges that come from recording in a house rather than a real studio. I also learned to live my life while recording and let the energy soak into it as well. Not take things too seriously. I still worked my ass off but I had a blast while doing this record. I’ve done the conventional style of recording where it’s very serious doing take after take to try and make it perfect. And to me that’s just boring. When I record that way it sounds lifeless to me. I like there to be a sense of recklessness to the music. Most of the songs and performances on this album were done very quickly and without a lot of thought put into them. I love life too much to be stuck sitting around in a studio treating it like it’s a job. My only job is to enjoy life.
FC: We've noticed that SBM has a much looser feel to it production wise, for instance you can hear piano pedals and talking. Was this planned from the beginning or did it come about during the recording/mixing process?
D: Nothing was planned on this record. Right down to me being the producer. I didn’t want to do it at all. It just had to happen that way because it seemed to work the best. As far as the way it sounds, I wanted it to sound like the listener was sitting in the room with us while we were playing. I didn’t clean up any of the tracks and take any of the mistakes or breaths or piano pedals out on purpose. Which is what most producers/engineers do when they’re recording. We played it live and I wanted it to sound like it.
FC: How did the title track "Screaming Bloody Murder" evolve into a collaboration with Tom? Could we expect more collaborations between you two in the future?
D: I don’t know what we can expect. I try to never have expectations this far away from making a new record. But I can say I would love to collaborate more with brown tom in the future. I’ve always been a big fan of his writing. That song was interesting. It’s actually the first time I’ve ever collaborated that much with someone on music. We didn’t even sit down and write it together in the same room. I called brown tom one day and asked if he had any riffs or songs lying around that we might be able to use. He sent me the track with no vocals and the second I heard it all the words and melody just started coming to me instantly. So I recorded a quick demo of it so I wouldn’t forget it and played it for brown tom and he said he liked it, and that was that. It was done in the matter of minutes and we were across the country from each other.
FC: In one interview, you called "Crash" your "artistic highpoint" (thestar.com July2010). In your opinion, what sets this song apart and what other songs would you consider highpoints?
D: Hmmm. I don’t remember saying that. Haha. I do like the song a lot though. Again, like most of these songs it came out very quickly. It probably took 15 min to write. It all came at once. Piano, melody and lyrics. I love when that happens. Makes my job easy. Haha. I like it because it’s a bit different than anything we’ve done before. And since the song is about a car accident I witnessed, it has a lot of meaning for me. I still remember the smell of the accident. It was a weird chemical smell. I thought the cars were going to explode at any minute. And it was so sad because the people in the accident were both so young. I realized that day how quickly you can just lose your life. I immediately wrote that song when I got home. It all just came to me.
FC:"Holy Image of Lies" seems to be the most unique Sum 41 song to date, with its unconventional song structure. How was the writing/recording process for it different?
D: That song was different to record because it was mostly recorded in separate parts. We used different sounds for each section. The percussion that you can hear through the beginning half is all played on random objects in a house. Things like staircase railings and cans etc. basically anything that we could find that sounded cool.
FC:In one studio update, we heard a sneak peak of the lyrics: "I don't believe in ignorance no more ourselves we deceive".
D: Could we possibly hear this song and other SBM cuts on future releases? Anything’s possible. That was a song I was trying to finish for the record that I just couldn’t seem to figure out. It was the only song that gave me any problems on this one. Hopefully I will finish someday because I really like where it’s going. It’s heading down the right path I just wish it would take me the rest of the way.
FC:Speaking of lyrics, you've written so many songs, what specific lines stand out to you the most?
D: That’s tough. I will say that I feel like my lyrics now are more focused. They speak more volumes to me. There’s a lot more honesty, fearless vulnerability and emotion that wasn’t there before. It feels more direct to the point to me. Although SBM is not a concept record, it still tells the story of my life over the past few years. Lots of pain, confusion, hopelessness which turns into courage, strength acceptance and happiness.
FC: "Reason to Believe"sounds amazing acoustic, what other songs from SBM would you consider recording or playing in acoustic?
D: Thank you. I’ve tried a few songs acoustic. I really like blood in my eyes acoustic I recorded a version recently and I think it turned out well. We’ll probably release it sometime soon hopefully.
FC: Lastly, What musical projects have you been working on this year?
D: Nothing this year really. I’ve been just focusing on getting my health back to normal and focusing on sum 41. That takes up all my damn time!