Post by Heather on Mar 31, 2011 13:29:10 GMT -5
Sum 41 leader coy about lyrics
Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley seems to be writing about the end of his marriage to fellow Canadian music star Avril Lavigne on the Ajax, Ont., punk-pop band's new album, Screaming Bloody Murder.
Just listen to the actual lyrics on many of the songs.
"How could you be the better part of me, when we're only half of what we used to be," sings Whibley on What Am I to Say.
Or, on Over Now: "What do I have to do, was supposed to grow old with you, but that ain't gonna happen," he laments.
And finally, on Exit Song: "It's time to let you go and bow out of the game, maybe we will find the answers through the blame," Whibley sings.
But just try to get the 30-year-old singer-songwriter, recently joined by drummer Steve Jocz, 29, and bassist Jason McCaslin, 30, in a Toronto hotel for a chat, to talk about the material.
"I don't really remember writing a lot of them 'cause they came so quick and so fast just over a period of time that there was never really any thought put into them," says Whibley, who lives in L.A. while Jocz is down the road in Long Beach, Calif. McCaslin still lives in Toronto.
"It was just whatever, 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there. So it's sort of hard to explain. I don't know what (the album) is about."
So, it's not about the end of your marriage, I ask point blank.
"I never even thought about it -- it's possible," maintains Whibley, who is wearing sunglasses and is hard to read. "They're just like words in my head. There was really no thought, for me anyways, especially about lyrics. This one I just didn't think about anything. Whatever came out, came out. It just came so fast. For the first time ever in my entire life I felt songwriting became really easy, whether it was good or bad, I don't know, but it just was easy all of the sudden. It is a darker, heavier record but we never talked about that."
Moving forward then.
Screaming Bloody Murder, Sum 41's first album in four years (2007's Underclass Hero was the last), is their fifth studio album overall, and began life as a five-song EP.
"Once we did them and recorded them, we actually liked them," said Whibley, who initially wanted to record in a French chateau but it proved to be too expensive.
"So we thought, 'Let's save these and just keep going.' And there was never a deadline so we just said, 'Whenever we feel like it's ready, it'll be ready.' And it took four years."
In the end, they only spent one week in an actual studio.
Night owls Whibley, McCaslin and lead guitarist Tom Thacker, frontman of Gob, holed up in a rented Hollywood Hills house while early bird Jocz went over to Capitol studios to record his drum parts in the morning.
"It's better to do it in the morning and then you sort of burn out after awhile," said Jocz. "These guys are all on different schedules than me anyway. I like to get up at the crack of dawn. I don't have curtains in my house. This happened when I moved to California. The days are nice. I like a nice day."
There were attempts to work with noted British producer Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters), and others, but in the end Whibley produced SBM as he had done with Underclass Hero.
"We don't play nice with others," said Whibley. "And we really liked Gil. At this point, after this long of playing together, we just kind of know what to do without having to say it."
Added McCaslin: "We tried hard. Like we really wanted a producer on this album but we just have our way of recording."
Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley seems to be writing about the end of his marriage to fellow Canadian music star Avril Lavigne on the Ajax, Ont., punk-pop band's new album, Screaming Bloody Murder.
Just listen to the actual lyrics on many of the songs.
"How could you be the better part of me, when we're only half of what we used to be," sings Whibley on What Am I to Say.
Or, on Over Now: "What do I have to do, was supposed to grow old with you, but that ain't gonna happen," he laments.
And finally, on Exit Song: "It's time to let you go and bow out of the game, maybe we will find the answers through the blame," Whibley sings.
But just try to get the 30-year-old singer-songwriter, recently joined by drummer Steve Jocz, 29, and bassist Jason McCaslin, 30, in a Toronto hotel for a chat, to talk about the material.
"I don't really remember writing a lot of them 'cause they came so quick and so fast just over a period of time that there was never really any thought put into them," says Whibley, who lives in L.A. while Jocz is down the road in Long Beach, Calif. McCaslin still lives in Toronto.
"It was just whatever, 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there. So it's sort of hard to explain. I don't know what (the album) is about."
So, it's not about the end of your marriage, I ask point blank.
"I never even thought about it -- it's possible," maintains Whibley, who is wearing sunglasses and is hard to read. "They're just like words in my head. There was really no thought, for me anyways, especially about lyrics. This one I just didn't think about anything. Whatever came out, came out. It just came so fast. For the first time ever in my entire life I felt songwriting became really easy, whether it was good or bad, I don't know, but it just was easy all of the sudden. It is a darker, heavier record but we never talked about that."
Moving forward then.
Screaming Bloody Murder, Sum 41's first album in four years (2007's Underclass Hero was the last), is their fifth studio album overall, and began life as a five-song EP.
"Once we did them and recorded them, we actually liked them," said Whibley, who initially wanted to record in a French chateau but it proved to be too expensive.
"So we thought, 'Let's save these and just keep going.' And there was never a deadline so we just said, 'Whenever we feel like it's ready, it'll be ready.' And it took four years."
In the end, they only spent one week in an actual studio.
Night owls Whibley, McCaslin and lead guitarist Tom Thacker, frontman of Gob, holed up in a rented Hollywood Hills house while early bird Jocz went over to Capitol studios to record his drum parts in the morning.
"It's better to do it in the morning and then you sort of burn out after awhile," said Jocz. "These guys are all on different schedules than me anyway. I like to get up at the crack of dawn. I don't have curtains in my house. This happened when I moved to California. The days are nice. I like a nice day."
There were attempts to work with noted British producer Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighters), and others, but in the end Whibley produced SBM as he had done with Underclass Hero.
"We don't play nice with others," said Whibley. "And we really liked Gil. At this point, after this long of playing together, we just kind of know what to do without having to say it."
Added McCaslin: "We tried hard. Like we really wanted a producer on this album but we just have our way of recording."