Post by Heather on Apr 28, 2011 19:00:53 GMT -5
Sum 41: An Interview with Deryck Whibley
The frontman discusses the band’s new album, Screaming Bloody Murder.
April 28, 2011 — For Sum 41 fans, waiting four years for the follow-up album to 2007’s Underclass Hero was torture. But now that Screaming Bloody Murder is out, the Canadian rockers’ fifth album to date, they couldn’t be happier. Below, myMag speaks with frontman Deryck Whibley about the unique making of the album, his friendship with Tommy Lee and why The Doors changed his life forever…
You just wrapped some touring in Europe, and later this year you’re headed to Australia and Japan. How have your shows been going so far?
Everything has been really good actually. The cool thing about touring, and we haven’t been on the road for a long time, is that when we started back up we were really excited that our tours were selling out so fast. It was quicker than ever before. We weren’t really expecting it because we don’t really ever expect anything. You never know what to expect. We were just really happy and lucky that everything has been going so much better than it’s ever gone.
Do you have any qualms about returning to Japan after your attack last year?
No, I’ve been back to Japan since then. I even went to the same bar that I got attacked at. You can’t really expect anything. You never know what’s going to happen. You just have to hope for the best.
While on tour abroad, are there food dishes you absolutely have to have when you visit a certain country?
No, I’m vegan, so it’s really hard for me to eat actually around the world. The whole vegan thing hasn’t really hit the rest of the world yet. People don’t even understand it.
So do you bring your own food then?
No, not really. The only thing I do is… Well, see I eat fish. It’s the only thing I eat outside of being vegan. So I carry cans of tuna with me. [Editor’s note: A pescatarian is someone who abstains from all meat products but fish, often including dairy and eggs. Vegans do not eat any animal products, and generally do not use or wear items with animal byproducts.
Your new album, Screaming Bloody Murder, came out on March 29th. What was the most exciting thing for you about its release?
That it was finally out; I just wanted people to hear it. It’s weird because the best part of having an album that’s finished is right before it comes out because you still own it. Once it comes out it’s not yours anymore. It turns into whatever it’s going to turn into and you have no control over it. Whether it’s valid or not, people will say it’s something – it’s this or it’s that: ‘It sounds like this,’ ‘I hate it’ or ‘I love it.’ You have no control over it. So the best part is before it comes out when you and your friends have it, and you and your friends have your own opinion. It’s a weird thing. I hate when it comes out. I want everyone to hear it, but you lose all control over what it is.
After the success of your last album, 2007’s Underclass Hero, were you intimidated at all about writing an album that would top it?
No, not at all. It was actually the complete opposite. This is the first record where I’ve never felt any pressure. I think I just didn’t care. I liked the songs that I was writing and I felt like they were good. It gave me a freedom to just write. I knew that I was going to like it. I didn’t know if it was going to be good or if other people were going to like it, but I knew that I was going to be happy with it.
Since Underclass Hero, a lot has happened. You’ve been through a divorce, had two herniated disks, and there was the attack in Japan. Can you name some of the specific events that had a great influence on particular songs on the album?
I always think that anything that goes on in your life, whether it’s big or small, will have some impact on who you are and what you do, especially creatively. Everything you go through in your life makes you who you are. It changes you and you evolve. If you’re a creative person, it will come out in your creativity. I’m not the kind of person to analyze it and say, ‘Oh, this is why I’m writing this song’ or ‘This moment means this…’ I don’t care about that. I don’t think about that. I just let whatever comes out come out. It has some effect, but not in specifics. I’m sure if I sat down with a therapist and went over my lyrics they could say, ‘Oh, this is because of this.’ But that’s not my job.
So when people ask you what inspired a particular song, is it hard to answer that question?
Now that we’re doing interviews because the record is out, I get asked so many questions that I don’t have answers for. I feel like an idiot. I just don’t know and I don’t think about those things.
Do you have an answer to why you thought Screaming Bloody Murder was an appropriate title for the album?
Everything is done very randomly on this record. No thought was put into anything. All the songs were written within 10 minutes, so I never really put a lot of effort into anything. The same with the album title; it just popped into my head. I remember when I came up with that album title. I wasn’t thinking of an album title. I wasn’t even working. I was just in my bedroom, and then Screaming Bloody Murder just popped into my head. I don’t know why, I don’t know where it came from. I just thought, oh that’s a cool song title. I’ll save that. Three years later I thought, maybe this is an album title.
Was your writing process, or lack of one, unique for this album or have you worked that way in the past?
It’s been like that in the past, but mostly this album. Every album has an element of that where I’ll have a couple of songs like that but never a full album. Every album we’ve done before we’ve always said, ‘Okay, we’re making an album from this date to the next date, so we need 12 songs and it has to be done by this date.’ So I sit there and I write every day. I try to write songs. Sometimes nothing comes and sometimes there’s progress.
With this record, none of us ever said when we were going to make a record. We fired our manager, so there’s nobody to tell us that we need to get on the road by this point or that we needed to do this. So I only wrote when it would hit me, and it hit me in weird places. Sometimes I’d be in a restaurant and I’d be like, ‘Oh, fuck! I’ve got to go home! I’ve got an idea!’ I would just split and write a song. It was just whenever it would hit I would write.
Do you think your new writing process is something you’ll stick with on future albums?
Every album changes because there are always different situations that you’re in. The other thing about me is that I don’t think about the future. I don’t even think about what I’m going to do tonight. I like this way of writing, but if it doesn’t work next time then I’ll have to figure something new out.
Is there one song on the album that stands out to you?
I like them all equally. It took three and a half years, but I wasn’t working every day. Like I said, I was waiting for it to come. The reason why it took that long was because it never felt complete. I like it as a whole. It’s hard to explain. I knew it was never ready and I wanted it to be one complete thing. When I listen to this album, I like to hear it from beginning to end. I don’t like to play songs in the middle first. I don’t have favorites.
Have you been performing the album in whole on tour?
No, we haven’t really performed any new songs yet except for “Screaming Bloody Murder.”
You’ve worked with Tommy Lee many times over the years.What have you learned while working with him as an artist?
How to drink.
What do you guys drink?
Jagermeister. He really likes Jagermeister for some reason. Well, I don’t know if he does anymore because he’s sober.
I’ve been friends with Tommy for a really long time, probably for about 11 or 12 years now. We’ve worked together a bunch of times on different things. Surprisingly, we have really similar personalities. We get along really well. I feel like he’s my big brother.
Anton asks: The music industry is in a period of flux where bands are starting to realize that they do not need record labels to sustain themselves as a band. Do you have any plans to break free from the traditional label mold at any point?
We have no plans, but you never know. It’s possible. We have no plan to. Things are going that way in the music business. The only thing you need a record company for is money. They’re just a bank, basically.
You were just 15 when you formed Sum 41. What advice would you offer to young aspiring musicians out there who dream of having the same long and rewarding career you’ve had to date?
Always wear a condom. The only thing I can say is that I have no advice for making it. There are so many different factors, and luck is usually the biggest one. Only ever do what you love because if you don’t do what you love it won’t be great.
If you could recommend one album, one film and one book that have had a major influence on your life to your fans, what would they be?
I can think of three that had the biggest impact on my life, but they’re all about the same thing. There’s a book, movie and an album about it. It’s The Doors. It’s the first Doors’ record, it’s The Doors movie and then there’s a book called No One Here Gets Out Alive. When I was 13 I really got into The Doors. Those three things made me want to get into music. Those three things changed the entire course of my life at that moment.
The frontman discusses the band’s new album, Screaming Bloody Murder.
April 28, 2011 — For Sum 41 fans, waiting four years for the follow-up album to 2007’s Underclass Hero was torture. But now that Screaming Bloody Murder is out, the Canadian rockers’ fifth album to date, they couldn’t be happier. Below, myMag speaks with frontman Deryck Whibley about the unique making of the album, his friendship with Tommy Lee and why The Doors changed his life forever…
You just wrapped some touring in Europe, and later this year you’re headed to Australia and Japan. How have your shows been going so far?
Everything has been really good actually. The cool thing about touring, and we haven’t been on the road for a long time, is that when we started back up we were really excited that our tours were selling out so fast. It was quicker than ever before. We weren’t really expecting it because we don’t really ever expect anything. You never know what to expect. We were just really happy and lucky that everything has been going so much better than it’s ever gone.
Do you have any qualms about returning to Japan after your attack last year?
No, I’ve been back to Japan since then. I even went to the same bar that I got attacked at. You can’t really expect anything. You never know what’s going to happen. You just have to hope for the best.
While on tour abroad, are there food dishes you absolutely have to have when you visit a certain country?
No, I’m vegan, so it’s really hard for me to eat actually around the world. The whole vegan thing hasn’t really hit the rest of the world yet. People don’t even understand it.
So do you bring your own food then?
No, not really. The only thing I do is… Well, see I eat fish. It’s the only thing I eat outside of being vegan. So I carry cans of tuna with me. [Editor’s note: A pescatarian is someone who abstains from all meat products but fish, often including dairy and eggs. Vegans do not eat any animal products, and generally do not use or wear items with animal byproducts.
Your new album, Screaming Bloody Murder, came out on March 29th. What was the most exciting thing for you about its release?
That it was finally out; I just wanted people to hear it. It’s weird because the best part of having an album that’s finished is right before it comes out because you still own it. Once it comes out it’s not yours anymore. It turns into whatever it’s going to turn into and you have no control over it. Whether it’s valid or not, people will say it’s something – it’s this or it’s that: ‘It sounds like this,’ ‘I hate it’ or ‘I love it.’ You have no control over it. So the best part is before it comes out when you and your friends have it, and you and your friends have your own opinion. It’s a weird thing. I hate when it comes out. I want everyone to hear it, but you lose all control over what it is.
After the success of your last album, 2007’s Underclass Hero, were you intimidated at all about writing an album that would top it?
No, not at all. It was actually the complete opposite. This is the first record where I’ve never felt any pressure. I think I just didn’t care. I liked the songs that I was writing and I felt like they were good. It gave me a freedom to just write. I knew that I was going to like it. I didn’t know if it was going to be good or if other people were going to like it, but I knew that I was going to be happy with it.
Since Underclass Hero, a lot has happened. You’ve been through a divorce, had two herniated disks, and there was the attack in Japan. Can you name some of the specific events that had a great influence on particular songs on the album?
I always think that anything that goes on in your life, whether it’s big or small, will have some impact on who you are and what you do, especially creatively. Everything you go through in your life makes you who you are. It changes you and you evolve. If you’re a creative person, it will come out in your creativity. I’m not the kind of person to analyze it and say, ‘Oh, this is why I’m writing this song’ or ‘This moment means this…’ I don’t care about that. I don’t think about that. I just let whatever comes out come out. It has some effect, but not in specifics. I’m sure if I sat down with a therapist and went over my lyrics they could say, ‘Oh, this is because of this.’ But that’s not my job.
So when people ask you what inspired a particular song, is it hard to answer that question?
Now that we’re doing interviews because the record is out, I get asked so many questions that I don’t have answers for. I feel like an idiot. I just don’t know and I don’t think about those things.
Do you have an answer to why you thought Screaming Bloody Murder was an appropriate title for the album?
Everything is done very randomly on this record. No thought was put into anything. All the songs were written within 10 minutes, so I never really put a lot of effort into anything. The same with the album title; it just popped into my head. I remember when I came up with that album title. I wasn’t thinking of an album title. I wasn’t even working. I was just in my bedroom, and then Screaming Bloody Murder just popped into my head. I don’t know why, I don’t know where it came from. I just thought, oh that’s a cool song title. I’ll save that. Three years later I thought, maybe this is an album title.
Was your writing process, or lack of one, unique for this album or have you worked that way in the past?
It’s been like that in the past, but mostly this album. Every album has an element of that where I’ll have a couple of songs like that but never a full album. Every album we’ve done before we’ve always said, ‘Okay, we’re making an album from this date to the next date, so we need 12 songs and it has to be done by this date.’ So I sit there and I write every day. I try to write songs. Sometimes nothing comes and sometimes there’s progress.
With this record, none of us ever said when we were going to make a record. We fired our manager, so there’s nobody to tell us that we need to get on the road by this point or that we needed to do this. So I only wrote when it would hit me, and it hit me in weird places. Sometimes I’d be in a restaurant and I’d be like, ‘Oh, fuck! I’ve got to go home! I’ve got an idea!’ I would just split and write a song. It was just whenever it would hit I would write.
Do you think your new writing process is something you’ll stick with on future albums?
Every album changes because there are always different situations that you’re in. The other thing about me is that I don’t think about the future. I don’t even think about what I’m going to do tonight. I like this way of writing, but if it doesn’t work next time then I’ll have to figure something new out.
Is there one song on the album that stands out to you?
I like them all equally. It took three and a half years, but I wasn’t working every day. Like I said, I was waiting for it to come. The reason why it took that long was because it never felt complete. I like it as a whole. It’s hard to explain. I knew it was never ready and I wanted it to be one complete thing. When I listen to this album, I like to hear it from beginning to end. I don’t like to play songs in the middle first. I don’t have favorites.
Have you been performing the album in whole on tour?
No, we haven’t really performed any new songs yet except for “Screaming Bloody Murder.”
You’ve worked with Tommy Lee many times over the years.What have you learned while working with him as an artist?
How to drink.
What do you guys drink?
Jagermeister. He really likes Jagermeister for some reason. Well, I don’t know if he does anymore because he’s sober.
I’ve been friends with Tommy for a really long time, probably for about 11 or 12 years now. We’ve worked together a bunch of times on different things. Surprisingly, we have really similar personalities. We get along really well. I feel like he’s my big brother.
Anton asks: The music industry is in a period of flux where bands are starting to realize that they do not need record labels to sustain themselves as a band. Do you have any plans to break free from the traditional label mold at any point?
We have no plans, but you never know. It’s possible. We have no plan to. Things are going that way in the music business. The only thing you need a record company for is money. They’re just a bank, basically.
You were just 15 when you formed Sum 41. What advice would you offer to young aspiring musicians out there who dream of having the same long and rewarding career you’ve had to date?
Always wear a condom. The only thing I can say is that I have no advice for making it. There are so many different factors, and luck is usually the biggest one. Only ever do what you love because if you don’t do what you love it won’t be great.
If you could recommend one album, one film and one book that have had a major influence on your life to your fans, what would they be?
I can think of three that had the biggest impact on my life, but they’re all about the same thing. There’s a book, movie and an album about it. It’s The Doors. It’s the first Doors’ record, it’s The Doors movie and then there’s a book called No One Here Gets Out Alive. When I was 13 I really got into The Doors. Those three things made me want to get into music. Those three things changed the entire course of my life at that moment.