‘THIS BAND IS OUR LIFE... WE GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE’VE GOT’ Chuck Comeau, drummer of Canadian rock outfit Simple Plan talks tunes...

‘THIS BAND IS OUR LIFE... WE GIVE IT EVERYTHING WE’VE GOT’

Chuck Comeau, drummer of Canadian rock outfit Simple Plan talks tunes...

India is traditionally very different from Canada. Do you think your music will catch on over here, given that music is a universal language? Judging from the interactions we had with some Indian fans on social networking websites, it seems like we have a lot of people that hear us. Additionally, we know our songs have been played on TV and on the radio.
What’s your style of playing live? Do you’ll jam out and improvise or stick to the album format? We’re not really a ‘jam’ band. When we play live, one can expect a great mix of new songs from our most recent album Get Your Heart On! and all our “classics” from our three previous records. Our shows feel like a huge party, fun and energetic — like a greatest hits of Simple Plan mixed in with some fan-favourites and some surprises.
What kind of focus and direction do you give your music? This band is our life...we give it everything we've got. It's our passion and the most precious thing we have. We play high-energy, catchy and melodic music. The lyrics are honest and real, words people can relate to. We grew up on Californian punk rock so you can hear some of that influence in our music but with the years, the band evolved and tried all kinds of different sounds. I think we aim to sound like Simple Plan and create our own little style.
What inspires the band? Inspiration comes from our lives, what we go through or what our friends and even our fans go through. It can also come from reading a book, the paper, watching a movie, listening to other bands.... anywhere really!
What’s the creative process like? It's very disciplined. We sit down everyday in the morning and try to write a song until late in the evening. We force ourselves to finish our ideas and we end up with a ton of songs for the album and then we choose 11 or 12 that go on the record. It's not always an easy process to get inspired but we enjoy the results. There's no better feeling that we you hear a final mix of a song and it's living up to its early promises.
When did you first have your breakthrough? I think our first headlining tour in Japan was an eyeopening moment. It was the first time we were selling out shows, had fans waiting at the airport for us and received a gold record. That's when we truly realized we could make it anywhere in the world.
How has it been playing the live circuit across the world? It's been the most amazing experience of our lives. Seeing the world, visiting beautiful places and opening our minds and learning about other cultures…. We always made it a point of honour to go play everywhere where we have fans, even if it wasn't a "traditional" rock tour destinations. We love playing exotic places.
What bands and songs are you’ll currently listening to? David and Sebastien are always playing tons of new bands that are really inspiring. Lana Del Rey gets played a lot these days. It can go from Jay-Z and Kanye West to Jimmy Eat World and Blink to the new Taylor Swift! It's all over the place!
Where do you’ll see yourselves ten years from now? We've been playing for more than 12 years now and we hope to keep going for as long as possible. In 10 years, we hope to still be on stage playing music that we love for our fans.

Simple Plan