Feb2015 by Jen Rees

in this issue...

OUR TEAM Editor in Chief

Jen

General Editor

Maddie

Copy Editor

Leeann

Assistant Copy Editor

Renee

Managing Editor

Sonia

Design Editor

Freda

Writers: Jen, Maddie Jane, Lenore, Luke, Marly, Leeann, Kailia, Sinja, Rossi, Sian, Sonia, Kelly, Maria, Eleanor, Rose, Nathaniel, Damla, Sophie, Jelena, Brett, Vitoria, Emelie, Josselyn, Gemma, Freda, Bree

killer be killed

zebrahead

Photographers: Belinda Glass Reedy, e, Got Image LLC, Ashley Osbourne Photography. Natalie Bisignano Photography, Inside Edge Photography, Daniel Noble Photography Think a photo is yours? Let us know and we will credit you

MUSIC INJECTION Simple Plan Space is in no way affiliated with Simple Plan, Warner Music, Atlantic Records or Coalition Entertainment. This is a magazine made entirely by fans for fans. Simple Plan Space is only available online and always for free. All contents belong to their respective writers.

the dickies

the skatalites

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK... Hi All! Well this month has flown by for me as it was our summer break from school. Lots of beach days lying in the sun and swimming, while you guys on the other side of the world are freezing and making snow angels and playing ice hockey. I interview some pretty rad bands this edition. All my interviews and reviews go straight on to Music Injection so check that out and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more up to date news and interviews. We are going to keep this magazine going but on a much smaller scale. The Music Injection website has been keeping me busy with loads of interviews that are not really pop punk related, so not suitable for this magazine. We are very light on staff, including writers and proof readers. We will do our best to continue bringing you all the Simple Plan news that we can. Hope your New Year was a happy one and I wish you all well for the rest of the year. Thanks to Greg of Killer Be Killed, Stan from The Dickies and Ken from The Skatalites for taking the time to be interviewed. Thanks to John Howath for the bombardment of news and interview opportunities. Till next time, Stay safe, Jen @justjenrees

CONTENTS 4 song of the month 5 sp news: album 5 6 sp news: new beer cans and a new bar 8 more about jeff’s activites 10 simple plan receives a medal 11 chuck and pierre 12 snap shot 14 killer be killed fact file 16 killer be killed interview 20 zebrahead interview 24 the dickies fact file 26 the dickies interview 30 fresh fruit: housebroken + turn south 34 the skatalites fact file 36 the skatalites interview 40 some news from all time low 42 aussie band news 44 international band news 46 sp news: december 2014 calendar 48 sp news: january 2015 calendar 50 sp news: twitter talk 54 january + february birthdays 56 fan of the month 59 some news from fall out boy 60 a writer’s best friend 3

g song of n o month sthe ofth n o he m Written by Sophie Carlbrant @sophiecarlbrant

“try”

Simple Plan wanted to give something for their fans between the forth and upcoming fifth album. They released an EP with seven songs as a total of 24:25 minutes. It was given as a Christmas gift to the fans and includes songs written for the fourth studio album as well as new ones written especially for this EP. The EP includes all kinds of songs, up-tempo as well as slower songs in which the seventh, and last song, “Try” is one of them. Title: Try Album: Get Your Heart On – The Second Coming! Length: 3:25 Genre: Pop punk, power pop Label: Atlantic Records The EP release Full EP

It’s a beautiful song and one of my personal favorites. The first time I heard it I even fell a tear or two, maybe even three. It’s powerful and has such an honest vibe to it. The song is, in my interpretation, about Pierre and him becoming a father. He sings about how he has made mistakes but how everything is gonna change. Of course everyone interpret this in their own way and it can fit into my life as well, and I’m a single 20-something girl living in Sweden, which is completely different from the band in so many ways. But beside all of that I can still connect and take this song to my heart, and so can you, which I think is just amazing!

I’ve never been the best at honesty, I’ve made more mistakes than I can even count, But things are gonna be so different now, You make me wanna turn it all around.

I’ve been the best at letting people down, I’ve never been the kind of person you could trust, But if you can give me half a chance I’ll show, How much I can fix myself for you.

I think of all the games that I have played, The unsuspecting people that I’ve hurt, Deep inside I know I don’t deserve, Another chance to finally make it work.

[Chorus]

lyrics

But I’ll try, to never disappoint you, I’ll try, until I get it right, I’ve always been so reckless, all of my life, But I’ll try, for you.

This time I won’t make up excuses (Cause I don’t wanna lose you), Don’t give up on me and I’ll prove that, I can do this! [Chorus]

 Simple Plan NEWS 

album 5 It’s known th at Simple Pl an are workin g on a fifth studio album . In a Twitter Q&A drumm er Chuck gave u s an up d ate.

On January 11th Chuck had a Q&A on Twitter where he revealed news about the upcoming album. As we all know they are currently working on their fifth studio album and have now written over 65 songs. They aim to write the best album they’ve ever done and want to make the fans new favorite record – which we all know takes time! Chuck and Pierre are spending a lot of time together writing music as well as playing ping pong. If you’re active on Twitter and Instagram you probably haven’t missed what’s going on. They haven’t come up with an album title yet and we are not surprised since it’s usually the last thing they come up with. According to Chuck the whole band is eager to start recording and they hope to hit the studio as soon as late this month. Chuck also mentioned they aim to release the band this summer as well as return to Europe to play some shows!

 Simple Plan NEWS 

New beer cans and a new bar In the previou s e dition s of Simple Pl an Sp ace, we’ve alre ady written ab out Jeff’s bu siness pl an s : to l aunch new b e er can s of West Shefford brewery and to op en a new b ar – Mimi La Nuit . Both of these h app ene d at the end of Novemb er/b eginnin g of De cemb er 2014. Let’s take a closer lo ok :) Written by Mária @MariamAstronaut

We already know about West Shefford – a micro-brewery of Simple Plan’s guitarist Jeff Stinco and his partners: Martin Proulx and Éric Lefrancois. Their beers were available in some of their own bars and restaurants. In November, they launched their product in form of beer cans (designed by SP’s graphic designer, Fred Jerome) that you can buy in more than 2500 stores across the Quebec province. They held a special launch event in Jeff’s bar, Lorbeer, where you could meet the owners of West Shefford, but also David Desrosiers, who came to support his bandmate. On the photos you can see the design of beer cans, Jeff with Proulx and Lefrancois, and then also David.

Some days later, Jeff opened his bar Mimi La Nuit, and by that he added yet another project to very long list of his restaurants/bars in Canada (you can check the whole thing on simpleplan.cz). He co-owns it with Edward Zaki, Eric Francis and Pierre Martin Tremblay. Mimi La Nuit is located in Old Montreal. It offers 120 seats and an additional private area for 40 more people. Opening hours are every day from 4pm to 3am. Here you can check out how it looks in the interior.

 Simple Plan NEWS 

more about Jeff’s activities We all know th at when Jeff Stinco i sn’t on a tour or re cordin g son gs for an album , he’s got hi s own proje cts – b ars and restaurants around Montre al (a li st of which you can re ad here). Written by Mária @MariamAstronaut Besides all the work that goes into this, it includes also having fun and being recognised for the great job. At the time when 2014 ended and a new year started, some of the restaurants that Jeff owns or coowns (for example Shinji or Laurea) appeared on various lists, between best restaurants in Montreal or best dishes served. A week after the launch event of West Shefford, Jeff tweeted this photo with a caption: “My beers are finally in stores, a week late! @WSbrew“ We’ve also got two new photoshoots – first one from the end of November by Marco Campanozzi, the second one from January, both for server La Presse.

 Simple Plan NEWS 

Simple Plan receives a medal The work with the Simple Pl an Found ation wa s rewarde d with a Pe ace Me d al . The b and re ceive d it at an even hoste d by YMCA Queb e c.

Simple Plan founded the SP Foundation ten years ago. They announced it back then in December 2005 on their first attendance of the Bell Center show and it’s been going strong since then. The foundation aim to help young people in need and the band has always wanted to be able to make a difference. Their hard work has now been rewarded with a Peace Medal by YMCA Quebec.

chuck and pierre As we all can se e in the so ci al network s, Pierre and Chuck are sp endin g a lot of tim e together, but it’s for a go o d cau se : they’re workin g on the new album ! Ye s, it’s so close to b ein g re ady we can alm ost ta ste it ! Written by Vitória @dearvitt

The album will probably be released by the end of spring, so it explains why they’re working so hard. During this “vacation” time, they were at Pierre’s home/studio in California to write more songs. Pierre posted a video in his Instagram account where he says they had stayed twelve hours that day writing songs. Yes, twelve! Check it out here. Later on, Chuck made a fast Q&A on his Twitter and there were some questions about the new record and also he said a bit about a tour! Check them all at his Twitter page and check these:

 Simple Plan NEWS 

snap shot

killer be killed KILLER BE KILLED, the genuine SUPERGROUP comprised of Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, ex-SEPULTURA), Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN), Troy Sanders (MASTODON) and Dave Elitch (ex-THE MARS VOLTA, ANTEMASQUE), will make its live debut as part of next year’s edition of Soundwave 2015 festival, set to take place February 21-22 at Bonython Park in Adelaide and Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne and February 28- and March 1 at Olympic Park in Sydney and Brisbane Showgrounds in Brisbane.

Watch Official Videos for: ‘’WINGS OF FEATHER AND WAX’’ & ‘’SNAKES OF JEHOVAH’’

More on KILLER BE KILLED MetalSucks placed Puciato at #1 on their list of the Top 25 Modern Metal Frontmen, but he also expresses himself through the dark electro-pop of THE BLACK QUEEN, together with NINE INCH NAILS touring guitarist Josh Eustis of TELEFON TEL AVIV and Maynard James Keenan’s PUSCIFER. Puciato made a guest appearance in 2012 with MIXHELL, the DJ project of Max’s brother, SEPULTURA co-founder Igor Their recently released critically acclaimed self-titled debut album (which Cavalera.  Cavalera is no stranger to collaborations, of course, having invited will be at the top of most critics Top multiple guests onto SEPULTURA’s 10’s for 2014), came in at #47 on the genre-defining ‘Roots’ and SOULFLY’s Australian charts, marking the highest entry for the album. Other chart positions gold-selling debut album in 1998. One such SOULFLY guest, Chino Moreno, has around the globe include: USA: 58 UK: 71 Canada: 71 Germany: 90 Switzerland: 91 often joined Puciato onstage with both

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and DEFTONES. Max was one-half of the incendiary NAILBOMB, together with English record producer and FUDGE TUNNEL mastermind Alex Newport. The pair released one studio album in 1993 and performed a blistering set at the Dynamo Festival in 1995.  “We did the song on SOULFLY’s ‘Omen’ and then we started talking about doing an entire album together, the way he had with Alex Newport,” Puciato explains. “We eventually got together with some riffs we both had and wrote a bunch more material in a 72-hour blast out in the desert. We left with about 15 demos we made using the same drum machine and four track Max used working on ‘Chaos A.D.’”   Cognizant of the reputation both of them have cultivated after working with some of the world’s best drummers, Puciato called upon David Elitch, who had toured internationally with the mind-bendingly psychedelic group THE MARS VOLTA. His expertise in everything from jazz to metal has led to live and studio collaborations with a diverse range of major artists including Justin Timberlake, French electronic wizards M83 and Norwegian singer-songwriter Susanne Sundfør.

album, ‘The Hunter’, was Album Of The Year in Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Rock Sound, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Total Guitar in 2011.  MASTODON and THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN have toured together many times. During one such tour in the U.S., in late 2011, Puciato was telling Sanders about the new project. Before too long, Sanders and Cavalera were meeting at a festival in South America for the first time: “Hey, I’m Troy. And I think we’re in a band together.”  The electric chemistry was apparent the first time they all assembled. “Having met, created and recorded an album together, this experience has easily exceeded my initial expectations,” says Sanders. “The KILLER BE KILLED has come together collective energy and mutual respect for even as their main projects hit a collective one another eased the entire process and stride: Max just released his ninth studio has been very therapeutic for me.”   album with SOULFLY, ‘Savages’, to many of the strongest reviews of his legendary KILLER BE KILLED is:    career. THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN’s Greg Puciato – vocals, guitar    ‘One Of Us Is The Killer’ debuted at #1 on Max Cavalera – vocals, guitar    Billboard’s Hard Rock Album chart earlier Troy Sanders – vocals, bass    this year. MASTODON’s most recent Dave Elitch – drums

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killer be killed By Jen @justjenrees

I had the pleasure of interviewing Greg Puciato from Killer be Killed (Also The Dillinger Plan) about their trip to Australia next month.

was on tour. Then when Troy was not on tour we were. It just became impossible, so we started looking into 2015. We were pretty sure that we all had the end of February and early March off so started looking at dates then. As soon as Hi Greg, it is Jen from Music Injection, we saw that window we thought what how are you? could we do with that time! Soundwave! GREG: Great, how are you? And so we had figured it out. And what Fine thanks. You are my second of nine interviews today so I am still fresh for this was crazy about that was Troy from Mastodon and myself from Dillinger both interview. played Soundwave last year. On the last Great! day in Perth last year Troy and I were First congrats on the SW announcement, at the beach and when we were saying goodbye, Troy said maybe next year we your first ever live show. Was it just the will both be at Soundwave playing in the right timing for your all to get together same band as a joke. We knew that there to play? I can imagine that it would be was no way in hell that will ever going to difficult to get you all in one place with all of your hectic touring and recording. find the time to play. We had started to accept that we will never have any time Thanks. No it was not, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think that to play, but now that we have got time we are coming, I think we are cancelling. to play, it is exciting. What is even more Horrible timing. exciting is that were found other windows No way. to play together. Yeah I am kidding. You are mean! (Both laughing) So collaborating with songwriters of We looked forever, trying to find even different genres is a great concept, do a few weeks of time that we would all you think it will inspire other songwriters have off, pretty much from the time to mix and match band members? I the album came out we were looking, 2 months ahead 3 months a head, then we would like to hear some of that! I hope so, I mean I think that people realized oh shit it is kinda hard figuring should look and do things that are out a couple of weeks, it was like one of exciting and new, you should do things us was always on tour. We would find a that make you uncomfortable rather than time when 3 of us were free then Troy

staying the same career. Music is such a hard career to make a living out of it and when people start to make a living they become very defensive and they start to not want to go out of what they are known for. They are afraid that if it fucks up it stuffs up that thing that makes them money. They have this career mindset that makes me want to walk into the Fucking Ocean. Well I hope so, the scene in general would benefit and the musicians would benefit from putting themselves outside their comfort zone. It is exciting for fans, it is exciting for you as an artist you learn things about yourself and you grow. Even if the album turns out to suck, who cares, you still learnt something from the process and as an artist. How do you describe your album, can you put into words the genre or are all

â&#x20AC;&#x153;the scene and musicians in general would benefit from putting themselves outside their comfort zone.â&#x20AC;? songs different? I think we touched on a lot of different things, I mean it is definitely a metal album. Killer Be Killed is more of a metal band than like Dillinger is which is more hard-core. Killer Be Killed for me personally to get more of my metal upbringing out, more than punk hard-core. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really think about it I just know when I write something I know where it

killer be killed Interview and our album is 43 minutes, so it doesn’t is going to go so I know now that this part is more like this band and trying to fit really give us enough time to play the things into Dillinger does not really work. whole album and everything we have. To me the thing that I’m really thinking about Is there one song on the album that you is to write some new stuff that is not on the record, we take part of a song and connect to the most? make the intro longer. That is the kind Let may see. Face Down is cool just of stuff that is exciting for me because I because that was the first one that we get bored really easily. If I was listening wrote. That was a song that Max and I wrote before we were even really involved, I would not want a band just to show that is a cool song for that reason. Wings up and play their record front-to-back. I of Feather and Wax means a lot because that was the song when we all came together as a band and when we realised that we had something worthwhile pursuing, when that song came together we were Iike “that was cool we need to do more of this” that song is when things started to work as a group. You don’t usually play the guitar for the whole set, will you have some time when you can go mad jumping around or will you play guitar the whole time? Well, there is no fucking way I’m going to play the guitar the whole time, I won’t be able to do it, I will take it off and throw it I just won’t be able to help myself. I think four or five songs I will play the guitar, is going to be really hard for me because I played for 14 years not having a leash and you can’t just take a dog without a leash a 14 years and then suddenly give it one. (Both Laughing) I think the guys will get about four or five songs out of me on a guitar. How is your set list choosing going? I can imagine that would be very difficult to choose to try and keep fans happy. Well right now are playing for 40 minutes

“If I was listening would not want a ban play their record I mean there is somet but also there is so about that, like not p

mean there is something cool about that but also there is something effortless about that, like not putting in any work. We might do a cover right in the middle of the set. Just something so it’s not here is the band and here is our record. I don’t want to be bored, if I’m bored that means the audience is bored. Yeah I’ve seen bands play their album from front to back and it is boring and predictable.

Because you know what’s coming next, and that’s what we were talking about earlier, collaborating with people and staying safe, to me a gig should be exciting. I don’t what to know what happens next. That was part of the appeal for this record label, we went into it for us and for listeners and not knowing how it was going to turn out, I don’t want that to be any different when we play. Will you have time between gigs to

[and

not playing] I nd just to show up and d front-to-back. thing cool about that omething effortless putting in any work.”

playing. I would love to have some more time, just because the way it is structured and it’s two weekends in a row, maybe even if only doing one Sidewave it leaves us four days to do stuff which is exciting. Will you have a signing for your fans? If it is free yeah! I don’t want to charge for it, it depends on what they do. Usually it’s two dollars and that money goes to charity. Oh well that’s fine, I just don’t want to make a profit. You know how some bands charge like 100 bucks and have you can have your picture taken with me…… that sucks I can’t stand it (laughing) I agree! So yeah I would do a signing and definitely for charity!

Any thing that you would like to say to our readers to encourage them to support you? We have always had an affinity for Australia and being down there with the passion you guys seem to have for music and by far it exceeds anywhere else in the world. We are really excited to have our first shows down there and we can’t wait! spend some time sightseeing? Yeah we don’t know about Sidewaves yet, Well we are pretty excited about it too. I look forward to see you at Soundwave! so we’re not really sure how much time Awesome! You too have a good month we have, we have not been told we’re and see you there. actually doing a Sidewave, so I guess that’s got a lot to do with how much time Yep thanks for your time Greg. No problem Jen seeya. we have for sight seeing. I would love to though, we have been to Australia so many times but other than Melbourne I have not got to spend much time elsewhere doing anything else outside of

Written by Jen @justjenrees

interview with ben from zebrahead Your Pledge Music campaign was extremely successful, how stoked where you with the response from your fans? BEN: Well…to be honest it has been way cooler of an experience than we ever expected. When you do something like this you just don’t really know if anyone will even want to become involved or not? So it is a strange feeling. That being said ….it went way above and beyond what we thought. So THANK YOU to everyone. What made you decide to use Pledge Music and get your fans to support you prior to them seeing the DVD? We kinda avoided the whole crowd funding thing for a long time, because we just weren’t sure of it…or too into it. But then as time went on we saw people were making it better…by actually involving the people who cared the most in the project. So when it came time for the Live CD/DVD it seemed to be a good way to test it. We haven’t really ever had a proper live album? You tied your pledge items in well with your songs, who came up with that concept? Was it a band idea? Everyone in the band kinda pitched in here. We did some research on what other bands had done in the past and tried to throw our

own spin on things and come up with some of our own takes….We all kinda just sat around making fun of each others ideas until a few good ones came out…..kinda how we write songs..We just make fun of each other until something sticks. You offered signed items such as set lists, drum heads, guitar pics and drumsticks plus heaps more, are you totally sick of signing things? I got (including the Christmas cards) at least 7 items signed! Nah. Signing stuff is the easiest part of our day or life. When people stop wanting something signed you’re no longer a band. Shows people care….and if people care I should be willing to scribble my name on a piece of paper. I am lucky anyone gives a crap! I was the Class Clown in the MZHB Crew, who came up with the funny names? The names thing was mostly Dan and I….with an emphasis on Dan. He has a pretty rowdy and messed up sense of humour. If you hang out with him a few days, you end up witnessing some of the most amazing and messed up situations ever…so life experience and experiencing life….hang out with him a bit and you will truly live…A bit off the point here, but we just thought it would

Mixing the DVD with Cameron Webb be fun and funny to include some titles that were realistic and unrealistic. Let people have some fun…I sure as hell would have wanted a few of those titles myself. You had a huge support from Australia, what percentage was that? (As I knew most of the names on the list!) Oh man. I am not sure or smart enough to figure that out. I have noticed others have been able to find exact percents…but there it goes…my title should be “World’s Dumbest Person”..But I do know that when I was mailing out the lyrics and signed things I did notice a lot going to Australia. I was kinda surprised and blown away by the Australian support. Were there people that Pledged more than anyone else? Any names you can share? Three names do come in mind are from Australia….Callam, Steve and Dylan. We have become friends with all three guys

over the years and even on days off hang out with them. It is a pretty awesome thing when you make friends with people around the world and hang out instead of sitting in a hotel room and watching TV. Life is about having fun and experiencing all you can, not memorizing what the backstage room at a venue looks like or how great its wifi is. Last time when we were there for Soundwave, Dylan and his buddies took us to a footie game in Melbourne…. I have to say that was one of the cooler things we have ever done on a day off. You kept us updated all along including a funny video with many questions from fans that you answered. Was that something you enjoyed doing? I certainly enjoyed watching it. Yeah that was really fun to make that video. We actually tried for the first time ever to answer questions for real. Not just give sarcastic BS answers to everything. We

felt it was a little more important to give the answers to the people that actually really cared the most. I felt a bit out of my element actually answering questions. We would definitely do that again. Maybe soon? Would you recommend using Pledge Music to other bands? Yeah I would. They were really easy to deal with and actually helpful. They help answer questions for people and their orders especially in foreign countries where I don’t exactly speak the language. So I give them 3 thumbs up. How likely are you to do another Pledge for upcoming projects? I know Aussie fans would love that! Callam, Dylan and I are very keen! I think we are gonna do it for sure….yeah in one sentence I said “I think” and “for sure”…. can I make less sense? LOL. Also…Thanks to everyone out there who supported or has supported our little band over the years. Without people caring we wouldn’t get to travel the world. We honestly are the luckiest guys ever. THANK YOU! Thanks Ben!

the dickies The Clown Princes of Punk Rock

“The Dickies came on like an attack of rabies, playing at breakneck speed from their first song to their last. The fun parts of the Ramones sped up, amped up and applied to fun pop originals.” – dcrocklive Metropolis Touring are proud to announce LA’s legendary original bubblegum pop-punk veterans THE DICKIES, live in Australia and New Zealand for the very first time! THE DICKIES are considered one of the oldest surviving punk bands who are still enjoying a surge of popularity thanks to their huge sense of humour and wild stage antics. Their sped-up punk covers of classic songs such as

‘Paranoid’, ‘Nights in White Satin’, ‘Eve of Destruction’ and ‘She’ are still winning fans young and old. Formed in San Fernando in 1977, THE DICKIES were the first West Coast punk band to be signed to a major label. Often touted as LA’s answer to THE RAMONES, the band quickly gained their own fans and following, with their own take on trashy movies and pop culture, releasing classic albums The Incredible Shrinking

Dickies and Dawn of the Dickies (1979). But it was their punk re-interpretation on the children’s theme tune to ‘The Banana Splits Adventure Hour’ that really put THE DICKIES on the musical map. Released as ‘Banana Splits (Tra la la song)’ and given a unique pop-punk twist, the song reached #7 in the UK in 1979. This version was later used on the KICK-ASS soundtrack. A DICKIES live show can incorporate everything from zany clown costumes and puppets to midget roadies and ferocious mosh-pits. Over the years the band have toured with THE DAMNED, THE RAMONES & THE QUEERS and inspired a range of bands including NOFX & BLINK-182. THE DICKIES have survived line-up changes and untimely deaths and continue to play and record today with founding members Stan Lee and Leonard

Graves Phillips. The energy and ferocity of the band who are celebrating their 38th anniversary in 2015 still excites fans and critics alike. Live faves such as ‘Gigantor’, ‘I’m OK, You’re OK’, ‘’Paranoid’, ‘You Drive Me Ape’, ‘Killer Klowns’, ‘Doggy Do’, ‘Nights in White Satin’ and of course ‘Banana Splits’ never stray from the set list. View the Tour Trailer: ‘’HERE’’ Don’t miss THE DICKIES live in Australia & New Zealand for the very first time! “See you in the Pit!” – Stan Lee, THE DICKIES “So much fun that the entire crowd seemed to get wrapped up in the dancing and bouncing around and singing along” – Examiner

April 2015 Australia & New Zealand Tickets on sale Friday 24th October at 9:00am from: metropolistouring.com Australia Thursday 16th: Melbourne - Evelyn Hotel (with extra special guest Nursery Crimes) Friday 17th: Brisbane - Prince Of Wales Hotel Saturday 18th: Sydney - Hermanns Bar (with extra special guests Nursery Crimes) New Zealand Thursday 23rd: Dunedin - Musician’s Club Friday 24th: Christchurch - DuxLive Saturday 25th: Wellington - Bodega Sunday 26th (Long Weekend): Auckland - Kings Arms

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the dickies By Jen @justjenrees

Thanks for your time today (Stan interrupts by telling his dogs to go away) I laugh and ask if they are the dogs on his Facebook page. STAN: Yes have you seen them? Yeah I have very cute! Yeah my minikins, it is going to be hard to leave them! Yeah that is true, you have a lot of touring coming up. Yeah I sure do! I can remember as a kid the theme song for Banana Split, that was pretty cool. I also remember my brother and I singing You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla) to each other. Which is a miracle as my memory is pretty bad! I was pleased to hear that The Dickies were finally coming Down Under to do a Aussie Tour, was there a reason that you have not come down here sooner? It has been talked about, it has just never come through, it is something on our bucketlist and it looks like it’s finally going to happen. It is a pretty quick tour, are you taking time before or after to see some of the great sights we have to offer? Yeah I think it’s like 6 dates. Will people show up for this? Yeah they definitely will! I will be coming with quite a few friends to the Melbourne show. That is a really good venue to play

it will be a great show. So it is not a secret people know that we are coming? They sure do! Even more so when they read this interview. I will get the word as much as I can. Can fans here expect crazy clown costumes and puppets and insane moshpits that you are famous for in your live shows? What people are saying on Facebook is pretty positive! Yeah! As I was and they don’t get stolen between now and then! (Laughing) you will have to talk to the singer Leonard about the puppet show. I’ll give you his details and give him a call. Thanks. You guys have never really broken up like bands do these days did you? You certainly have more than your fair share of tragedy. Below we have had some hiatus’s, and yeah we have. I don’t think anyone gets through life without it a bit of that. Yeah that’s true. On a more positive note, you were the first West Coast punk pop band to be signed to a Major label as well as appearing on Network TV playing You’re so Hideous. Do you believe that you paved the way for many pop punk bands today to become successful?

Daniel Noble Photography Yeah I guess, but you would probably have to ask them. We just did what we did for kicks. We started our band after somebody. I would say probably The Ramones and The Wierdos. I love the Ramones, I interviewed CJ Ramone about a month ago, a nice guy. I remembered that you supported The Ramones along time ago, any funny stories that you can share with us? They were a real military band. They stayed at the sound check and did not leave till after the show. They ran it a lot different from us, they are pretty serious about it, they timed their sets. Johnny was like a general and he wanted to go like exactly to the minute. One night he said “We saved two minutes off our set” he timed it to the minute. That was interesting but they were really cool guy is tour with. Joey was a sweetheart.

“The current lineup is ripping. We have had some good musicians play throughout the years, this lineup is sick.” You released 1977: A Night That Will Live in Infamy/1982: Live When They Were Five (2014). Was that digitally remastered? The sound quality is great. Yeah it wasn’t rereleased by like bootlegs so we have these great pictures that my brother took from 1977, and no one’s ever seen them so it was the perfect time to put it out. It has our original demo from 1977 and that is probably the coolest thing on it.

the dickies Interview I have been looking through some of your live videos on your YouTube channel, we take for granted now the high quality videos we see, I enjoyed watching songs that I remembered when I was a kid. You play a fair few covers, do you do that because they are you love the songs? Nights in White Satin, we kind of did a rework of it. But Paranoid I just want to hear a little faster. Yeah that was a good one. I guess we just want to do some by The Monkeys, I really like The Monkeys.

lineup is ripping. We have had some good musicians play throughout the years, this lineup is sick. That sounds great, I can’t wait.

You have been doing a fair bit of touring lately could this mean that it may lead you back into the studio? I don’t know, we have a few songs on the show, maybe we can come to um, maybe we could find a way, I don’t really know. These days it’s just such a different world, it is such a do-it-yourself world now. I still have to wrap my head around ways to quote on iTunes I don’t know. Let’s just say there will be one more. There are some songs in the can right now we just need to figure out how to put them out. Have you heard of Pledge Music? No. Okay I will tell you about it later.

I would like to thank you for paving the way and being the inspiration for some of my favourite bands like Blink and The Offspring. The Offspring are friends of mine, Noodles just got a Gigantor tattoo, did you see that? Yeah I did that is so sick! Yeah that was pretty cool. When the Ramones and The Offspring took us on tour with them it was like them tipping their hat to us.

Are you going to be doing the same set list that that you are playing in America? Currently we are putting together a few set lists for the east coast of America next week. We’re going to play a few different ones. We are playing with Pennywise on Friday. For Australia we are thinking of adding Free Willy and maybe Attack of the Moment.

If you want to end the interview I guess we will just see you in the pit! Yeah! It has been an honour to interview a punk legend. Thanks Stan. Anything you would like to tell our If you did not get enough info call me readers about what they can expect from back in an hour. The Dickies Aussie Tour? (I did but he was engaged so maybe there Expect some zippy tunes sung Pitch will be a part two of this interview later) Perfect by Leonard, some smooth guitar lines from me and Dave and our new drummer Allen Gomez will be dropping some sick beats while Eddie will tighten it altogether on the bass. The current

Daniel Noble Photography

thi s m onth ’ s

Interview by Jen @justjenrees

Fresh Fruit housebroken & turn south Jye Batham’s Projects

I have had the pleasure of knowing Jye Batham for a few years now. He is super talented Musician who is always active in improving his skills. He has many projects on the go and we had a chat about two of them , Housebroken , his newest venture and Turn South , a band that has supported Worthwhile and Trophy Eyes. I predict that Jye’s projects will take off and I look forward to seeing him grow as a musician .

Hi Jye, I have known you for a while now and you have been involved in two other bands and Housebroken is your third project. Can you give us some background of where you have come from musically? Well I guess as I’ve grown, my music taste and influences have changed quite a lot. The first band I started playing shows with was Eight Days of Autumn, which was myself and 3 high school friends writing and playing pop punk. We put out an EP in 2012 and played a bunch of shows in and around Melbourne until mid 2013. Our sound was influenced by a lot of the bigger pop punk/pop rock bands (All Time Low, You Me At Six, Motion City Soundtrack, etc), stuff we’d been listening to throughout high school. Once we left high school, the band started to fizzle out a bit. I think the band really relied on us seeing each other really frequently and being able to get each other excited about shows by talking about them at school. Tell us then about your second band Turn South. Turn South came about towards the end of 2013 when I dropped out of my Uni course. My musical influence had shifted somewhat and I found my writing reflecting that. I’d been listening to bands like Title Fight and Balance & Composure for a while and became more interested in labels such as Run For Cover, No Sleep, Topshelf and Melbourne’s own Poison City. So that’s where I was doing most of my listening and where a lot of my influence came from. I recorded a really DIY EP with Michael Murrell at Modern Demo Recoding Studios which was released in April last year and after scoring an opening slot on The Sweet Apes show at Wrangler Studios, I quickly got a band together to play those songs. We’ve been playing shows pretty regularly since, but have recently become

a 3 piece as our second guitarist left. At the moment we’re in the process of writing and should be recording some new martial pretty soon, so keep an eye out. We will do! Housebroken is a bit more of an oddball project. It’s basically just a few songs I wrote in a small space of time on my acoustic guitar that I wanted to give a name and a release to. I sort of wanted to give this project a much more stripped back, minimalist feel to it than anything I’d done previously. Music that gets right to the point. The songs are shorter and there’s less going on. All though I did experiment with some synth, the demo is just acoustic guitar, bass and vocals, done in as few tracks as possible. I wanted to present a raw, unadulterated sound without any enhancements. I drew inspiration for Housebroken from a lot of the same influences as Turn South. Bands like Tigers Jaw, Elvis Depressedly and Matt Kerekes’ (Citizen) solo work have all influenced the sound and production techniques of the demo. There is nothing wrong with oddball, however you express your self musically is an art form. In terms of live shows, I hope to replicate the minimalistic sound of the demo by performing on my own with just my voice and an acoustic guitar. Keep an eye out as I hope to be gigging as much as I can locally in the coming months. In regards to all the other shows you have played with any band what was a highlight? We (Turn South) recently opened for Worthwhile (USA) and Trophy Eyes at Wrangler Studios which was really cool. We had a really good audience and were stoked to be able to play on the same bill as some of our favourite bands in the country, let alone an international act. So that was a pretty rad time.

What was the worst gig you have played? When Eight Days Of Autumn was still going, we played a show at Bar Open in Fitzroy with some rockabilly and punk bands. There wasn’t an awful lot of communication before the gig and nobody except the headliner brought a full drum kit. And we ended up having to play without our drummer just cause the headliner’s drummer wouldn’t let anybody else within 10 feet of his precious kit! So that was pretty lame. Communication is important! It sure is! That is not fair on your drummer!

rooms have got full pa and aircon. And plenty of instant coffee to keep us going.

What is in store for you now? Any news to tell us? What do you do the moment you step off Well I’ve just released my demo on bandcamp. You can check it out at stage? housebrokenvic.bandcamp.com and Rehydrate myself! And hi five my mum. download it free. But I’m actually heading That is so cool! As is your mum being overseas in a month for a while so I won’t there to support you. really be playing many shows until I come back. My band Turn South are looking to How often do you rehearse? put out some new material soon as well We try and rehearse once a week if so keep an eye and ear out for that! we know we have shows coming up. Otherwise at least a couple of times a Thanks Jye for your time. Looking month. forward to the new music and wishing you well on our overseas trip. What does a typical rehearsal entail? In the garage? Pizza and beer? Hahaha. We usually book a rehearsal Housebroken Facebook studio on a weeknight at either Pony Housebroken Instagram Music in Hallam or Band Booth in Turn South Facebook Dandenong. It’s pretty good value and the

Jye’s Tumblr

we are looking for highly motivated people who can work to a deadline. a good understanding of English and an interest in pop punk bands is necessary.

Positions available: General Writers (own research and article writing)

Proof readers (each article prior to design and then after design)

Copy readers (Checking the entire

completed edition checking everything)

No age restrictions. be part of our facebook group and make new friends from all over the world. (every position volunteers)

Email Jen at simpleplanspace@gmail.com 29

the skatalites THE SKATALITES returned to Australia to celebration of their 50th anniversary. It’s rare that a band can boast of this milestone achievement but THE SKATALITES are more than a band; they are an institution, made up of a collective of some of Jamaica’s finest musicians who not only defined the sound of ska in the 50’s and 60’s but influenced and inspired a number of generations and bands both on their own turf and around the world. Named after a recently-launched Sputnik satellite in 1964, THE SKATALITES were officially together for only 14 months, but changed the shape of Jamaican popular music as chief proponents of the ska form, backing all the leading artists of the day, including a young Bob Marley,

Alton Ellis, and Toots and the Maytals. Skatalitesinstrumentals such as Tear Up, (the original ska anthem), Guns of Navarone, (which also made the UK top 40), and Ball of Fire all topped the Jamaican charts. “The Skatalites – that’s why ska music is eternal.” - The Vinyl District.com After a hiatus the group reformed in the mid-80’s to a new and embracing audience, including a world tour as Bunny Wailer’s backing band and later for Prince Buster. An album of new material in 1993, called Skavoovee, cemented THE SKATALITES as true pioneers of the ska movement as the rest of the world was in the grips of ska fever thanks to bands like NO DOUBT, LESS

“They played for the mods and the ska-heads. They played for rockers and the raggamuffins. They played for the old and young. They played for the ages.” – Vinyl District “The Skatalites are pure energy: hot like fire, with a scorching, skanking rhythm and big-band bravado.” - Reggae Reviews.com

THAN JAKE and THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES resurrecting the form. The band’s constant world touring has seen generations of new fans captivated by the now-legendary musicians which includes 9 of the finest brass, sax, horn and string players as well as the first lady of Ska – original vocalist, Ms Doreen Shaffer. Two step-dance moves, triumphant sax solos and huge smiles all help make THE SKATALITES show an experience. Lead singer Lester Sterling says “The crowd gets wild, the jump up and down, it’s not

sit down music!” “The Skatalites – that’s why ska music is eternal.” - The Vinyl District.com “Skatalites are the epitome of roots music. The group is the genesis of an entire genre, not to mention the influence the band has had on ska, reggae and almost every other kind of popular music for more than 60 years now.” Popmatters.com

i n t e rv i e w

the skatalites By Jen @justjenrees

Hi Ken, how are you doing? KEN: Great. How are you? Not bad thanks.

of time. But now we have the technology, video chats and all kind of stuff so it’s better. Once in a while we bring our wives. Typically there will be someone that comes along with us, who wants (We had massive problems doing this to travel with us. Some of the wives say interview, the phone reception where “Are you going to that country, Australia? Ken was in South America was not the I wanna come along!” But in reality they best and he was traveling in a car. So have to deal with a schedule that we the interview is a little distorted and have when sometimes we play at three his answers sometimes difficult to in the morning and we have to take a understand.) flight out of that time before we go to bed. We arrive in the city and we have to Fifty years in the music business is a try and sleep in the day time so it doesn’t long time, I was going to ask the cliché work out for me personally. Typically the question “where do artists still find the people that come with us feel sorry that motivation to make music and perform they did because it is not a vacation. as long as that”, but I am going to ask People say are going on tour and are you you how your partners still allow you to keep going? (Huge connection problems going to this country and that country. We say to people usually come along here. Had to repeat the last part 3 times. Ken answered what he thought I asked as with us and see what it’s like to change hotel rooms 40 times in a row and see the first question.) how many clean clothes you have at end We get our energy from the crowd as of the tour. (Laughing) it is a mutually reciprocating process. Good one! Sometimes with the scheduling and the travelling it’s tiring but when we get up There are not many bands that can claim there and we play our music for you, we that they have been together for 50 get the energy from the crowd. People years. In fact I can’t think of one…. For just love music so much you know. all the young Aussie bands here what But what I was actually asking is how your partners or wives let you keep letting advice can you give to them that you have learnt? your tour? Well it has a lot to do with liking this Oh! Hahaha! Great question! Well that’s lifestyle. We don’t know of any other way very difficult to answer. It takes a very of life. We were talking about this last special person for that. It would be like night, I went touring with band for the having a partner in the military, when last 26 years, I quit my day job in 1988 people were away for extended periods

at the time I returned to the band, so it is hard for me to look back for a normal life. So I guess that they definitely need motivation. I guess that the young bands have to have a love of the music. Tell us about South America where you are now. Well right now we could come back here in three months and played the same shows, the crowd is that enthusiastic, it is one of our most enthusiastic audiences. They expect us at least once a year, and that’s not enough for some people who comment on our Facebook page. Like “when are you coming back”, and for us it’s hard to fit it all in. There was a problem with our Facebook page a few years ago we had to restart it, we have almost 200,000 likes again and that’s just from the small amount of time. So as I said before every country that we go to we make new fans and new friends

“I like the slower ska because it has swing and soul. You can still dance with a partner.” and we look forward to going back to our friends again. Tell us about being the “God Father of Ska” Well l think there is a huge amount of respect for us with so many other bands. We are finding that there are so many bands fighting over who wants to support us on this 50th anniversary tour. Which is quite funny. There are so many bands

the skatalites Interview out there now that play ska music because they can’t play regular jazz. It’s really hard to try and make a living as a jazz player. There is no market for it any more. So a lot of these bands are frustrated jazz musicians and they come out and play ska. At least this way they can come out and play the instrument that they want to play and this type of music is so much more enthusiastic than jazz. Your music has been said to be very therapeutic for many people all over the world. I usually listen to Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake, do you think that these bands would not exist if was not for your band? Oh for sure, you know personally that stuff is not my cup of tea, I would hardly describe that as relaxing. (Laughing) Each to its own! I don’t like it when the bands play the music to fast. It just changes the whole vibe. It changes the whole aspects of it. t with that. The faster music like Less Than Jake, I just don’t particularly enjoy that. Each to its own! But my mum does her aerobics to the album called African Roots, which is a Skatalites record that was released in the 70s and it’s mostly reggae and it is a perfect tempo to do her aerobics to. Reggae in general has so many different aspects.

So I guess I need to say thanks heaps for that, as the live shows I have seen with them are insane and amongst my favourite shows of all time... as do my two teenagers! So are there any other bands that you think that other newest sound of Ska? Oh very much, there are a few bands in every country. In South America, where we go every year there is a band called Santiago Downbeat, they are a 12 piece band and now so enthusiastic about

“We saw some wallabies on the side of the road and we thought it was people waiting for a bus.”

ska. They are so good on stage, they dress up in suits and are really great musically. They are a bunch of kids that went to music school together. This is a band that they started as students but now they have graduated, they have just done their first tour of Europe. It is amazing that they could do that, to come up with the funds to fly 12 people and all their equipment to Europe. They had to have two vans to get the equipment everywhere, there would have had to have a huge amount of hotel rooms. It’s tough out there. I wish them all the best, I am a huge fan of them, they are inspiring to us because they have taken ska to another level too. There are a lot of other bands out there doing this. (At this point I can not work out what Ken said as the line went static and then we were cut off. I rang back, and Ken apologised, but it was in South America where reception is not the best!) Are the crowds so far on your tour a younger crowd or an older crowd reliving the concerts of their youth? Um I am not sure if I really understood the question but typically the audiences are all different ages. Some people came to our concerts not knowing what the music was like that it’s hard for anybody

he wanted to see Koala’s.) t (Laughing) I asked my friend what are those people waiting for and he said no they’re wallabies and I was like WHAT??? Do you have meet and greets after the (We had a chat then about how far Uluru show? is from Alice Springs and I gave him I am not sure if that’s being officially scheduled but typically we try and mingle, some touristy advice. Also about Koala’s not being bears.) we go up to where we sell merch and hang out there and sign autographs. We are a friendly group we are not stuffy I was born in the 70’s so it is an honor to interview someone as experienced and hide from our fans. as you in the music industry. Really appreciate you taking the time to have Are you taking any time to relax down a chat and I wish you all the best for the here? See some sights? tour, and I look forward to meeting you We have a festival on 13 December then in Melbourne. on the 14th we have a day off and then Yeah come up and say hi, I would love to the 15th is actually my birthday, and the meet you. Wait where are you exactly? 16th is a day off. I was hoping that we Melbourne. could go to Alice Springs. That is the Great there are a few gigs there. place that I would like to see the most. I Great looking forward to meeting you. am not sure what we’re going to do but I’m definitely looking forward to my days Thanks Ken. Cheers Jen. off. (This part is inaudible, but he did say to listen to our music without starting to dance.

som e n ews from ...

all time low Written by Mária @MariamAstronaut

We’ve already written about this band a couple of times, as they

are great friends with members of Simple Plan and many Astronauts are also Hustlers. In brief, the history between SP and ATL started in 2010 at Bamboozle Roadshow festival, when they also first thought about future collaboration. We didn’t have to wait too long for that, as Alex Gaskarth, singer of All Time Low, sang on Simple Plan’s “Freaking Me Out“ (Get Your Heart On!). After that, ATL released a single, “Time Bomb“, a song originally written by Pierre and Chuck for GYHO. And so it went... ATL release a new album this year, as well as Simple Plan. Their new album is called “Future Hearts“ and comes out on April 7. You can pre-order it here, where you can also win a trip for you and a friend to meet ATL in Boston, be on their guest list for life, or become a roadie for a day. Also you can pre-order like a thousand of other good stuff there. Check out this post on their Facebook page, really, there’s plenty of possibilities. All Time Low premiered their new single, “Something’s Gotta Give“ from this album at BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show on Monday, January 12. The same day they published the official video for this song, which goes from nice to “what is that?“ pretty quickly, if you ask me. It’s awesome, so I suggest you check it out here. They also announced a US tour with ISSUES, Tonight Alive and STATE CHAMPS. You can get to links to buy tickets here.

Aussie Band News

Written by @MaddieBirkett

This month there’s been some exciting news brewing among the music industry here over in Australia! Day Break have finally announced their long-awaited EP ‘Hopeless Together’ which will be released on March 10th!

Call The Shots have changed the line-up in their band. Check out the statement here, and welcome the new members, Will and Kevin!

We all know Dylan Cartwright as a former member of Elephant’s Laundry and now for his solo career, but now we’ll see him in a boy group known as Interception! Check out their Facebook page and give them a like here.

With Confidence are going out on tour around the country for the release of their Distance EP! See if they’re coming to your town here.

International Band News Written by @MaddieBirkett

Get excited Fall Out Boy fans! The guys have just released their new album ‘American Beauty/American Psycho’! Buy it from iTunes here.

Against The Current have released a new cover, featuring Set It Off, of the very popular ‘Uptown Funk’ originally performed by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. Check out the pop-rock spin they put on it

We The Kings release a new music video for ‘That Feeling’! What makes this video even more special is that Travis’ new wife Jenny surprised him with it, AWW! Watch it here.

All Time Low release a whole new song and video to go with it! This video is not what you’d expect though! Check it out here.

Now for the sad news.. It seems as though the future of Blink-182 is unclear. There has been a lot of confusion and miscommunication from the band. You can read Tom Delonge’s statement on his instagram here.

december 20 By Leeann @adnaxar

Simple Plan made the short list for the ‘Heart Of Gold” category in CBC’s Music Awards. The award will be presented to the artist who “went above and beyond the call of duty this past year and donated time, funds and talent to charitable causes.” Simple Plan has been nominated for their charitable work with the Simple Plan Foundation and in this category find themselves up against Danny Michel, Hedley, Jim Cuddy and Lights. Voting closes December 8th with winners announced Tuesday December 9th.

With Christmas fast approaching, the guys have decided to help spread some Christmas cheer by donating some items to a few special causes. Two organisations have benefited from these donations, the first, a signed shirt, was donated to the Je Signe Pour L’Enfance campaign who was aiming to raise 100,000 pledges to help starving children in Canada. If 100,000 pledges is reached, the shirt will be randomly given to one of the pledges. The guys have also donated a signed photo and copy of Get Your Heart On! to Kids Help Phone. This pack will be up for auction on eBay with 100% of the money going to this organisation which offers professional counselling to young people in Canada.

Today Jeff added to his growing portfolio of restaurants and bars in Canada by going into partnership with Edward Zaki, Eric Francis and Pierre Martin Tremblay in the bar Mimi La Nuit. Located in Old Montreal, the bar offers seating for 120 with an addition 40 seat private area also available.

Pierre attended the grand opening celebrating the new location of Aaron Della Vedova’s Guru Tattoo which has now moved to premises in the Little Italy district of San Diego California.

14 calendar 13

Could the new Centrexpo exhibition centre in Drummondville QC be one of the first venues Simple Plan showcase album number 5?? According to an interview in l’Express, business development manager for Production StarFlash Mario St-Germain stated “Simple Plan came in, and although the matter is not signed yet, [St-Germain thinks] it will work.” At this stage, no official concert dates have been confirmed.

Sebastien joined other Montreal artists recently when Evermoor Audio studio decided to revamp The Eagles classic “Please Come Home For Christmas.” You can check out the song here, and if you look close, you may even see a glimpse of the man himself. Seb that is, not Santa ;)

Last night in an interview for Idobi radio with Mike Fishkin, Chuck agreed that the band desperately needs a new Christmas song. Fingers crossed we a new Xmas jingle to add to our playlist next Christmas.

This year Simple Plan are again one of the many celebrities who decided to donate items to “Sapin des stars.” In its 6th year, the tree, which is located in Montreal Canada is decorated with varies items which will be auctioned off to support families from underprivileged backgrounds. For their contribution, the guys donated a signed copy of “Simple Plan, The Official Story” as well as drumsticks signed by Chuck.

Before we close out not only the month, but the year, let’s have a last minute update on album #5. Today, Jeff confirmed that the band is currently in the process of picking songs for the upcoming album. Chuck and Pierre have written about 60 songs in the past 14 months, from which around 11 will go on the album. Jeff also tweeted that the band will be entering the studio in a few weeks.

january 201 7

By Leeann @adnaxar

With their return to the studio fast approaching, Chuck and Pierre have found some time for some last minute song writing.

11 9

Life cannot be all work and no play. Chuck and Pierre have taken some precious time off from their writing and recording demos for album 5 as these pics show.

La Presse recently published an article about one of Jeff’s side projects, his brewing company West Shefford. You can read the full article for yourself right here.

Before heading to the studio, Chuck took time out today for a little Q&A on his Twitter page, which ultimately answered some of our questions about the new album. Check out Chuck’s Twitter feed to see the full session.

818 Drummers Lunch was held today in LA, with Simple Plan’s very own Chuck Comeau one of the 40 in attendance.

5 calendar 22

After years of trying, Simple Plan have finally got there name on Instagram. So make you head over to Instagram, and start following the official page - http:// instagram.com/ simpleplan

Today marks a very special day in the life of Simple Plan. It was exactly 15 years ago in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu that 4 guys hit the stage for what would be the first Simple Plan show. Happy Anniversary guys. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to another 15+ years.

Twitter talk

de c e m b e r

Written by Leeann @adnaxar

David

David was back, and sharing a little glimpse into his past by way of a photo which was taken of him at 15 playing his first gig. What made this pic even more special is that it was taken in his home town Matane and they were opening for another band a few of us might be familiar with, Reset.

chuck

It has been a year since (as Chuck put it) GYHO part 2 come out. If you still havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t had a listen, you should take Chucks advice and check it out. He apologised for being MIA of late, but went on to explain the last few weeks of song writing had been tough and he had been feeling a little bummed. He and Pierre have been pushing themselves really hard to write the best songs they can. He told us about this process and how it has been making him feel. I found it quite touching and insightful and again shows how hard the guys work at creating something for all of us. He then went on to ask what we want to hear on #SPalbum5. I hope we helped inspire him. There was a spectacular sunrise at the airport as Chuck headed home for the holidays where some of the best seats at the Bell Centre awaited him. He had a special holiday message for us that he shared on his Instagram page. He had an amazing Christmas that saw his grandmother turn 90 and the whole family there to celebrate it. Heading back to LA and song writing, and who should be the pilot?? No other than Pierreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brother John. You could imagine Chuck was pretty stoked about that. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, Chuck could feel 2015 was going to be a big year, he could feel it and encouraged us all to make it everything you want it to be.

jeff

It might have been a week late, but Jeff’s beer was finally in stores. Jeff was fighting the December blues with vitamins, warm sweaters, outdoor sports, healthy comfort food and big blankets in the evenings. (hmmm, picturing being snuggled up under that big blanket now, oooops, back to writing) Listening to “Dark Side of the Moon” on vinyl had Jeff questioning the invention of mp3’s. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, he encouraged us all to enjoy the presence of our loved ones before showing us some of the gifts he got for himself this Xmas. New Year saw Jeff sharing some news about #SPalbum5 before wishing us all a happy new year that he hoped would bring us health, love and beautiful challenges. I, like Jeff, have a feeling 2015 will be amazing.

pierre on next page...

sébastien

Seb wanted to start taking things seriously, but was then like, boobs and farts, whatever. Some of his favourite hobbies are activities, but seeing the Xmas tree was only half done, maybe that wasn’t one of them. At least the fireplace was starting to look a little rad. With Xmas approaching, he was going to have to start thinking what to get people. Pik Niking in Montreal this time is a tad tough. Yeap, winter is definitely coming. Seb had plans for the day (black on black being one of them) which left him blue the next day. His favourite thing about playing video games is if he’s played them before…… when he was 15. Christmas day had arrived, the cookies were gone, and they’d got an iPad for his mum. (Watch out twitter) He hit the Boxing Day sales on December 27th, which is probably the best idea he’s ever had. I think I need lessons from Seb on how to stay off my phone, cause there is no way I can go all day and have mine still at 73%. Before 2014 ended, Seb reminded us to think about all the good things that happened this year.

Twitter Talk

pierre

Life’s good in California, and after another dope haircut, things were looking a little better. (I know Pierre sure was ;) lol ) Pierre was loving the Xmas season, or maybe it was just the yummy looking Xmas cookies. I loved seeing the pic of Pierre and his brothers from 1984. He was a little bored waiting for software to install and watching ‘The Rest Of Us’ clip had him feeling a little anxious about getting back on tour. A little alcoholic beverage was needed when #SPalbum5 started kicking his ass. But nothing that a little take away, Bryan Adams and a little later enjoying a beer with your favourite Xmas movie. Merry Christmas Pierre.

ja n ua ry

David

David only sent one tweet this month, but I encourage you all to hit the link and check it out. I must admit, I shed a tear or 3.

chuck

The new year had Chuck thinking of the past and sharing a little with this when he posted a #tbt pic of him and his grandparents from around 1981. Then it was back to working on #SPalbum5 and making those demos sound sweet. Nights off were spent catching up on some TV, with sushi, ice cream and his dogs. After realising it was 15 years since playing their first show, Chuck can’t wait to play shows again. And nor can we.

jeff

New years in Canada are a tad cold, and some might say Jeff’s feeling about his Southern Hemisphere friends might have been the same (that’s ok Jeff, we still love you from those of us down under). Speaking out on the tragic shootings in France, Jeff stated, “Ignorance, hatred and cowardice has no religion, no political allegiance.” Work was never far from his mind as he headed to Bromont to meet city officials to discuss plans for his brewery. Before letting us know how excited he was for the new album. Jeff shared “there’s some amazing new songs in the works, and studio time in the near future.” Woohoo!!! I can’t wait.

pierre

Pierre was ready to welcome in the New Year with a glass of bubbly and a warm fire at home. There was time for a little inspirational ping pong with Chuck before getting back to work on the album. But 12 hours writing and producing music was making Pierre’s brain feel mushy. Maybe that’s why he was running late to the beach. Maybe some tickle time with his kids, and hitting the slopes will help ease the brain drain before the guy’s head back into the studio.

sébastien

- and a big Hiya to you too Seb. This is who he is, and this is what he likes. Yeap, the New Year saw Seb returning to Moth Studio, and we all like that. He had errands to run and songs to work on and wished he was a big sports fan as there was so many reasons to get excited and it gave him much more to talk about with complete strangers. Adding grass to his veggie juice totally hid the taste of dirt and rocks. But things really got real when Simple Plan finally got an official Instagram page.

+ febr

january 19

jack fowler (sleeping with sirens)

january 19

cam alder (tonight alive)

february 10

february 6

ethan shapre (drawing north)

vic fuentes (pierce the veil)

tin (of

ruary

birthdays

january 19

chad (drawing north)

ebruary 14

no arteaga mice & men)

january 30

po (drawing north)

A s well as Jen our editor!

february 25

tony perry (pierce the veil)

february 17 billie jo armstrong (green day)

FAN OF THE

MONTH Courtney Linde Where do you live? Australia. When was the first time you heard about Simple Plan? Roughly around 2007. When was your first SP show? When they toured in 2008.

Roughly 3 or 4 times. What do you like the most about SP? I love the fact that they are the most down to earth and caring guys that you could ever meet.

How long have you been an SP fan? A mad fan 2008. Before hand I heard their songs and liked them.

whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your favorite posession of simple plan and why? The Simple Plan Official Story. It gives me insight into how they started the band and the journey that has happened between now and then.

how many times have you seen them live?

Say what Simple Plan means to you. Whenever Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m having a bad day I just put

my headphones in and listen to their music until it all seems like its going to be ok. Or I just jump on YouTube and watch one of the many videos of them and their silly mishaps and running around like teenagers. It’s great to know that your favourite band is there for you, even if they don’t know it. Describe each member with one word. Dave - cheeky Jeff - bald (haha sorry!) Pierre - sexy Seb - jumpy Chuck - silly Favorite simple plan song and why? Gone Too Soon really means a lot to me currently. It reminds me no matter how long you have with someone, whether it be 15 months or 18 years, it always seems that person was taken from you far to soon. Do you have any tattoos related to SP? if not, Would you like to have one? I don’t but I am currently in the process of designing one. What’s your favorite part of A Big Package For You (ABPFY)? My sister literally just gave me this DVD for helping her out with her and her newborn daughter, so from memory of this it’ll have to be the crazy antics the boys get up to, never fails to make me laugh. If you could spend a day with SP, what would you do? Defiantly get them to teach me how to play the instruments and the trick of writing good songs. Best simple plan memory? Without a doubt actually getting to meet them in 2013 at Warped Tour. Not only did I meet the boys I got to meet a few of the friends I have made because of them. Have you made friends thanks to simple plan? I’ve made tons of friends! I’d be lost

without them now. Favorite SP quote(s)? “Be yourself and follow your dreams and if people don’t like you fuck them, they don’t have to be you, you do. So do what you wanna do and don’t change for no one” Pierre Bouvier. Favorite Simple plan video? Hands down the Australian version of Summer Paradise. What song would you like simple plan to cover? Troublemaker by Olly Murs. Apart from SP, which other bands do you like? 5SOS, Olly Murs and MKTO. If you could say anything to simple plan right now, what would you tell them? I probably wouldn’t be able to actually speak haha. But if it was anything I’ll just tell them that they are amazing and keep doing what they are doing. Okay, now pick 2 songs of the ‘No Pads’ album and say what you think are the real meanings are behind them: I’m Just a Kid: I reckon they are just trying to get everyone to realize that they are just a kid still honestly. Addicted: someone has hurt one of the guys and he must of loved them a lot to get this song out of it. favorite lyrics off ‘no pads’? I don’t wanna be told to grow up.

fall out boy Written by Jen @justjenrees

Not only are Fall Out Boy playing at Soundwave in Australia but they have also released their new album which you would know about unless you have been living under a rock!

What you might not know is how many people painted their faces the night of American Beauty/ American Psycho release. Check out here for some pics. Check out Rolling Stones’s review of the Album here. Also what they learnt on the road with Fall Out Boy. You can watch my favourite song off the Album “Centuries” here.

r e it r w t a e r g y r Behind eve m a e t t r o p p u s a is there with four legs.

Writer in Focus: Vitória, brazil Pet’s name(s): Duda Nicknames: Dudinha Age: 12 (She was born on September 7th 2002, the same day that we celebrate my country’s independence) Sex: Female Breed: Poodle How you met: That’s a great story, I enjoy telling it a lot. I have a cousin that has a daughter called “Maria Eduarda” (in my country, the nickname for that name is “Duda”). This cousin bought the dog and named it “Duda” because she didn’t want people to call her daughter “Duda”. But then she had to move to an apartment where they didn’t accept dogs and she gave us. At first, my mom didn’t want a dog in our house, but Duda stayed and won her space little by little.

@de arvitt Most adorable habit: She’s a great dog, she’s always there to give you love when you need. Personally, I really love when she stays in my bedroom sleeping while I’m studying. She likes being around. Most annoying habit: She has this habit of dragging her paw on the floor, and it’s really annoying because sometimes she does it late at night, while we’re sleeping!! Favourite food: She’s a funny dog, she enjoys eating a lot, even though she’s not fat. She likes human food, especially carrots and tangerine. She really loves tangerine! It’s weird. She loves all kinds of fruits. The most embarrassing thing you do to your pet: I have this thing to talk to her whenever I think I’m on my own, but then someone always listens and says: “Are you talking with yourself??” and I get really embarrassed.