Simple Plan
When rambunctious rockers Simple Plan released their
2002 Lava Records debut, NO PADS, NO HELMETS... JUST
BALLS, the band more than just hit the ground running.
Just inside of a year, Simple Plan crossed five
continents and played over 300 shows. Along the way,
the band picked up a few hundred thousand fans, topped
the Alternative New Artist Chart, kicked it on MTV
TRL, scored a Gold album in home country Canada as
well as Japan, and sold out their first ever tour of
Japan. Sprinkle in a few trips to the hospital, a
dozen nights spent sleeping on airport floors, one
tour bus in a ditch and one broken-down in the desert
and the method to madness becomes clear... this band
is absolutely pummeling the pavement. And that's the
edited version.
This zest for life is what went into making "NO PADS"
sheer punk pop fun. The album, produced by Arnold
Lanni (Our Lady Peace, Finger Eleven), features 12
irresistible anti-anthems of adolescent alienation,
such as the effervescent, "I'm Just A Kid," the hearty
shout-it-out-loud "I'd Do Anything," and the extremely
addictive "Addicted."
Rewind for a minute to the mid-90s, when singer Pierre
Bouvier and drummer Chuck Comeau were 13-year-old
bandmates in Reset, a loud and fast punk outfit who
released a much-praised debut album in 1997 and toured
Canada with the likes of MXPX, Ten foot Pole, and Face
To Face. Soon, both had left Reset, first Chuck, then
Pierre, to initially go back to school. Not so fast
there. First Chuck was drawn back to music and hooked
up with high school friends and guitarists Jeff Stinco
and Sebastien Lefebvre. Add in singer and old band
buddy Pierre and another former Reset member, David
Desrosiers on bass, and Simple Plan was born.
Simple Plan's expertly crafted tunes are predominantly
penned by Chuck and Pierre, then brought to life by
the entire band.
"Jeff will come up with lots of rad guitar leads and
textures," notes Pierre. "Seb is great at helping out
with the arrangements, and David always has good ideas
with harmonies."
Despite the manic pop thrills of tracks like the
Ferris Bueller worthy sing-along "Worst Day Ever" and
the powerful "God Must Hate Me," Simple Plan's songs
are marked by a strikingly dark lyrical core.
"After writing most of the record, we realized that we
had a bunch of catchy songs with really emotional
lyrics," Chuck says. "We thought it was such a rad
contrast. There's lots of people out there who are not
really satisfied with what's going on in their lives,
and it's the same thing for us. It's so hard to grow
up and fit in."
"We know what kids go through, because we've been
through that, and we're still going through it, so we
know how hard it is." Pierre agrees. "We want kids to
feel like we're talking about them and for them. It's
such a good feeling to receive a letter or an e-mail
from someone who relates to our songs and says "Damn,
you're singing about exactly what I feel.'"
That band-to-fan connection is noticeably apparent in
the album's introductory single, "I'm Just A Kid." The
song is as powerful in its expression of teenage angst
as it is ridiculously infectious.
"I'm Just A Kid' is about how it's hard to fit in and
find your place," Chuck says. "It's tough to meet
people who are there for you in the end, people who
care."
Other tracks on the album like the gutsy "Meet You
There" and the touching "Perfect" substitute a more
atmospheric and bittersweet energy in place of upbeat
punchy hooks.
"I hate the word mature," says Chuck, "but they're
just a bit different."
"NO PAD, NO HELMETS... JUST BALLS" was recorded at
producer Arnold Lanni's Arnyard Studio in Toronto. The
sessions saw Simple Plan making a pair of trips across
the border in order to work with a couple of musician
friends who wanted to be part of the album. First, the
band headed to Buffalo, New York, where they hooked up
with Joel of Good Charlotte, who contributed vocals to
"You Don't Mean Anything." In addition, Simple Plan
enlisted another friend none other than Mark Hoppus
of blink-182 to lay down backing vocals on the
second single and MTV TRL breakout, "I'd Do Anything."
"We've known each other for a long time," says the
drummer. "We played shows with blink back on their
first record and we stayed friends. Mark's such a
down-to-earth guy. He took the time to do his track
and really nailed what we wanted. We're honored to
have him sing on our record."
With a debut album that's everything they'd hoped it
would be, and some experiences they never could have
imagined, Simple Plan intends to spend 2003 bringing
the adrenaline-fuelled tunes of "NO PADS, NO
HELMETS... JUST BALLS" to the kids by doing what
they've done from the get-go hitting the road. And
hard.
"First we wanted to make sure that every song was
special," Chuck avows. "Now we just want to play every
day. I said to everybody that works with us, We don't
need any days off, just book us.' We'll be on the road
for two years. This summer we're doing our second
Warped Tour for this album. That's so amazing. It's
like the name, Simple Plan. We just have this simple
plan to go on the road and meet people and make new
friends and just see who likes our band."
Well plug in a few more Energizers and keep this
rabbit movin' because from the looks of their battered
suitcases and oh yea, thousands upon thousands of
screaming fans, this Simple Plan will just keep going
and going and going...
Good Charlotte
Twin brothers Benji and Joel (born 3/11/79) grew up in
a lower middle-class family in the town of Waldorf,
Maryland-"the middle-of-nowhere suburbs," says Benji.
"Ours was definitely a dysfunctional family
situation," he admits, "but luckily me and Joel always
had each other. When things started to fall apart, we
just got into music." The twins' older brother Josh
turned them on to influential albums by Rancid, Minor
Threat, the Cure, the Smiths, and many more.
Benji began teaching himself guitar at 16; Joel
gravitated towards lead vocals. "Right away, Joel and
I started thinking up songs," Benji recalls. "We'd go
straight to our room after school, singing and playing
for hours every day."
After Paul (bass) and Billy (guitar) joined, Good
Charlotte took their name from a children's book and
played their first gig in a neighbor's basement for an
audience of 20. "We only played our own songs-we
weren't good enough to learn anyone else's songs!"
The brothers dedicated themselves to their music,
although they had almost no money for equipment and no
connections in the industry. They cut their first
demo, wrote their own bio, and began mailing packages
off to a list of record companies obtained from a
magazine.
"I wrote this letter saying, we're Good Charlotte and
if you sign us now it will be a lot cheaper than if
you wait!" recalls Benji. "Our ignorance was kind of a
blessing. We couldn't be discouraged by knowing too
much about how the business really works."
Benji and Joel graduated high school in June 1997, and
for a graduation present the twins' mother presented
them with a pair of open airline tickets to
California. "Some of our favorite bands like Green Day
had started out at this East Bay club called 924
Gilman Street. So when we graduated, that summer we
made a pilgrimage to visit the club. We'd never even
been on a plane before, but we have an aunt in
Berkeley who let us crash with her."
The brothers returned to Maryland, newly inspired and
more determined than ever. They left home and moved to
Annapolis, played many more shows both electric and
acoustic, and worked "all kinds of shitty jobs-I've
had over 30 of them," says Benji. "It was a struggling
time in our lives, but it was also a great time. It's
good to be hungry sometimes."
When Billy joined on second guitar, Good Charlotte was
complete. The band won a local contest, and their song
"Can't Go On" was included on a sampler of area
talent. They attracted the interest of a manager, and
Lit offered a support slot on a series of sold-out
East Coast dates.
"We had no money, no transportation, and no way to do
the gigs. Our mom was living in like a shed on a
neighbor's property, and the only thing she really
owned was a mini-van. She said, you guys take the
mini-van to play the shows and I'll catch rides or
walk to work. That just shows you how she's been there
for us the whole time."
"By the time we played New York with Lit, in December
1999, all the labels turned out. We signed our deal in
May 2000, in the studio where we were recording, and
the album Good Charlotte (Epic) came out in
September."
By then, the quintet was on the road non-stop. Three
months of dates with MXPX segued into the 2001
W.A.R.P. tour, then into more gigs up until Christmas
Day (off), followed by still more gigs including a
trip to Australia and New Zealand (where their debut
went platinum). Through this intensive roadwork, Good
Charlotte built an avid fan base-and MTV took notice,
giving extensive airplay to the band's videos for
"Little Things," "Motivation Proclamation," and
"Festival Song." At this writing (August 2002), Benji
and Joel are hosting MTV's "All Things Rock," which
airs Monday through Thursday after 11 PM (ET).
Honesty is the thread that runs through every song on
The Young and The Hopeless and binds Good Charlotte to
their devoted fans. "I don't think we're better than
any other band," says Benji, "although I do think
we're more sincere, more real, than some of them. We
want to be judged for what we're really doing, not put
in a genre with a bunch of other bands with which we
have nothing in common."
"We have a lot more to say than some of the bands
we're compared with, and I hope people will hear it on
this album. The kids that we were, five years ago-I
just want to give those kids something to help them
through the day."
