Chuck and Jeff open up about David’s struggles on the Les Échangistes talk show

On Tuesday evening, Chuck and Jeff from Simple Plan and also Patrick Langlois, their former website & merch manager, were two of the guests of the Canadian talk show Les Échangistes. While Patrick was there to discuss his Global Citizen ambassadorship, the members of Simple Plan talked to the host Penelope McQuade about their band, upcoming touring plans and also about their friend and bassplayer, David Desrosiers, who will be absent from this tour, due to his continuous struggles with depression.

An article on Showbizz.net brought us a few quotes from this talk show, which show us how in depth did Chuck and Jeff discuss how they deal with their friend’s illness and how David is currently doing. You can read the English translation of it below:

“To answer: “He’s fine”, would be wrong. David is doing the right thing to get better. He surrounds himself with good things. I try to stay positive in all this. I have to. David talks about his discomforts with others and for him, that is a very therapeutic thing to do. I find it important because it may inspire other people to talk about it too. […] I find it very courageous to talk about it openly.

He has a place in the band; He is not going anywhere. We decided not to replace him either. It was very important to him. […] David felt the burden of slowing down and seeing that we continue, it encourages him to get better.”

– Jeff Stinco –

“He’s been our friend for 17-18 years. To see someone you know, someone you love, to go through difficult moments like that, it just breaks your heart. It has always been a little harder for him to follow the infernal rhythm [of the tour] and there it just caught up with him. We support him 100%. We think that taking rest and not coming back too fast is really the key.

– Chuck Comeau –

Make sure to visit our gallery to look at more pictures of Chuck and Jeff (and Patrick) at Les Échangistes: