In a recent German interview for AllSchools.de, Sebastien Lefebvre talked about quite a number of things, but there were of his two answers that I found interesting to point out and translate. In these answers, Sebastien responded to some of the negative criticism the band’s new album has received and he also talked about whether his band feels obliged to uphold the status of a band that serves their fans ‘life mottos’ within their songs.

Check out an excerpt of this interview below [or read the original article here]:

I have read some reviews on your album…

What was in them?

Well, some were negative…

In what way? Of course I only read the good reviews.

Some argue that you are not authentic, because you are getting older and your music has changed quite a bit, especially in “I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed” and “I Dream About You”. And at the same time you still try to be the teenager you were at the beginning.

That is very interesting!

I would like to know – what would you respond to such critics?

I find it kind of interesting that we work for several years on something and then it is destroyed by someone just like that. I mean, this is the critics’ job: if they do not like something. But these are probably the same people who would criticize us if we did exactly the same kind of album over and over again. They would then say, “Oh, that make always the same.” I think some people simply just don’t like Simple Plan and that’s okay. It is their opinion. I think for us, it was always important to remember who we are and who our fans are. So I think that on this album, the rock songs are even rockier than they ever were. I think that many people think that the sound of Simple Plan inspired by punk rock and the fast songs are all still there. But when you look back on our first album, it is said that “Perfect” was our most successful song. It was an emotional ballad. Then there was “Welcome To My Life” and “Untitled” on the second album. What’s this Simple Plan sound really? It could in fact be anything. We are also the kind of band that wants to try something new. We have tried something totally new with “Summer Paradise” and it went well for us and our fans loved the song. It was great. So we wanted to make something like that again with “Singing In The Rain” and “I Don’t Wanna Go To Bed”. The latter is likely the poppiest song we’ve ever done. I like it. The song is fun and makes you wanna dance. Is it a song that will create a moshpit? Probably not. But still. “I Dream About You” is totally different, but we liked the song. So are we afraid of the few critics who didn’t get out album? Of course not. We liked the songs and they are on the album.

I have a feeling that you want a specific message out into the world with your songs. Something like “do what you want, be confident, let others not change you”

It has been found that this is precisely the message of the album. That is true.

Do you feel in a way obliged to your fans to kind of give them a “life motto”? You also started the Simple Plan Foundation eleven years ago. This shows that your fans are important to you.

I do not think that we feel we are obliged to do anything. But we know that it is important. We always wanted to make this dark, fast music with positive lyrics. It has always been a part of SIMPLE PLAN statements like “it gets better” or “hold on”. I think that we still continue with that just because there is so much free speech online. There is a lot of noise. It can be overwhelming for some people to make a decision on what to focus on. There is a lot of bullying and many negative comments. Some people put a picture online and are then forever sad because other people say something bad about it. It can be very hard. I think we just wanted to say “it’s okay to be you.” And because everyone is different, you can not tell what is normal and what is not. Nobody knows what is normal. I’m probably weird. You’re probably curious. That’s fine. One doesn’t need to be like everyone else. Yes, it is important to pursue your dreams and to stay positive and all that. But I think it is more important to do what you want to do. If it feels right, it probably is right. And then you should just do it. And not take those things or comments to the heart or to be angry. Some things should just be ignored. You just have to move on. Our song “Farewell” is a good example of that. There are some songs that say that. I think for us it’s important to talk about it because it also happens to us. We are in our thirties, in the public eye and people are constantly saying good or bad things about us. It was therefore important for us to talk about it in a song, for it is a part of our daily lives.