In a brand new interview with @SimplePlan_Fr, which took place in Lyon, in July, Chuck Comeau discussed multiple important questions that have been rising on the fans’ mind in the past few months: When will the band go back to the studio? Will they stop touring for a few years during that process like they usually do? What else do they have in store for us?

Thanks to our lovely fan Johanna (thank you!), we received a translation of this French interview and can now share with you some interesting facts that have been revealed in it. Let’s see!

25th anniversary of the band
Given the fact that Simple Plan started in 1999, it means that this year, in 2024, we are celebrating 25 years since the band’s formation. According to Chuck, there are big plans in works for this anniversary, mostly regarding a special release of all of their albums (including b-sides) on vinyl. This information can now be supported by the recently released this new reel by Simple Plan, where they hinted on some special new vinyl releases. Check out what Chuck stated about their 25th anniversary plans:

“We have lots of beautiful things that are coming for the end of the year and for 2025. It’s going to be the 25th anniversary of the band and the 20th of our second album. So we have nice projects to come, and some of them are going to be announced in the next weeks or months. We are also planning some nice occasions to celebrate everything.

[…] We are going to release everything in vinyl with different colors, and plan a package with unseen things that we have done. It’s going to be cool for old fans and for collectors. We are going to release some limited things that can only be found in the package.”

Back in Europe next year & new music?
Firstly, it has already been 2 years since the release of Simple Plan’s 6th studio album, Harder Than It Looks, which has been recorded pre-covid. At the same time, however, it has always felt like a very long time for fans when the band took 2 years off to prepare a new album. This, however, might be changing this time around!

The band agrees that they can’t just disappear for so long, so their goal is to find some balance between touring and making new music. Besides that, Chuck has also revealed that there are (yet undefined) plans to return to Europe in 2025.

“We hope to be back in Europe in 2025, we don’t know yet where, how, with who… but we really want to play shows and tour. We don’t necessarily want to stop for 2–3 years while making a new record. 

[…] We are going to try to find a new balance between new songs, album and tour. Maybe we are going to try to do like 1 new song or a few new songs that are going to be released from time to time rather than a full album. We haven’t decided yet, and we are trying to find the best option for us and for the fans. 

We are also thinking about what we are capable of releasing. It’s demanding for us to produce an album. We are taking our time because we don’t want to do something less good than what we did before. We want to release something of good quality.”

New documentary
Another topic of the interview was the documentary Simple Plan have been trying to put together in the past few months. They have recently asked Brazilian filmmaker Lucas Allegretto to join them on tour and to capture some of the moments. It is believed that he might be the one behind the making of this documentary.

Chuck has shared some more information about what this film should be about and that we should expect it to reveal what it is like to be on tour with them as well as tell the history of the band.

“[The documentary] is about the band’s career from the beginning to where we are now. The crew started to film in January on the European tour, then in Brazil and in Australia. They are also going to be there in the USA and Canada this summer. 

It’s going to be about what it is like to be on tour with us. It will feature interviews with different people and artists, we are digging out some old stuff… A little bit like the book but in a form of a movie. We are really excited about this and we can’t wait to release it.”

As of right now, there are no concrete dates of release of any of these new planned projects. However it seems like the vinyls might be the first on the list to be revealed. Let us know if the comments what you think of all these projects and which one you are looking forward to the most!