You may recall our article from 2010 which gathered quite a lot of attention back in the day and even got a response from a Sum 41 member back then. The article was called ‘Sum 41 against Simple Plan…once again’ and in it we dived into the issue of then known rivalry between these two Canadian bands and featured a compilation of some of the instances where the two pop-punk acts went head to head and each made fun of each other in various interviews. The most memorable one being the quote “I would probably rather eat a goat ball than watch “I’m Just A Kid” by Simple Plan” by Sum 41’s former drummer Stevo Jocz.
Today’s article about the two bands will be quite the opposite however. As we’ve seen from the release of Simple Plan’s latest single ‘Ruin My Life’ featuring Sum 41’s lead singer Deryck Whibley, the two bands have finally grown up and definitely buried the hatchet between them. In a very interesting brand new interview for Exclaim with Pierre, Chuck and Deryck, the three musicians discussed the rivalry from their point of view from the very beginning all the way to when they finally hugged it out. Like Canadians do.
In the interview, Chuck confessed that the rivalry probably started back when Simple Plan just started off as a band and besides being a drummer, he also did some contributed to music magazines with some album reviews and in 2000 he actually reviewed Sum 41’s album ‘Half Hour of Power’, giving it only 2,5 stars out of 5 [this review is actually still online – in you speak French, you can read it here]. And it looks like Sum 41 didn’t exactly rise above this review, especially it coming from a fellow Canadian band member and this is probably where the tension between the two bands officially began.
“I felt so bad, truthfully. I was really heartbroken, because at the time, Sum 41 came out maybe a year before us, and they were already doing well and they [were] just a tiny bit ahead of us in some ways, you know, like in their timeline, like their record came out maybe a year before ours, like their first EP. So I was really like, ‘Oh, my God, what did I just do? Like I can’t believe this. This is snowballing and becoming so big.’ And I felt guilty and bad for the rest of my bandmates, I was like, ‘Guys, I cannot believe this. This little thing, this side job I’m doing, has somehow caused all this.’ I just felt really really bummed about the whole situation.”
– Chuck Comeau [Exclaim interview] –
For many years after that, many not so nice words have been said from each band, usually poking fun at each other at shows and in interviews. This however finally ended in 2008 when the two Canadian acts met at the Much Music Video Awards, where they had dressing rooms right next to each other. And surprisingly it was the fore-mentioned former drummer Steve Jocz, who decided to make the first move and hug it out.
“Stevo walked by me in the hallway and I was like, ‘Oh shit, here we go,’ and he was like, ‘Hey, dude, I’m sorry for all the shit we’ve been talking for the last few years. It’s so fuckin’ dumb,’ And I was like, ‘Sweet, that’s how I feel!’ And we kinda hugged it out, and from there, we did a couple of shows together. We went out with Deryck and the boys and had some good times. We hung out backstage, and we buried the hatchet and all realized that it was an immature young little beef that really had no substance to it.”
– Pierre Bouvier [Exclaim interview] –
After years of childish rivalry, Sum 41 and Simple Plan are finally on the same page. According to Chuck, growing older and realizing that both bands have been around for so long, both going through struggles of the music industry but both still being relevant in their genres. It was just time to finally put the differences aside and as Chuck put it “do something cool together”. And that is how Ruin My Life came in the picture.
And how did Deryck Whibley feel about the collaboration?
“For me, it always comes down to the music. Pierre sent me the song and I thought it was great right off the bat. We talked a little bit about how our vocal ranges were a little different from each other on this song and that could be kind of a cool thing. I like the way it turned out.”
– Deryck Whibley [Exclaim interview] –
