Fans should note that it usually takes Simple Plan about 2 to 3 months for an album to be recorded in the studio. During this time we may expect lots of new studio updates such as vlogs and pictures. After that, it undergoes post-production – the final process before an album is released in which the audio files are being edited, mixed and mastered until the perfect final versions are ready to be put on the record.
Simple Plan: The well-pressed “reset” button
Interview by Yanick Tremblay Klimbo [original French article]
A reunion show for Reset at Amnesia Rockfest is rather unusual. What can you tell us about this event?
Chuck: It’ll be fun, for sure. I think it will go well. We had done one for the ten year’s anniversary of 1-2-3 Punk in 2009. It was at the Metropolis and it received a good response from people. Some thought it was really cool and they told us that we should do it again. We can not do it every year but five years later, it’s perfect.
Pierre: It’s already been 5 years?
Chuck: Seems like it was yesterday.
You know, obviously, the usual audience of Simple Plan is not present tonight at Rockfest. There are especially people from the metal community and old school punk in the crowd. What sort of reaction do you expect from them?
Pierre: As for me, I think we’ll have fun.
Chuck: I was a little apprehensive when we did the show for 1-2-3 Punk but the response was so good and I didn’t really expect that. It is obvious that some people said: “Ah … Simple Plan …” But ultimately, we had so many opposite reactions that I think this will be the same. Everything will be even amplified. I checked out the Facebook page of the festival and I looked at the comments. I was pleasantly surprised. I saw that Reset was for many people their first steps in this kind of music or Reset was their first show they ever went to. There are others who said they had seen Reset open for Face to Face, Strung Out and Lagwagon. I think this is a chance for them to review something that is a part of their youth. It should be good.
Pierre: Yes, it should be good. It was a good feeling.
Chuck: Maybe we will be wrong!
Pierre: I do not think people are going to be hateful. Sometimes, we are a little bit afraid.. You know, Simple Plan is a band that has a very different style as opposed to whatever happens here at Rockfest in Montebello. It is much more pop and less punk. Of course there will be some who won’t understand what Reset is, but as Chuck said, it is mostly people who have seen the band when they were younger and will come check us out again. There are people who grew up with Reset and for them, it will be a homecoming. They will fully appreciate this, and so will we.
By doing this little detour with Reset, do you think about the sound of the next Simple Plan album – that you might want to return to a more abrasive sound and go back to more of a punk sound or does this concert only serve as means to reunite with Reset? That is, unless you already have a definite idea of the new Simple Plan album.
Pierre: I do not think this show will influence the direction of the next Simple Plan album or our writing, even if it’s in our blood to compose the most punk material. While Simple Plan is known for its more pop songs, there is always a more aggressive side in our music, energetic and melodic. People perhaps don’t know this because they are the songs to which they are not exposed because they are not the singles that come on the radio or on TV. For example, we have a new song we wrote – which is rather punk rock. It will be on the new album – but we don’t know when that’ll be released. But we still like to produce fast songs, it really is in our blood.
Chuck: We often like to write a “super fast” song – trying to return to our roots. We tried but what happens is that they are not good enough to be on the album. But there are always 2 or 3 songs on each album that are faster. It appears often in settings. It does not change the fact that we grew up with No Use for a Name, Strung Out and Lagwagon. It is found in what we do because the music you loved when you were young, stays in your influences and is reflected in your own compositions. When you listen to it when you’re 13, 14, it marks you for life. I think it is still present, but we’ll see! We are currently writing the songs.
Pierre: Maybe seeing all those bands today will affect us.
You just told me that you are working on new songs, but there is no date yet for a new album. Can you tell if the new album will be available in 2014?
Chuck and Pierre: 2015.
So you’re still under contract?
Chuck: With Atlantic. This is our fifth album and we’re working on it right now. We are in the process of composing and should go to the studio in the fall.
Pierre: We hope to get it out early 2015.
And after an album comes the tour. Do you feel that your audience is aging? Do you feel that your fan base will continue to follow you or do you need to question it all the time?
Pierre: I think it is in our nature to question. We have doubts all the time. We are our own worst critics. We want to stay relevant. It is certain that we have fans who have left us. Others have stayed and others have joined over the years. The fanbase is always being renewed. With each album, we always managed to get a new younger audience. When we started a decade ago, they were too young and they were only a few years old.
Chuck: We think about our fans with each album. We care about them, and sometimes as a result we lose them, but at the same time new fans come around too. I’ve seen it during concerts. We lose some of the fans because they decide to go with other musical styles but so far we are very lucky. We have very loyal fans. In terms of longevity, it’s been 14 years since we started off, with (almost) 5 albums. It is certain that with each album, you are taking a little risk with your career. If it’s not good, you might lose a lot of fans. If it is good, you can have even more success. And that’s scary.
Pierre: But it’s a good opportunity.
Chuck: With each album, we want to exceed the previous one. We know that there is a possibility that it won’t work or that on the contrary it will be a step forward because our fans may become an even larger group. Our philosophy with each album release remains that we want to achieve higher levels and to reach more people.
Pierre: For us, the only way to control it, is with the quality of the material. If you are offered an album that will be loved, that people will listen to, think about it and talk about it to others that this is really good – this is what you have to do. There is nothing else we can do. Especially today, with social media, the public has a certain power. Even if you’re a popular artist, if the quality of your album drops, you also risk the descend of the level of your popularity. Your career can take an incredibly fast turn and there are other artists waiting to take your place afterwards. That’s why always take 6, 7 or 8 months and once even a whole year to write songs for the album … it’s incredible!
At this time, if you’d consider the percentage …?
Pierre: I think we are half way done. 50% of the album is written.
Are the lyrics are …
Pierre: No more! It is not recorded but they are prepared as demos.
Do you have a producer yet – Bob Rock maybe?
Pierre: We have not decided yet.
Would you keep it all with a local flavor? In other words, go with someone who produces music around here?
Pierre: It surprises me. There is not a lack of talent here in Quebec but since the group is of an international stature, we have the opportunity to work with very big names.
Chuck: Musically, we are somewhere in the middle of rock. I’ll surprise some because many people see Simple Plan as a pop group, but in the pop scene, we are considered too rock, even too punk for them. And in the rock world? It is too pop for them! We are caught between the two!
Pierre: We have a foot in each!
Chuck: When you play live, they are real guitars, real drums and a real voice. We want to keep the same concert energy on our albums. This is why we want a producer who gravitates toward the middle of pop and rock.
Simple Plan is a band that has enjoyed the best years of music videos to gain popularity. Are music videos is still relevant in 2014 or completely obsolete?
Chuck: Still important.
Pierre: For a band like us, it is very important. The biggest hit from our last album was Summer Paradise. The clip has been viewed 60 million times on YouTube. Music videos can have a great impact. If your clip is really good, people can watch it as many times as they want. You no longer have to wait until it pops up on Musique Plus. They can watch it 500 times at the end of the day.
Chuck: They can also share it on social media, which means your music video starts spreading. But now the game has changed a bit in the visual for an artist or a band. We must do more to fully furnish the web. It post vlogs from the backstage, share photos on Instagram or on Facebook.
Pierre: Even when we want to listen to a song quickly, what do we do nowadays? We’re going to find on YouTube.
Chuck: It’s a way to be accessible to many people who do not want to buy the album but like the band anyway. It is a way to be there and join them. Even if budgets are much smaller than they used to, a good music videp can make a difference. It also brings a new meaning to your song. You can even make an even better song with a good clip.
Last question, from your point of view of international artists. How do you see the Quebec music scene, regardless of the style?
Chuck: It’s always been very dynamic and it is still the case today. Look at this all the international bands present here at Rockfest, there are so many from the Quebec scene. But no matter the genre, Quebec, the talent is here and it is undeniable. We are proud to come from this area. We have always said we came from Montreal, Quebec. As soon as we went on tour, when we talk to people, we tell them we’re from Quebec. Wherever we will go, wherever we are, we will always be the same band from Montreal!
However, things weren’t going exactly according to plan, and Pierre was starting to realize Reset wasn’t the right place for him, so it was a great thing that in February 1999, Pierre met Chuck at a Sugar Ray show in Montreal, which is where their reconciliation began. There, Chuck has realized that the perfect lead singer he had been looking for for so long for the then-starting Simple Plan, was his old friend Pierre and he introduced him to his new project and asked him to try out for the band. Pierre had to keep the visits to Chuck’s home, where the band had been rehearsing, a secret from his band members in Reset, as he still hadn’t told them he was thinking of leaving. 
Whether you’re a new or an old fan of Simple Plan, you surely know that before Simple Plan became Simple Plan, most of its members were in a different, more punk-oriented, band called 
