Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / 'Kids in the Crowd': SIMPLE PLAN’s Heartfelt Documentary Celebrates 25 Years Of Friendship, Fans And Fortitude

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'Kids in the Crowd': SIMPLE PLAN’s Heartfelt Documentary Celebrates 25 Years Of Friendship, Fans And Fortitude · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, I'm Chuck from the band Simple Planned Drummer.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Beautiful, Thanks so much. The Kids in the Crowd documentary
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: really pulls back the curtain. What was the most emotional
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: part of making it personally for you?
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Ah, I mean so many emotional moments making this thing.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: It was a two year process. We started thinking about
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: this about two years ago. We started filming early twenty
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: twenty four and it went on for the entire year. Meanwhile,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: we were digging into the archive. We had thousands and
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: thousands of hours of footage that we had collected throughout
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: our entire twenty five year career, but also from you know,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the early days of like our first band. Pierre and
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I started playing when we were thirteen years old, and
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: we had all this, you know, quite this big collection
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: of footage from you know, literally like our first band ever.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: So we're just revisiting that, looking at all that, seeing
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: things that was really meaningful and significant, but also seeing
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: things that we had totally forgot about, you know, like
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: things you go and like hold on, we're I don't
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: remember doing that, Like where was that? I think we
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: were a bit overwhelmed by the scope of it, all
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: of what we had done and like I always say that,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: you know, we the band has been around for twenty
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: five years. But in some ways it's really interesting. In
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: some ways, it feels like it was fifty because we've
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: done so much. We worked so hard, we traveled, we
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: went to we played in like seventy countries. We've you know,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: multiple multiple pool times around the world. We you know,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: we made six albums so far, Like it's it's but
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: at the same time, it feels like it was just yesterday.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: So it feels like fifty years, but it also feels
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: like it was five years not even. So it's like
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: it's just when you're in a band, you or at
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: the level that we've been sort of you know, kind
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: of at like it just feels like it's intense. It's
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: just it's a lot, and it's not easy to process
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: all of it. So to me, it was a joy
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: in lots of ways making the project because it kind
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: of pulled you back into so many amazing moments of
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: your life. But also it was really difficult because it's
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: hard to try to condense twenty five years into an
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: hour and a half and you have to make impossible choices,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: and you and everybody remembers things a little differently. Everybody
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: looks at their role in the band in a different way,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: and it's really hard to kind of all agree on
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: one version of the story. And yeah, so it was tricky.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: It was a tricky process, and it was an emotional
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: process because it's your life. It's literally your entire life.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: And now we have kids, we have families, and we
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: have parents, we have kids. So in a way, yes,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: you're making this for the fans, but you're also making
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: it for yourself. You're making it for the legacy of
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: the band, but for your personal legacy as well, and
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: you're making it for like one day, maybe your kid
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: pulls that out and it's like, hey, I want to
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: understand my dad a little better. Let me watch that
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: and see who he was. So obviously it's tricky because
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: everybody has a certain way they want to be perceived
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: or remember. So, yeah, there was a lot of emotions
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: making it. It was a lot more intense than I
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: thought it would be.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. And out of all of that footage that
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: you guys had, is was there a piece of footage
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: that it did not make the cut that you really
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: wish had made the cut?
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Well, I was going to say, I wasn't sure where
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: you're going with that question, but one thing came to
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: mind that the first piece of the question. Was there
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: a piece of footage that was really special that blew
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: your mind? And I was going to say, like, yes,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: there absolutely was. So towards the end of the problems,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: we had collected like so much, so many tapes, so
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: many vhs, so many DV tapes, like you know, hundreds
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: of them, and we were looking everywhere for if we
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: had forgotten anything. And I found this this little box
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: in my parents' basement, like was hidden. I hadn't you know,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: found it before. And it was towards the very end,
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: like I'm talking like probably last March, so like a
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: few months ago, three four months ago, and I found that,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: and I'm like, I don't know why, but I had
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: this intuition that these tapes it was like nineteen ninety
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: nine or nineteen ninety four on it. I was like,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: there's something special about those, and we need to transfer
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: them and figure out what's on them because we couldn't
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: just we didn't have the machines. And the production company
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: that was helping us make the movie, they're like that's it.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: We cannot take any more. Were overwhelmed. That's and we
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: had to go rogue and we had to like literally
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: like transferred ourselves, like we paid for it ourselves, we
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: like without telling them and enough Like on that footage
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: was like our first the first show Pierre and I
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: ever played in our entire lives and our parents and
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: our friend's basement, like high school buddies were watching us.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: And it was a party. It wasn't even the show.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: It was like a literally like a party that we
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: were playing. Ye and I saw each other like at
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: maybe fourteen years old, thirteen years old, like playing and
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: we were playing a cover of basket Case from Green Day,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: which is the only cover we ever played because we
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: wrote all our songs right away except that one song
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: that we covered. And it was so crazy to see
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: how naive it was, but at the same time, how
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: similar it was to what we do now, Like Pierre
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: and I would actually swap like he would go play drums,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: I would grab the mic, and twenty thirty two years later,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: we still do that. Yeah, and I forgot that we
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: did that back then, And yeah, I saw. And then
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: there was this other video that was like us like
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: hanging out at his parents' house, but like we're rehearsing,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: we're jamming, but then we're just kind of messing around
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: with a camera and you could tell like the purity
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: of the friendship at fourteen years old, and like we're
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: just goofing around, we're laughing. There's no there's no responsibility,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: there's no consequence, there's no it's not like okay, like
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: we have to make a record, we have to write
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: a great song if we've done all our careers over
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: you know, or like we have to go on tour.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: We don't have a choice. Like it's it's innocent, And
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: it really kind of brought me back to like, you know,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: like the whole foundation of this band is the friendship,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: you know, and being in the band will damage it,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: and we'll change it, will alter it, but at the
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: very beginning, that's how it started. And I think that's
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: why we're still in the band together because because of
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: that friendship, it was really pure, you know.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Definitely you It's funny that you started talking about that
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: and the friendship because something I noticed in the documentary
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: there was a really really sweet and honest moment from
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: you that was really raw you talked about your and
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: Pierre's relationship and friendship and the ups and downs, and
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: you didn't shy away from those tough moments that you
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: guys had had together. And I as a fan, really
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: loved seeing that honesty from you, because you know, sometimes
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: you just think, oh, everyone in bands gets along, and
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: if they don't, it's behind closed doors. But you were
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: really honest and said, no, we had moments where we
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: didn't agree with each other, you know, but we made
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: it through because we both had such a great friendship.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's still one of the most painful thing
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: about you know, the whole thing about being in the
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: band is like you know, it's it's it really grinds
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: the friendship because like you have to make all these
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: decisions and they unpack each other's lives, and you know,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: like you and and and the dynamic that we have.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm Pierre is not the most driven person.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: He's very very very talented, and I'm not the most talented,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: and I'm very very very driven and he's not the
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: most driven. So in a way, if you could combine
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the two of us, it would be the perfect like
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: the perfect personality to be in the band right, like
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: extremely talented and extremely driven, but for whatever reason in
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: our case, you know, we sort of need each other
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: to make it work. And I think at times that
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: dynamic has been frustrating for both of us. Like I
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: wish I had his talent, so I could write the
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: entire record, you know, on my own, and whenever I
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: feel like it as fast as I want, like, let's
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: not take a break, let's go, I can just write it.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: And but I can't. And I'm sure that he feels
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: like sometimes like, man, I'm tired of being pushed. I'm
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: tired of being you know, told like we need to
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: tour more, we need to write more songs. We need
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: to you know, because that's kind of my role, and
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: that takes a toll. So yeah, it breaks my heart
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: a little bit even just talking about it, because you know,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: it's it just it's it takes a toll. And but
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the one thing I'll say is that as we got older,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: we learned a lot from our early days of like
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: when we were teenagers, we were not very mature. We
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: didn't know how to be in a band together, and
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: we we you know, we had a massive fight. I
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: got kicked out of the band. It broke my heart.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: It was really really like the most devastating moment of
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: my life. And in a way, I'm grateful it happened,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: even though there's still some scars from it, because what
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: I'm realizing is that probably because that happened, then it's
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: why Simple Plan did not break up or never took
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: a hiatus or never went on a break It's because
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: we experience the devastation of what it's like when you
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: break up the band or when you get kicked out,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: and we're like, okay, we know the red line. Now.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: We know that you can CROs if you can get
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: close to it, but if you cross it, you lose
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: everything you love. And I think it really informed how
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: we went about being in Simple Plan.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well put, it's like you guys already
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: already had gone through that breakup so early on, and
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: you know all the crap that comes along with that
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: that you guys are like, Okay, we never want to
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: get back there, So how do we just evolve.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: From that exactly? And it really it really taught us
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: a lot. It made us better band members, I think better. Yeah,
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: it just it prevented the usual mistake that most people
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: do when they're young, they start to get successful, you
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: get on each other's nerves, and then you fuck up
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: the band and then you know, and then you deprive
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: yourself of everything you've built, you know, you take it
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: all away, and it's a real shame. And so for us,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: like we had that experience and we didn't want to
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: go back there, and I think that's how the band
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: is still together today, you know.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. And one of the key takeaways was how
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: important your fans are. How did it feel watching their
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: stories unfold alongside yours?
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that was super important that we really wanted to
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: capture the fact that the fans were part of our
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: story and they were a big part of it. I
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: mean it's a cliche thing like, oh, you know, they're
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: the reason why we're here. If it wasn't for them,
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: we wouldn't be there, But it's it's it's really true.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: And I think with our band, we never had It's
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: it's interesting like we you know, we were always a
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: bit of the underdogs. We were never the coolest band
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: to love, you know, like our fans they were you know,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: I think they were always understood that maybe they weren't
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: the the Hippis coolest people, and we were not the
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: coolest Hippis band. So that in a way that bonds
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: you in a like pretty profound way because it's like,
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: you know, you feel like we felt like the underdogs.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Maybe they felt like the underdogs. So we had this
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: thing in common, uh where we felt like we were
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: both a little bit on the outside, you know, and
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: we were both maybe I don't know, I think if
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: we if our band would have blown up on the
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: first single and maybe it's you know, it's massive everywhere
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: at the same time around the world, like you have
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: this massive song, maybe we would have a different mindset.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: But it wasn't like at all like that for us.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: It was quite the opposite. Everything that we had to earn,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: everything we have to we had to work for. Nothing
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: was given to a point where sometimes it was I
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: wish it would have been a little bit easier, because
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: it was. It was a real Everything was was hard,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: you know. But what it did is it made us
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: really humble and it made us like appreciate each and
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: every fan because like it was really hard to like
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: once once we got somebody that was with us, it
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: was like that person was precious because we didn't have
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: millions and millions of those, you know, so at the beginning.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: So I think that that really made us look at
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: the fans in a more like they they became more
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: precious or more important. We wanted to protect that. We
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: didn't just think, oh, it's okay, who cares we have
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: so many anyways, you know what I mean. So, yeah,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: they're part of the story. And I think that when
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: we released Perfect that opened up a whole different dimension
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: of the band. It really we went from being like, Okay,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: this is a fun band, like you know, they have
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: tons of energy, they jump around, they play like these
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: kind of like like Irreverend, you know, in your face
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: pop punk anthems. Cool. But when we release Perfect, it
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: changed the whole way that fans related to us because
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: it wasn't just like, oh, it's a fun band all
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: of a sudden. It was a band that was like
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: that understood themn the fans. It was a band that
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: the relationship became more profound, the relationship became deeper. It
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: was like, oh like now we're we're on a whole
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: different level with the fans. And I think it changed
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: our whole relationship with them because the band became just
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: more important. It wasn't just a band that you went
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: to see on a Friday night because they were fun.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: It was a band that you listened to, you know,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: all the time, because they were like you felt understood.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: And then it led to us writing songs like Untitled
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: and Crazy, and it led us to write save You
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: and the songs save My Life, and it really informed
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: that our musical identity, you know. And I think that
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: when we wrote all these songs, it just reinforced the connection.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: So it was like this kind of like feedback loop
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: where every time we would write one of those songs,
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: the connection would get stronger. So it was really important
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: for us to feature the fans and you know, show
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: how important they were, and we wanted them to see
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: themselves in the story in the movie.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's beautiful and a little bit more on
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: how you guys relate so much to your fans and
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: people get so much from your music. Do you find
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: it a huge responsibility? Do you find it really tough
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: when fans will come up to you and say, you know,
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: you guys save my life, Like it must be a
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: huge thing to take on.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I would say that I don't know.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: It's an interesting point because I don't want to seem
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: like like I don't want people to do that because
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: I feel like, in a way, we're we're the vehicle, right,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: We're kind of like the vessel that people that are
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: going through tough times they hear the band, they use
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: the band. There's like a lifeline for a lot of them,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: you know, and when they meet you, there's such an
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: intimate connection that they feel like they can tell you
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: things that they wouldn't be telling most strangers, or like
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: they don't look at you like a stranger, right, They
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: look at you like somebody that's been there, almost like
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: a friend. So you know, yes, it is intense sometimes
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: when people give you letters or tell you like these
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: stories that are pretty sometimes like really intense and really
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: sad and heartbreaking, and like we're talking like the worst
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: things that can happen to people, you know, cancer, like
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: losing people, you know, people being like abused their people
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: being like neglected by their parents when they were kids,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: and you know, it's it's it's really like you're seeing
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: the darker side of like humanity and and how people
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: like trying to you know, take their lives and all
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: that stuff, and so it is a big responsibility. I
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: think the way that we've dealt with it it was
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: in two ways. It's like, first of all was three ways.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: First of all, whenever we meet people and they tell
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: us their stories, like we always make sure that you're
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: there and you listen and you give them the time
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: to tell you what's going on, it's very important. We
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: always wanted to write songs on every record that would
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: be helpful for people. You know. It became almost like,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say it was like a public service
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: because it wasn't. But it felt like people would tell
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: us like, hey, my life is really tough right now,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: like I need a new simple plan record to like
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: get me true. So you're like, oh, okay, so we're
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: not just gonna write songs about like how it's sunny
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: outside and everything is perfect. You know. We felt like
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: a bit of a responsibility to write stuff that was
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: a bit deeper, that was a bit more you know,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: honest and heartfelt. And then like the other thing was
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of what the other thing. I
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: was sorry tracks, but but it was kind of like
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: it was also just going and playing shows for them
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: and like, you know, making sure that we that that
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: that they could come and have that that kind of
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: catarctic moment where they can sing their hearts out and
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: be and have that moment of release and everything. So yeah,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: it's it's I don't know, I think it just comes
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: with the territory. It comes like with the kind of
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: band that we are. It's and in a way like
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: we're grateful because what more can you ask for than
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: writing songs that have an impact that can and oh,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: I forget what I was gonna say. And then it
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: led us to start in the foundation, the Simple Plan Foundation,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: which was very important for us, and it was a
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: way to have it more direct like way of helping
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: people more directly as opposed to just writing music. It
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: was like, okay, well we should take the next step.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: We should do something that feels a bit more real,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: like anchored in real life. So that was the idea
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: behind the foundation.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, beautiful, And you guys really have shown up
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: for those fans. As you said, I think you've been
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: like a common lifeline for them, for people to keep going,
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: which is you know, and as you said, you're not
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: just writing songs that are saying everything's going to be okay.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: You know, you're acknowledging the hard things that people go through,
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: and yeah, relating it's awesome.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: And but but I would say that there was always
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: If there is one thing about Simple Plan is that
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: that hope always shines through, like it's like, yeah, it's
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: really really tough, but we're going to figure this out.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: And that's kind of the essence of what we do
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: for the lyrically and with the music. You know, it's
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: always like, Okay, it can be really really tough, but
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: there's a light at the end of that tunnel and
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: we can get there together. Yeah, that's it. That's it.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: The early days for you guys weren't always easy. What
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: kept you guys going when the punk scene didn't fully
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: embrace you.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: That's a good I mean, it was really hurtful for
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: us because we came from If you watch the documentary,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: I think people are going to realize that it's like,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: it was frustrating for us when we came out because
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: people thought we were just like overnight success or we
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: were just like we were put together or we were
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: manufactured band, and when in fact, we had been playing
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: for since we're thirteen years old, for like six seven
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: years already, and it was a like like it was
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: a legit, credible punk rock band that we were in.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: So when people started to say, you guys, we were
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: a bunch of sellouts and we didn't know anything about
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: punk rock, it was like, well, we were just playing
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: with Good Riddance and Penny Wise and you know, and MxPx,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: and we were playing with all these bands that were
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: well respected, like lag Wagon and Strung Out, and so
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: it was it was hurtful. It was kind of like
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: but I understood because we sort of shifted our musical
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: sound and we shifted our lyrics a little bit, and
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: so I got it. What kept us going was like
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: the conviction that we belonged there, that we had paid
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: our dues, that we had earned our spot, that we
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: had like a long history of playing this kind of music,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: and that yeah, that we belonged there, and the desire
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: to prove people wrong. I think that's really been strong
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: for a simple plan. This chip on our shoulder, we've
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: always had it the band. You know, we were very
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: driven and we had a point to make, you know,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: and the point to make was that we were, you know,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: like a really good live band, and we really believe
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: in what we did, and we didn't care if people
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: thought it wasn't good enough or it wasn't punk enough
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: or whatever. We were like, no, this is what we
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: want to do, and we're not going to take no
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: for an answer. We're going to keep on playing. And
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: in fact, when we were you know, pedal with bottles
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: and we were like, you know, like people would just
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: stand the entire show like like this, and like would
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: yell at us, and it made us want to play harder.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: It made us want to you know, run, run and
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: jump higher on stage and just play harder and and
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: and be a better live band and just stay on
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: that stage no matter what, you know, because it was
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: it was ours. It was ours, like it was our moment,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: and we were not going to let anybody stop us.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: So I think in lots of ways that that sort
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: of hate of the and the whole not punk enough thing,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: it made us a better band. It made us like
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: want to play harder and better. And now, like when
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: I think about when I think about with the kind
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: of band we are now, it's been informed by all
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: these years. You know, like we never cheat, We never
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: go on stage and play like a half ass show,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: because even though we don't have these haters, we know
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: that people still think, like like it's almost like we
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: still want to no matter how successful the band is,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: and no matter how we don't really have the hate anymore,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: it's still ingrain in us that we have to prove
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: everybody wrong and we have to show that we're much
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: better than people realize and all that. So, yeah, that's
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: part of us, part of the of the DNA of
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: the band.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: Now, Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. Never never will you play
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: a half hour show, as you said, it will always
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: be fulogged, full energy.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because there's also this reason, which is, well, when
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: you're playing, you know, we're twenty five years into our band, right,
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: so that's a lot. I mean, that's quite a lot
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: of shows that we've played. And but what's the crazy
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: part is that when we ask people now like, hey,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: you know, how many people it's the first time seeing
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: simple plan And like most headline shows and festival it's
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: even worse. But headline shows, it's like literally like half
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: the crowd, if not seventy five percent right their hand
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: and says it's my first time seeing you, So you're
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: truly making a first impression. On all these people. So no,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter how many shows you've played, how great
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: the show, Like when we came to Australia in twenty
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: twenty four. Last year we played like our hearts out.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: But when we come back next year or whatever it is,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: we come back like you're starting from zero. Half the
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: crowd has never seen you, so it's like whatever, Like
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: how amazing you were last week, it doesn't matter. You
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: start over every single time. And I think that makes
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: you also want to play the best show possible because
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: you start to imagine in your head, like say you
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: go on stage and you feel like, man, I'm not
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: sure about tonight, like I'm a little tired, I would
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: rather I wish I was home, I missed my family, whatever.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: And then you start to look at the front row,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: out of the balcony or whatever, and you see like
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: and I start to imagine in my head, like, oh man,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: this kid, maybe he's been waiting for fifteen years to
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: see us, Yes, this is his time, Like he had
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: this date circle on his calendar, like it was like
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: I or maybe he took the train for six hours
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: and you know, he came to see the band, or
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: maybe like he worked really hard, like he worked over
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: time to pay that ticket, and he's there, he's sitting
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: there and he wants to show. And it's like when
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: you start thinking like that, there's no way you're putting
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: on like an average show. You're gonna give it your all.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: And I think that we've never forgot what it was
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: like to be the fan in the crowd. And that's
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: why we named the movie The Kids in the Crowd
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: because fundamentally, I think we still are those kids in
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: the crowd and we somehow we got on stage and
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: you know, but who we are is still that kid.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: And I think that and we realize that now we've
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: become the band that the kids in the cross look
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: up to, just like when we were the kids in
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: the crowd, we were looking at to like No Effects
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: or you know, Penny Wise or whatever band, Bad Religion
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: or whatever. So that comes with a responsibility, you know,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: to deliver.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, And Okay, just to end it, you guys
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: do have a new single, Nothing Changes dropping. Is it
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: tomorrow for you guys?
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: I think it's literally in like fifteen minutes. Oh okay,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: it's coming out. Yeah, it's because it's almost it's almost
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: midnight here, so yeah, you know, so it usually drops
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: at midnight. So yeah, I think it's coming out really
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: and is that.
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: The sign of maybe there's more in the works, another album.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Or well, I mean, you know, the last album was
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. We put out this song with od
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Role not too long ago, which was like a fun collab,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: but it wasn't our song. It was more like hers.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: We were just kind of featured. But this documentary, the
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: whole process, the whole story, and watching it and looking
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: at all these archive it really inspired the band to
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: like kind of write a song about all of it,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: like what it's like to be in the band, and
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: the sort of the essence of the song is like,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: you know, we've changed, like a lot of things have changed,
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: but in lots of ways nothing's changed at all. Nothing changes,
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: you know, like it's we're still on stage, we're still
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: doing what we love the most. We're still trying to
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: write the best, simple plan song that we can every
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: single time. And you know, so that was the inspiration,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: and it because we wanted to be careful, like you
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: make a documentary, you celebrate your past and it's awesome
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: and it's great and we're proud of it, but you
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: don't want to become like this fossil, this kind of dinosaur.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: That's just it's all about the past, and it was
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: really important to kind of balance that with like, Okay,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: like we're going to take a moment to celebrate, but
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: we're also in the future. We're we're starting the next chapter,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: and we look at this document Andrey has a way
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: to really kick off what's coming next for simple plans.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: So no, we don't. It's not like the first single
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: off the album. It's a single off the soundtrack of
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: the album of the movie. Sorry, but yes, we want
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: to make new music and we want to keep being
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: creative and we want to keep making more records. So
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: probably next year because this year we're just so stacked
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: with touring and everything. But next year we're going to
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: start looking at new music. Oh fantastic.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: We can't wait, and I can't wait to hear this
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: new single. Chuck, thank you so much for your time today.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: It's been amazing, my pleasure. Thank you very much. It
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: was great talking to you. Thank you.