Latest / 78 Amped / I Love Classic Rock ft. Simple Plan

Transcript

I Love Classic Rock ft. Simple Plan · 78 Amped

• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Fresh on their inclusion on the 2026 Good Things lineup, we're chatting with Chuck from Canadian Pop Puck Legends Simple Plan.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Mate, welcome to the show.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, how are you?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate it.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's a pleasure to have you guys on.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations on you know being right at the top tier of the festival.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I want to, we were chatting just before we started recording.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: I can see some golf clubs in the back corner.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: You were saying you were hitting with Pierre this morning.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: What else can you see out there?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh boy, I hope it's not easy.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Hope you can see all my stuff.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's nothing to hide.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we were playing golf this morning.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: We were in uh we're on tour in the US right now.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: We had a day off today, and uh we decided that we wanted to uh go out there and you know have a little fun.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we uh we bring the clubs on tour.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: We love playing.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're the two of us are pretty obsessed with golf.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh it's uh it was great.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: It was a beautiful, awesome day.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say you're a good golfer or just you know, a passionate hobbyist golfer?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, look, there's this whole thing on Instagram where they ask people what they think a good golfer is, and there's a lot of different answers.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you saw that on your algorithm, but some people say you have to shoot in the you have to shoot par to be a good golfer.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: So if you if you say that, I'm not a good golfer, but I'm a I'm a 9.5, so you know, I can't.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I can I can play decent.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: I play, you know, I I I I'm very passionate about it, so I probably I wish I was better.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but it's a work in progress, you know.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: We're um Pierre is also great, he's I think he's a 7.5 or 8, so you know, we can uh we can hang.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: We're not gonna make fools out of ourselves, you know, but we're gonna have good days, bad days.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's about being more consistent.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Nine and a half handicap is nothing to scoff at, so that's quite impressive.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Look, let's chat good things festival because at time of record the the festival lineup's just about to drop, and we were chatting before.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a little bit since you guys have been on the festival, but you know, you're you're down in Australia fairly frequently.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, how keen are you to you know get down and play a big festival slot?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's just um we're so excited.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: We love good things.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a great festival.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: I love that it's diverse.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: I love that it's like it kind of represents all the element of the alternative scene, you know.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, and it's not just like one lane where it's like, you know, you can have simple plan and limb biscuit on the same poster and it makes sense, which I think is it's a rare.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: But I think the world is kind of evolving and it's changing from like in the early 2000s that would not have been possible, but now there's no more rules, and people love so much stuff, so much different stuff, and uh you can have it can co coexist.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's really exciting.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: I know that the rejects are on it too, and we love those guys.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of great pop punk as well on it, but there's also the heavy side.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's really cool.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of makes the festival kind of unique, you know, and um we're stoked to be a part of it.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: We've been we played it once, I think, and I want to say 2019, uh, was the year where Bad Religion was on and Simple Creatures.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I just remember loving the whole the whole concept, the sites, everything.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it just got bigger and better since then.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we were like every year we would look at the lineup and just go, like, oh man, I hope we can be on this thing.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: And now here we are, and we're kind of creeping up the poster a little bit, which is exciting as well.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you talk on the mixed lineup, it seems to be quite a common thing now.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: People are wanting these mixed bills and you know, particularly good things.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: You guys are right there with bands like Spirit Box, and then through the lineup, we've got Metalcore, we've got hardcore, and then we've got a lot of pop punk stuff as well.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anyone on the lineup that you know you're really keen to catch that people might be a little bit surprised by?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Limbiscuit, for sure.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we grew up.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's not an obvious thing that you would say, like, oh yeah, for sure they're fans of Limbiscuit, but there's something about they're having this crazy moment, like this resurgence, this return, and in a way it kind of mirrors what's happening to our band, you know, because for a while, like they were kind of like maybe not the most popular or coolest band around.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think we've had the same kind of trajectory where for a moment people were like a little, I don't know, I'm not gonna say embarrassed, but there was it wasn't like this cool thing to scream, I love simple plan, you know?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that, and um, and now since the pandemic, there's been this resurgence of of pop punk.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that there's some parallels.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not saying we're the same or as big as them, but the idea being that it's it's really cool to see a band kind of that had like this this high and then is having this other high, and maybe it's even bigger than it was in the in the early days, and that's what it feels like with us what's happening.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's so exciting.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the rejects, we always love these guys, we love playing with these guys.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they have matt massive songs, and we're just really big fans.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I'll be honest with you, I would love to see the whole lineup because um name me the pop punk bands on there, and I'll tell you.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, let me pull up the lineup.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hang on.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Where I have I should have been more like I've seen it, but like I've seen so many lineups that I don't want to make a mistake.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, that's alright.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got like we've got the rejects.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: I guess if we're going more the pop punk element, we've got like neck deep, we've got slowly slowly, um, even some older stuff, uh, some older bands, like you said, bad religion, ministry, Alexis on Fire.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Bad religion on it again?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: They are.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's one of my highlights.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: I that's my favorite band of all time.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, I'm catching them.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Every festival that we play with them, I'm going to see them.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Neck Deep, we're going on tour with them in Europe on our headline tour.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: They're supporting our tour.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: And they're like one of those, like, well, I mean, I was gonna say like young, up and coming.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: They've been around for a while now, but they're sort of younger than our generation, and it's one of my favorite bands in that sort of generation, like with State Champs and Neck Deep and Mayday Parade.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I love these bands.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna say those, those three.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, for me, the that the pop punk lane or the punk rock lane is kind of like that's that's my go-to, right?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's our home.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, I don't know some of the bands, I know like um some of the heavier, bigger bands, I'm not as familiar.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna I'm gonna be you know playing them until we get to December to get to know them better.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: 100%, yeah.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: A bit of exploration before you get over here.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's the whole point of a of a festival, right?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: You kind of it leads you to new places and to new uh to new bands, which is cool.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: You spoke on the resurgence of Limp Biscuit and you know, since the pandemic, you guys as well.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'd love to see or to pick your brain about it because it feels like there's this new wave of of younger fans coming to, you know, these these shows that you know, shows of bands that have been around for a long time.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was at a Super Heaven concert not too long ago, and their song Youngest Daughter did numbers on TikTok, and young fans were just absolutely loving it.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: You guys, you know, the I'm just a kid trend has absolutely popped off.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, has have you found that the crowds are, you know, you've got the the the Rusted On fans from you know when Simple Plan first started, but you've got this young crop coming through at shows where you know Oh my god, a hundred percent.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're seeing it every night.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: We're on tour in the US right now, we're headlining our own tour, and I you could you you can't believe how many kids are sitting on the parents' shoulders, they're having their sign, like this is my first concert ever.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I'm just a kid everywhere, and like I wasn't born when your record came out.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we're seeing it all, everything.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: And they they're coming in and they were not even like that's the thing, they were not even born, not when our first record came out.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: They were not even born when our like fourth or fifth record came out, and they know every single song.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and sometimes it's like, oh my, you're you know, they'll say crazy things like oh, you're my mom's favorite band, or they'll say, like, yeah, I love you guys, like I love classic rock, and you're like, Are you kidding?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Come on, yeah, that that that that one hurts a little bit, I'll be honest.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: But but it's kind of like it's like they're finding something in the music that they can't find anywhere else, maybe in in the current modern music.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: There's something about the early, well, the late 90s, early 2000s, musical scene, alternative scene, pop punk scene, punk rock scene.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: That there was an authenticity to it, there was an honesty to it, there was an energy to it, and that timelessness that you hear these songs, you put on a blink record, and it could have been recorded last week, you know.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like it it they the songs stand up that to their, you know, even if it's they've been around for 25 years, um they hold up, you know.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: And even like when I go back and I listen to our records, I feel like, okay, like I can see how some young people can find something in there that's interesting to them.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, obviously we had the TikTok thing, which was a major gift for us, and we're so grateful, truly.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, it it changed the game because I think it brought back people that used to love the band and maybe moved on or forgot, or just like life gets busy.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: You got, you know, like you got a job now, and music is not the center of your life.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: But then all of a sudden, this band that you used to love when you were a teenager, it pops up on your on your for you page or on your Instagram feed, and you're like, oh my god, like it it you know, one song can bring you back to a whole era of your life, a time, and I think it's doing that for people.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like maybe it was an um a less complicated time, maybe there was less responsibilities, it was free, and people want to feel that again, you know, because it's been rough these past few years for a lot of people, and it's like when they hear the music, they can kind of like teleport to a different moment in their lives, and it brings back all this memory, good and bad.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that there people also like we hear that all the time.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, man, like you got you got me through some real stuff.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, when I don't think I'd be here if it wasn't for this album or this song or whatever.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that the music has um the music you love as a younger person when you're dealing through like really big emotions and really big life changes and all that, and like everything is a bit more intense.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think it just sticks with you.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: Same for me.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the band that I grew up, you know, for me it's no effects and bad religion and lag wagon and like no use for a name and you know, whatever, like all that kind of like offspring, all that crop of bands, like they still it's the more it's comfortable, it's home, you know, like it feels like because I love to hear new music, but it's there's an effort required to get into it, and sometimes even if I'm trying, it just doesn't hit me the same way.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I think people that's that's happening, but as far as like the young kids, why it resonates with them, it's hard to say, man.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, it's uh I just think the music is different than what's out there right now, maybe, you know, and and it and that uh feels fresh.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's like we hear that a lot from teenagers that come to our shows or young kids, and they're like, man, like it sounds, it doesn't feel contrived, it doesn't feel like it was made for TikTok, it doesn't feel it was like I don't know, it it it feels authentic.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, I completely understand.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think it it definitely does, and it's um yeah, it's not overproduced and it's not like this super digital feeling like a lot of the modern music has, like it's yeah, it feels more raw.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: I think maybe maybe that's the thing.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe there's something raw about it that doesn't feel like it's been like you know, engineered, or I don't know, maybe that's what it is.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's um it's really cool.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, like, frankly, like there's something about that, and also like you can't ignore the fact that stuff comes around, right?
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it's been 20 years, 25 years, so it's kind of like a cycle of and now it's like it's stuff is coming back.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: People are dressing up with baggy pants and they're skateboarding again, and their the whole lifestyle is coming back.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Vans Warp Tour, we just played in Long Beach.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: We we got to close the festival and there was 65,000 people there.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's bigger than Warp Tour has ever been, you know?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like it's uh it's I think people wanna maybe people feel like it was things, and I and that sounds like such a boomer thing to say, like things were better in our days, but there was something about there was no social media, there was no it was more like you were in the moment more.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: It was like the last moment of pre pre-digital life.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that that they might that might have to do with it, you know.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like everything wasn't about being shared, being like um optimized for algorithms, it was kind of like you were doing stuff because you believed in it and you cared and you were passionate about it.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I think maybe that comes across.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean I'd love to know.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: We've spoken to some bands who have had um this similar sort of um evolution of their fan base, like Simple Plan has, and they've said that younger fans are gravitating towards some deeper album cuts because they weren't around for the marketing of the singles at the time.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Have you had any sort of unexpected tracks that you've had to pull into the the live set?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because yeah, we get like we get oh, and that's the most crushing things because like we'll meet people, like we do this this sort of um this meeting greet before the show and all that, and people will come up and like especially like when it's a young kid, it's like my favorite song is like random track number nine on like fifth record, and you're just like, Oh man, I have I would have never suspected that that would be your favorite song, and then you're like now you feel guilty, like, well, we're not planning on playing that one, we haven't played in seven years, so we're at sound check trying to like all right, maybe we can learn and play tonight.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like it's always a balance because you're playing like the shows are getting bigger here.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: We're playing like 5,000 people every night, this you know, six, seven thousand people.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: So you're like, and so many people have never seen us before.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, how many like there's some staples that you have to play, you don't have a choice, and then it's like, okay, so how do you fit all that in?
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: How do you make everybody happy?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it's always like that's what happens when you have six records, and you know, it's like you're never gonna be a have a perfect set list that makes everyone in the crowd happy.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because even for me, when I go see my favorite band, I'm like, how could they not play this one?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Are you serious?
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: But it's uh it's it's it's hard, it's it makes you it breaks your heart because people will say, like, oh man, like you didn't play my favorite song, and it's just like you feel we take it personally, we feel guilty.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, oh man, I'm sorry, you know.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: I guess there's also there'd be some songs that people mention, you know, I couldn't remember how to play that even if I tried.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there's a few that we haven't played in in like literally years, so it would be like it's not like you can just like get on the bike and play.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's a little bit of like, okay, I gotta go back and I don't remember what I played at all.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so there's a little bit of that.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes people are like, Well, why can't you just play it?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, because I really truly do not remember anything how to do it, you know.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: But um but generally we try, we've been doing um, we've been trying really hard to like every night to have like um one or two, we call them like the kind of like the wild cards that we bring into the set and we rotate them because a lot of people come to multiple shows now, and uh we'll have people that come to four, five, six, seven shows on the tour, and it's like try to keep it fresh for them, you know.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's that's a great way to do it because then there's it it gives people reason to come back and they want to say what songs they're gonna say.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, I really like that approach.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we're not exactly the Grateful Dead at some point because we you know, like the set list, we feel like we've been fine-tuning it for years now, so the festival set list kind of like it's hard to completely start from scratch every night.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, some bands do that, like Pearl Jam and Grateful Dead.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's something really cool about that, but our version of that is like two, three songs that are coming in and out, and we try to bring like fan favorites and obscure tracks and everything, and try to make everybody happy.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Well, look, Chuck, before we let you go, we've got good things coming up in uh December.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: You're on tour at the moment, but leading towards 2027 and into the new year, what's you know, what's it look like for Simple Plan?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, we're gonna start.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: We've been st we started writing new songs uh at the beginning of this year.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we've we've we've invested like a good three, four months, like just kind of like compiling a new music that we love.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: And we're very excited.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: We got a lot of stuff that we're really proud of.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's not quite done yet.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I think in 2027, probably more writing and recording and getting something ready because as much as we love it, that people love our early stuff and everything, we don't want to be that kind of band that becomes stuck in the past and that's all that they're all about.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: We want to keep pushing forward.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: We wanna, and every band says that, but we truly, you know, uh feel like inspired and energized, and um that's how we that's how it we keep it fun too, right?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: For ourselves is to come up and to kind of challenge yourself.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: And you're you're really playing against your own history at this point because you know how can you match the love that people have for the early records and all that, and it's hard, uh, but we keep trying.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: We keep showing up at the bat and you know, take a shot at it.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I feel like our last record, people really like our fans truly loved it and were like, man, this is on par with everything you've done before.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the bar, like that's what we want to do.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we're taking our time and we're we're but definitely new music and then more touring.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're gonna we haven't toured our home country in Canada in a long time.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: They're getting pretty upset.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, like like a proper full headline tour.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna do that, we're gonna go to Europe and do festivals.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: So it's gonna be busy, but it's gonna be a lot of new music next year.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm sure our listeners are gonna be psyched hearing that.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, for those listening, make sure to catch Simple Plan Live at Good Things Festival in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane the first week of December.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Chuck, thanks so much for taking the time to chat.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: My pleasure.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.