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Simple Plan guitarist discusses stereotypes, sellouts, losing MTV music award to 50 Cent
Joel Sanderson
Assistant A&E Editor
Joel Sanderson: Where are you from?
Sebastian Lefebvre: I’m from Montreal, Canada. There are not a lot of cities in Canada. We’re all from Canada, actually. Four of us went to high school together and got started there. Then we added David later.
JS: Americans think Canadians are hilarious. Do you say “eh”?
SL: No, that’s actually a misconception. Most Canadians don’t say “eh.” It’s just the French Canadians and there aren’t that many of them. Mostly it’s northern Ontario. And I don’t know why “eh” is such a big deal. I mean you guys say “huh.” Also, there’s no igloos, no log cabins.
JS: There are always people out there classifying other people’s music. What would you classify yourselves as?
SL: Pop/punk, or that’s what people say. We’re just about the melodies. Play what we like. We love bands that play with energy, that just go out and play their hearts out, so that’s what we do, we just go out an play with energy. People are always saying this new band sounds like this band and now people are sayin’ stuff like this new band sounds like Simple Plan.
JS: Does that bother you?
SL: No, I mean, people need something to compare to. When you’re describing a band you need a way to explain what they sound like, so whatever.
JS: What were you musical influences?
SL: I guess punk in general, like NOFX, Green Day, Lagwagon, Blah blah blah, bands like that. Alternative too, rock. While we were recording I was listening to a lot of older music, you know, The Cars, Beatles.
JS: What sort of things inspire you to write?
SL: I don’t know. When I hear a new band I’ll hear something I like and that gives me ideas and it makes me want to write better songs. Anything really can “inspire” me. We just write the best we can. Anything that crosses our mind at the time we play it out and see how it goes.
JS: What is Simple Plan’s writing process?
SL: It starts with an idea, guitar parts, something that sounds good so then we start adding pieces here and there. Then it starts to sound like a real song. Everything just evolves.
JS: Does your music have a central theme or is it just how it comes?
SL: It really just goes how it wants, but the way we play and the way we are and what we talk about makes it sound like simple plan.
JS: What kinds of bands do you listen to now?
SL: I always love Blink, because they’re always evolving. Each record they do something different. These days I really like the Black Eyed Peas – let’s get retarded. Mae is really good. It’s hard to listen to music when working on this record and the other records. You play a lot and you just want to get away from it when you go home.
JS: People have called punk whiny. What do you think about that?
SL: I can honestly say I’ve never heard. That’s … I’ve never had someone tell me that. Huh … I guess singers just try to be intense, or sing high.
JS: What’s it like being paid to play music?
SL: It’s good. It’s not about getting paid either, that’s not how I think about it. I don’t have to have a stupid job I don’t like, I can just do this, something I love. No worrying about rent. I just play music only, nothing else on my mind. Perfect.
JS: If you could do anything with your life, would this be it, if not what?
SL: Yes it would, I wouldn’t change anything.
JS: What are your other interests?
SL: Everything I like is music related. I actually just bought a home studio. Someday I’d like to be producing stuff. Other than that I guess touring, parties. Always music in the background. I guess I am also a computer geek.
JS: What do you think about punk becoming more mainstream?
SL: I think the main reason is because of so many fake bands that were around. All they do is dance. Then people heard all these bands playing instruments, talking about what they feel. Kids were attracted to the reality of punk. Real kids, real bands.
JS: Simple Plan had a great year last year, any highlights?
SL: Yes, MTV awards that’ was pretty phat. We lost to 50 Cent, but it that was still amazing. Also we played at Giants Stadium and played with Aerosmith. Also there was Warped Tour and the tour in Japan. There’s always good stuff happening anywhere.
JS: What exactly do you think a sellout is?
SL: Someone that’s selling out, that simple. Implies change. Looking at all these bands that “sellout,” it’s weird. They didn’t completely change their style. Bands have to evolve. You can’t expect a band to play the same thing on every album. People think that change means they’re selling out, like Blink. People are frustrated that a band they like a band and they found them and then they want to keep a band for themselves.
JS: What do you think about hardcore? Do you like the screaming?
SL: I like the screaming, the energy. But sometimes it’s just too much. I like it in bands like The Used, Story of the Year, Thrice. They put it in add energy. They should be screaming about some of that stuff, it’s just the feeling.
JS: You were on TRL a few months back, what do you think about MTV? Like, hate, indifferent?
SL: I think they should play more videos. It’s too bad they have all these shows about kids doing stuff. What’s that? I like that kids get to vote for their favorite video, it’s a good idea. It was pretty cool to be #1. It’s like “Dude, I’m cooler Justin Timberlake.” Even though it doesn’t last.
JS: Are a you a gamer?
SL: No, I’ll just stay online forever browsing sites. No real reason. I’ll just go from site to site checking stuff out. I do play some games though.
JS: Any favorites?
SL: I love Final Fantasy!
JS: As a Final Fantasy fan, what do think of the last two, X-2 and XI?
SL: X much better ... X-2 is just three girls changing clothes. I like shooting games [like] Splinter Cell and Max Payne. We did interview for Blender and they gave us FF online. It cost $20 to get on the server. It looks like #8 but better, but because of recording I haven’t had a chance to play it and I can’t really play it on the road.
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Simple Plan guitarist discusses stereotypes, sellouts, losing MTV music award to 50 Cent
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