Band: Sum 41
Label: Island Records
Official Site: Click here
Date: October 28,2004
Conducted by: John Frank

TMF: How are you liking the city down here?
Dave: Um, I actually haven’t been out in the city in Irvine too much.
TMF: Ya, it’s kind of boring, not much of a party town.
Dave: Oh really, that sucks.
TMF: We usually have really good weather though.
Dave: Oh what, this isn’t good weather?
TMF: Well, it was raining most of the week and last night, so it’s kind of cool now and all muddy. Usually, it’s in the 70’s and 80’s.
Dave: Ah ok.

TMF: Ok, so your new album, debuted at #10 on the billboard.
Dave: Ya ya, we are all really shocked, it’s the highest debut we have ever had.
TMF: Congratulations, that’s really impressive.
Dave: All right, thanks.
TMF: It’s a great album, it seems like each one of your albums just brings so much more to your band. I mean, I really liked Half Hour of Power, you know way back when, and obviously All Killer No Filler had the catchy sound to it, and then on Does This Look Infected, I loved the Hell Song - great guitars.
Dave: Awesome, thanks man.

TMF: One thing I really like is that DVD you did, “Introduction to destruction."
Dave: Ah ok, ok.
TMF: Are you guys planning on doing anything like that again?
Dave: Well, we are always working on a DVD, we want to try to release one with each new album, depends on how much footage we compile.

TMF: Along those lines, the documentary you did in Africa, is that out yet, or when do you have it planned to release?
Dave: No no, that’s gonna be coming out later, like in a couple weeks the first edit should be done. So then we’ll check it out, look it over and hopefully it will be out by wintertime or the end of fall.
TMF: I am looking forward to that you know, there are so many bands that will sing about all the injustices and how they hate everything, but you guys actually went and were there and did something.
Dave: Ya, it was heavy, the whole time.
TMF: I don’t know if I could have done that, being in the middle of gun fire and civil war.
Dave: It was hurting; it wasn’t a good time I’ll tell ya.

TMF: What brought your attention to that area?
Dave: We got involved with war child, and they basically broke down all these different zones, of course there’s Iraq and a bunch of different places, like Somalia. And then, there was the Congo, and it was the most compelling story, like there’s shit going on there that’s way worse than anywhere. That’s not to say the other places are bad, but there’s terrible shit going on in the Congo. There’s been a civil war there that’s been going on since 1998, and when we went there was a year long cease fire, but things kind of got started up again, just little tensions here and there. We were there interviewing child soldiers, women who had been raped during the war, and uh, just politicians and UN officials and stuff like that.
TMF: That’s what people don’t hear about here, it’s all about Iraq and the oil.
Dave: Ya, that’s why we went oil’s in dude, diamonds are out (laughter).

TMF: You guys were on one of the rock against bush compilations.
Dave: Ya, number one.
TMF: Those were both good compilations, it brought together a really broad range of people, like you really don’t expect fat mike and sum 41 to do something together.
Dave: You know, I think we were more shocked than anybody else, cause Fat Mike I mean, the first time we met him was like 2000 Warped tour.
TMF: I remember when you guys did that.
Dave: Ya, he comes up and is like, “Hey, what’s up, my name’s Mike”…ya, fuck, we know (laughs) so ya, he’s been super cool and like helping us out coming to see the shows since 2000, so he’s a pretty fuckin cool guy.
TMF: I got a chance to meet him at this year’s warped tour, and it was almost surreal, talking to this guy who has been around forever, and I’m just this kid, I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m just along for the ride.
Dave: You’re always a kid; you’re always growing, no matter how old you are.

TMF: What kind of reaction have you guys been getting in the last few shows with the new material?
Dave: It’s been really strange, cause at these shows, it seems like we do have a different crowd than Good Charlotte.
TMF: Ya, I would agree with that.
Dave: But it seems like, we still have no real idea of what our real fan base is here in the states, because it jumps from record to record. So, and of course, there have been kids growing with us. I mean this has been a good humbling experience, cause it’s like you have to win over kids who don’t necessarily like how heavy we are, and that’s really weird, cause we aren’t really heavy at all. But I mean, it’s the pop crowd, so it’s just it’s been really cool, cause one, you are touring with really good friends, good charlotte has been friends of ours since 2000, and two, you are getting reminded of how to win over crowds and not get lazy on stage.
TMF: You guys are co headlining, and it must be weird to be up on stage and see all the bandanas and Good Charlotte stuff and just being like, what are we doing here?
Dave: The first night was kind of like that, cause we came out with a really heavy set, like really heavy like a set that we would play at one of our own shows, and it just…it wasn’t happening, like I think I saw some parents taking their kids out with their hands over their ears and shit.
TMF: I never really considered you guys a heavy band, I mean, some of your guitar riffs are…you can’t really compare it to the hair metal days, but some of them are amazing.
Dave: We try to keep it nice and vague, keep it with rock, so we can just do whatever we want.
TMF: That’s what I like about your albums, you can’t really classify it as heavy metal or pop punk, cause there is every sound from the first song to the last.
Dave: Thanks, well, we like tons of different music.

TMF: I really like your videos, even a serious song like “We’re All to Blame” you still came out and had fun.
Dave: There’s always been two sides to this band. There’s always the music which has always been a little more serious, and the humor. And, we are just funny guys, haha, at least to us especially, I mean the 4 of us, but it’s the same when you put any 20+ year olds in a room, or any dudes in general, any age, there’s just gonna be goofiness.

TMF: The only time I have seen you before is at warped tour, that’s kind of a half show though, do you guys have any sort of stage routine or pyrotechnics?
Dave: Nah, no pyrotechnics, more stage antics, I mean pyrotechnics, they have been so done now, I mean, they are flames…so what? Big deal. We would just rather get the job done like creatively and using ourselves as opposed to relying on flames or bombs here and there. But that’s not to say that pyro ruins a show, it’s just gotta be used properly.
TMF: Everything in a show just kind of has to be used moderately.
Dave: Yup, exactly.

TMF: At your shows, do you guys generally generate a most pit, or is your crowd kind of calm?
Dave: The last couple of nights, its been really cool, a couple of mosh pits have started up, but I mean at our own shows there are several, it’s really cool.
TMF: Do you guys kind of feed off of that energy?
Dave: Yes, absolutely. If it’s a dead crowd, it is really hard to get into it and get going, but at the same time you kind of have to cause it starts in one place, it either starts on stage or it starts in the crowd.
TMF: You kind of have to take a perspective of just observing, like a lot of great bands I have seen, like Green Day for example, you can’t say anything bad about them.
Dave: No, absolutely not.
TMF: I just stood there and watched them play; I had so much respect for what was happening. I was just in awe. So I can see how not getting a big physical reaction may not be such a negative thing.
Dave: It depends, I mean, those guys, it’s hard for anybody to say anything bad about green day, cause they are one of the best live bands that have ever come along.
TMF: Yeah, I saw them a couple years ago, and just can’t imagine it getting any better than that.
Dave: Yeah, exactly, it just blows your mind.
TMF: But I never saw any of the classic guys like ACDC or Guns n Roses, I have seen footage, but it doesn’t really give it the atmosphere.
Dave: Yeah, it’s neither here nor there.

TMF: Do you guys like doing the touring over recording, or are you more into getting new music out and you know getting awards and such?
Dave: I like just playing to be honest. I don’t like award shows and I usually don’t like the studio. I just like getting on stage. I mean the studio is just a way to get out touring faster. But award shows, I don’t really believe in any, kind of rigged, I feel kind of bad if the other three guys want to go, and I don’t want to go, so I end up having to go. Usually if we are presenting or anything, I’m out right away.

TMF: Is there any tension with you guys, you have been together since like high school?
Dave: There is always tension between anybody. It’s always like the four of us trapped in a submarine for a fuckin month at a time, but tensions with this band are just like someone will get pissy, and you just leave them alone for five minutes and then they will be fine.
TMF: That’s good, a lot of bands have problems with that, like recently I read about The Used having to split up into two busses because they were having so many problems, I guess it was mainly the smoking vs. the nonsmoking, and that’s just something you don’t realize bands would have that many problems and still keep going.
Dave: It is true, cause to tell you the truth, it’s totally different when you are on stage, when you get on there, it just doesn’t matter, you’re playing and it’s a good time.

TMF: When you first starting getting into music and guitar in general, did you sit there and say, I want to play the guitar and this is what I want to do with my life, I want to play music?
Dave: No, when I started playing guitar, I just wanted to play the guitar, I have always had simple goals, nothing too extravagant. I mean, just playing was all I really wanted to do, and now I get a chance to do it all the time, so it’s pretty cool.

TMF: When you are on stage, is there any favorite song the band has that is the most fun to play
Dave: I like to play “The Bitter End” off the new record. Hhmmm, “Machine Gun” is a favorite for all of us, off of Half hour of Power.” I hope that never gets dropped from the set. It’s one of my favorite songs of all times.
TMF: Ya, I liked that CD, I liked that little rap you guys did that made it into the “Fat lip” video.
Dave: Cool.
TMF: I saw the video and was like, I have heard this before, and went back to the CD and said, this is it.
Dave: That’s right dude, it’s a throwback to all the “half hour of power” people, wanted to do something.
TMF: And, you put it on Spiderman, redid it.
Dave: Yeah, redid it for the Spiderman soundtrack. And I mean, now looking back onto that, it was kind of a mistake that song, like we’re all, that’s the song we are most unhappy with. But it’s all part of growing up in front of millions of people.
TMF: Yeah, it definitely wasn’t my favorite single you guys put out.
Dave: Dude, it sucked, it was a bad song.
TMF: I liked the original version, cause it was just kind of thrown in there.
Dave: It sucks cause we really liked working with Rick Rueben and he did a good job on the trap, I just think we probably picked the wrong video and other sorts for that.
TMF: You guys survived it though, a lot of bands put out a bad single and they are done.
Dave: Honestly, Island gets full credit for picking up the ball after we dropped it.
TMF: And not too long after that you guys released your third album right?
Dave: Oh, ya ya ya, fuck ya ya, I forgot that was right after.
TMF: That was good, cause any slow time just got picked up with your new singles and everything.
Dave: We kind of realized that like that whole transition into that whole deal was everybody kind of came to the realization that nobody really liked the hip hop anymore. It was just no real music fans were left in hip hop it seemed. (It was) just a bunch of kids screaming you’re hot, and blah blah blah, so then we came out with “Does this look infected” and luckily like just what came out was that album, and I think that saved our lives a lot with our fans that felt alienated with things like “what we’re all about” and so, that was our way of apologizing.
TMF: It was a great album, apologies accepted. You can definitely tell that with each album you guys get better.

TMF: I know with the new album title it’s homage to the bus driver that you had in the Congo. You guys kind of had a trend with catchy titles with the rhyming and the kind of joke titles.
Dave: Yeah, and now “chuck.”
TMF: At first when I first heard it was going to be called “chuck” I was worried about like was there going to be puke or something on the cover….
Dave: Haha, ya.
TMF: Then I read about the bus driver, and was like, ok. But there is definitely a more mature sound to this album.
Dave: Nice, thanks man.
TMF: And now I am reading things in like the New York Post, how is it like getting not just music magazines, but mainstream stuff.
Dave: Ya, it’s very strange, people like ET and Newsweek are starting to approach us, it’s very weird, it’s like, it seems like there’s more press happening now then there was when there was “fat lip” which was our biggest hit. But after that, we kind of stayed within this certain realm, and it seems now we are trying…er, not trying to, but it seems like all these magazines are just coming out of the woodwork like they are just finding out, which is good, but pop news to me is just I don’t know I still like being able to go to the zoo and like go to the store and be able to buy groceries and stuff, and kids will come up and say hey and stuff and what’s up, blah blah, but there’s a strange difference between the pop crowd and other crowds. The pop crowd is fuckin crazy dude. The pop crowd will like stand outside and wait for hours and hours even after you have gone out and signed autographs, which is really cool, I just don’t like kids freezing, it’s cold in Canada.
TMF: I have only been up there once, which wasn’t really in Canada; I just went to Niagara Falls, which is just like New York.
Dave: Ya, same climate and weather system.
TMF: I would love to go up there sometime, I like the outdoors and camping, and I like snowboarding, I heard there is some good boarding up there.
Dave: Vancouver has some good spots. It’s just like a 2..2 ½ hour flight from here, you should go do it dude.

TMF: Do you guys go and do the snowboarding and stuff?
Dave: I can’t, if I fall and break a hand, I’m through, so we keep the snowboarding and stuff like that to a minimum. Deryck still goes out and skates every now and then. But I stopped skating as soon as the boards got really small. I like the motherboards.
TMF: Yeah, it’s kind of weird, I tried to do the skating thing, and I just cannot keep my balance on those. I can snowboard and all that, but I just can’t get the skating thing down. But ya, you guys draw a lot of the skater group with that punk rock type sound, and now you have the heavier sound and drawing a different type of crowd that mixes with the other crowds, it’s just a great mix of people.
Dave: Oh man, skating is rad, if there is one culture that is above all the coolest most accepting culture, its skating…I mean besides rollerbladers, but other than rollerbladers, skaters tend to be some of the most open minded people; it takes a certain type of person to be a skateboarder.