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 Canadian lead singer Deryck Whibley has lost his toothbrush and has been frantically chewing Freedent gum for the past two days – but only until the "sugar runs out." "It's actually aspartame," I mention to him, which triggers a discussion about other artificial preservatives and foods like I Can't Believe It's Butter Butter. "Fabio definitely lost his credibility when he accepted to do that commercial," guitarist Dave Baksh says. I feel the urge to ask which credibility that was, but I remember I'm here to talk about their band Sum 41. Facetious yet dead serious about their music, Deryck and Dave have matured. During our discussion, they deliver thoughts on just about everything while Deryck goes through a sandwich spiced up with Dijon mayonnaise ("Mayonnaise shouldn't taste like this") and an entire pack of gum which ended up as abstract decorations on the giant mirror. "I don't know why it's funny, but when you throw stuff and it sticks, it's funny." Did I mention matured? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
The cover of your new album, Does This Look Infected?, reminds me of the Munsters.... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: |
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DAVE: | Yeah, we all had make-up. Steve didn't (Deryck cracks up laughing). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
This album is more metal than the two previous albums... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | I don't know if it's metal, but yeah, it's harder and faster and heavier than the last record, for sure. Heavier than anything we've ever done before. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | It's definitely got a metallic tinge to it... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
How did you work your way to that metallic element? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | It just sort of came out. We made a conscious effort to not repeat our last record. That was the only thing we definitely set out to do. We just wrote a bunch of songs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Your lyrics have also matured. How much have the events of the past year affected your words? I know one song is about 9/11... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Well, it's kind of... I guess it's inspired by it. It's not all directly inspired by it, but I guess it just came from getting older. We're maturing as people. At least somewhat. We've just done so much more. When we wrote the last record, we were in high school or just getting out of high school, so that's pretty much [what] the world consisted of – waking up everyday and going to school and figuring out what we're going to do on the weekends. And then, two years later, we've been traveling around the world a few times and seen a whole lot more and done way more than we would've ever done if we were just living in Ajaxville. So we just have so much more to say this time 'cause we've seen so much more. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Has that opened your eyes to world events? What do you think of all that's going on? Are you scared there might be a war? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | I think it's retarded. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Yeah, it scares the shit out of me. [There's] a crazy Christian in office. It's like an uber-Christian who doesn't really know what the hell he's doing. Possibly could be the worst president ever. I heard he wanted to enlist somebody to abolish abortion, abolish the birth-control pill and if you were having cramps or pains, read the Scriptures 'cause that'll make you feel better. Religion is dangerous. Nobody seems to understand that the dollar is... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | It just keeps decreasing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Yeah, it's almost as bad as the Canadian dollar. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
The Euro's higher. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, the Euro's higher.... I think there's going to be a war for sure though. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Has that put things in perspective for you, from a strictly political point of view? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Yeah, it definitely made me read a lot more. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | September 11 definitely opened our eyes, but when I was 19 or whatever on the last record, we just didn't care about anything. We were too young to care about anything. And then as you get older, you don't really have any excuse to be stupid anymore, to be in the dark. That just kind of opened everyone's eyes (which I probably wish it did to more people) that there's obviously something wrong, to try and figure out what it is and what's going on in the world. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Go buy a book instead of a flag. Just find out why it's happening as opposed to just wanting to kill somebody. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Well, back to the harmless world of rock 'n' roll: What do you think of Canada's contribution to rock, like Rush and Loverboy? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Loverboy? I don't know. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Rush, I won't turn them off if they come on the radio. Loverboy, I will. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | I don't listen to any of this kind of stuff. It's mandatory when you're a child that you have to listen to Rush for the next year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Mandatory? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | It's part of Canadian history (laughs). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, it's like the Swiss where they have to go to the army for a couple of months [each year]. You have to listen to Rush for at least six months. We have a military Rush thing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
I saw an episode of "South Park" last night where they kept mentioning these Loverboy lyrics. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | I don't even know any Loverboy songs. I do but... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | I guess "Love Gas" or something like that. Were they at a gas station and the guy was talking to gas handles? (Deryck cracks up again.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
I, a rock journalist, know only one song, "Everybody's Working for the Weekend." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Oh, that's them?! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Yeah. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | (Still incredulous) That's them? That's bad! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Do constant comparisons with Green Day and Blink 182 annoy you? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | No, not really. We knew it from the beginning that it was going to happen. So you can't fight it 'cause it's gonna happen. If you're going to be compared to someone... they're good bands. It's a compliment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
How big an influence were they? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Green Day was more of the influence than Blink just because... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | I think Blink just came out too late. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, for us. When I was growing up, Green Day had just come out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
You're young and famous and healthy, and you wrote "Hell Song" about a friend who has HIV. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, sort of. It's not really an AIDS or an HIV-awareness song, but it's more about realizing how quickly life can change and how vulnerable people really are. It takes something like that to happen before we can really realize [that] we are so close to things that we don't expect. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
You think it only happens to others. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah. That was the biggest thing that had ever happened to our group of friends or anyone in our sort of circle that we grew up with. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | It kind of adds mortality in your whole outlook of life. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
"Mr. Amsterdam" seems to be about the current technology-dependent pop culture. How much do you depend on it? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Not a lot, like I don't have a pager, a phone or anything. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | I'm five seconds away from being Amish. No, I'm totally technology dependent. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | I just don't like the way it's going, I guess. Everyone's becoming more dependent on it, and instead of using it as help... Soon, it'll just do everything for you. You don't even have to leave your house: you do your work from your house; you can order anything you want from your house; you don't have to leave your chair. Everything's been designed so that you never leave your computer chair. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Instead of a kid going out and finding a stick, turning that stick into a sword or a gun or something like that, they can just go play SWAT Team on their computer, kill people for real. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
It's like the Jetsons. They press a button and their dinner just pops out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, that's what it's eventually going to become like. And their dinner isn't going to be a little thing. It's going to be this big (demonstrates big). Everyone's getting fatter. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Portions get huger and huger. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Which item couldn't you live without: T.V., cell phone or toothbrush? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | I don't even have a toothbrush right now, to be honest. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | I'd just say toothbrush. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | I have to get one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | I love my toothbrush. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | I really like having a toothbrush, but I lost my whole thing the other day, like my little kit, so for the past few days, I haven't had a toothbrush. But I've been eating a lot of gum though. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
(Not sure why Deryck doesn't just buy a toothbrush instead of gum, but decide to move on.) Well, you'd be amazed. In a recent survey, the majority answered a PC. They'd rather have a PC than a toothbrush! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Serious?! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | They don't need to care about their looks anymore. They just sit at their desk in their house. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Your song reminded me of that survey. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, that's kind of what it's about. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
That's scary. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | The guy's just given up. Sick of goin' out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
What did your former singer do to deserve "No Brains"? (Both laughing) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | I don't know. We just had a clash. It's just like a high-school falling out. We were best friends in high school and then we realized that we weren't as close as we thought we were. I don't know. I loved him in the band and I didn't get rid of him, but... we weren't friends anymore. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
How did your high-school friends react to your success? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | They all became cops. I don't know if that's a reaction. They're all really happy. They're proud of us. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | We were really lucky. We kind of worried about what our relationships were going to turn into. I guess all it takes is a little bit of work and effort to try and be a good friend and just to keep your relationships going. I always hear that as soon as you become famous in a band, your relationships go to shit. I mean, we have more friends now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Yeah, all those guys that used to step on us all of a sudden calling us. I don't know what's going on. We just stick to our friends that we had in high school. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Did you guys play at high-school dances and stuff? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | (Finds this funny) No, high school was kind of budget. We didn't do anything like that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | But you did play a concert. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, we had a concert once in Grade Nine that I think we put on ourselves. It was me, Paul and Troop and Grant. We put on this concert at school. Not too many people came to it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | After that, we had Chris Shepherd and pirate-radio sessions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Things happened very quickly for you guys. I mean, you're so young. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Yeah, we're young, but we still worked pretty hard for it. It took a long time for us. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, well, it's like anything. It takes six years to become an overnight success. We're going on our seventh year of being in a band right now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
Do any of your friends work with you or for you? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, we bring our friends out. We used to bring friends out. We had a friend who was our tour manager and a friend who was our guitar tech. And it was just chaos, because they didn't know what to do. And we'd just party all the time. There was no guidance from anybody. Our tour manager would be worse than us. We'd just trash stuff and break stuff and get wasted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | We used to have this move where we'd rip the roof of our van. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Just tear apart our van all the time. It was a rental van; it wasn't even ours. So we had to give it back and we had to pay for it all. We weren't making any money at all back then. We still have some friends who come out with us. We have a videographer that comes out and tapes everything we ever do. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DAVE: | Plus, we're friends with our crew. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
According to "Over My Head, Better Off Dead," you don't like to be reminded of your crazy feats of the night before... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DERYCK: | Yeah, I mean, everyone's got one of those days when you wake up...that's kinda' what it's about. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYROCK: |
What's your most embarrassing story? Continued on Page Two... February 2003
More Sum 41: in Concert with Live Photo
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