Sum 41

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Sum 41

Sum 41 is a Canadian pop punk band from Ajax, Ontario made of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard/piano), Jason "Cone" McCaslin (bass), and Steve Jocz (drums).

The band was formed from members of several local high school bands, 41 days into the summer (July 31st) of 1996, hence the name Sum 41. Sum 41 reached mainstream success with the release of All Killer No Filler, which sold over 2 million copies. The album was made popular due to the hit singles Fat Lip and In Too Deep, the former reaching number 1 on the US Modern Rock charts.

Since signing a record deal with Island Records in 1999, the band has released four studio albums, two live CDs, two live DVDs, over ten singles and sold millions of copies worldwide. As of 2006 the band performed more than 600 times and have become famous for their world tours that are usually more than a year-long.[1]

History

Early Years and Half Hour of Power (1996-2000)

File:Sumpizzarob.JPG
Sum 41 robbing Kerry's pizza in Pickering Village using waterguns

The members of Sum 41 started out in rival bands in high school. They joke that they met while attending a Hole concert 41 days into the summer of 1996. According to the website Supernova, the band was originally named My Nuts Are Huge Kaspir, and changed their name to Sum 41 for a Supernova show on September 28, 1996. The website also states that they were scouted by Greig Nori of Treble Charger at a Supernova show at the Opera House in Toronto on February 24, 1996. [1] However, the current bassist, Cone, joined the band in 1999, after the band went through several other bassists.They spent many years playing together hoping to make it big one day.

The band carried a video camera with them to film their crazy antics including robbing a pizza place with water guns and performing a dance to "Makes No Difference" in front of a theater (both of which can be seen on both Introduction to Destruction and on some versions of the bonus DVD from Does This Look Infected?).

The band submitted the video footage along with their demo tapes to several record labels. Island Records, wanting to capitalize on the pop-punk fad popularized by blink-182, signed Sum 41 in early 2000.

Sum 41 released the album Half Hour of Power on June 27, 2000. The first single release by the band was "Makes No Difference", which had 2 different video. The first video was put together usin the video clip sent to the record label and the second showed the band performing at a house party.

Mainstream Success: All Killer No Filler and Does This Look Infected? (2000-2003)

Sum 41's first full length album, All Killer No Filler, was released on May 8, 2001. The first single released was "Fat Lip" which became a huge hit during the summer, becoming the number 1 rock song in the US for a week. Performances on the Warped Tour during the year further increased the popularity of the band.

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Deryck's doll in The Hell Song video

Two other singles were released, "In Too Deep", which had a comedy video of them in a diving competition, and "Motivation", a simplistic video of the band playing in a classic garage band theme. The band toured for much of the year, playing 300 shows in 2001, including a co-headlined tour with blink-182 before returning to the studio to record another CD.

On November 26, 2002, Sum 41 released their second full length album Does This Look Infected? Sum 41 altered their style slightly - bringing in a heavier style, while keeping the smooth harmonies they had become known for. The first single released was "Still Waiting" which had them mocking "new-garage" retro-rock under the name of "The Sums" and was a parody of one of The Strokes' videos. Still Waiting was much heavier than what most fans expected.

The band followed up the release of "Still Waiting" with "The Hell Song" which had the band using dolls with their pictures on them and others such as Ozzy Osbourne and Jesus Christ. Their next single,"Over My Head (Better Off Dead)", had a video released exclusively in Canada and on their website, featuring live shots of the band. The video was also on their live DVD, "Sake Bombs And Happy Endings" (2004), as a bonus feature. It has also received limited airing on various music television stations in the USA and UK.

After extensive touring in support of the album, Iggy Pop recruited Sum 41 for his new album, Skull Ring. They co-wrote the first single from the album "Little Know It All" and joined Iggy on The Late Show with David Letterman to promote the song.

Chuck and Go Chuck Yourself (2004-2006)

File:Sumwithchuck.JPG
Sum 41 with Chuck Pelletier

In early 2004, the band contributed to the first Rock Against Bush album by recording the song "Moron", which was also a bonus track in the Japanese import of Chuck.

One bomb came too close, hit the hotel and the hotel just started shaking. Everyone dove and was lying on the ground. Things were falling off the walls, mirrors were breaking. That's when we all kind of realized that this was really going bad and we're probably not going to make it out.

— Deryck Whibley

In late May of 2004, the band traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo along with War Child Canada, a branch of the British charity organization, to document the civil war occurring in the country.[2] Days after arriving, fighting broke out near the hotel the band was staying at in Bukavu.[3] The band waited for the firing to die down, but it never did. A U.N. peacekeeper, Charles "Chuck" Pelletier (also Canadian), called for armoured carriers to take the hotel's occupants out of the hot zone. After 5-6 hours the carriers arrived and the band and the 40 other civilians were taken to safety. The band named their next album Chuck in honour of Chuck Pelletier for taking them to safety. The documentary was made into a film called ROCKED: Sum 41 in Congo, and was later aired on MTV. War Child released it on DVD on November 29, 2005 in the United States and Canada.

Sum 41's album Chuck was released on October 12, 2004. It was a heavy album that had a much more serious mood, without the humor of the band's previous releases. The first single from the album (as well as the only song written after the Congo incident) was "We're All to Blame". The song switching from a fast pace to a slow one represented the band's trip in the Congo, how one minute it was peaceful and the next there were gunshots being fired. The band followed up with "Pieces", which reached the top of the charts in Canada, and "Some Say", released as a single only on Canada and Japan. The last single of the record was "No Reason", released at the same time of "Some Say", but with no video and only on USA and Europe, which reached #16 on Billboard Modern Rock.

Following the Go Chuck Yourself tour, Sum 41 co-headlined a tour in USA along with Good Charlotte with support from Lola Ray and Hazen Street, then Sum 41 opened for Mötley Crüe on their Carnival of Sins tour.

Sum 41 released a live CD, Happy Live Surprise in Japan on December 21, 2005. The CD contains a full concert recorded live from London, Ontario and was produced by Deryck. The same CD was released March 7, 2006 in Canada under the name Go Chuck Yourself. This version was released under Aquarius Records instead of EMI, the band's former label in Canada. The band had an issue with their producer and their management company, Greig Nori and Bunk Rock Music. Since their management company had a contract with EMI, after the band left the company and dropped the producer, the contract was broken. The Japanese version contained a CD with 5 songs from their live performance. It was originally to be a DVD, but the band was unhappy with the way the filming turned out and decided to put out a live CD instead. The footage is being incorporated into a project along with the rest of the film from the tour.

Following their September 11, 2005 show in Quebec City, Quebec, the band went on a touring hiatus, although on April 17, 2006, Sum 41 played at a tribute to Iggy Pop, joining Iggy on stage for "Little Know It All" and "Lust For Life".

Hiatus: Side Projects and the Departure of Dave Baksh (2006-2007)

On, May 11, 2006, Dave Baksh (a.k.a. Dave Brownsound) announced in a statement through his management company that he was leaving Sum 41 to work with his new band, Brown Brigade. Baksh's departure from the band was said to have been due to artistic differences, and his desire to play music with a more classical metal sound.[4][5]

On May 12th, Deryck made the first official comment on the subject on the official message board post addressing Dave's departure.[6] Deryck said that they have no plans of replacing Dave, and will hire someone to tour with them and play on live shows, although that person won't be in videos, photo shoots, albums, or have any decision making power in the band.

During the band's touring hiatus, Cone started a side project with Todd Morse of H2O and Juliette and the Licks. The two-person band, named The Operation M.D., have already begun recording demos which can be found on their MySpace site. Cone lends his vocal talents as well as playing bass and keyboards in the band.[7]

On July 15, 2006, Deryck married pop rock singer Avril Lavigne, and he will be involved in writing and producing some of the more rock/punk-rock oriented songs in Avril Lavigne's next album The Best Damn Thing.

Underclass Hero

An announcement on Sum 41's official website states that the new album can be expected to be released in the middle of 2007.

"Hello everyone. We have finished our new album. We still don't have a name for it yet though. It will be coming out [around mid-2007]. We are now about to start auditions to find a touring guitarist. We have no idea how long this will take so I can't really tell you when we will be back on tour. If all goes well we should be back playing shows in mid-April. We will keep you all updated here as frequently as possible. Thanks for all your support and I can't wait for you to hear this album." -Deryck Whibley

Answering a question in the band's Q&A section, Cone stated, "Actually, the next album will be more along the lines of All Killer and Infected." Deryck, when asked why the band altered their style in Chuck, responded, "It was just a natural change. I think our new album will be more punk rock though," (returning to the pop punk-styling of earlier albums.) Deryck has also stated that, Avril Lavigne will not feature in the new album.

On April 16, 2007, absolutepunk.net has revealed that the title for the new Sum 41 album will be Underclass Hero, and will be released on July 24, 2007. The first single from the album will be the title track, "Underclass Hero."

Musical style and influences

Sum 41 said that their early music (Half Hour of Power) was heavily influenced by NOFX. Another influence on their music was Beastie Boys, especially in their All Killer No Filler hip-hop persona and their Rapcore music found in the "Fat Lip" and "What We're All About" singles. Their later music in the album Does This Look Infected? had heavy influence from The Offspring, as the band itself commented. Also, some metal influence coming from bands like the Iron Maiden is noted. In the song "Fat Lip", the quote "Maiden and Priest were the gods that we praised" refers to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Their album Chuck features a series of songs that can be compared with Thrash metal, and they have named Metallica as one of the main influences on their metal music.

The band's early musical style is often compared to blink-182 pop-punk songs, owing to the catchy melodies and humor present in the work of both bands. More recently the musical genre of Sum 41 has been disputed among fans because of the complex combination of different musical styles. The argument is centralized around the punk streak of the band, and they have been labeled as pop-punk, punk rock and even pop rock. Their lyrics contain some influence and the band's later albums are known for their often politically-driven music.

Some recent pop-punk bands and post-grunge artists, including SR-71, Simple Plan, New Found Glory, Lit, Steriogram, and Autopilot Off (their producer being the former Sum 41 manager), have cited Sum 41 as one of their influences.

Internet Videos and "SUM 41 - Road to Ruin"

Sum 41 has become infamous for its self-made, often grotesque, internet videos which have sparked a bit of controversy over the years.

touring in support of Chuck, Sum 41 played videos before their set which were deemed "unsuitable for children". Much controversy arose over the videos.[8] In one video, Basketball Butcher, which was also included in some versions of Chuck, Steve and Cone play basketball and Cone beats Steve badly. Following the game Steve murders Cone and later dismembers and cooks him. In another video, 1-800-Justice, Cone and Steve are drug dealing brothers, while Dave and Deryck play undercover police officers. Steve shoots Deryck as Cone stabs Dave and they make their getaway.

Sum 41's most recent internet video endeavor is "weekly" series entitled SUM 41 - Road to Ruin. The trailer was posted on 8th of January 2007 on the Sum 41 webpage. The first episode debuted on January 21, following their exploits on their Japan 2005 tour. The Road to Ruin show can also be found on their myspace, on youtube, and on their official website.

Band Lineup

Former Members

Discography

Main article: Sum 41 discography
Album Cover Date of Release Title Label US Billboard Peak UK Peak Canada Peak Canada Sales US Sales
June 27, 2000 Half Hour of Power Island Records #176 #143 Not Chart Platinum
May 8, 2001 All Killer No Filler Island Records #13 #7 #1 3x Platinum Platinum
November 26, 2002 Does This Look Infected? Island Records #32 #34 #1 2x Platinum Gold
October 12, 2004 Chuck Island Records #10 #59 #1 2x Platinum Gold
TBA, 2007 TBA Island Records # # # # #

Trivia

  • Jason McCaslin was nicknamed "Cone" by Deryck Whibley during high school because Jason always had an ice cream cone for lunch.
  • The band planned on having "Summer" on all of their albums as a joke, before scrapping the idea after putting it on their first two albums.
  • The cover for Does This Look Infected? was chosen months before the title was. The album was almost delayed by the label because the band members did not have a name for it on time. Deryck suddenly thought of the name Does This Look Infected?; the whole band laughed at the idea and chose it as their album title.
  • "The Hell Song" is about a friend of the band who contracted HIV.
  • "88" is named for the tempo of the song, which is 88 bpm.
  • The name "Angels with Dirty Faces" came from a newspaper article about Sum 41 with the same title. The song is about people who let drugs control their lives.
  • All of the band members (and their ex-producer, Greig Nori) have a 41 tattooed on the back of their upper right arm.
  • The original title for "Fat Lip" was "Punk Hop", due to the song being a combination of hip-hop and punk
  • The songs "The Hell Song", "Over My Head (Better Off Dead)", and "In Too Deep" are all featured on the hit comedy film series, American Pie.
  • On an episode of MTV Cribs featuring Steve's house, Deryck said that the majority of the songs for All Killer No Filler were written in Steve's basement.
  • The dive Stevo does at the end of the "In Too Deep" video is very similar to the dive, The Triple Lindy, done by Rodney Dangerfield's character, Thorton Melon, in the movie Back to School.
  • "A.N.I.C" from Does This Look Infected? is about Anna Nicole Smith. It stands for Anna Nicole Is a Cunt. In live performances Deryck says it's called Anna Nicole Smith is a fucking stupid cunt.[citation needed]
  • The band has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman three times (performing "Still Waiting", "Little Know It All" with Iggy Pop and Pieces), Jimmy Kimmel twice ("The Hell Song" and "Pieces"), Late Night with Conan O'Brien twice ("The Hell Song", "We're All To Blame"), MADtv once ("Still Waiting") and performed "In Too Deep", "Fat Lip" and "Get Back (Rock Remix)" with Ludacris on Saturday Night Live.
  • The band were guest stars on an episode of King of the Hill
  • Cone has stated on their Q&A, and Dave has stated in the making of the video that on the music video for "In Too Deep", that the part where Dave comes out of the water playing a guitar solo was copied from the Guns N' Roses music video "Estranged".
  • The band, along with Ja Rule and Nelly, covered "Walk This Way" by Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith.
  • Cone is very good friends with Billy Talent Guitarist, Ian D'Sa.
  • On the DreamWorks movie, "She's The Man" starring Amanda Bynes, in Viola's dormroom, there were 2 Sum 41 posters hanging on the wall.
  • On the movie "Guess Who?" starring Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac, In Too Deep and Still Waiting were played on the trailers.
  • On "Malcolm in the Middle" "In Too Deep" was played when Reese was driving away from the cops.
  • The Song Still Waiting Was the Main Theme for a once popular flash cartoon "Gamer Elite".
  • Pain for Pleasure is used in the intro of the Christmas edition of the Very Popular "Decline of Video Gaming" Flash Series.
  • "We're All to Blame" was featured in the latest Godzilla movie, Godzilla: Final Wars. It was used used for the fight between Godzilla and his american counterpart, "Zilla".
  • All members of the current band have given accounts of having small stuffed animals that they bring with them on tour for good luck.
  • Half of the song "Makes No Difference" was used in the end credits of the Dragonball Z movie "Bardock: The Father of Goku"
  • The song Still Waiting was used for the intro to the horror video game "ObsCure."
  • The song Motivation is played on an episode of MTV Cribs, when in the garage of Ryan Sheckler.
  • The song Right Now by SR-71 is often thought as a song by Sum 41 called "Kick When I'm High"
  • The first three Sum 41 album titles consist of six syllables spread out over 4 words.

References

  1. ^ http://www7.islandrecords.com/sum41/site/tour_pastshows.las
  2. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1485897/03222004/sum_41.jhtml
  3. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1488128/06032004/sum_41.jhtml
  4. ^ http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2006/05/1111.cfm
  5. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1531654/05122006/sum_41.jhtml
  6. ^ http://www6.islandrecords.com/sum41/www2/bbs/bbs1_7/...read_num=14386018&folder_num=23&id=443188337988
  7. ^ http://www.myspace.com/theoperationmusic
  8. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1493978/11192004/sum_41.jhtml

See also

External links

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