Sum 41
Sum 41 | |
|---|---|
| File:Sum41-2006.png | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Ajax, Ontario, Canada |
| Years active | 1996 - present |
| Members | Deryck Whibley Jason McCaslin Steve Jocz |
| Past members | Mark Spicoluk (1996–1999) Dave Baksh (1996–2006) John Nicosia (1997–1998) |
| Website | http://www.sum41.com |
Sum 41 is a Canadian Juno Award winning band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed from members of several local high school bands, 41 days into the summer of 1996. The band consists of Deryck Whibley (a.k.a. Bizzy D) (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard/piano), Jason McCaslin (a.k.a. Cone) (bass and backing vocals), and Steve Jocz (a.k.a. Stevo32) (drums and backing vocals).
The band is officialy labeled as Sum 41, although in the singles from the Chuck album they were rendered as sum41, also another band's name labeling coming mainly from their common association with blink-182 is writen as sum-41. Other renders include SUM41 and SUM*41.
Since signing a record deal with Island Records in 1999, the band has released four full length albums one sometimes considered EP, two live CDs, over ten singles and sold millions of copies worldwide. They have topped the charts on Japan, Canada, USA, Singapore, Brazil, France and the UK.
The band won the 2003 Juno Awards in category "Group Of The Year", they have been three times nominees of the "Best Rock Album" category, winning two times with All Killer No Filler and Chuck in 2001 and 2005 respectively, the 2000 they won the Canadian Radio Award for "Best New Group". Sum 41 have also won the 2002 people's choise award in the MuchMusic Video Awards in category "Favorite Group" with their hit single In Too Deep and the 2001 MuchMusic Video Award for "Best Rock Video" with Fat Lip. Other awards of the band include Rolling Stone's Year End Reader's Poll for "Best Band", "Best Album", "Best Single", "Best Video", "Best Tour". Also they have Spin Magazine's gold medals for "Best Band", "Best New Artist", "Best Song", "Best Video".
As of 2006 the band have performed more that 600 times and have become famous for their world tours that usually take more than year-long.
History
Early years and Half Hour of Power (1996-2000)
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 - hence the name, Sum 41 - of 1996. However the current bassist, Cone, joined the band in 1999, after the band went through several other bassists.(YouTube video, 6 minutes in)
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 their album "Half Hour of Power" on June 27, 2000. The first single released by the band was "Makes No Difference", which had 2 different videos. The first was put together using the video clips sent into the record labels and the second had the band performing at a house party.
Mainstream success: All Killer No Filler and Does This Look Infected? (2000-2003)
Sum 41's second CD and 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.
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, 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 parodying one of The Strokes' videos.
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.
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 (2004-2006)
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, a Canadian charity organization, to document the civil war occurring in the country.[1] Days after arriving, fighting broke out near the hotel the band was staying at in Bukavu.[2] The band waited for the firing to die down, but it never did. A U.N. peacekeeper, 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 saving their lives. The documentary was made into a half-hour film called ROCKED: Sum 41 in Congo, which aired on MTV on September 21, 2005. 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 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 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.
While touring in support of Chuck, Sum 41 played videos before their set which were deemed "unsuitable for children". Much controversy arose over the videos.[3] 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 under cover police officers. Steve shoots Deryck as Cone stabs Dave and they make their get away. Following the Go Chuck Yourself tour, 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, former label for the band in Canada, this was beacuse the band had a issue with their former producer and their management company, Greig Nori and Bunk Rock Music, because their management company had a contract with EMI, and after the band leave the management company and drop their producer the contract broken. The Japanese version contained a DVD with 5 songs from the 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 4 Life".
Go Chuck Yourself, First Live Album (2005-2006)
Go Chuck Yourself was the first Live Album of Sum 41. The live album contains 21 songs and was recorded in Ontario. This Live Album has an alternate name called Happy Live Surprise which was released on March, 2005.
Next album, side projects and departure of Dave Baksh (2006-present)
Sum 41 covered a John Lennon song for an album honouring the former Beatles singer. Other artists who participated were Avril Lavigne, Black Eyed Peas, Deftones and Duran Duran. [4] Proceeds from the album will go to Amnesty International. On the Sum 41 Q&A, Deryck Whibley said that the band recorded this cover a while ago but don't know if it will ever be released.
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 be due to artistic differences, and his goal to play music with more of a classical metal sound. [5][6]
On May 12th, Deryck made the first official comment on the subject on the official message board post addressing Dave's departure. Deryck said that they have no plans of replacing Dave, except for live shows and that the guitarist won't be in videos, photo shoots, or have any decision making power in the band.
Cone has said in the band's Q&A section, "You can probably expect a new single next spring and the album next summer. That's the plan and hopefully that happens."
Answering another question, Cone stated, "Actually the next album will be more along the lines of All Killer and Infected." Deryck, when he was asked why the band altered their sound in "Chuck", responded, "it was just a natural change. I think our new album will be more punk rock though."
During the bands touring hiatus, Cone started a side project with Todd Morse of H2O and Juliette and the Licks. The band is called The Operation and they have already begun recording demos, which can be found on their MySpace website. Cone lends his vocal talents as well as playing bass and keyboards for the band.[7]
On, July 15, 2006 Deryck married singer Avril Lavigne, he is also producing some songs of Avril for her next album.
The album recording will start in November, 2006 and the new album producer will be announced in the next weeks, according to Cone.
Musical style and influences
Sum 41 cited their early music (Half Hour Of Power) is heavily influenced by NOFX. Another big influence of their music as is often named by the critic is Beastie Boys, specially in their All Killer No Filler hip-hop persona and their Rapcore music found in Fat Lip and What We're All About singles. Their Later music in the pop-punk/metal hybrid album Does This Look Infected? have heavy influence of The Offspring as the band itself have comented, also some metal influence coming from bands in the Iron Maiden trend is noted. Although they have cited Green Day as an influence since the band's first record this is more notable in their lastest music from the Alternative rock album Chuck, in this album some Nu metal music can also be found, with some similarities with the band Linkin Park. Chuck features a serie of songs that can be considered with Thrash metal and they have cited Metallica as one of their main influences on their metal music.
The band's early musical style is often compared to the blink-182 pop-punk because their catchy melodies and their toilet humor. Nowadays the musical genre of the band is in dispute among fans because their huge combination of different musical sounds. The dispute is often around the punk vein of the band, as they have been labeled sometimes as Pop-punk, Punk rock or even Hardcore punk. Their lyrics contains some hardcore influence and the band's later albums are known for their often politically-driven music. The band itself, however, claims that their music is "Rock", plain and simple.
Some recent pop-punk revival bands and post-grunge artists including SR-71, Simple Plan, New Found Glory, Autopilot Off (their producer was the Sum 41 former manager) and Lit have cited Sum 41 as one of their influences, although it is a known fact that Sum 41 hates Simple Plan, including the music they produce and the members of the band.
Band Lineup
- Deryck Whibley/Bizzy D (Guitar, Lead Vocals)
- Jason McCaslin/Cone (Bass, Vocals)
- Steve Jocz/Stevo 32 (Drums, Vocals)
More nick-names on "Does This Look Infected?" lyric booklet.
Former Members
- Dave Baksh aka Brownsound (Guitar, Vocals) (1996-2006) now in Brown Brigade
Discography
| Album Cover | Date of Release | Title | Label | US Billboard Peak | UK Peak | Canada Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
June 27, 2000 | Half Hour of Power | Island Records | #176 | Not Chart | Not Chart |
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May 8, 2001 | All Killer No Filler | Island Records | #13 | #7 | #1 |
|
November 26, 2002 | Does This Look Infected? | Island Records | #32 | #34 | #1 |
|
October 12, 2004 | Chuck | Island Records | #10 | #59 | #1 |
| File:Sumgcy.JPG | 2005 (Japan), 2006 (Canada) | Go Chuck Yourself / Happy Live Surprise | Aquarius / Universal | # | # | # |
|
TBA, 2007 | TBA | Island Records | # | # | # |
Singles
Trivia
- 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 they didn't have a name for it yet. Then 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
- 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
- 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.
- "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.
- The song "Right Now" by SR-71 has been erroneously attributed to Sum 41 over the internet as "Kick Me When I'm High".
- The members of the band consider "What We're All About" their worst song.
- 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 once ("The Hell Song"), 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.
- Sum 41 has been featured on a Motorola ROKR E1 commercial, a iTunes+iPod commercial and a MTV commercial.
- The band were guest stars on an episode of King of the Hill
- "Still Waiting" is the main song for Obscure, a survival horror game from Hydravision published by MC2-Microïds for PC and console platforms in 2004.
- "Summer" is featured on the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 soundtrack
- The band have stated on their Q&A that they hate how "In Too Deep" sounds live.
- 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 come out of the water into a guitar solo was copied from the Guns N' Roses music video "Estranged"
- Their song "No Reason" was on the game NFL Street 2, during one of their performances you can see shots of NFL Street 2 Unleashed in the back.
External links
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| Studio albums | |
| Live albums | |
| EPs | |
| Compilation albums | |
| Video albums | |
| Singles |
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| Other songs | |
| Tours | |
| Related | |
