artist: simple plan date: 10/31/2008 category: interviews
Simple Plan: 'It Was Something We Had Never Done Before'

For Montreal-based pop-rock quintet Simple Plan, their recently released third album is not just an album, but a statement of artistic ambition and growth from the group. As you'd expect from any group that would call its debut album No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls, the new self-titled release is a fearless, without-a-net excursion into dynamic music-making, taking what we love best about Simple Plan - the unbridled energy, the ripping guitars, the hook-filled melodic sensibility - and incorporating a slew of inventive sonic approaches informed by new collaborators such as Nate "Danja" Hills and pop wizard, Max Martin. Since the album’s release back in February of this year, the band have been on an extensive world tour in support of the new album. Recently, the band made their way to Australia where Joe Matera was invited backstage to interview the band exclusively for Ultimate-Guitar.

UG: With this, your third album to date, it is a much more mature effort and one where you manage to successfully, forge a new sound in the process.

Jeff: The reason was that we just wanted to try new things, and we wanted to experiment. And we were inspired to do so by the music we were hearing around us. I think as musicians, you can’t help but take everything in and then mix it up and make it your own. It is like making a big stew of all your musical influences. At the time we were really excited with what the producer Danja was doing with artists such as Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado. And we were like, “well, we find that cool, but how do you make it rock at the same time?’, because for us, it needs to rock, to stay exciting. So we thought, ‘let’s blend those sounds and make something unique and something that is our own sound’. And that’s what we did. So we really worked hard in the studio to make the two sounds mesh in a natural way. We didn’t just want the sound of a rock band with a few electro elements. It had to be something where it really blended nicely together. And that’s why the record took a little longer than usual. Truthfully there was almost like, two records written before we actually started making this one. There was a lot of material that got left over, a real lot of songs. Not that they were not good enough, but because, they were too similar to what we were doing in the past, and too similar to what we were doing on the second record. And though that was cool, we felt we had already done it. So out of our desire to be challenged and to stay excited about the music, we got all this fresh stuff going on.

The underlining philosophy of the band has always been a love of pop music and pop music structure though?

Jeff: Yeah I’ve always been a sucker for a pop song. It is something that has always been attractive to me. Even though I listen to tons of music, everything from metal, country, and a lot of different things, what always attracts me, is a great hook. For me the concept of making a song is about making it more melodic and catchy and with a meaning. Yet, making it deep enough so you don’t get bored with hearing it after one or two times. It’s a fine balance and quite an art form to it. For example, if you hear a song like I Kissed A Girl, its like ‘I’m so fucking tired of hearing that song!’ But truthfully man, it is brilliant. As it’s got this great hook that just grabs you and won’t let you go.

"This record was basically like having a music store available to us."
You mentioned working with producer Nate "Danja" Hills on this album. You also worked with two other producers, Max Martin, and Dave Fortman. Obviously each had a different approach?

Sébastien: Yes. Danja definitely got some of the beats going. It was very interesting to start a song in the songwriting process with a beat or a loop. It was something we had never done befor

When Alter Bridge launched their debut album in the fall of 2004, the last thing that Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall could have expected was the need to start over yet again. Perhaps things do happen for a reason, because what could have been a curse turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After Alter Bridge’s first album, One Day Remains, was met with critical acclaim, the band set off on tour in the fall of 2004, playing through the end of 2005 for fervent crowds all over the world. Simultaneously, however, cracks began to tarnish the relationship between the band and its label, Wind-Up Records. Believing that their label did not share the same vision, the band determined their only recourse was to ask to be released from Wind-Up.

The label's objections prompted Tremonti and Phillips, using their personal funds, to successfully negotiate and buy the band out of their contract. The band's focus and determination was rewarded in June of last year, when they finally signed with Universal Republic Records. Out of the chaos, tumult, and uncertainty, Blackbird, Alter Bridge’s sophomore album, was born and released. Like their highly praised debut, Blackbird too, was met with critical acclaim. With the band busy touring behind their latest opus, Joe Matera caught up with Alter Bridge’s Mark Tremonti for this interview for Ultimate-Guitar. Here, Tremonti discusses his new found songwriting partnership, gives readers an insight into his amazing tone and reveals his many sources of inspiration.

UG: The band’s recent album, Blackbird displays a solidified songwriting partnership between you and Myles Kennedy?

Mark Tremonti: Absolutely, and it was a lot of fun to work together on this record. On the first record, we only had a few months to figure out what roles we were going to play. But when it came to making this record, we had like two to three years of touring behind us already, and that really help define each other’s roles.

Do you and Myles tend to do much writing while out on the road?

Yeah we write every time I pick up a guitar. And that is regardless if I am working on my guitar playing or working with Myles. We already have plenty of material to get a start on the next album. It is not quite done yet, but we’re half way there with the songwriting process to it.

When it comes to the songwriting process within Alter Bridge, how does it compare with the songwriting process with your previous band Creed?

Back in the Creed days, if I didn’t bring in an initial idea, a song wouldn’t exist though Scott really worked mostly on the lyrical stuff and some times, did help with some of the melodies. But in Alter Bridge, I now have a writing partner in Myles. He is one that also offers up ideas too and so we can work together as a team.

Going back to Blackbird, the album seems to bring out more of who you are musically and it is a lot more adventurous in scope. Whereas when it came to Creed, it seems a lot of the music was influenced by the dictates of your record company. Is that an accurate assessment?

Yes and because we have just grown as musicians too and we no longer have the politics of a record label. And with Alter Bridge, we have something that is completely artistic and it is not from a point of record sales or from writing songs for radio. We’re writing whatever we want to write. I do think the success we had with Creed though, offered us the ability to do whatever we want to do and that is precisely what Alter Bridge is all about.

"With Alter Bridge, we have something that is completely artistic."
Let’s speak a little about the evolution of your gear from your days in Creed to today with Alter Bridge?

Back in the Creed days, I primarily used Mesa Boogie Rectifiers as well as, at times, Dual Rectifiers too. I also used two 1955 Fender Twin reissue combos with 2 X 12s in them for my clean sound. I also had a Fender Showman which had 2 X 15s i

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