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Cone was cool to answer a few questions for us. Check it out!
*Note: The questions were sent already in April.
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The band has been unusually silent about the new record. Last album had snippets posted on social media, along with the traditional studio updates. What made you take a complete opposite direction this time?
I think the band just needed to go silent for a while since we were going so hard for the past few years. Also sometimes when you post studio stuff along the way people think the album is coming sooner than it really is and then there's pressure and I think it felt like we didn't want any pressure on this album with certain date expectations and all that. We are releasing studio videos now that it's all done for people to see. Best of both worlds.
How would you describe the new album?
I'd say it's a heavy aggressive melodic Sum 41 album that's probably overall the heaviest album we've done without becoming a heavy metal band....... This is still Sum 41.
How did the writing process of the album go?
Pretty normal process for us, Deryck had the songs, when he felt like he had them in a good place he sent them off to us. I wrote my bass parts when I got them, Dave and Tom came up with some guitar ideas/solo ideas and then we all got together in LA to go over them all and tweak whatever needed to be tweaked and threw around a few ideas etc.
Does it sound more like Chuck, SBM or any other album or is it completely different?
If I HAD to compare I'd say it has a little Chuck, SBM and 13 Voices in sound. But it really has its own vibe. It's not the same as any of our albums. It sounds like us though.
Do you already have a favorite track on the new album?
Kinda but it's still too early for me to choose. There is a song called "Turning Away" that I really love, first song on the album. I like the vibe of that song. Great chorus.
What kind of gear did you use on the new album?
I used the same Fender Re-Issue 1962 Bass that I've used on all our albums. Just sounds better than any other bass...... And again I used the holy grail Bass DI the "Evil Twin". Some songs would have different amps on them I think but that would have been reamped after I sent it to Deryck and so I have no idea on the amp choices....... ha .
We've seen that the new album has 10 tracks. Will there be any bonus tracks available on some special editions?
Maybe......... Not sure yet.......
Do you plan to release another single before the launch of the album?
Yup, There's a song coming called "A Death In The Family". Then maybe 1 or 2 more before the album is out! Maybe not......
This year is Chuck's 15th anniversary. Does this have any influence on your upcoming shows?
Kinda ya. We just played a whole US tour and added in a few Chuck songs to the set. "Some Say" we played for the first time in probably 12-13 years. We're hoping to play a few more Chuck songs than normal at some shows.
When will your next world tour be more likely to start?
It's looking like the real Order In Decline World Tour will start in the Fall.
You're going to play some metal festivals in Europe this Summer. Are you going to change your setlist a little bit? It could be an opportunity to play some Chuck songs.
The set list gets made day of..... haha. I have no idea!
Can you tell us about your other projects?
Well nothing crazy right now. I was producing and writing quite a bit while I was off but that's kinda taken a back seat now that Sum 41 is really busy. I am working on some of my own songs that I've written over the past 10-15 years that I'm considering releasing one day. That might be sooner than later now. Finally figuring out what songs and sounds I wanna do. I've narrowed it down to 9-11 songs that I think are awesome. Just have to find time to record them now. Pretty sure it'll happen. I even have a band name picked out.
Do you have any news about the live DVD that you were supposed to release?
Unfortunately nothing. The idea was to film that show, then add some other old footage to it as a real film but that process has kinda stalled now. Takes a lot of money to make these things and we're still trying to work that stuff out.
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This interview was made in collaboration with Sum 41 France.