Credits

It has been a while since Pierre Bouvier and Chuck Comeau are working with the band MKTO. The mistery has an end and today it was reveled that besides co-write songs to MKTO, they were working in a new version of “Summer Paradise”, which will have a new video clip.

To listen to the new version, click here.

The song will be avaliable to download it on iTunes on May 28th and you can use the hashtag #SummerStartsNow to commented about it in your social networks.

Jean-Marc was the winner of the Star Academy in 2012 and released his album at l’Olympia, in Montreal. Check the first images in our gallery:

Before doing his participation on the second annual C2MTL conference, Chuck Comeau gave an interview to the La Presse, in which he commented about brands, music industry, collaboration between music and social media, and more. Check the translation below:

“I always thought that one day, the big brands like Coca-Cola would become the suppliers of music, that they would sign the artists themselves. It will be a war of content, and then – these brands still need to be cool, to be on the edge. When we started 12 years ago, it was like a crime to make a product placement in your music video. Today, it is common, it is even weird not to have them. Is it possible to go even further? I always said that one day we would have an album presented by Coke.” [Chuck on brands]

“The music industry is a good example of resilience. When it produces great changes, as it was the case in recent years, you have no choice but to be creative. People in the industry have complained for several years, but now they roll up their sleeves and find new ideas to stay relevant. Nevertheless, the music has never been so present in people’s lives. Music is more than ever a way for young people to define themselves.” [Chuck on the music industry and music in general]

“Could Facebook start signing bands and their music to the billions of people on their site? Why not! All these brands need music, movies, TV series, content for broadcast for their distribution channels that are extremely powerful and lose their purpose if they do not have the content to distribute.” [Chuck on the possible next level of the collaboration between music and social media]

“While others find that the marketing side and management is a burden, I always found it really interesting. There is no one who will be as concerned about your career as yourself.” [Chuck on his interest in the business side of music]

“Sometimes people offer you good amounts of money [for product placement], but if it does not work with our own brand and who we are as a band, it’s not cool for our fans. We must define what Simple Plan is and at the same time learn to reinvent ourselves and do new things.” [Chuck on staying true to the band's identity]

Credits

The drummer of the band did his participation on the panel “The Beat Goes On”, which was hosted by Mitch Joel. Below you can check some Chuck’s quotes during the event and the first images.

“The future of music – whatever it holds – should ensure real focus on the fans.”

“We are working hard to make Simple Plan the most accessible band in the world throughout social media.”

“People are now so passionate about music – it becomes an accessible source of identity construction.”

Pierre Bouvier gave an interview to the Musichel website. In this interview, he commented about how it is a typical day for the band, about maybe release new songs and a new DVD still this year, and more. Check the whole interview below:

Simple Plan is a household name – everyone has heard of the band and its music. How do you feel about the widespread global popularity you guys have achieved?

The fact that we are a successful band that has been able to stay relevant is our biggest achievement. We are so proud to be one of the few bands that are here to stay. When you have hit and have a successful album, it’s so difficult to try to follow up. It’s an amazing feeling to know that we have fans around the world that want to keep supporting us and that love us for more than just one song.

It has been more than a decade since Simple Plan was formed. How have you & the rest of the band members changed both as a band and as individuals?

I think we have all evolved and matured just like anyone out there does. When the band started, we were all in our very early 20s and were ready to conquer the world. We goofed around a bit more and were probably a little more immature. Today, we’re still those same guys, just a little older. So maybe we don’t party as hard and we think a little more before doing something stupid, but that’s just normal. It’s not to say that we don’t like to have fun and get crazy – we just don’t do it as often. I think we’re also conscious of what we have achieved and we don’t take it for granted. Back in our early days, our behaviours sometimes were detrimental to our performances, like drinking too much and not being on top of your game the next day. Now we focus on being the best we can be because we feel that we owe it to our fans that’ve been there for us for so long. I guess that’s a sign of maturity.

Musically, we’ve always been perfectionists and have always taken that very seriously. We love making music and writing and producing albums that we are proud of. With the years, I think we’ve gotten better at doing that. Which is why I think our last album is our best. We always push ourselves to outdo the last one.

You’ve been to Singapore quite a few times, most recently during the Get Your Heart On Tour in 2012. What is your favourite memory of Singapore?

Singapore is such a beautiful place. I enjoy just walking around and taking it all in. Last time we were there, we ended up at the bar on top of that huge building that looks like a boat. It was pretty awesome.

If you could perform anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Somewhere we’ve never been. There are many.

You worked with MTV EXIT to create a music video for “This Song Saved My Life” to raise awareness about human trafficking. How was it like working with MTV EXIT? Tell us more about your anti-human trafficking cause.

It was an eye opener to say the least. We learned so much about human trafficking, something that we are hardly ever exposed to in North America. It’s so sad to think that people are still treated like slaves today. I was happy to learn about it and to help MTV EXIT in their fight.

What is a typical day for you like when you’re on tour?

Wake up, find a shower, find food, do some interviews, sound check, sound check fan club party, find food, chill out before the show, warm up for an hour, play the show, wind down after show, find a bed, sleep, repeat.

Speaking of tours, you guys travel all over the world when you’re on tour. What do you usually do on long flights?

Watch movies or TV shows on my computer or sleep. Sometimes I’ll read a book if I have a good one.

What’s your opinion on auto tune?

Auto tune is so much more than what people think it is. It’s more than just the effect you hear. I think there’s good and bad about it. I think it’s definitely over used but sometimes it can sound cool!

Simple Plan is one of the rare bands that has had no line-up changes since its inception and you still make great music together even after 14 years together as a band, which is not the case for most other bands. What is your secret to this amazing feat?
I have no idea. I guess we’re all level-headed guys. We love what we do and we don’t want to stop. It’s not like we don’t ever fight, I think we’re just good at communicating when a problem arises. Plus we get along great. We’re good friends. Sometimes the easy way out seems to be to replace somebody, but people forget that the next guy (or girl) will come with a whole new set of problems. Might as well work out the issue instead. Much easier.

What is your favourite song you’ve ever recorded?
That changes all the time. I’m proud of all of them. Some standout tracks would probably be:
“Perfect”, “Welcome To My Life”, “Crazy”, “Your Love is A Lie”, “This Song Saved My Life”, “Summer Paradise” and “Astronaut”.

What usually runs through your mind on the day of a gig?
Same as any other day. Playing shows has become second nature, there’s no over thinking it. It’s just pure fun.

Any big plans for 2013?
Yes. Writing our next album, playing a few more shows and hopefully release some new unreleased songs and a DVD we’re working on. Stay tuned!

Recently when Chuck was on Twitter and commented that they were filming a little something on the beach, he was referring to the new video clip.

The band MKTO posted a picture of the behind the scenes of the video, in which we can see them, the director Mark Staubach (responsible for directing some Simple Plan’s video clips) and Pierre. Check it in our gallery:

Photo: Bros in the studio.

The Festival made a press conference in May 15th to show the attractions that the event will have this year and David Desrosiers was present representing the Simple Plan. Check some pictures in our gallery and watch below the video that shows the attractions: