The Canadian rock band’s frontman Deryck Whibley on their new album ‘Order In
Decline’ and writing a song about the U.S. Presidential election resultSum 41:
‘Everything Is Just Part of the Journey’
July 2019 | Rolling Stone | 29
I
f everyone’s mem-
ory of 2000s rock
was spiky-haired
kids moshing in an empty
swimming pool, you
have Sum 41 to credit.
The Canadian band have
always been punk-leaning
with that doofus-comic
intent (“In Too Deep” and
“The Hell Song”), but also
showed emotional ma-
turity (“Pieces”) over the
two decades that they’ve
been active.
Over the phone from
his home in Los Angeles,
frontman Deryck Whibley
says most of Sum 41’s
material – including
their new album Order
In Decline – is never
thought about too much.
“I didn’t really think
about anything, I never
really do when I’m going
into an album,” he says.
While Sum 41 still held
mainstream rock domi-
nance when they released
Underclass Hero in 2007,
guitarist Dave Baksh left
the band in 2006 and
2011’s Screaming Bloody
Murder was met with
mixed reviews.
Even then, Sum 41 sol-
diered on with rock solid
intent, touring around
the globe and prepping
for their next. They
pumped their brakes in
2014, when Whibley was
hospitalized due to exces-
sive drinking, something
that nearly resulted in
his death. By 2016, Sum
41’s comeback was in full
swing, now reunited with
Baksh and their no-holds-
barred debut on Hopeless
Records, 13 Voices.With the band running
on high from that album
and Order In Decline as
well, Whibley sounds like
a content rockstar who
can take his rage on stage.
A few days ahead of their
tour through Europe and
North America promot-
ing the new album (out
July 19th via Hopeless
Records), Whibley spoke
to Rolling Stone India
about growing up and
growing old, his writing
process and heavy music.
Excerpts:
A lot of bands, through
press releases,
will say an album
is their heaviest
and loudest as a
marketing tool,
but Order In
Decline seems
back that claim.
How did you arrive
at this sound for
the album?
It just came out
that way. I didn’t
really think about
anything, I never
really do when
I’m going into an
album. I just write
songs and what-
ever comes out,
comes out. The
fact that I started
writing a lot of this stuff
on the road, while we
were on tour, I guess...
that probably inspired me
to write something that
was energetic, because
we’re coming off stage
every night and the shows
are really energetic and
really fun to play live.
“The People Vs...” feels
like a metal song. It’s amongthe more politically charged
ones. Is it addressed to
anyone in particular?
I think music is always
open-ended in some
ways. But then there’s
always what I think... I
didn’t think of that as the
heaviest song, but it felt
to me like a very Sum 41
song. The way that song
came out, I originally had
that chorus from the last
record and I just didn’t
finish the song. It was
half of a song and then
I just finished writing it
one day.You put a lot of life
experiences into 13 Voices,
so when it came to Order In
Decline, did you at any point
feel like, ‘What am I going to
write about now?’
That always enters my
mind when I’m working
on lyrics at the beginning.
I never know when I’m
going to start writing. I
don’t think about it. I sitdown and start coming
up with the words. I don’t
know what they mean
yet, I don’t know where
I’m going with it yet. It’s
just a figuring out process
for me. Usually, a couple
of words come out right
from the beginning and
I don’t know what they
mean or why. They just
fall out and you just
follow those first and see
where it takes me. As you
get a few lines, you figure
out what you’re writing
about and usually, it
comes from subconscious,
really.
How do you not look
at what other people are
doing on the radio or at
shows and say, ‘let’s do
that?’
I think it’s the case
that I don’t listen
to the radio at all. I
don’t even know what
people are doing. I
haven’t listened to it
in a long time. None
of that enters my
mind ever.
You have “A Death in
the Family” on this one.
Has death always been
something you’ll write
about?
[Laughs] I don’t
know... the song is
not really about a death
in the family. The title
comes from... it was the
only way I could describe
the feeling after the 2016
U.S. Presidential election.
Once that happened and
Donald Trump became
president, it was closest
to what it feels like when
you have a death in the
family. You’re just mopingaround, didn’t want to
talk to anybody, didn’t
know what to say or what
to do. For about a week,
that’s how that felt.
It’s been 23 years of Sum
41’s existence now. What did
you think it would be like
aging as a musician?
[Laughs] I think when
we first started out, when
we were very young and
in 10th grade – so about
15 or 16 years old – we
thought we were going to
be big and it was going
to last forever. But that’s
what you think when
you’re 15 years old. By the
time we got into our 20s,
you realize that stick-
ing around in a band is
difficult and the odds are
against you.
Do you think of wild times
and think, ‘Thank God that’s
over with’?
Not necessarily.
Everything is just part of
the journey, I don’t mind
any of it. There’s ups and
downs, easy things and
tough things but it is
what it is. You just move
on to the next day.
You played in Asia a few
times over. Did you ever have
any offers to play in India?
I don’t think we’ve ever
had any offers. I’ve always
wondered about that, be-
cause we do have interest
to go, but it’s just never
come up. I know there’s
lots of places we haven’t
gone to that we really
want to go to. I mean,
we finally only made it
to South America for the
first time on this album
(13 Voices) in our whole
career. ANURAG TAGAT“I think when we
first started out,
when we were
very young and in
10th grade – so
about 15 or 16
years old – we
thought we were
going to be big
and it was going
to last forever.”
ASHLEY OSBORN