Sum 41 Interview – Vans Warped Tour

We all remember Sum 41 as being teenage rebels who lived the life we wanted to lead ourselves. But over ten years down the line, as married men with “responsibilities”, have they lost their inner child? We were lucky enough to catch up with Steve Jocz and Jason “Cone” McCaslin from the band to find out how they still keep themselves young at heart, how they really feel about the departure of Dave Baksh and what their future plans are for world domination!

Introduce yourselves guys.
Steve: I’m Steve, I play drums.
Cone: I am Cone, I play bass.
Steve: For Sum 41.

How has Warped Tour been so far?
Steve: It’s been going great, all the shows have gone really well and it’s been just fun. It’s only been like two week so far.
Cone: Yeah, two weeks.
Steve: It’s just flown by! Five more weeks to go!
Cone: Yeah, only five [laughs].

You’re obviously on the road a lot, how do you deal with being away from friends and family?
[Steve’s Mum is standing in the room with us.]
Steve: As you can see [points to his mum] we just pack ‘em up, put them in the bay of the bus and bring them along! [laughs]. You know it can be tricky, but our wives come out and visit once in a while. We’ve been off for two years, so now we’re about to go on the road for a few years, so we need to have some fun.
Cone: We can’t wait!

Since the beginning of Sum 41 there’s been a line up change with the departure of Dave Baksh, how do you feel this has affected the music?
Steve: Erm, it hasn’t really affected the music that much.
Ouch.
Cone: Well in a way everything that Dave played, Derek wrote. Except for like some solos.
Steve: Yeah! It was kind of a smooth transition. We knew Dave didn’t wanna be in the band anymore so it wasn’t like a big messy break up or anything.

Do you miss him?
Steve: Erm…
Cone: Well I mean we were friends since we were like 14, so it is a little strange not to have him in the band any more.
Steve: We didn’t really hang out though, except for when we were in the band and on the road. And now he’s not on the road any more. He is a great guy though, there’s no hard feelings or anything.

Good, so there is no “beef”?
Steve: No, there’s no beef, and if there was, it would be with Roti [laughter]. He likes the Roti.

What the craziest fan experience you’ve ever had?
Cone: You tell it.
Steve: OK, I’ll do this. Here is a funny one. So I was at Warped tour, and we were doing a signing, and this kid walked up to the table and says “Hey can you sign my leg?”, so I was like “Sure!”. So he takes his leg off, it was a prosthetic leg, and he’s like “Here” and gives me the leg. So I’m like “Woah… OK” and I signed it. And then some other kid took the leg and ran off with it! And this other kid was like hopping after him! [laughs] So yeah, that was kind of weird.

That is the best fan story I’ve ever heard! Who is the most embarrassing band or artist on your iPod?
Steve: I got a little bit of Britney [Spears] on there.
Cone: Do you really?
Steve: Yeah I love Britney. C’mon, Womanizer… you don’t like Womanizer?
Cone: I’ve got George Michael on my iPod. Is that embarrassing?
Steve: Yeah I’ve got some Wham on there. Wham’s album Make it Big.
[Steve starts singing and clicking his fingers]

If you could host your own Warped tour, who would headline and who would support?
Steve: I think we definitely have a soft spot for the way it was when we first went to Warped.
Cone: Yeah!
Steve: We would have NOFX and Pennywise and The Vandals.
Cone: The Bosstones!
Steve: Yeah, so basically like a time machine back to like 1996.

Let’s play word association!
Music.
Steve: Sum 41, new record coming out this Summer!
[laughs]
Cone: Good one.
Steve: What? I just thought I would sneak that in there.

Band mates.
Cone : Sum 41.
Steve: Morons! As my mother would say, professional morons [laughs].

Amsterdam.
Steve: Morons! We are morons in Amsterdam! That’s the best city for Sum 41!
[Cone turns around and looks at Steve’s Mum.]
Cone: There are so many stories I can’t tell you right now.
Steve: I know! My mum is watching us!
[Steve’s Mum pretends to leave the room]
Steve: Erm… yeah. Good times in Amsterdam!… and Bicycles, a lot of bicycles!
Cone: They drive on the wrong side of the street in Amsterdam.
I think you’ll find Cone, that you guys drive on the wrong side of the street!
Steve: [attempting a London accent] Actually, yeah… listen love, alwright! Listen mate!

Lady Gaga.
Steve: I like Gaga! I like Gaga!
Cone: I know a couple of songs, they’re good songs!

Touring
Steve: [Steve sighs] Interesting.
Cone: Yeap.

Cheese.
Steve: Aged.
Cone: I get bloated [laughs].
Steve: Yep! He’s a lactose, he gets gassy.

Cow.
Cone: I don’t eat it.
Steve: I’ve been a vegan for a while, but I think I’ve eaten a bit of it for some of this tour [laughs]. I’ve fallen off the wagon!

Alcohol.
Steve: Brown Tom.

Fans.
Steve: Handy? [laughs]

England.
Steve: Great food.
Cone: Yeah, great [said sarcastically].
Steve: Ahh dude, c’mon, that was a burn. I said it as a complement.
Cone: I said “great”.
Steve: Yeah, but the way you said it.
Cone: No, I mean it!

Gary Coleman.
Cone: [changing the subject] Where are you from by the way?
England.
Steve: Ooh, Eng-er-land.
Cone: Where in England?
London.
Cone: I love London.
Steve: Gary Coleman? Life cut short.
Loving the pun!

FIFA World Cup.
Steve: What?
FIFA World Cup.
Cone: So, what?
Steve: I don’t know what that is…
You know, the worldwide football tournament that millions of people have been watching?
Steve: We don’t watch American Football.
Cone: It’s soccer.
Steve: Oh, we don’t watch soccer either. So did that happen already? Is that going on? But it’s so boring!
We are genuinely in shock.
Steve: You’re in shock? We have put you in shock? Should I get a medic in here? [laughs]

How do your USA/Canadian fans compare to UK fans?
Steve: Well the UK are pretty damn good.
Cone: Yeah, they are rough!
Steve: No, but they’re awesome though.
Cone: That’s what I mean, like a rough crowd in a good way! They’re solid.
Steve: Oh yeah.
Cone: Like if they don’t leave our show bleeding they’re not happy.
Steve: Yeah, I love playing there crowds are always great.
Cone: I like it over there a lot.

What is next for Sum 41?
Steve: The album is coming out this fall probably, no specific time as of yet. You can go to sum41.com in a week or so and download a free song! A free song!
Cone: And actually, we are going to London in November! Full UK/European tour!

Sex drugs or rock ‘n’ roll?
Steve: Rock ‘n’ roll! And if it’s sex, after you’re married with the wife and only for the purpose of making grandchildren!
[Steve looks at his mum with an angelic face]

For more information on Sum 41 and their upcoming tour dates, check out their website www.sum41.com and their MySpace www.myspace.com/sum41

Interview by Tanu Ravi