Simple Plan Space

SIMPLE PLAN SPACE Real Fans Real Stories

The Never Ever Interview, what was it like touring with SP?

I’m Just a Kid

August 2012

The Australian Tour Edition

The Ultimate SP Fan Magazine

Editor’s note Hey Simple Plan Fans!

Welcome to the first edition of Simple Plan Space.

An awesome team of writers and researchers have come together to produce this magazine for Simple Plan Fans. This is the work of many with one thing in common, a love for Simple Plan.

I have always wanted to be a writer and one day I read what Chuck said about believing in yourself and I just gave it a go. He is my inspiration in so many ways.

“You can do whatever you want honestly. You just gotta set your mind to it.” Chuck.

It has been fantastic the response that we have had just from Twitter and Facebook posts. I have made so many SP friends from these social media sites and look forward to connecting with more.

This edition is mainly about The Australian Tour, and most of the writers live in Australia and saw Simple Plan live and were lucky enough to meet them.

We are happy to have suggestions on what you would like to read about so let us know!

Contact us. simpleplanspace@gmail.com send us suggestions!

Ask Questions!

So I hope you enjoy this first issue!

Peace out, Jen @justjenrees Editor SimplePlan Space is in no way affiliated with Simple Plan, Warner Music, Atlantic Records or Coalition Entertainment.

This is a magazine made entirely by fans for fans. Simple Plan Space is only available online and always for free.

All the content belongs to their respective writers.

THE SIMPLE PLAN SPACE TEAM

Editor: Jen Rees Assistant Editor: Maddie Jane

Writers: Jen, Maddie Jane, Luke, Marly, Joel, Leeann, Kailia, Maria, Nick, Emma, Sinja,Karoline,Nina Contributors: Dale, Danielle, Kellie, Zac, Keeley, Angela Photographers: Emma, Joel, Maria, Martin, Sian, Leeann, Rossi, Simple Plan. cz Publicity: Jen and Maddie Jane Special Thanks to Alex , Maddie , Martin, Lani, The Never Ever, Sunshine Coast Daily, Simple Plan.cz Thanks to my Simple Plan twitter and facebook mates who don’t mind discussing Simple Plan all the time!

You know who you are !

FOLLOW US!

twitter @simpleplanspace facebook http://www.facebook.com/SImplePlanSpace tumbr http://www.tumblr.com/blog/simpleplanspace instgram simpleplanspace

In this issue Editor’s note....................page 2 Get to know the band............page 5 The Never Ever Interview ........page 6 to 9 The Australian Tour..........page 10 Fan sticks to Simple Plan for Great Music...page 13 Real fans Real stories.....pages 12 to 17 Song in focus “I’m just a kid ....page 18 Simple Plan saved my life.....page 20 Simple Social Network Plan...... page 22 Quiz and Fun stuff........... page 23 SP news...........page 24 Canada Day......... page 26 What’s coming up! .......page 28 Get to know the team (1) .............page 29

Get to know the band: Part 1 Simple Plan consist of Charles-André ”Chuck” Comeau (drums), Jean François ”Jeff” Stinco (lead guitar), David Desrosiers (bass and backing vocals), Sébastien ”Seb” Lefebvre (rythm guitar and backing vocals) and Pierre Charles Bouvier (lead vocals).

To really get to know Simple Plan we have to go all the way back to the beginning. In 1993 Reset, a punk rock band from Canada, was formed by Pierre and Chuck when they were 13 years old, together with Jean-Sébastien Boileau and Philippe Jolicoeur. 1n 1998 after a conflict between Chuck and Pierre, Chuck left the band.

He then got the idea for Simple Plan together with Jeff and Seb.They first thought of Candian Plan as a name but decided on Simple Plan. 1999 Pierre left Reset and joined Simple Plan and in 2000 David took Pierre’s place in Reset.

He only stayed with the band for 6 months before he left and then joined Simple Plan. Chuck once said in an interview that if he had to put an exact date on when they officially were a band it has to be April/May 2000.

From left to right: Chuck, David, Pierre, Jeff and Seb Written by Karoline Hov @KarolineHov1

THE NEVER EVER Aussie Simple Plan fans would remember them as the band that was written on the tickets we looked at everyday counting the days down and finally entertained us while we were waiting for Simple Plan to come on. All I knew of The Never Ever was that they were a band from Sydney. I checked out their web page before I headed to the concert in Melbourne. http://www. theneverever.com/index.html When I first saw them I was blown away with their energy, Seriously the drummer’s energy (Jess) was just like Chuck’s! Their catchy tunes really got me in the zone for We the Kings then of course Simple Plan.

I then saw them in Wollongong a few days later and I loved them even more, their songs I remembered and they had a huge stage presence. Since then I have followed them on twitter and of course being a Simple Plan fan, I have purchased one of their tees. I have their EP on my iPod and I now think of them as one of my favourite bands.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lani and I have the chance to meet up with all the band members after the Melbourne concert on the 4th of August. The Never Ever are fantastic to their fans just like Simple Plan by replying to tweets, having a TNEMondays session on tiny chat, meet and greets after their shows as well as a TNE tv show on YouTube.

So I hope you enjoy reading the following interview and for more info tweet any member of the band. I encourage you to download their Breathe EP off itunes or buy it from JB HiFi. Check out their website, facebook page and do what I am doing, go and see them in concert once again!

How did you guys meet?

We pretty much all met through friends of friends although we’ve realized now that we’d been going to the same shows, hanging out at the same places since we were about 13.

When did you first start making music together?

Jess and Brad were actually in a heavier band before The Never Ever and Pat and Dylan were in another band together as well, so the rest of the guys have been making music for quite some time. As a band, we’ve been writing and performing for around 2 years now.

How did you come up with the name The Never Ever?

Our name came from an artwork that we saw in a book, it was a very bright and colourful piece titled “The Never Ever”. Back then we used to wear bright coloured shirts, Nike hightops in every colour you could think of, so we thought this artwork really captured who we were as a band. We’ve been The Never Ever, ever since, of course this opens us up to terribly overused puns haha Did you have in mind a particular musical direction that you wanted to take, or did you just start playing and wait to see what came out?

We always knew we wanted to make pop/punk music, we’ve all got a lot of different influences that come out in our music so while we had an idea of where we wanted to go, we’ve come out with a sound that we never really thought would be ours.

Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations?

We have so many, from all different genres. My all time favourite band has got to be Fall Out Boy, I also love bands like Jacks Mannequin and Bring Me The Horizon. Another influence who we had the pleasure of playing alongside would have to be Simple Plan!

How does your songwriting process typically go? Has that changed at all over the last few years?

Songwriting is actually a little bit odd for us, we tend to write a lot as a band as opposed to just one or two members writing all the material. We tend to cross over instruments as well, the parts we write may not necessarily be for our own instrument.

Where did the Breathe name come from? Why did you settle on that as the EP title?

Breathe is a word that I’ve been throwing around for a while now, it’s something I tell myself whenever things get tough or I’m feeling overwhelmed. When we were writing this EP, we were definitely feeling that way, we were going through some tough issues and one thing we all kept saying was just breathe. We considered calling the EP ‘Just Breathe’ but ended up settling on ‘Breathe.

Of all the tracks on the EP, which one did you have the most fun recording?

For me, the song I had the most fun recording was Glow. I bought this ridiculous piece of equipment called a ‘talk-box’ which is basically this tube you place in your mouth and it’s connected to a keyboard. When you sing and play the keyboard, the notes you play come out of your mouth. You basically sound like a pitch perfect robot. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and insisted on using it in a song. That song was glow, it’s far back in the mix but you can definitely hear my robot singing in the bridge of it.

Love Dylan’s voice? Watch this cover of Lego House! http://www.facebook.com/TheNeverEver?v=app_57675755167

You guys have been touring a lot recently. What do you look forward to the most about playing live?

I love the rush of stepping on stage. The most amazing feeling is playing to people who know your music and are singing along with you.

I've seen you a few times in the last couple of months, and the one thing that's always struck me is how much louder and more energetic you are live than on record!

Why do you think that is?

I’m not quite sure! We are a very energetic band in general, I guess you just get to see that first hand in our live performances!

Is there a track you like to play live the most?

Recently we’ve been having a lot of fun playing our title track ‘Breathe’ live. gy and the crowds are really getting into it.

It’s got a lot of ener-

What do you do when you come off stage?

Firstly I drink a lot of water, then we all have a pow wow, sit in a circle and say nice things about each other from the performance. We think it’s important to support each other.

What is a great story that you can tell us about touring, for example have you ever left anything important behind?

We have left many many things behind! Probably the worst was when Dylan left a vital box of cables at home to a show we’d driven 4 hours to get to. We had to try and buy all the necessary cables and rig up a very strange loop of wires to get our set happening!

What songs do you listen to when driving? When you are on road trips to gigs?

Everything and anything, we drive so much we sometimes run out of things to listen to. have been listening to a lot of Steel Panther.

Lately we

How can fans keep in touch with you?

We are always on Twitter, Facebook and Formspring so feel free to contact our band or our members individually whenever you like!

Do you have any merchandise available? SP fans love to buy merch especially tshirts!

We do! We have a whole bunch of t-shirts, baseball tees, hoodies, wristbands as well as whole new line coming out very soon.

THE NEVER EVER STORE! http://www.facebook. com/TheNeverEver/ app_150178545006427

You’ve followed your dreams. What advice would you give to young people on following their dreams to get the career they want for themselves?

Don’t ever think that it will be easy. Prepare yourself for the tough times ahead and when they come, remind yourself that it will all be worth it. Nothing worth gaining is gained easily.

How do you see your future? What’s next in terms of the bigger picture for The Never Ever?

We definitely want to do some travelling! It would be great to see a bit more of the world. Tour Tour Tour Were you SP fans before you toured with them?

Our drummer Jess’ first concert ever was actually Simple Plan at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. We’ve all been fans of their music for a long time so it was amazing to share the stage with them.

How did you manage to get on tour with SP for their Australian Tour?

We are lucky enough to be booked through The Harbour Agency so they organise all our live shows.

What was it like working with SP? It was excellent. They are a great bunch of guys, very supportive and very fun to be around.

We couldn’t have asked for a better band to tour with.

I know you have your own Meet and Greet for your fans; did SP give you that Idea?

Since our very first show, we’ve been meeting whoever would like to meet us after every show.

We’re always hanging around afterwards so if you do come to a show, make sure you say hi!

Is there any other way that SP influences TNE They’ve definitely inspired us to work hard to achieve our dreams. They’re living the dream and they have been for quite a while now. They worked hard and proved that it can be done. I’ve got a big copy of the tour poster on my wall that I look at all the time. It reminds me of where I could be if I work hard enough.

Do you have any funny stories you can share with us about SP and the tour?

Before the show in Brisbane, Pierre and David came out of their dressing room and gave us this ridiculous pep talk before we went on stage. Pierre was telling us to “PLAY LIKE YOU’VE NEVER PLAYED BEFORE”, then we all gathered round with our hands in the centre and sung the Donkey Kong theme song. Go Team!

A huge thankyou to Lani for answering so many questions! It has been a real pleasure talking to someone who has worked with Simple Plan.

We look forward to following your music career and hope your dreams can come true.

Written by Jen @justjenrees The Never Ever are Dylan Nash, Bradlee Smith, Aaron Delgado, Alana Miller and Jess Penfold. Follow them on twitter and like thier facebook page!

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R E V E R E V E N E H

SIMPLE P

AUSTRALIAN TOUR J

PLAN

JUNE 2012

WE T HE

KING S

Four shows for the Aussie Tour for Maria!

When I heard I’d be seeing Simple Plan for the third time in June I was ecstat ic! Before I knew it being an SPCrew member I was lining up outside festival hall with my friend waiting to be allowed in for sound check and the meet and greet. The guys played grow up and promise songs I’d been dying to hear played live. As always the guys were really nice and so easy to speak to. Afterwards we lined up again and waited for the doors to be opened finally we were let in and I was first row right in front of Jeff. The entire night was amazing, great variety of songs played from all albums and the beach balls during summer paradise were a fun surprise. When Pierre came out and played Perfect I was sad knowing the show had come to an end but I’d be seeing them again the following Friday in QLD for three more shows. The Gold Coast sound check Pierre didn’t sing due to his acid reflux problem but it was still awesome. I was so happy to be meeting the guys again and I showed them my SP tattoo I’d gotten for my 18th birthday, Pierre thought it was so awesome that he asked their camera guy to film it while Pierre asked me questions. Again the show was just as amazing as Melbourne’s if not better as Pierre held my hand during Perfect while I bawled my eyes out he even personally gave me a guitar pick. Overall the weekend was one to defiantly remember. The guys were truly amazing and despite seeing the same people every night still greeted us with just as much enthusiasm.

Their crew were also great they do an amazing job each night putting on the shows. The last show on Sunday was emotional and it was sad knowing I wouldn’t know the next time I’d see them back in Australia. So bumping into David at the airport the next day was a nice surprise and I got one last photo and a hug before we said our goodbyes to only awkwardly bump into each other again in a gift shop then again in the food court. I can’t wait until the guys come back to Australia again!

Written by Maria. @MariaSIMPLEPLAN

Fan Sticks to Simple Plan for great Music IT IS simply not enough to see your favourite band perform in concert only once when they tour the country. Diehard Simple Plan fan Eve Michele Como last night attended her third Get Your Heart On concert in less than a week. And she came all the way from Western Autralia to do it. Eve flew from Perth last week with her mother Jenni to track the Canadian band.

It started on the Gold Coast last week, continued in Brisbane on Saturday before finally making it to the Caloundra RSL last night.

It was the pair's first trip to Queensland and well worth it, Eve said. "I'm a walking billboard for the band. I've converted plenty of people ... that's why mum is with me."I just open their minds to Simple Plan."The 20-year-old been a fan of the band since she was 12.

"I just heard one of their songs on the radio ... and just fell in love with them. They're funny, really relatable and nice with fans," she said.

Eve Michele Como, 20, flew in from Perth to "When you meet them in person they're exactly the same as they are on stage. They see Simple Plan.

Cade Mooney will do anything for a fan. They love doing their Aussie accents, they're getting pretty good at them now. "She's met them at airports, acted as their photographer in concerts and even had her cover versions of the band's songs re-tweeted by them to their followers. As a member of international fan club the SP Crew, she is given early access to videos and can apply to attend sound check parties.

Before the show in Brisbane, she showed the rockers a photograph she had taken of them at their first encounter at Perth Airport in 2005.

Eve and her mum weren't the only ardent Simple Plan fans on the Coast for last night's concert, with one fan reportedly attending her eighth concert in 10 days and another travelling from America.

Written by Patrick Williams Thanks to Sunshine Coast Daily,Patrick Williams and Photographer Cade Moody

Next stop; Simple Plan!

After months of waiting, counting down the days, countless tantrums from Master 4 (who couldn’t understand how we could see Pierre on YouTube and chat to him on Twitter, yet, I didn’t have his number to call and ask him to hurry up and get here), the day had finally arrived. We were heading off to see Simple Plan.

With kid’s loaded, full SP collection set on shuffle on the iPod, it was like an old fashion sing along as we finally hit the road.

Melbourne here we come.

The 5 boys and I sang virtually the whole way, and 7 fun fuelled hours later, we arrived at our destination to be greeted by the news that we would all be attending sound check. WOOOOHOOOO Whoever said females take longer to get ready than males, obviously hadn’t tried to get 5 boys up, dressed and out the door on time. I swear they all took longer in front of the mirror than I did. Under the threat of being left behind, we were on the road again.

20 minute car ride followed by a hour train trip where master 4 kept us entertained by practicing his poses for his photo ops with the guys, a short taxi ride and we were there, Festival Hall. In the words of Master 4, it was Simple Plan time.

I had had to breed SP fans so that I had someone to understand my passion, and here I was surrounded by so many others that felt just like I did, it was truly amazing, and soon we were chatting to those around us like long lost friends.

Standing in line and hearing the guys warm up, we were all shaking with excitement, well all except Master 4, who had his ear pressed firmly to the door, bum wiggling and singing along until the song finished whereby he yelled out for them to hurry up and let us in, and they did.

Being on my own with 5 boys aged between 18 and 4, we couldn’t do the mad rush to the front like I wanted to, man, how I wanted to. My mum inhabitations were temporally on hold, I was so close to those that had sang the words that had touched me in so many ways, but I resisted.

Then Sebastien was talking about my boy, OMG, I couldn’t believe it. I had tears running down my face, I was so happy for him. In all the excitement I couldn’t even remember what he said, thank god for YouTube, we have relived that memory over and over ever since, although I won’t let my kids repeat Seb’s quote.

Next it was Master 8’s turn as David singled him out and pointed to him over the crowd. It took days to wipe the smile off of his face.

We sang, we laughed and then it was time. We were going to meet them. The world’s biggest sound check party and we were a part of it. Although there were 160 of us at the sound check, the guys made each of us feel special.

First we met Jeff, whose smile was almost as big as mine. He spent what felt like forever chatting to all of us.

My son yelled out”Sebastien the Ninja” as he saw Seb approach. Seb didn’t let them down, showing the boys some of his ninja moves.

David ran across the room to ensure we didn’t miss out on seeing him, and when I look back now over the pictures of David with the boys, he looks like one of the tribe. I so should have brought him home with us.

By this stage my nephew was physically shaking and on the verge of tears, he was so overcome by the experience that we had to have a little dig and tease him about his man crush.

But hey, this is Simple Plan we are talking about, we are all excused for being madly in love with all of them.

Having practised and practised his pose for weeks, it was now time for pictures with Pierre. Grinning from ear to ear, Master 4 struck his pose, with Pierre taking his cue from him. It was priceless.

Chuck. What can I say about meeting him? He seemed so humbled by us being there, thanking us repeatedly, but it was him we wanted to thank for helping make my boy’s first concert so memorable.

As if the day couldn’t get any better, we still had the concert to go. Heading back outside, Master 4 bends down, picks something off the floor and hands it to me. “Here’s a pic mum. Thank you for bringing me to Simple Plan” I was all teary again. We later found out that was one of Jeff’s pic’s that he threw into the crowd during sound check.

Again in line, we shared our pictures and stories with our new friends. The older boys taking the opportunity to use the photo’s as a way of collecting girl’s numbers much to my shame.

Then it was time to go back in. The Never Ever and We the Kings got us warmed up, and then it was time to jump. My little guy was jumping so high I thought he was going to jump right out of his seat.

Sweat soaked, exhausted but smiles glued to our faces, we walked out of the venue clad in our new Simple Plan gear. The thought of an hour and a half trip back to where we were staying was the last thing on our mind; we were already reliving every minute, as we have continued to do every day since.

All up in our 3 day adventure, we managed about 10 hours sleep, drove over 15 hours and spent a couple of hours on trains, but would do it all again tomorrow just to spent a few more minutes with Simple Plan.

David and the boys Melbourne Concert 2nd June 2012. Written by Leeann

PERTH LOVES SIMPLE PLAN

[

Melbourne Concert 2nd June 2012]

by Marly Walker (@ThePiesEndure) 2nd of October, 2005, Brisbane Australia. The first time I saw Simple Plan live. I Flew from Townsville to Brisbane with my friend, because they would never come to a small regional city like that would they? Epic concert was epic, because hey it was my first time seeing them.

Fast forward almost seven years. Yes, you read that correctly, seven years. I’m now in Perth, Western Australia, moved here in 2006, and once again I was headed to another city to see my beloved Simple Plan. To set the stage I’ll rewind to four years prior when Simple Plan were touring Australia for their self-titled album, they were supposed to come to Perth but due to venue issues they had to cancel and I was gutted to say the very least. I’d been so looking forward to seeing them again after three years and then it didn’t happen… You can imagine how terrible I felt.

Of course I never blamed the guys for that and I fell more and more in love with them. Now, back to 2012. I was excited that they were returning to Australia [for a the second time in two years – they’d done a promo tour on the East Coast in 2011 and promised to return for a proper tour in 2012]. And, I was hoping and praying that they would come to Perth…but as luck would have it? Or perhaps divine providence [i.e. God’s planning], they didn’t plan to come to Perth.

Once again I felt disappointed that they wouldn’t even make the effort to come to my part of the country.

I mean I could understand them not going to Townsville…but Perth? We’re the capital city of the whole of Western Australia! Incidentally, this time around Simple Plan decided to go to Townsville [I mean…really? Townsville? Good old Townsville…] …but I digress.

So, I decided that I would not miss out again and started planning a trip to Melbourne to see Simple Plan live after seven years. Initially I was going to go alone, but then I asked my friend Katie to come along with me and that really made the experience all the more enjoyable. We were both signed up to SPCrew [I’ve been a member for several years and I signed my friend up as a gift] and applied for Soundcheck Party. We got in. Just imagine how excited we were. I was over the moon, that’s for sure.

However, to be honest I wasn’t actually all that excited for the concert in the months prior, which was a little strange at face value. But, I’ll let you in on something. For a while now my focus has been on the AFL [that is Australian Football League – Aussie Rules footy, to those who may not know what that is] and the other reason I decided to go to Melbourne was so I could see my team play at the MCG [Melbourne Cricket Ground] for the first time ever. [Collingwood flogged the Gold Coast Suns if anyone’s interested.] But, don’t be worried, by the week before Katie and I were due to go my excitement levels had hit the roof and I was ready and raring to go.

I’d booked the redeye flight from Perth to Melbourne [direct flight] on the Friday before the concert and we were both absolutely exhausted before we’d even left. [We’d both worked all day.] And our grand plan to have a sleep when we got to the B&B (on the Saturday of the concert) we were staying at fell through because we were too excited and the light kept us awake. So, we decided to go out into the city and wander around before we had to go to Festival Hall.

That was a lot of fun saw a really cool street buskers near Flinders Street Station and just enjoyed hanging out in the cold. Then we trammed and walked it to Festival Hall and joined the other SP Crew members waiting to head into soundcheck.

There was another girl from Perth who I actually met through Twitter [@OfficialSuzana] and had met prior to arriving in Melbourne at the Perth airport. It was great to see another fan who was not willing to let distance stop them from seeing Simple Plan. Because that was the point of all this. I was not going to miss out on seeing them after the debacle in 2008.

And so…we went into soundcheck, and that was the beginning of the best night of my life. Met the guys, got my Still Not Getting Any booklet signed [the album that made me a fan], got photos…and then the concert…but that’s another whole story.

Suffice to say that flying from Perth to Melbourne was the best decision I’ve ever made!

I’m just a kid Written by Maddie Jane, @Maddie_SP And Life Is A Nightmare! Simple Plan’s first single, one

of their most popular songs too, being used on many TV shows and movies, such as; Cheaper By The Dozen and The New Guy. This song was also played on the Get Your Heart On Tour, as part of their encore. This song is probably one of the most relatable songs by Simple Plan, or even by any band. The title pretty much states what the song is about, all the teenagers around the world, or at least the majority face it. Having those terrible high school moments, not having any fun, spending most of your time by yourself; where you think your life is a nightmare. High school is a tough time for many. Simple Plan wrote this song and many others to show their fans that they’re not alone. Heaps of people go through this. The guys probably did too, as they had just been out of high school for a few years by then.

If you have seen the music video, you can see that Chuck, David, Jeff, Pierre and Seb all go through horrible mishaps, just to be cool and get the girl. But of course, the guy who was beaten to the chance each time ended up with the girl and was unharmed too, unlike Simple Plan. Seb is first, crossing the road while putting on his sunnies, is hit by a bus, and yet still survives! Chuck helps the girl with her car troubles but ends up electrocuted and jams his fingers in the hood, ouch! Jeff faces a wrestler and of course, ends up on the ground. David tries to impress the girl with his skating skills but completely fails. Pierre doesn’t actually attempt to get the girl, he just wants to muck around, which is why he steals the security camera, making faces and running around until he runs into a door.. By the way, did you know that Tony Hawk is in that video clip! Not for skateboarding though, just watching as a fellow student.

Simple Plan wanted to write songs that could relate to fans, to show that they

are not alone. There are so many teenagers out there that feel that they have no one, that they are by themselves and that they should really give up on life because of those horrible bullies, difficult homework, no one to talk to.

That’s where SP came in with their writing capabilities and made four albums full of inspiration, love and gratitude to fans and to this day, they are still inspiring fans, saving lives and making amazing music.

“ The way Simple Plan capture how so many kids can feel is amozing”

Fan contributions:

“Even though I’m just a kid was written over 10 years ago I can still relate to it as I am a kid and I think my life is a nightmare! But I do have friends and now we have facebook and twitter I never feel alone. I love the music video when Pierre skates in the hall and gets slammed in the face with a locker is funny.” Submitted by Dale, 14 “I have always loved the song, I’m just a kid. I love the video, it is really amusing, my favourite part is when the car bonnet slams on Chucks hands. The song is full of meaning and I can really relate to it even though I am older I am still a kid at heart. This is not my favourite SP song but the video would have to be close to my favourite. When SP played this song for the encore at the concerts I went to the crowd just went mad.” Submitted by our own editor, Jen! “Dragging reluctant 4 year old through the supermarket, he suddenly bursts into song “I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare” Everyone was laughing out loud” Submitted by Leeann.

What a cute kid! It shows that even the youngest generation loves SP. Simple Plan’s fan base just keeps on growing!

“Simple Plan’s song, I’m just a kid is in my opinion a perfect song. The way that they can capture how so many kids and teenagers can feel is amazing, and I’m pretty sure that anyone could relate to the lyrics. It’s hard to imagine someone not liking that song, it’s good because not only is it just awesome, its one of those songs that you hear it and think, how is it possible to write a song that so many people can relate to. I feel it is because Simple Plan is a band that doesn’t just write songs that make people feel good, they write songs that are honest.” submitted by Luke The song ‘I’m Just a Kid’ means a lot to me because it really rings true for me. Being a kid or teenager isn’t exactly easy and I’m Just a Kid really sort of expresses what teens and kids feel, not fitting in and not having friends that talk to you and all of that other stuff. It really exemplifies and puts in to words what I’ve felt; as cliché as that is, it’s entirely true for not only me but many other teens and SP fans alike. And it was one of the songs that I first heard that made me fall in love with Simple Plan! Sbmitted by Kailia

“I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare I’m just a kid, I know that it’s not fair Nobody cares, cause I’m alone and the world is Having more fun than me What the hell is wrong with me?

Don’t fit in with anybody How did this happen to me?

Wide awake I’m bored and I can’t fall asleep And every night is the worst night ever”

S I M P L E P L A N

“I can’t believe that you actually cry over this band. I mean, it’s just a band. You don’t even know these people and they don’t even know you exist. It’s not like they saved your life or something.”

So, this is exactly what my mom said to me recently. And that’s why I write this article, to prove her wrong. To show, that music can mean so much to us. Because music can change everything… A moment, an emotion, a person. Everything.

It’s hard to describe what we feel. People who just listen to music for fun probably can’t understand what it means when a song or a band is everything you’ve got left.

But I think we all have a favourite band. Or a song, that just sets us in a good mood or something. I think we all have a band or a song that we just listen to again and again because we love it so much. And some of us have a band that saved our life. In my case, that’s Simple Plan. And when I say “They saved my life” then believe me, I mean it. It’s not like they just helped me to get over a break-up or a hard time in my life, no. If it wasn’t for Simple Plan and their music, I wouldn’t be here anymore.

I’m not gonna tell the whole story, but let me say this much: I was about to give up.

I did not see a reason to stay anymore. I was tired of my own life.

Things have never been easy but at some point I just thought I couldn’t take it anymore.

I did bad at school, I lost pretty much all of my friends because they couldn’t deal with the person I had become.

I was alone. I was lost. I had no one to talk to because I knew no one would listen or understand.

My grades got worse and worse what made me even more depressed. I remember one day my mom said to me: “I’m so disappointed in you.”

That was probably the saddest moment of my life because all I ever wanted was to make my parents proud. My world fell apart when I realized I would never be able to please them.

I remember at some point I thought my life was not worth it anymore. I started self-harming and I really thought about suicide because I had nothing to look forward to. I thought this world would be better off without me. I thought things would never be allright again. Knowing I would never be able to please anyone was killing me inside. All I wanted was to disappear.

But then I listened to “Welcome To My Life” again. And I thought “If these people managed to get through all this, then who am I to give up?!”

So I kept fighting. Every single day. And Simple Plan’s music was with me all the time. It was everything I had left. But it was enough to keep me going.

You could say I’m happy now. I still don’t do very well at school, I still don’t go along that good with my parents but that’s okay.

And even though these bad times are gone, their music is still with me and it always will be. I will never grow out of my “Simple Plan Phase”. I just can’t. Because their music made me who I am. It’s a part of me now.

I

S A V E D M Y L I F E

I personally have a story to pretty much all of their songs and I think I’m not alone with that. who have been through the same. And if they made it, then so can I. And that is what gives me the strength not to give up.

So to come back to the first few lines of my article…

Yes, I do cry over a band. Because Simple Plan is NOT ‘just a band’. Because I do feel like I know them and because they do know that I exist. And because, after all, they DID save my life.

Like I said before, music can change everything. It changed my mind about ending my life.

I think that without music, we couldn’t withstand this crazy world that we live in.

So right now, I don’t know who I’m gonna talk to tomorrow at school. I don’t know if I’m gonna pass my final exams. I don’t know if my mom and I will ever be as close again as we used to be. I don’t know if I will ever fall in love again. But what I know, is that out there are five people This is just my story. But out there are thousand of people who feel exactly the same. Thousand of people who have a story just like this. And they’re still here because they also have a band that saved their life.

I think the special thing about Simple Plan is that everybody can relate to their songs. For example “Welcome To My Life”. I think at some point in our live, we all have felt like that.

And it’s just good to know that you’re not alone with all this mess. It’s god to know that you’re not the only one to feel so messed up.

Sinja.

To be hurt To feel lost To be left out in the dark To be kicked when you’re down To feel like you’ve been pushed around To be on the edge of breaking down And no one’s there to save you No you don’t know what it’s like Welcome to my life

A Simple Social Media Plan By @JetlagJoel If you’re reading this article, well it’s safe to assume that either a) you’re a massive Simple Plan fan, b) you have twitter, and c) have seen SP reply to fans a lot on Twitter, in particular the last 18mths. I can honestly say no other band communicates with/shows as much care for the fans anywhere in the world, and for a band with over 6.4 million Facebook friends, a combined total of 910,000 Twitter followers, to keep that level of contact with fans is a massive feat.

When Simple Plan were in Australia in June 2012, an online music website, May The Rock Be With You, sat down with Chuck and Sebastien to answer some fan questions.

I asked: “why is the connection with the fans so important to Simple Plan?”

Sébastien: It’s always been important for us.

Chuck: I think now more than ever with Twitter and we’re a pretty hard touring band, we don’t stop, we actually get to connect with all those fans, we see that there’s this kind of army of fans around the world waiting for the new album, for the tours and all that, and you don’t want to let them down. You want to keep on playing more shows, and there’s nothing worse than on Twitter, you get ‘Hi, I’m from this city, you’ve never been there before.’ And it’s like ‘F%&k, we’ve gotta go!’ We’ve never been there before. You don’t want to bum people out. That’s what keeps us going a lot. (source: http://maytherockbewithyou.com/mtrbwy/2012/06/chuck-comeau-sebastien-lefebvre-of-simple-plan/) For myself, Twitter has changed my life, and the ability to communicate with SP is amazing. Before their 2011 GYHO Australian Promo Tour, I tweeted and got a couple of replies off Chuck, I told him I was flying from Perth (the city they’ve only been to once in 5 tours) and he replied “we’ll make sure it’s worth it!) When I got into the sound check, he recognised me as my Twitter name, made me feel all fuzzy inside.

It’s great seeing people’s emotions when they reply to them, or if Jeff or Sebastien do a #FollowFriday. I know some fans get upset that they don’t get a reply, if I were to give advice I’d say be yourself, don’t spam, don’t keep saying “you never reply to me” etc. *J*

Follow Simple Plan on Twitter: @chuckcomeau @SebLefebvre @jeffstinco @daviddesrosiers @pierrebouvier @SimplePlan Has any of the band tweeted you?

Write in and tell us! send a a pic!

SP QUIZ

So you love Simple Plan or you would not be reading this magazine!

But how much do you know about them?

See how many of these questions you can answer.

1. Which member has their birthday in May? 2. Which members of Simple Plan was not at one point a member of Reset?

3. Which member has a radio show their former camera/merch guy Pat? 4. Perfect was inspired by a member wanting to leave law school to peruse a music career, who was it?

5. Four out of five members all went to the same high school, which member didn’t?

6. Which members have no tattoos?

7. For promo for GYHO the guys created Simple P, each member had their own ‘gangsta/rap’ name, what was Pierre’s and Sebastien’s names?

8. Which member of Simple Plan does not wear glasses/contacts?

9. Which members can play drums?

10. The song save you is about Pierre’s brother having cancer, what is his name?

Tweet your answers to @simpleplanspace to see how well you know Simple Plan!

Written by Maria

FAN POLL What is your favourite Simple Plan song?

Tweet @simpleplanspace to let us know!

Addicted? TSSML? Grow Up? Promise? Freaking me out? Don’t wanna think about you? Jump? Jet lag?

I’d do anything? OR does it change with your mood?

DO you want to be our first ever fan of the month? email us with why you think you should be!

s w e n n a l

p e l p Sim

Upcoming Shows!

Aug 04- Champigny Park Lévis, Canada Aug 10- Prarieland Park Grandstand Saskatoon, Canada Aug 11- Mosaic Place Moose Jaw, Canada Aug 12- Spectra Place Estevan, Canada Aug 16- Loto Quebec Stage St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Canada

Canada Day

Simple Plan were lucky enough to perform in Ottawa on Canada Day. The guys really enjoyed themselves, including Chuck who really got into the festivities with a Canada T-shirtand flag! Full article in the magazine New Competition!

There is now a chance to win a video message from the band, merch and other great items! For more info, visit the website: www.simpleplan.com

New Merch!

For Aussie fans, you should be excited! New merch has been added to their store for us! WOOHOO!!

Wrock with Wonka!

Simple Plan’s Wrock with Wonka comp only has a few weeks left! Seb, Chuck and Pierre shared some of the lyrics so far in a private blog. The prize is amazing, hanging out with SP and more! Sadly, it’s just for Canadians.

Chuck’s new friend Chuck welcomes a new addition to the family! A few days ago Chuck tweeted a picture of himself and a little puppy, named Prancer! What a cute puppy it is too!

More Sake Por Favor These are the words of Seb’s newest EP. If you follow Seb on any of his social connections, then you will know that’s all he’s been talking about! He dragged us on for a while, posting a few pics from the video but nothing too revealing and finally he released it!If you haven’t yet seen the ‘My Dear’ then you must! It’s an animated video about rescuing the girl, it reminds me a lot of the fairy-tale: Rapunzel. It was created with the help of a fan of Seb’s. Some of the other songs on the EP are; I Raise My Glass, This Bed and Always. Unfortunately we can’t listen to any of these unless we buy the EP, which you should do, it’s totally worth it! Although it’s completely different to SP, it’s still a great listen!

What’s going on in the web world of Simple Plan?

Twitter Seb: From Seb’s tweets, it is told that he’s spending the week-end in the woods. Oh No!! Not camping with the grizzly bears!!

Chuck: Chuck’s been in movie mania! First he went and saw Ted, tweeting that it was very funny and clever, then tweeted a pic of him with his pink 3D glasses at the movies to see Katy Perry’s new movie: Part Of Me Pierre: Pierre has just been relaxing on his few days off, (It’s Pierre’s day off and Pierre does whatever he wants to. hehe)he celebrated 4th of July with a traditional BBQ and has been catching up on tv, by watching Ace Ventura, still one of his favourite movies.

Jeff: Jeff’s been trying to catch up on the zzz’s in his new home. As he tweeted that it’s his 3rd move in 18 months, but he really likes the neighbourhood, even if his neighbours are hippees! He also bought a BBQ, unfortunately he didn’t read the steps right and when he thought he was done, it turns out that he did the first step wrong so he had to start again!

R

David: Well if you follow David on Twitter, you will know that he HARDLY EVER tweets! So there is no info from him there!

Chuck, with his pink 3D glasses

Dinner out on the town.

Want the best website for Simple Plan News? http://www.simpleplan.cz/en/ is the place!

Check it out!

Chuck and Prancer his new dog.

CANADA DAY Written by Kailia.

As you more than likely know, Simple Plan performed at the 2012 Canada Day Celebrations on the 1st of July in Ottawa, Canada’s capital. And as you most definitely know, they rocked.

Decked out with red & white Canadian maple leaves on their red and white amps, they had a LOT of Canadian pride on stage.

The guys played twice in the day, at noon and in the evening and (as per usual) they had a really great set list. The noon performance set list was short but sweet and consisted of only two songs; Addicted & Summer Paradise, and David’s red jeans made their debut for the day, which sent a lot of SP fans in to a frenzy.

The evening performance wasn’t as long as a full concert would be either, but despite that, it was still jam packed with awesome songs, in this show they performed Shut Up, Can’t Keep My Hands off You, Summer Paradise, Jet Lag ft. Marie-Mai, (who was also featured in the French studio version of the song), Welcome to My Life and closed the show with I’d Do Anything.

If you missed the livestream/didn’t attend the concert, you can watch the full night show (excluding Shut Up, which I don’t think was broadcast) right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cwv3ajMhwg

Also if you missed Seb and Chuck showing their Canadian pride and talking about why they love being Canadian, you can watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_slUcquolE

SIMPLE PLAN SOUND CHECK AT PARLIAMENT HILL WRITTEN BY NINA There is one thing you need to know about me, I'm the ULTIMATE creeper. When there's a celebrity in my town, I will track them down.

So, the moment the boys of Simple Plan tweeted that they were driving to Ottawa from Montreal, I was glued to my twitter feed. Me and my parents were heading downtown for dinner, so I begged them to let me go to parliment to check out there soundcheck after dinner.

So after a rushed meal my parents drove down to Parliment Hill,and I saw the boys on the main stage so my parents and I hurried over to the hill. I got all the way up front and I was closer than I was at the GYHO tour, and I had floor seats to that! They kept practicing the same songs over over for two hours, But I didn't mind listening to Jet Lag, Summer Paradice and Welcome to My Life on repeat. Well, I listen to all those songs on repeat anyway! Might as well listen to them live! The boys were being goofy, talking about different things but you could tell the boys were super tired. They were rolling there eyes when the people told them they needed to run through some songs a few more times and they were taking lots of breaks.

I really felt bad for them, they work so hard and its amazing to see those boys at work. I'm so glad I got to watch Simple Plan's Canada Day Soundcheck. Even though I didn't get to see there actual show, that didn't really bother me because if I had gone only on Canada day, it would have been so crowded I would have never even seen the stage, plus, the boys set for the actual show was only about 15 minutes long. I got a two hour practically private Simple Plan show, FOR FREE! Lets just say, I was a very happy girl that night.

YOU TUBE WATCH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkN38xn5zG0&feature=youtube_gdata_player During Simple Plan's second (Or was it there third? *Wink Wink*) time to Hong-kong the boys sat down to talk about girlfriends, Turtles, there own Summer Paradise and the meaning behind some of the songs GYHO (And how Pierre cant keep David's hands off David) in this hilarious interview with our four favorite boys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kpGFkr9g58&feature=youtube_gdata_player It was a very exciting day on twitter the day Seb Lefebvre hit 100K followers on twitter! So, how did Seb thank his darling followers? By showing off his ninja skills of course! Take a look at this video to find out more about Seb's insane power! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kafVU86swFY&feature=youtube_gdata_player The boys always make behind the scenes videos, but you can watch this one to find out what it was like to film the boys latest video for "Summer Paradise!"

Head to Barbados with Sean Paul and the Simple Plan boys to find out what it was like to film the video, with lots of early mornings, dangerous golf clubs and super models! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qto3i2OOZYM&feature=youtube_gdata_playerEver wonder how the boys live on the road? Take a tour of there tour bus with the boys to find out about where they live when there not rocking out on the stage! See where they sleep, and learn about the #1 Simple Plan bus rule!

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I was luc ky enou gh to go Melbou rne con cert and to the gong. m W y mum and I dr ollonhours to o ve for 11 get to W ollongo overnig n ht and t hen dro g stayed We isten v e back. ed to Sim way! ple Plan all the SC was ca due to P ncelled in Woll ongong ierres vo ice but Melbou SC in rne was aw seeing T he Neve esome! I loved rE kings as well. Nic ver and We the k

ld e Go h t o gt alon and Sun t n e ll e Hi, I w , Brisban ws as we o ng st Coa Coast sh and duri shine ndcheck w I gave o u I as so sbane sh he said i r n the B a candle ! He eve ! ! d t i h ext Dav is nig me the n azh e mad bered as am w t m i e id rem nd sa a t h nig nielle a D ! ! ing!

I flew to Sydney to see them and then flew to Brisbane, I live in Adelaide, I wanted to go to the Darwin one as well.

Angela

I wen tt longo o Sydney, ng an Wold Bris I wan ba te but I c d to go to ne. m o time o uld not ge ore t f they c f work. Ne more x o t to the me I wan time t to g m all! o Kellie

I flew fro m Simple P Adelaide to se e la was gre n in Melbourne . It at. I hop e next t they tou ime r they c o me to Adelaid es go so fa o I don’t have to r. Most b ands do and I wa n ’t s sad to se many re gional N e how SW and Queens land sho w Zac. s they d id.

I only went to one concert but regretted it.Shame that Australia is so big and it is so expensive to get from one town to another.

Keeley

WHATS COMING UP? SIMPLE PLAN TOUR DATES AUGUST 2012 Aug 04 Champigny Park LĂŠvis, Canada Aug 10 Prarieland Park Grandstand Saskatoon, Canada Aug 11 Mosaic Place Moose Jaw, Canada Aug 12 Spectra Place Estevan, Canada Aug 16 Loto Quebec Stage St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Canada

Want a laugh? Watch the opening to the Halifax concert here. https://www.youtube.com. watch?v=BuE1wZVAQWk thanks emotionless chick.

Friends of Simple Plan!

Dates Playing Jul 28 West Palm Beach, FL St.Petersburg, FL Jul 29 Charlotte,, NC Jul 30 Cincinnati, OH Jul 31 Milwaukee, WI Aug 01 Auburn, WA Aug 04 Portland, OR Aug 05

Marcus Amphitheater 08.01.12 Milwaukee, WI 08.04.12 Marymoor Amphitheater Redmond, WA Rose Quarter River08.05.12 OR nd, front Portla Leeds Festival 08.24.12 Bramham, United Kingdom Reading Festival 08.26.12 Reading, United Kingdom

GET TO KNOW THE SP SPACE TEAM!

Full Name: Jen Rees Age: 21 x2 ok yes I am 42 You are as young as you feel!

Country: Australia Twitter nick: @justjenrees Bands beside SP you like: Good Charlotte,The Never Ever, Blink, Cold Play, Maroon 5, We the Kings, INXS, U2, Reset but usually just listen to Simple Plan……

What do you do on Simple Plan Space? Editor, Writer and Proof Reader Have you seen SP live?: Yep !Twice but not enough!

Have you met them?: Yes, best day of my life!

Since when have you been a fan: Since they released No Pads, so 10 years!

Fav SP Song This is easy. Shut up! Wait no Perfect,no um Grow Up, no Crazy, or Jump or wait no it’s Summer Paradise, meet you there,Freaking me out, no seriously it is I’d Do Anything. Yep I am sure, or perhaps When I ‘m Gone, Fav SP music video Definitely Shut up and Untitled also Perfect, and Can’t keep my hands off you.

Hobbies: Swimming, Taxi driver to my kids, Watching Star Gate, Flashpoint and Big Bang Theory, Going to the Movies, Going out to dinner with friends, drinking coffee, eating great food, going to the beach with my two Black Lab’s, Editing SP SPace, and of course listening to SP! Languages: English What do you do for a living?:Teacher of Food Tec, Health and Humanities at High School. Have worked as a Chef, and Restaurant Manager.

Fave books, movies, etc: I love to read, mainly Chick Lit, I love Jane Green and Jodi Piccoult, Fave book would be The Beach House by Jane Green.

Favourite Movies are Star Gate Continuum, Star Gate Ark of Truth, Killers, The Wedding Singer, The Shawshank Redemption, Leap Year, The Last Song, and Star Wars just to name a few!

Fave TV Shows Star Gate SG1, Big Bang Theory, Flashpoint, Alphas, New Girl, Modern Family, The Secret Circle, Person of Interest and The Burn Notice.

Best friends. Martin, Dave,Suzie and my SP facebook group friends!