On the sound of the new record, Sebastien told me that,
"It's a fun, energetic, fast-paced record. It's definitely an evolution for Simple Plan but at the same time it's still a mix of elements from all our previous releases. We took about a year to write the album and we honestly ended up with about 70 full, complete songs and then obviously had to narrow them down from there, which was very hard. But we're all extremely happy with the final group of 11 songs on the album". And how did they come up with the records title, 'Get Your Heart On'?
"We llike to think we're funny and it's just a directional play on words, but really it's all about spreading some love"
Many bands say that if they are listening to a particular genre or band a lot whilst writing their own record that this can influence the sound, but Sebastien assures me that this not the case with 'Get Your Heart On', although he goes on to say that in general it can & does occur,
"Of course that CAN happen, when your meeting and touring with other bands constantly, it can influence you in what NOT to do *chuckles* and in things that you DO want to do, it can inspire you to write better songs".
But Sebastien reports that he is personally influenced by lots of music, old as well as new, including anything from Johnny Cash to Foo Fighters and that he is inspired by Linkin Park's work ethic. He also loves hearing new music from unsigned bands courtesy of an internet radio show, 'Man Of The Hour', that he co-hosts back home in Canada.
Simple Plan have just released the first single from the new record to the masses, a track called 'Jet Lag', which features the vocals of British popster, Natasha Bedingfield and I asked Sebastien how that interesting collaboration came about?
"We wrote the song about a year ago, but knew that we wanted it to be a duet, so on the demo we had another girl do the vocals, but in the meantime made a list of singers that we would have liked to do it. We'd met Natasha before on radio interviews and so we approached her to do it and it worked out great. We love the sound."
So what's next up for the band?
"Well we've been having long days of rehearsing for the past 2 weeks or so now and doing media at night. We're all extremely excited for the new record to come out and to play some live shows again".
And what is it like to play those new songs to a live audience for the first time? Exciting or nerve-racking?
"It's definitely both and although we really thought about it and kind of geared this new record to come across well live, you're always nervous to see how the fans will recieve it, what will become fan favourites, what can you change for the live show".
How would Sebastien describe a Simple Plan show to someone that has never seen them live before?
"It's just a big party on stage, it's fun and energetic, we jump around a lot. We want people to get away from their everyday lives and have fun."
Speaking of performing live, I asked Sebastien if we can expect a tour for 'Get Your Heart On' anytime soon?
"Yes definitely. It's not in our calendar right now, but Australia is always on top of our list. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, we are going to try and hit as many places as possible. We love coming there."
'Get Your Heart On' will be out on iTunes & in all good record stores throughout Australia on June 21st.
