Sum 41: Punk band promise last UK festival to be all killer no filler

12 April

Download festival

Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 performing in Italy in 2017. Deryck is a white man in his 40s with bleached blonde hair. He wears a sleeveless black top with a red pattern on it. He plays a black guitar and stands in front of the band's drum kit. The staging is red with Sum 41's branding emblazoned on it in white font — Image caption,
Last year, Sum 41 announced their split after almost three decades in the music industry

By Millie Trenholm

BBC Newsbeat

Almost 30 years after starting out, Sum 41's Deryck Whibley says he's amazed his music is still inspiring other artists.

The multi-award winning punk band formed in 1996 and since sold more than 15 million albums worldwide.

Their debut album, All Killer No Filler, included their best-selling single, Fat Lip, and propelled their brand of baggy jeans and spiky hair into the mainstream.

Last year, the In Too Deep singer confirmed they would be disbanding after a final world tour - including their last major UK festival set at Download in June.

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, Deryck says they hadn't planned for their new album, Heaven :x Hell, to be their last but he thinks it's the best record for them to hang their hat on.

"The music basically told me, this is the last record," he says. "This is a good one to go out on."

Sum 41 pictured in 2001. The band at the time was made up of (L-R) Jason McCaslin, Dave Baksh, Steve Jocz and Deryck Whibley. The band are in their early 20s and are photographed outside in a car park on a blue-sky day. Jason is a white man with red hair wearing a black T-shirt. Dave is an Asian Canadian man with grown out black hair and a nose piercing and a black T-shirt. Steve is a white man with cropped dark hair, also wearing a black T-shirt. Deryck is a white man with spiky blonde hair, wearing a yellow T-shirt with a red stripe.

Getty Images

Sum 41, originally made up of Jason McCaslin, Dave Baksh and Steve Jocz alongside Deryck, formed in 1996

While their hairstyles might not be making a return, for some grassroot bands like rock trio Bilk, Sum 41's music is.

Front-man Sol Abrahams, 24, says alongside Green Day, Nirvana and Oasis, Sum 41's had a huge impact on their music career.

Being inspired by these bands "keeps new music moving forward," he says.

Sum 41's music has "energy and an attitude to it in a happy, punky way," Sol, who performs alongside Luke Hare and Harry Gray, adds.

"I like that sort of juxtaposition. I take it into my music a lot."

Deryck says he is "always surprised when he hears that" from fans and other artists.

"Sometimes I don't really quite believe it but I think it's interesting.

"I love that there are a lot of punk rock bands, or pop punk bands, or just music, in that kind of world right now," says Deryck.

"And that this kind of music is doing really well for young new artists."

Luke Hare, Harry Gray, Sol Abrahams from Bilk. Luke, Harry and Sol are all white men in this 20s with grown-out curly hair. Luke has fair hair and a short beard and wears round black-rimmed glasses and a white T-shirt. Harry, a bit shorter than Luke, has brown hair and wears a denim shirt buttoned to the top. Sol tilts his head towards Harry and wears a green cardigan over a white shirt and black tie. The band is pictured inside at a night-time event with drinks in their hands

Adora Mekuleyi

Chelmsford trio Bilk say Sum 41 continues to inspire their music

Deryck was 16 when he formed Sum 41, and there are some people discovering his music now at the same age as he was then.

Despite the passage of time - and a hiatus which included a near-fatal alcohol related coma for Deryck - the band has managed to sustain its popularity, with 11.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

And Deryck and the band can't help but reflect too.

In a recent music video for their new song Waiting On A Twist Of Fate, the band reference their own inspirations with nods to Green Day and The Ramones.

Now at 44, Deryck says the industry has changed drastically since they started out.

"We used to have MTV, that was so big and videos used to be so big.

"That was one of the biggest drivers of getting your music out there and that disappeared a long time ago," he says.

Getty Images

Sum 41's last major UK festival will be Download in June

The band will be playing Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire in June, alongside headliners Fall Out Boy, Avenged Sevenfold and Queens of the Stone Age.

"We've been a part of it [Download] from the very, very early days," Deryck says.

"It's always a great audience. We're excited to be a part of it once again."

While they haven't planned their set list yet, Deryck, who's also a music manager and producer, tells Newsbeat they'll be playing the classics.

"The only thing I don't like to play is songs that nobody knows because that's boring for us and the audience."

The band hopes to stay relevant after parting ways next year. Deryck explains that it has always been about the music, not the fame.

"We've always just done what we do because we love it," he says.

"It's not that we don't love it anymore, it's just I'm ready to do something different."

Thinking of the legacy of their music, he says it "always finds its way".

"Good music always rises. So either we've written some good songs that will stand the test of time, or they won't."

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

Sum 41: Punk band promise last UK festival to be all killer no filler

Related Topics

More on this story