When the March earthquake struck the eastern coast of Japan, several members of Canadian rock outfit Simple Plan were celebrating the birthday of their record label's Japanese representative. As the phone lines were down and she couldn't reach her family, the happy occasion quickly turned to panic.
'We didn't think much of it at first because there are a lot of earthquakes in Los Angeles,' lead singer Pierre Bouvier says. 'But when we turned on the news at our hotel, it definitely hit home. We got worried and started asking if she had been able to contact her family. Finally, a few days later she did, but it was definitely really hairy.'
So one day in May, Bouvier and Simple Plan guitarist Sebastien Lefebvre went into their Montreal home studio to record a new song. But not just any song. This was a new version of Coldplay's Fix You, featuring 49 artists from 18 countries, to be released as a fund-raiser for the earthquake victims. The instrumental accompaniment included a shakuhachi flute, koto, cello and a guitar solo by 11-year-old prodigy Yuto Miyazawa. 'It sounds really cool,' says Bouvier. 'I love the Asian flavour. I love the fact that it sounds very different from the original and it's a great match of people.'
Bouvier's heartfelt vocals eventually became the first verse of the song, which was ultimately recorded and mixed in just 36 hours during a marathon session at a Singapore recording studio. The song was then premiered at the 6th annual Music Matters conference, an industry gathering for worldwide music executives, where, not so coincidentally, the five-member band would later perform. 'It's one of my favourite Coldplay songs, probably my all-time favourite,' Bouvier says. 'I just sang it and it was easy. Fix You is up there on the list of songs that I wish I had written. It's a great song for when it's not going so well, a song for rebuilding. It's one of those classics that are going to be around forever.'
The band have also dipped into their own pockets to help earthquake victims by donating money via the sale of special 'Simple Plan Help Japan' T-shirts. 'I stayed up until two or three in the morning just watching the news because I couldn't believe that one of the countries I love the most in the world was hit so badly,' says drummer Chuck Corneau. The group are so effusive in their praise of the country, the culture, the people and the shows, that they seem to go into a moment of reverie when describing it all. 'The food especially, and just the fact that over there it's a totally different place,' says Bouvier. 'You have this feeling of being on an almost different planet and I really enjoy that.'
And before you know it, it's hard to get a word in edgewise as the group energetically take turns talking about their Japanese fans, their infamous karaoke sessions and the one mysterious girl who sang out of key during a recent acoustic performance. 'She was so off key,' says Bouvier. 'So out of tune!' adds bassist David Desrosiers.
They say this with their tongues firmly in cheek as both humour and clever wordplay are very much a part of the band. For example, they showed up at their Singapore press conference in white hotel bathrobes, and proceeded to take turns laughing and singing about how influential Pearl Jam's debut Ten was, all the while recounting how they wore out their cassette tapes and had their hearts broken while listening to the album.
