Oh, Canada!

06/28/2001 10:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
David John Farinella

Stevo 32 is listing the things Canada has to offer. "A Canadian invented basketball," the drummer starts emphatically. "We've got hockey, table tennis, curling, Canadian Football League, Rocket Ismail..." He forgets to list Bryan Adams (ouch), Barenaked Ladies, and a nifty little punk band by the name of Sum 41. That's his band. Well, it's his with singer/guitarist Bizzy D, guitarist/singer Brown Sound, and bassist Cone.

As Steve, Dave (aka Brown Sound) and Cone stand around before a jaunt onstage, Deryck (aka Bizzy D) shoots baskets at a mini-hoop. The definition of Sum 41 comes up. Cone picks up the lead. "We're crazy," he screams. "Wooo!"

"We're the drunken rugby buddies that met in high school, although none of us played rugby except for Dave, who they used to call the Machine," interjects Steve. "We're high school friends that joined a band."

Cone nods his assent and then adds, "We're about having fun and falling ass-backwards into a record deal."

That just about does it, since this Canadian four-piece first joined forces 41 days into the summer between their junior and senior years in high school. (Yes, that's how the band's moniker was born.) They landed a record deal with Island/Def Jam thanks to a home video that combined live performances and hi-jinks. They've spun around the States on the Warped Tour and with such bands as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Face To Face, and Blink 182. They've been touring America so much, in fact, that Dave reports, "We've been here for a year and a half. Island/Def Jam kidnapped us and they won't let us go home."

"We spent more time in this country last year than we did in our own," adds Steve. That's a good thing, he explains. "There's food everywhere here. All you can eat in Canada is snow. You melt it and eat it."

"And," Dave contributes, "if you meet an Eskimo, you get beef jerky."

Well, OK. Perhaps Sum 41 likes the U.S. for more than just its cuisine. After all, radio and MTV has picked up the tune "Fat Lip" and put it into heavy rotation. Sum 41 has been influenced by all the best punk bands o' the day, such as Blink 182 and Rancid. They also wear their affinity for Iron Maiden like a badge of honor: Dave sports an Iron Maiden sweatband, and Steve carries an Iron Maiden wallet.

But it's the band's hip-hop labelmates that have appeared with them, like DMX, who made a cameo in the "Makes No Difference" video. "We're getting some hip-hop styles under our belt," exclaims Steve.

It's a cross-promotion dream. "They're promoting us, but I don't think their fans are like, 'Dope, man, Sum 41--yeah, brutha. They were in the photo shoot with Method Man. They're ill, man. They're from Canada, man.'" Steve says. "We're like, 'Look at our wacky asses.' We're homies--that's what they like to call us."

Hmm, won't this add to the list of misconceptions about Sum 41? After all, there's already a list, and the trio of Steve, Dave and Cone are quick to point them out. "Well, for a while [the misconception] was that we were good," Steve says.

"We have this whole band that plays behind us," Dave admits. "They're a bunch of midgets called Halfstack. They're really good."

Cone, who's been watching Deryck shoot baskets, says, "I think a lot of people, because they see all the sh-t that we do, think we're jerks. And we are--but not all the time."

"Not when we want something," Steve adds. "Just because we like to f--k around a little bit doesn't mean you shouldn't like us."

Sure thing.