Back in January 2018, I interviewed Sébastien Lefebvre of Simple Plan for the website Don’t Bore Us, focusing on their then-upcoming Australian tour, and publishing the piece on February 5th, 2018. Just a couple of years after this interview took place, Don’t Bore Us was shut down, and for reasons unknown, this interview was not archived by services such as the Wayback Machine.
Given this was the only interview of mine that had been erased from the internet, I long considered rewriting it using the original recording of the interview that I had in my archives, though I never quite got around to doing so (largely due to being exhausted after writing more current articles in my regular day). However, in January 2026, I found a draft version of the feature that I had saved from the day before publication.
With the majority of this piece found in tact, I decided to recreate the rest of it as best as I could so as to ensure it still lives on in some capacity. Please note, there’s likely a noticeable change in quality between the start of the piece (written in early 2018) and the final few paragraphs (reconstructed in early 2026).
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In February 2002, Canadian pop-punk band Simple Plan released their debut single, the anthemic ’I’m Just A Kid’. Few knew that just one month later, this band would release their debut album, and go on to become one of the most beloved artists of the genre. In fact, it would be fair to say that few who first heard this single would have known that 16 years later, they would be singing their hearts out as the band celebrates the album’s anniversary.
Despite the fact that Simple Plan marked the 15th anniversary of their album No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls in February of 2017, the group have finally found time within their hectic touring schedule to make their way down to Australia to provide Aussie fans with the show they’ve been pleading for for months now. In anticipation of the group’s first visit to Australia since 2016, we were lucky enough to have a chat with the group’s guitarist, Sébastien Lefebvre, to discuss the album’s legacy, their upcoming tour, and what Aussie fans can expect from these anniversary shows.
Of course, when any sort of anniversary tour occurs, it’s natural to start looking back at the band and its legacy. However, even for a band as well-known as Simple Plan, they never foresaw the level of fame that awaited them when they first got together.
“I don’t think that’s something you can think about,” Lefebvre explains. “When you first start, and you get together and you make an album, the vision – well, of course you always dream of making it very long and touring the world, but I think the vision always starts very short-sighted, like ‘Okay, we have to open up for a band that we like, we have to play this venue that we’ve never played before.’ You know, you never think that one day you’ll do an anniversary tour.”
Despite the success that the band has seen in the ensuing years since the release of their debut album, they all still as humble as ever in regards to the attention the album has received.
“It’s been a beautiful, beautiful response, and a great year we just had doing the tour. I don’t think we could’ve expected or hoped for it to be any better,” Lefebvre admits. “I think this album definitely meant a lot to a lot of people out there, as much as it did for us. It takes us back in time to a special time in our lives, and that’s definitely what happens to our fans.
“And we can see it, we play a song – there’s a lot of songs we’ve been playing for the last 15 years – but when we play a song that we just haven’t played, you can see that the audience just lights up,” he continues.
“And something that we’ve noticed as well is that a lot of people, for them, it’s their first time seeing us live, and some of them, maybe right now, they’re 25, 27, and when the album came out they were, 12 and were too young to go to shows, and now, because that was their favourite album and we’re coming back and touring it, they’re extremely excited and they’re coming to see us.”
Of course, it still seems that one of the most exciting things that has occurred for the band since their initial breakthrough comes from the fact that they are now looked up to in much the same way that they once looked up to their own heroes.
“It’s probably the most flattering thing that could ever happen to our band,” Lefebvre revealed excitedly. “Music has been such an important part of our lives, and so many great bands have influenced us just to get into music in the first place, then to write and to be in a band, and to start touring, so to be that band for someone else, it’s just the biggest compliment we could ever get.”
Likewise, despite the band having been around for close to two decades, it still seems as though the group is still as tight as ever, and if anything, more like how it was when they first started than anything else.
“I feel that a lot of things have changed,” Lefebvre admits. “We’re more business savvy, I think we’re a better band as players, as musicians, and we’re better songwriters than when we first started; we know how melodies work, we understand all of that, and we make wiser decisions with our tours, the way we deal with the band and all that.
“And as people I think we’ve all grown tremendously as age hits, you can’t ignore that everybody’s older, everybody has matured, everybody in the band has grown to be a better person, we all have families now, so that’s way different to how things were when we first started in our early 20s.
“But even then that sounds like a lot, I still feel like it’s the same band because a lot of things have not changed at all,” he adds. “We’re still five guys on tour that stay the same no matter how old we are. We’re still kind of idiots, we still make fun of each other, we still get on stage to just basically let go of everything and have a good time, and tats something you can definitely tell when you come to the shows.
15 years later, how does it feel still playing these songs full of teenage angst? Is it hard to relate to that mindset, or is it still easy to slip back into things? As Lefebvre explains, they’re not really that far past the age they’re singing about,
“First of all, we’re still back in our early 20s, I’d just like to point that out,” he laughs. “I think something interesting about these songs off the first album, it’s not a misconception, but everyone usually associates these songs with teen angst, and that’s fine and that’s great, but a lot of these themes like not fitting in. Obviously it happens to teen, but it happens to a wide variety of age groups, and that’s the sort of things we notice today. Like, our parents related to our songs back then when we were writing them.
“I think Pierre’s dad’s favourite song will always be ‘I’m Just A Kid’, but I have no problem relating to any of the songs,” he adds. “Maybe ‘Perfect’ takes us a little bit back to that situation, but now, I don’t feel like my parents don’t agree with my life choices any more, because of how it turned out. I feel like once in a while every day can be the worst day ever, and some times you do want to say goodbye to the people in your life that you don’t them to be a part of your life any more. And I think that’s the sort of thing that’s still relevant today, even 15 years later.
Of course, with having curated a legacy such as they have, Simple Plan find themselves in a position where they’re influential to many of these bands that they are now touring with. But, given they still view themselves as those young men who wrote these enduring songs all these years ago, how does Lefebvre contend with that? Do Simple Plan see themselves in these younger bands at all?
“I don’t know if I see ourselves in these groups, but there was something about the early 2000s bands that were coming out,” he explains. “But at the same time, we met this band in the UK called The Bottom Line, and they are the pure essence of pop-punk, and we just toured with Patent Pending. I don’t think I see ourselves, but I definitely see the spirit of that type of music, that’s still around, and I think that’s amazing.”
The forthcoming run of shows see Simple Plan performing No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls in full, but fans should be aware that it’s not just a carbon copy of the record translated to the live stage. No, Lefebvre assures us there’s a lot more in store for those in attendance.
“There’s a couple of little things that we like to do, and y’know, we play the after-hits,” he explains. “You know, the other songs we’ve had over the years, but I think playing the whole album, top to bottom, is a very special show, and I think we play a lot better now than we did back then.
“So if you saw us 15 years ago, come back, it’s much better now,” he adds. “We’ve got hits everywhere, throughout the set.”
Simple plan first touched down on Australian soil back in 2002 in support of the then-recently released No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls album. A lot has changed since, but return visits have always featured a strong constant of Australian acts, whether it be on the lineup with them, or pumping in the stereo. So, are there any Australian acts that have been soundtracking their lives of late?
“Not so much right now, and that’s something we’ll have to remedy,” Lefebvre admits. “But I think there’s been some great Australian bands that we’ve played with and we’ve found some great exports of you guys. But the thing is, you guys really do support local music, and that’s great, unlike things here in North America.
“One of the first times we came to Australia, and I don’t know if they’re still together, but we used to play some shows with Kisschasy. That’s always something we ask whenever we come over to Australia, yknow, ‘What’s cool, what’s hot,'” he continues. “I remember last time we came over there, it was ‘Oh no, it’s all DJs right now, Flume is blowing up’.
“We know that, obviously, but we’re always looking for new music and new bands. I’ve got a radio show, so I’m always curious about new abnds and what’s going on and what new music is going around. Maybe new music that people from over here haven’t heard of, so that’s always very interesting for me.
Tickets to Simple Plan’s 15th anniversary tour of No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls are on sale now. The group have even had to add an extra Melbourne show due to overwhelming demand, so be sure to act now to avoid disappointment!
Simple Plan’s ‘No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls‘ 15th Anniversary Australian Tour:
Supported by Real Friends (USA) and Eat Your Heart Out
Saturday, April 21st
Nightquarter, Gold Coast, QLD (All Ages)
Tickets: Oztix
Sunday, April 22nd
Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, QLD (All Ages)
Tickets: Oztix
Monday, April 24th
Forum Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Tuesday, April 24th
Forum Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Tickets: Ticketmaster
Thursday, April 26th
NEX, Newcastle, NSW
Tickets: Moshtix
Friday, April 27th
Big Top Luna Park, Sydney, NSW (All Ages)
Tickets: Oztix