Simple Plan: Balls Out.

Simple Plan

Simple Plan play M-One at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

Canadian punk quintet Simple Plan play their first Australian shows as part of M-One. With their debut album No Pads, No Helmets… Just Balls spawning hook laden catchy punk pop standouts like I’d Do Anything and Just A Kid, the band look pretty well set to find themselves well and truly at home amongst punk’s hierarchy.

But with an album title like that, I can’t help but wonder if they’re rugby fans.

“Rugby, not really,” laughs vocalist Pierre. “We don’t get a lot of Rugby around here, so it’s pretty hard to follow. It was really just a joke. It’s more like a don’t be afraid of doing what you have to do. Just grab you balls and run, you know.”

A good ethos for a band on the road?

“Yeah. Don’t be afraid of what people think or say, just go for it and don’t be afraid.”

Go for it they have, but as the saying goes, before the feast there must come famine. I ask Pierre what his worst day job has been.

“I used to work as a cook in a barbeque chicken restaurant. It was the worst job I’ve ever had. I worked there for three and a half years. It was a really good feeling to quit. When we got signed up we had a lot of expenses, but it got to a point where we could start t pay for ourselves out of the money we made from shows and work on making the record. It was about a year and half ago that we decided that we couldn’t work any more. The band’s a lot of work too, but it’s the best job in the world.”

So you’d highly recommend being a musician?

“I don’t know that I’d highly recommend it. The chances of anyone getting to the point of quitting you day job are pretty small. I’ve been playing in bands now for ten years, and this is the first year I don’t feel like I’m struggling like crazy and having to make ends meet with two jobs or something. I don’t know if I could recommend it to someone looking for financial stability, but if you believe in yourself you’ve got to go for it.”

Can’t help myself. Do you feel lucky, punk?

“Oh for sure man,” he laughs. “We just got back from Japan and touring with all these great bands. I love to travel, it’s really cool. I feel like the luckiest man in the world.”