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Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The current members are Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Cone McCaslin (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Steve Jocz (drums, percussion, backing vocals).
Since signing an international record deal with Island Records in 1999, the band has released five studio albums, two live CDs, two live DVDs, more than fifteen singles, and sold close to ten million albums worldwide. As of 2006, the band performed more than 600 times and has become famous for their long and global tours, often lasting for more than a year
Early Days (1996-2003)
The members of Sum 41 started out in rival bands in high school. They joke that they met while attending a Hole concert 41 days into the summer of 1996. According to the website Supernova, the band was originally a NOFX cover band and named Kaspir, and changed their name to Sum 41 for a Supernova show on September 28, 1996. The website also states that they were scouted by Greig Nori of Treble Charger at a Supernova show at the Opera House in Toronto on February 24, 1999. The current bassist, Cone, joined the band in 1999, after the band went through several other bassists. They spent many years playing together, hoping to make it big one day.
The band carried a video camera with them to film their crazy antics. The band submitted the video footage along with their demo tapes to several record labels. Island Records, wanting to capitalise on the pop-punk fad popularised by Green Day and Blink-182, signed Sum 41 in early 2000.
Sum 41 released the album, Half Hour of Power, on June 27, 2000. The first single released by the band was "Makes No Difference", which had two different videos. The first video was put together using the video clips sent to the record label, and the second showed the band performing at a house party
Sum 41's first full-length album, All Killer No Filler, was released on May 8, 2001. The first single released was "Fat Lip", which became a huge hit during the summer, becoming the #1 rock song in the US for a week. Performances on the Warped Tour during the year further increased the popularity of the band.
Two other singles were released, "In Too Deep", which had a comedy video of them in a diving competition, and "Motivation", a simplistic video of the band playing in a classic garage band theme. The band toured for much of the year, playing 300 shows in 2001, including opening for Blink-182 on tour before returning to the studio to record another CD.
On November 26, 2002, Sum 41 released their second full-length album, Does This Look Infected?. Sum 41 altered their style slightly, bringing in a heavier style, while keeping the smooth harmonies they had become known for. The first single released was "Still Waiting", the video of which had them mocking "new-garage" retro-rock under the name of "The Sums" and was a parody of one of The Strokes videos.
The band followed up the release of "Still Waiting", with "The Hell Song", the video of which had the band using dolls with their pictures on them and others, such as Ozzy Osbourne and Pamela Anderson. Their next single,"Over My Head (Better Off Dead)", had a video released exclusively in Canada and on their website, featuring live shots of the band. The video was also on their live DVD, Sake Bombs And Happy Endings (2003), as a bonus feature. It has also received limited airing on various music television stations in the USA and UK.
After extensive touring in support of the album, Iggy Pop recruited Sum 41 for his new album, Skull Ring. They co-wrote the first single from the album, "Little Know It All", and joined Iggy on The Late Show with David Letterman to promote the song. Iggy said he chose Sum 41 "because they have balls."