And makes two N.B. stops on 15-date tour.

A15

Ken Kelley

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While Montreal pop-punkers Simple Plan might not yet be on the same level of popularity as fellow Canadian rockers Nickelback, things aren't terrible for the band by any stretch of the imagination. With over 7 million records sold worldwide, the Montreal-based group is heading to the Maritimes for two shows: the first is at the Moncton Coliseum on Friday, August 22 followed by a date at Saint John's Harbour Station the next evening as a part of their 15-date cross country tour.

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Simple Plan guitarist Sebastien Lefebrve is downright affable and easygoing when reached by phone, especially considering he'd been on the ground (i.e. not in an airplane) for less than an hour.

"I just returned to Montreal from Europe where we were playing a few shows," begins Lefebrve. "Summer is festival season worldwide so it seems as though we're all over the place lately; we're back in Canada for just a short time before some festival dates in California which is just before we head to Asia."

If there's one thing Simple Plan is familiar with, it's being well-adjusted to life on the road. The tour for the band's latest record has already brought them to Europe and Australia with other international dates in locales such as China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore scheduled before their cross-Canada tour starts in August.

The band's newest self-titled effort marks a slight change of direction for the group. Where their previous singles have been fairly upbeat, radio-friendly and have attracted many a teen worldwide, the band has taken a slightly darker turn on their new album. Although they haven't completely abandoned their poppy-punk roots, their lyrics show a more mature and serious outlook on life among other things.

"I think all our records are honest and true to what we've always done," Lefebvre explains. "For our newest record, we wanted to experiment and try bringing a little bit of everything into the musical mix."

This includes working with Nate "Danja" Hills who has been behind the board for artists such as Justin Timberlake and Madonna. On the surface, it might seem an unlikely pairing but it's one that seems to have worked as far as the group was concerned.

"I think we've grown as a band and we wanted to take our evolution to the next step rather than just playing it safe and sticking with what we know works."

One admirable initiative the band has undertaken in the past two years has been establishing the Simple Plan Foundation (www.simpleplanfoundation.com) whose main goal is to benefit organizations that provide assistance to people who require it. The foundation came to life after interactions with their fans left the band wishing they could somehow make a difference in people's lives.

"Each of us has been told by fans that our music has gotten them through tough times and we decided that we're in the fortunate position of being able to start giving back to those who need it."

With the uncertainty currently staring down the music business in terms what the future model is going to look like, one has to wonder what impact (if any) this has had on the group and others trying to get their music out to as many people as possible.

"You can't (theoretically) fake your way through a live show."

Saint John show tickets can be purchased online at www.harbourstationtickets.ca or by phone at 1-800-267-2800.