Musicians can be an adventurous, restless bunch. When it comes to downtime, many musicians either go stir crazy or resort to making more music outside of their regular gig.
The latter is certainly the case for Simple Plan’s Sebastien Lefebvre, who recently released his debut solo CD, You Are Here.
From his home in Montreal, Lefebvre explains that he has many songs that have been looking for a proper home for many years now.
“I have way too many songs stashed away; I am always writing. Some of these songs are tracks that were kind of left in limbo by Simple Plan but I felt were strong enough to warrant being completed.”
The songs presented on You Are Here are in stark contrast to the upbeat, punk-pop offered up by Simple Plan. The seven tracks on the disc are a mix of French and English songs and are centered around Lefebvre’s acoustic guitar and delicate vocal delivery.
Lefebvre says he instinctively knew that the bulk of these songs would be out of place as Simple Plan tracks, which only helped fuel the desire to create his own piece of work to ensure that the songs saw the light of day.
“I’m a huge fan of singer-songwriters like Jack Johnson, Damien Rice, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash; guys who played their guitar and sang about things that really meant something to them,” Lefebvre says. “I have never grown tired of that style of music and think that that genre of music produces some truly timeless records.”
Lefebvre says that with Simple Plan not actively promoting any release, the timing couldn’t have been better to get his music out to the world.
“Given that the band doesn’t have anything major on the go at the present time, it allowed me could dedicate a couple of months to working on this.”
You Are Here is seeing the light of day nationally via Coalition Music, an independent label run by his management company that has distribution via Warner Music Canada.
The decision to release his CD via a smaller label was a no-brainer of a decision as far as he was concerned.
“I have such a long-term relationship with our management company that I felt as though having everyone understand what I wanted to do and accomplish with this release would be much easier than going through other channels.
“I knew that I would get exactly what I wanted,” he continues. “It ended up being a very easy choice to make. Plus, there are fewer pressures to have to worry about when going with the Coalition label over a major label release.”
With Simple Plan inching closer to the recording stage of a new record (which is expected to be released in spring or summer 2010), Lefebvre admits he is content to simply release his EP and stick close to his home. Aside from the odd show in his hometown of Montreal, Lefebvre he has no widespread touring plans in the works to support You Are Here, which is a shame.
These seven songs highlight a different side of the musician that are worthy of being heard on a grander scale.