They’ve spent more than two decades touring the world, but Simple Plan still have a pretty special relationship with Australia.
It’s a relationship that goes back to the very beginning. Before the Canadian pop-punk favourites had cemented themselves as one of the genre’s most enduring acts, Australia was one of the places where things started moving quickly for them. As they prepare for their return to Australia to exclusively headline Good Things Festival, guitarist Jeff Stinco sat down with me to chat about their longstanding relationship with Australia and what still keeps them excited about performing well over twenty years on.
“Some of our earliest successes were in Australia,” Stinco tells me. “The band grew really quickly in Australia.”
While this early success certainly helped launch them onto the map, it was followed by a period where things became considerably harder. As musical tastes and trends shifted, Simple Plan found themselves playing to smaller rooms and rebuilding the audience they had once taken for granted. While this period could have caused them to fizzle out, Simple Plan kept showing up.
“What I’m most proud of is that our hardcore fans stuck by us.” Stinco says. “We would see those familiar faces that I still see at shows… I’m proud of the fact that we kept going and were we just resilient… we had grit and we just came back and came back until the band grew to where we felt we deserved to be.”
This experience gave the band a different perspective on what success actually looks like. Instead of depending entirely on radio hits or the next big music video, Simple Plan have been able to build something that’s more sustainable, largely through their relationship with the people who continued to show up.
“At some point as a musician it doesn’t matter how many people you play in front of, but it’s hard, if I’m being honest, to have a certain standard and then come back and you’re playing to a tiny club… we worked with a promoter in Australia and we grew back the band and it’s more stable now… It’s a more organic and honest way of being a band.” Stinco reflects.
This sense of resilience has become an even bigger part of the Simple Plan story following the release of their documentary, Simple Plan: The Kids In The Crowd. The film gave fans a chance to look back on the band’s journey, but it also revealed significant challenges they faced along the way.
“The documentary did one thing,” Stinco explains, “It reminded us that we didn’t really take the time to go back and celebrate those moments because we were always looking forward.”
The documentary became something of a mirror for the band. It reminded them of how much they’d achieved, but also brought some of the interpersonal dynamics that had existed beneath the surface into the open.
Reflecting on this, Stinco reveals, “To be honest, after the documentary, it was a hard time. It was a bit challenging, it created a lot of tension because we saw some of the dynamics we had been reinforcing throughout the years… It’s a lot easier to put the blame on your bandmates than to look to yourself… It brought us somewhere else and we’re stronger for it. We’ve known each other since high school, and that bond is very, very, very strong.”
This bond is still being tested in the best possible way. Simple Plan aren’t just relying on nostalgia to keep things steady. They’re actively looking for ways to challenge themselves both on stage and in the studio.
One of the more recent changes has been the decision to rotate sections of their setlist from night to night, which came directly from fan requests. After thousands of shows and playing the same songs each time, this simple change forces the band to stay switched on, and allows them to rediscover some of their own deeper cuts.
“It kind of feels like the early days, when we were second guessing everything… but that’s fun, I like it. There’s a state of flow that you have to reach as a musician,” he explains. “It’s like it can’t be too easy or else it gets boring. But if it gets too hard, you’re anxious and you’re stressed. You have to find that balance where it’s like challenging enough that you’re still like, you know, on your toes.”
This same philosophy is filtering into the band’s new music.
Simple Plan currently have around 15 new songs up their sleeve, with plans to hit the studio in early 2027. Stinco is hopeful that new music will arrive next year, but there’s no desire to simply recreate the records that made them famous. The current challenge is figuring out how to bring new influences into Simple Plan without losing the DNA that has kept fans coming back.
“We’re always looking for that fine line between honouring our past, but at the same time, keeping things interesting for us as musicians by bringing new influences and new sounds into what we’re doing.”
Stinco points to bands like Basement, The Story So Far and Turnstile, as well as Ecca Vandal, among the artists currently inspiring him musically.
Meanwhile, the band’s core songwriting approach remains deeply personal. It’s this same quality that helped songs like “Perfect” and “Welcome To My Life” connect so strongly in the first place. Drummer Chuck Comeau and lead vocalist Pierre Bouvier continue to draw from personal experiences, turning very specific emotions into songs that somehow become entirely relatable and universal.
But before new music, there’s Good Things. Their Good Things appearances will be their only Australian shows on this visit. This appearance gives them a chance to reconnect with fans who have been there since the beginning and at the same time meeting a new generation who discovered the band long after their early records were released.
Stinco says this current version of Simple Plan is the band at its best. They’ve fallen back in love with writing, performing, and each other. Fresh off of their US tour, they’re feeling energised and ready to bring their best selves to Australia.
You can catch Simple Plan exclusively at Good Things this December. For tickets click HERE.
Header image credit: Skyler Barberio
