INTERVIEW: Sum 41's Deryck Whibley On New Album '13 Voices'

Sum 41 is finally back with new music. The band released their first album in five years called 13 Voices, which follows their 2011 LP Screaming Bloody Murder. The new record includes their single "War," along with their previously released song "Fake My Own Death," in addition to eight other new tracks. The band's new album dropped on October 7th via their new label Hopeless Records, and is their first record as a five-member group with both Dave Baksh and Tom Thacker on lead guitar. And, fun fact, this record was able to come to light from a 2015 crowd-funded campaign made possible by the band on PledgeMusic.

Sum 41's frontman Deryck Whibley, recently stopped by iHeartRadio HQ in New York City, where he opened up about 13 Voices, and how personal events over the last few years -- including his health struggles -- helped to inspire songs on the album. 

[Buy 13 Voices on iTunes]

Deryck tells us that when writing a record, "it's always a snapshot of who [he] is at that time in [his] life. And over the last few years, a lot has happened; he went through some serious health issues resulting in hospitalization, and last year, he got re-married -- all of which is reflected on Sum 41's new record. He says, "Everything that I've been through, getting married, going through my health stuff, being in the hospital, recovering, all that kind of stuff, it definitely comes out in my music, for sure."

On the writing/recording process for 13 Voices

"This record was really difficult this time around because I'd just gotten out of the hospital, and I was still recovering from liver and kidney failure. It took a long time to rebuild myself. And at the same time, I was also working on myself, but working on music at the same time, so that made it a little bit difficult. My days were pretty full."

From all of what was going on in Deryck's life, the album title, 13 Voices, was born. Especially after his release from the hospital, recovering, and becoming sober, he tells us that it felt like there were 13 voices sounding off  in his head at all times. 

On the meaning behind the album title 13 Voices

"The title 13 Voices comes from the chaos and insanity that was going on in my mind at the time of writing, where everything was so new to me out of the hospital and sober for the first time ... there's always these questions, and it just felt like at all times there were like 13 voices kind of screaming in my head."

The subject matter tackled in the songs on 13 Voices may have been difficult subjects themselves, but for Deryck, writing about himself is the easiest thing for him to do. He tells us, "I find when I write about myself, that that's probably the easiest thing for me to do, so I don't find it very difficult. Some songs are easier than others to complete, and some of them take forever."

Among the songs that took "forever" to complete was the title track "13 Voices" -- which also happens to be his favorite song to perform live. Deryck says that the song was "started at the beginning, but probably one of the last [songs] I finished. For whatever reason, it just took that long to write that song, I don't know why."

Among the other songs on the album is the record's first official single "War," and although Deryck doesn't have a favorite song in particular on 13 Voices, this song holds a lot of importance for him. In fact, he says the song "probably saved [his] life" while in recovery and trying to stay sober.

Why "War" was chosen as a single & how it made a big impact on Deryck

"'War' was picked as a single because to me it was, not my favorite, but it was the most important song at a certain period of my life. When I was writing, and I was sort of teetering on this back and forth of like, could I fall off the wagon at that point or stick to this path of trying to recover, and get better, and stay sober. I wrote that song right in that moment of teetering. Once I had those lyrics written and I read them back to myself, and it was like, 'What am I fighting for?,' I realized that I had lyrics that I had to live by if I wanted to survive. So it probably saved my life, which makes it pretty important to me."

Sum 41 are currently out on their "Don't Call it A Sum-Back Tour" in support of their new album with special guests Senses Fail, and that's what Deryck was most excited about following the record's release. "I'm most excited to play live because that's the only thing we've ever really cared about in this band, and once this record comes out, we'll have a whole bunch of new songs to play, [and] we'll be on our new tour."

For info on tour dates and tickets click HERE.

Watch Sum 41's "War" music video below: