When you think of Canadian pop punk, anything from DIY mercenaries like Propgandhi to flaccid softies like Simple Plan can pop into your head. Though the subgenre has always been dominated by the international success of Ajax, Ontario pranksters Sum 41, Iāve always felt Canadian pop punk was best represented by Vancouverās Gob.Founded in 1993 by guitarists/vocalists and remaining members Tom Thacker and Theo Goutzinakis, Gob rose up out a Langley garage to find quick independent success in 1994 with their first self-titled album to christen Landspeed Records. The next year they found unlikely success with second album, Too Lateā¦ No Friends, when MuchMusic put their video for āSodaā into rotation, thanks to the bandās death-defying BMX trickery and Goutzinakisā appetite for insects. From that point on, it felt like every Gob video was something to anticipate: the subsequent āYouāre Too Coolā video combined stupid and violent attempts at winter sports, āB Flatā taught the world a lesson that good deeds are only worth doing with your glasses on, and, arguably their best to date, the anthemic āI Hear You Callingā perfected the rom-zom-com years before Shaun of the Dead made it a genre. Eventually they became tourmates of the one and only pop punk princess Avril Lavigne and Sum 41, who Thacker also joined as their lead guitarist in 2009.Two decades in, Gob have just released their sixth album, Apt. 13, a much more mature sounding album of anthemic rock songs bursting with beefy guitars, velvety smooth, confident vocals and even a piano. Noisey rang up Tom Thacker to discuss what took them so long, the dangers of sharing a rehearsal space with Glenn Danzig, why his wedding was featured in the New York Times and how often someone yells the chorus of āSodaā at him.Noisey: You guys played the massive Amnesia Rock Fest in Quebec earlier this summer, featuring basically every rock band from the ā80s and ā90s. One question: Did you get to meet Glenn Danzig?
Tom Thacker: Nah. One thing about that show was there were a couple of potentially volatile line-up choices. Both Danzig and the Misfits were playing, and Black Flag and Henry Rollins both played. Maybe it was done on purpose, but I donāt think they did it to get them in the same room together. But no, I didnāt get to see Danzig this time, but I have seen him before. We were in L.A. rehearsing one time and we heard that he was next door. And my friends in the Black Halos had toured with him and said heās one crazy dude. I canāt remember what exactly happened but they said he freaked out over something and lashed out. So I was kinda scared being in this rehearsal space alone one day, then all of a sudden this dude comes walking towards me and itās Glenn Danzig. I was like, āOh shit!ā For some reason I was worried within that ten feet from me he was going to freak out and beat me up. But it was fine. We gave each other the bro-nod and kept walking. He still looks so ripped, but in reality Iām about a foot taller than him. I donāt know if that helps me though.Do you think there are any stories about Tom Thacker freaking out?
I donāt think there are a lot, because I donāt do that a lot. There have been Sum 41 tour videos, and one in particular where I got drunk one day on the Warped Tour and acted like a fucking idiot. But it was one day.I was surprised to see that your wedding ended up in the New York Times. How on earth does that happen?
We planned our wedding pretty quickly. Weād been together for a while and didnāt want it to drag out and become a pain in the ass. She was in medical school and Iāve been in rock bands, so our time together was limited. Thatās why we didnāt get married because we wanted to have quality time. I guess she started reading the āVowsā column in the New York Times and she just filled out an application. She didnāt think weād get in, but she tried and then wrote back. Eventually it became a feature story, and I guess it was interesting because itās a crazy story: sheās a doctor and Iām a rocker, I guess. It was a total honour. I donāt think about much because being in a band that has received quite a bit of press, Iāve always just talked about music and kept my personal life kinda secret. But she was the one that wanted to be out there. And like I said, it was an honour.I noticed that the article said youāre 40 years old. And yet Wikipedia has you down as 37. Why are you so enigmatic with your age?
Iām 40. I donāt know where that came along, but I tried to change my age on Wikipedia once and it just went back to that age. I understand how anyone can go in and edit the pages, but I donāt really know how that happened. Maybe a former label or management thought it was better for showbiz.
While I was writing it I was living in an apartment 13 in New York, and at the same time Theo was living in an apartment 13 in Vancouver. So thatās how we started doing the record. Thereās a song called āApartment 13ā too. It was kind of a crazy time. My apartment was this tiny dorm-type room, and just chaos in the building constantly. It was in Spanish Harlem. I donāt know, it just inspired the song and seemed like the best title at the time.Itās been seven years since your last album, Muertos Vivos, and you started making this one in 2010. What took so long?
I remember at the time everyone in the band was talking about getting it out quick because the last one had a three-year gap. So I went to Vancouver with these songs and we started working on these songs then. And then Sum 41ās touring picked up quite a bit. We were everywhere in the world: Europe, Russia, China. We also hadnāt toured North America in seven years, which was crazy. And I also had to be here. I couldnāt just stay in Vancouver to work on the record. Plus there were relationships. Like Theo moved to Thunder Bay and back. Loved ones died. People were breaking up. Shit like that happened throughout that time. It was a mixed bag of pretty much every thing that couldnāt happen, which might explain for the growth that happened lyrically on the record.Your bandmate in Sum 41, Deryck Whibley, nearly died from alcoholism. How is he doing these days?
Heās doing better. Itās crazy and itās heartbreaking to see something like that happen. Everyone is out on the road partying, and once in a while someone will keep it going for days somehow, and itās hard to tell when it does turn bad. I donāt think anyone expected that to happen so quickly. But maybe itās a good thing, because heās still here and heās getting better. But itās fucking scary.The teaser for the album makes it seem like youāve become all wise and mature. Then at the end we see Theoās ugly face. Do you feel like Gob has grown up with this album?
Weāve obviously grown because 20 years ago we were just kids. People in music tend to stay young at heart, I guess. We definitely donāt want to be a fucking joke. And thatās how I think weād be perceived it we kept releasing Too Late No Friends over and over again throughout the years. So weāve evolved musically and not necessarily with what has become popular or what other punk rock bands have done. We donāt generally listen to punk rock or bands within our genre. We listen to stuff like Kanye or Chopin, whatever it takes to keep ourselves interested in music. But at the same time there will always be people coming to our shows, even if we turn 100, yelling, āāSodaā! I want to jump in a lake!ā So weāre always going to play it at shows.How often do people yell, āI want to jump in a lake!ā at you?
I mean, weāve played it three or four times at some shows because people keep yelling it out. Weāll play it, then someone will yell for it. Weāll play it again, and someone will keep yelling for it. And then theyāre still fucking yelling for it at the end, so we usually just close our shows with it because we sort of have to now.You sound like a proper singer on Apt. 13. Did you work on your voice?
I took some vocal lessons for a while but I didnāt notice a difference. The vocal coach would be like, āDo you hear how clear and metallic sounding that was?ā And Iād be like, āNo, I donāt hear it at all.ā So Iāve never really been a proper singer, and I kind of like it when it sounds like my vocal cords are going to explode. I donāt really attribute it to anything but maybe getting older and my balls dropping, so I have a deeper voice. I do find it harder to reach the higher notes now. Compared to when we first started putting out records, which were crappy recordings and the only way to make it sound good to us was to yell as loud as possible. And it would sound like a dog barking. So weāve tried to evolve as a band and become better musicians. Itās sort of the same thing, but weāve always tried to improve and write better songs.Gob have always made awesome videos, some I would even call iconic in Canada. Which video was the most fun to make?
I think āSodaā was probably the most fun. Theyāve all been fun for the most part. Weāve always had a bit of a āfuck youā attitude ā¦ not totally because I think weāre respectful people, but if someone tries to tell us what to do we will say "fuck you." If a label says we should change something weāll just say, āfuck you!ā Even if they kiss your ass and say it sounds great we still say, āfuck you!ā We want to be able to differentiate between good and bad and not have anyone tell us what to do. Early we were signed to Mint Records and they wanted us to make music videos and we thought videos were fucking stupid. We didnāt want to be that band on MuchMusic making videos. And I suggested we would do a video if we could build a ramp and jump our bikes into a lake. And they thought it sounded awesome. And in hindsight it was fucking awesome and thatās why we were doing it. We shot that video and it was fucking fun. And it became a unique video and ironically MuchMusic played the shit out of it. We got a big fanbase because of that, but we were very shortsighted at the time and never really thought about having a career in music. We were taking it too seriously until after that, I guess.With all of those stunts did anyone get hurt?
I donāt think anyone got hurt jumping bikes into the water but the opening shot a guy does a 360 on a tabletop. Originally two guys were going to do it, one before the other, and the first guy wiped out and hit his head. And it was a pretty long jump, but we sent him to the hospital and just shot the other guy doing it. The guy was fine after, I think it was a small concussion. That was the only real injury.When was the last time you watched Going the Distance?
[Laughs] I donāt know. I probably only watched it once. But it was fun doing it yāknow. I honestly had no idea what the movie would be like though.Cam Lindsay's favourite rapper is Jay Pharoah - @yasdnilmac
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Tom Thacker: Nah. One thing about that show was there were a couple of potentially volatile line-up choices. Both Danzig and the Misfits were playing, and Black Flag and Henry Rollins both played. Maybe it was done on purpose, but I donāt think they did it to get them in the same room together. But no, I didnāt get to see Danzig this time, but I have seen him before. We were in L.A. rehearsing one time and we heard that he was next door. And my friends in the Black Halos had toured with him and said heās one crazy dude. I canāt remember what exactly happened but they said he freaked out over something and lashed out. So I was kinda scared being in this rehearsal space alone one day, then all of a sudden this dude comes walking towards me and itās Glenn Danzig. I was like, āOh shit!ā For some reason I was worried within that ten feet from me he was going to freak out and beat me up. But it was fine. We gave each other the bro-nod and kept walking. He still looks so ripped, but in reality Iām about a foot taller than him. I donāt know if that helps me though.
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I donāt think there are a lot, because I donāt do that a lot. There have been Sum 41 tour videos, and one in particular where I got drunk one day on the Warped Tour and acted like a fucking idiot. But it was one day.I was surprised to see that your wedding ended up in the New York Times. How on earth does that happen?
We planned our wedding pretty quickly. Weād been together for a while and didnāt want it to drag out and become a pain in the ass. She was in medical school and Iāve been in rock bands, so our time together was limited. Thatās why we didnāt get married because we wanted to have quality time. I guess she started reading the āVowsā column in the New York Times and she just filled out an application. She didnāt think weād get in, but she tried and then wrote back. Eventually it became a feature story, and I guess it was interesting because itās a crazy story: sheās a doctor and Iām a rocker, I guess. It was a total honour. I donāt think about much because being in a band that has received quite a bit of press, Iāve always just talked about music and kept my personal life kinda secret. But she was the one that wanted to be out there. And like I said, it was an honour.I noticed that the article said youāre 40 years old. And yet Wikipedia has you down as 37. Why are you so enigmatic with your age?
Iām 40. I donāt know where that came along, but I tried to change my age on Wikipedia once and it just went back to that age. I understand how anyone can go in and edit the pages, but I donāt really know how that happened. Maybe a former label or management thought it was better for showbiz.
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So thereās a new Gob album out called Apt. 13. Where did that title come from?
While I was writing it I was living in an apartment 13 in New York, and at the same time Theo was living in an apartment 13 in Vancouver. So thatās how we started doing the record. Thereās a song called āApartment 13ā too. It was kind of a crazy time. My apartment was this tiny dorm-type room, and just chaos in the building constantly. It was in Spanish Harlem. I donāt know, it just inspired the song and seemed like the best title at the time.Itās been seven years since your last album, Muertos Vivos, and you started making this one in 2010. What took so long?
I remember at the time everyone in the band was talking about getting it out quick because the last one had a three-year gap. So I went to Vancouver with these songs and we started working on these songs then. And then Sum 41ās touring picked up quite a bit. We were everywhere in the world: Europe, Russia, China. We also hadnāt toured North America in seven years, which was crazy. And I also had to be here. I couldnāt just stay in Vancouver to work on the record. Plus there were relationships. Like Theo moved to Thunder Bay and back. Loved ones died. People were breaking up. Shit like that happened throughout that time. It was a mixed bag of pretty much every thing that couldnāt happen, which might explain for the growth that happened lyrically on the record.
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Heās doing better. Itās crazy and itās heartbreaking to see something like that happen. Everyone is out on the road partying, and once in a while someone will keep it going for days somehow, and itās hard to tell when it does turn bad. I donāt think anyone expected that to happen so quickly. But maybe itās a good thing, because heās still here and heās getting better. But itās fucking scary.The teaser for the album makes it seem like youāve become all wise and mature. Then at the end we see Theoās ugly face. Do you feel like Gob has grown up with this album?
Weāve obviously grown because 20 years ago we were just kids. People in music tend to stay young at heart, I guess. We definitely donāt want to be a fucking joke. And thatās how I think weād be perceived it we kept releasing Too Late No Friends over and over again throughout the years. So weāve evolved musically and not necessarily with what has become popular or what other punk rock bands have done. We donāt generally listen to punk rock or bands within our genre. We listen to stuff like Kanye or Chopin, whatever it takes to keep ourselves interested in music. But at the same time there will always be people coming to our shows, even if we turn 100, yelling, āāSodaā! I want to jump in a lake!ā So weāre always going to play it at shows.
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I mean, weāve played it three or four times at some shows because people keep yelling it out. Weāll play it, then someone will yell for it. Weāll play it again, and someone will keep yelling for it. And then theyāre still fucking yelling for it at the end, so we usually just close our shows with it because we sort of have to now.You sound like a proper singer on Apt. 13. Did you work on your voice?
I took some vocal lessons for a while but I didnāt notice a difference. The vocal coach would be like, āDo you hear how clear and metallic sounding that was?ā And Iād be like, āNo, I donāt hear it at all.ā So Iāve never really been a proper singer, and I kind of like it when it sounds like my vocal cords are going to explode. I donāt really attribute it to anything but maybe getting older and my balls dropping, so I have a deeper voice. I do find it harder to reach the higher notes now. Compared to when we first started putting out records, which were crappy recordings and the only way to make it sound good to us was to yell as loud as possible. And it would sound like a dog barking. So weāve tried to evolve as a band and become better musicians. Itās sort of the same thing, but weāve always tried to improve and write better songs.Gob have always made awesome videos, some I would even call iconic in Canada. Which video was the most fun to make?
I think āSodaā was probably the most fun. Theyāve all been fun for the most part. Weāve always had a bit of a āfuck youā attitude ā¦ not totally because I think weāre respectful people, but if someone tries to tell us what to do we will say "fuck you." If a label says we should change something weāll just say, āfuck you!ā Even if they kiss your ass and say it sounds great we still say, āfuck you!ā We want to be able to differentiate between good and bad and not have anyone tell us what to do. Early we were signed to Mint Records and they wanted us to make music videos and we thought videos were fucking stupid. We didnāt want to be that band on MuchMusic making videos. And I suggested we would do a video if we could build a ramp and jump our bikes into a lake. And they thought it sounded awesome. And in hindsight it was fucking awesome and thatās why we were doing it. We shot that video and it was fucking fun. And it became a unique video and ironically MuchMusic played the shit out of it. We got a big fanbase because of that, but we were very shortsighted at the time and never really thought about having a career in music. We were taking it too seriously until after that, I guess.With all of those stunts did anyone get hurt?
I donāt think anyone got hurt jumping bikes into the water but the opening shot a guy does a 360 on a tabletop. Originally two guys were going to do it, one before the other, and the first guy wiped out and hit his head. And it was a pretty long jump, but we sent him to the hospital and just shot the other guy doing it. The guy was fine after, I think it was a small concussion. That was the only real injury.When was the last time you watched Going the Distance?
[Laughs] I donāt know. I probably only watched it once. But it was fun doing it yāknow. I honestly had no idea what the movie would be like though.Cam Lindsay's favourite rapper is Jay Pharoah - @yasdnilmac