By: Ilan Mester

It’s safe to say Sebastien Lefebvre, Simple Plan’s rhythm guitarist and background vocalist, did a 180 with his first solo EP titled “You Are Here/ Vous Etes Ici,.” The EP comes out this Tuesday and Press +1 caught up with the musician to talk about his latest project.

“It sort of just happened you know? Being a music fan, I’m a fan of a lot of different styles and I love to write songs, I love to record songs and a lot of the stuff I write absolutely does not fit with Simple Plan,” shares Lefebvre.

“You Are Here”, which includes seven catchy tracks featuring acoustic instruments and a folksy vibe, was a long time in the making. In fact, Lefebvre wrote some of the songs before Simple Plan released their second album. Others were written just a few months ago -- including one in French titled “La Nouvelle Vie.”

“At a certain point, I just wanted to try out something I had never done before you know, which is sing in French and write in French…there’s so many ways to sing in French, like different accents to take...so I had to figure all of that out and I think it came out pretty good so I’m very happy with it,” says the Quebec native.

How he figured out the EP’s title is a story in of itself. “I stumbled across a fire exit map in my building and it said ‘You are here’…and I said ‘there you go! That should be the title,’ ” reveals Lefebvre.

He’s used to singing background vocals for Simple Plan, so becoming the lead vocalist took some adapting. “It’s a very different approach to singing in this case because, you know, when I do back vocals for Simple Plan it’s usually like very high stuff so I’m screaming my lungs out, and this one I almost wanted to whisper the words you know? They were just very different,” shares Lefebvre. “But I pretty much enjoyed it. It’s kind of really hard to sing that way, but I thought it gave it such a nice, intimate vibe that I stuck at it.”

According to Lefebvre, the songs are a mixture of personal experiences and friends’ experiences that he transformed into songs. “Some of them can be a little bit specific to a certain moment in my life,” he reveals. “Some of them are just like stories that my friends went through and I just tried to put myself into their shoes kind of thing.”

Lefebvre didn’t just have to worry about the music and lyrics for the EP, he acted as the vocalist, guitarist, bassist, programmer, percussionist, producer, and the list goes on.

“That’s part of the fun, I’m sort of a nerd when it comes to recording,” he jokes. “But it was just something that I really wanted to do you know, like figure out part by part exactly what I wanted...to give the right vibe for the record, so I just sat for hours in front of my little computer screen and tried different things and yeah, it was a lot of fun.”

Although his Simple Plan bandmates weren’t directly involved with his solo project, he says that indirectly, they were a big part of making it happen. “They’re involved in my life,” he says. “I’ve been with them every day for the past ten years and, you know, they gave me their support to do it and it was very important for me to have it.”

That being said, Lefebvre assures he’s not leaving his pop/rock roots anytime soon. “Nothing I think compares to getting on stage with your friends in front of thousands of screaming people, that’s just fantastic. But sometimes you just feel like grabbing an acoustic guitar and playing something really soft and just enjoying the moment,” he explains.

Fans might be happy to know he’s considering playing some solo shows. “I’m not opposed to it, honestly. I’m sort of running out of time though as we’re always working with Simple Plan and when we’re off for a week you know, it’s really it,” says Lefebvre. “It’s not to go back on tour with a different band, but I’m probably going to play some shows here around Montreal, nothing too fancy.”

After all, the next Simple Plan album is sure to keep him busy. “We’re currently writing for the next one which is going to be our fourth album. We’re looking to get in studio probably like late in the Fall, probably in the Winter, for an early 2010 release…almost half the record’s done and it’s looking like it’s going to be again, I think, a very personal record about something that happens to us,” Lefebvre reveals to Press +1.

To check out a sample of the new EP, visit: www.myspace.com/sebastienlefebvreofficial

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