History of SUM 41. part 4

Side Projects, Dave's Departure, and Underclass Hero (2006 - Present)

On, May 11, 2006, Dave Baksh announced in a statement through his management company that he was leaving Sum 41 to work with his new band, Brown Brigade. Baksh's departure from the band was said to have been due to his desire to play music with a more classical metal sound.[10][11] He is the lead singer for Brown Brigade, and also plays guitar.

On May 12, Deryck made the first official comment on the subject on the official message board post addressing Dave's departure.[12] Deryck confirmed Dave's departure and announced that the band would only be replacing Dave with a touring guitarist, who wouldn't be in videos, photo shoots, albums, or have any decision-making power in the band.



During the band's touring hiatus, Deryck focused on his producing career, writing and producing two songs for Avril Lavigne's album, The Best Damn Thing. Stevo recorded his first video as director for a Canadian band called The Midway State, and Cone started a side project with Todd Morse of H2O and Juliette and the Licks. The two-person band, named The Operation M.D., released their debut album, We Have an Emergency, in early 2007. As well as playing bass, keyboards, and acoustic guitar, Cone contributed backing vocals as well as leading vocals on three songs.[13]. The Operation album was co-produced and mixed by Deryck Whibley. Their first single video, "Sayonara", was directed by Stevo.

On April 17, 2007, the band released a song on iTunes called "March of the Dogs". Although not a single, the band released it early because, according to Deryck, "the record won't be out until the summer."

Recording of the band's fifth studio album, Underclass Hero, began on November 8, 2006 and was finished on March 14, 2007. The album, backed by the first single and title track, "Underclass Hero", was released on July 24, 2007. It debuted at #7 in the United States, making it the band's highest chart position to date.

"Walking Disaster" became the second single from Underclass Hero. The music video for the song aired on MTV2 on August 20th, and it is available on YouTube.

The band began touring for the month of October 2007 with fellow Canadians, Finger Eleven across Canada. Die Mannequin would be opening, then Finger Eleven, then Sum 41 would close each show. A recent press release stated that Deryck Whibley had sustained a herniated disk, causing them to cancel the rest of their shows on the Strength In Numbers Tour with Finger Eleven. Dates will be rescheduled to a later date once Deryck has returned up to par. Both bands will return later to finish the tour together.Bassist, Cone, has stated that he can hardly get out of bed, due to the severity of the back injury. When Cone and Stevo were guests on Much Music, they revealed the cause of the slip disc to be a mix of jumping into the crowd and Deryck sitting down abruptly at Stevo's drum Kit during the final song of their Calgary Show, Pain For Pleasure. Deryck has recovered from his injury, and is currently on tour with the band across Canada.

Cone recently did an artist on artist interview with Slash of Velvet Revolver. They talked about Slash's experiences while in Guns N' Roses and his life now in Velvet Revolver. This was done as part of a MySpace project, and the interview was posted on MySpace in 3 parts.

Sum 41 re-commenced their Underclass Hero tour and started back out in the U.K. where they were touring with fellow Canadians Sound and Fury and a British band Reuben. (They played 10 shows in Britan and then moved the tour to Canada)

It has been announced that Sum 41's next single will be "With Me." The video was first seen on the band's MySpace page on February 28, 2008.

The band has plans to tour until the summer, when they will begin preparation for their next album.[14] The Band is touring through out Australia in April 2008, playing at the Big Top at Luna Park and in Perth with veteran punk outfits Pennywise and The Vandals as well as Bowling For Soup.