Sébastien Lefebvre

Sébastien Lefebvre (born 5 June 1981) is a French Canadian musician, who is best known as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for pop punk band Simple Plan. Lefebvre grew up in Laval, Québec, and used to work as a janitor at his old high school; Collège Beaubois in Pierrefonds, Quebec.

Lefebvre's surname is properly pronounced, among French speakers, "le-fave", but English speakers generally pronounce it "le-fevra". He has commented on the difference, without pronouncing the French, in his podcasts. On the DVD A Big Package for You, he pronounces it "le-fever" when he introduces himself; however the other band members can be observed smirking as he does so.

Equipment

Sebastien currently uses Framus, specifically the Mayfield. He currently uses Mesa Boogie and Framus amplifiers.

The All-American Rejects

The All-American Rejects is a four-piece American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999. The band consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist and keyboardist Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor.

Their debut self-titled studio album, The All-American Rejects, was originally released in 2002, producing the successful single "Swing, Swing". The album went on to sell over one million records in the United States and was certified platinum by the RIAA.

The band's second album, Move Along (2005), brought the band more mainstream success. The album produced three hit singles; "It Ends Tonight", "Dirty Little Secret" and "Move Along". "Dirty Little Secret" and "It Ends Tonight" reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Move Along" peaking at number 15. "Dirty Little Secret" and "Move Along" were also accredited double platinum status with over two million digital sales in the United States. The album Move Along itself was certified double platinum in the US by the RIAA.

The All-American Rejects' third album, When the World Comes Down, was released on December 16, 2008. The first single "Gives You Hell" garnered much attention internationally, with the song peaking Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number 2 on Pop 100 charts, as well as in the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart and number three on the Australian ARIA Singles chart.

Since the start of their career, The All-American Rejects have sold over 10 million records world wide. Though the band did not make Billboard magazine's Artists of the Decade, the All-American Rejects were ranked #73 on the Hot 100 Artists of the 2000s, as well as #183 on the Billboard 200 Artists of the decade.

Jeff Stinco

Jean-François "Jeff" Stinco (born 22 August 1978) is a French Canadian musician, who is best known as the lead guitarist for pop punk band Simple Plan. Stinco got the nickname Jeff, because many of his non-French fluent friends couldn't pronounce 'Jean-François', so they began to call him 'JF', leading to Jeff.

Early life

He attended College Beaubois High School in Pierrefonds, Quebec along with bandmates Sébastien Lefebvre, Chuck Comeau and Pierre Bouvier.

Jeff studied classical guitar for 10 years at the "Conservatoire de musique de Montréal" with Jean Vallieres. He also participated in many Masterclasses over the years with many renown concertists such as Manuel Barrueco and Roland Dyens. Jeff is the only person in Simple Plan to have taken professional classes to learn how to play the guitar.

Equipment

Stinco plays Gibson guitars. For the "Save You" and "When I'm Gone" music videos, Stinco is seen with his white Gibson Les Paul Custom. For the "Your Love is a Lie" music video, he rocks a Gibson ES-335. Live and in the studio he mostly plays Gibson Les Paul Standards and Customs. He's also often seen playing handmade guitars by his friend Ted Stevenson of Stevenson guitars. He uses Mesa Boogie amplifiers.

Chuck Comeau

Charles-André Comeau (born 17 September 1979) is a French Canadian musician, who is best known as the drummer for pop punk band Simple Plan. He currently uses DW drums and Zildjian cymbals .

Biography

Comeau started his music career in Reset with fellow bandmate Pierre Bouvier. After the band's first CD was released, Comeau left the band and went to McGill University to pursue a degree in law, intending to follow in his father's footsteps as a lawyer.

After reuniting with Bouvier at a concert, he soon left school and helped Bouvier to form Simple Plan. In Simple Plan, Comeau, along with Bouvier, are the main songwriters. He is sometimes known as the "writer" of the band as he does most of the lyrics, writes all the concepts, and writes the scripts to Simple Plan's music videos.

Comeau was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Grind or Shine

Adversity is the grindstone of life. Intended to polish you up, adversity also has the ability to grind you down. The impact and ultimate result depend on what you do with the difficulties that come your way. Consider the phenomenal achievements of people experiencing adversity.

Beethoven composed his greatest works after becoming deaf. Sir Walter Raleigh wrote the History of the World during a thirteen year imprisonment. If Columbus had turned back, no one could have blamed him, considering the constant adversity he endured. Of course, no one would have remembered him either. Abraham Lincoln achieved greatness by his display of wisdom and character during the devastation of the Civil War. Luther translated the Bible while enduring confinement in the Castle of Wartburg. Under a sentence of death and during twenty years in exile, Dante wrote the Divine Comedy. John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress in a Bedford jail.

Finally, consider a more recent example. Mary Groda-Lewis endured sixteen years of illiteracy because of unrecognized dyslexia, was committed to a reformatory on two different occasions, and almost died of a stroke while bearing a child. Committed to going to college, she worked at a variety of odd jobs to save money, graduated with her high school equivalency at eighteen, was named Oregon's outstanding Upward Bound student, and finally entered college. Determined to become a doctor, she faced fifteen medical school rejections until Albany Medical College finally accepted her. In 1984, Dr. Mary Groda-Lewis, at thirty-five, graduated with honors to fulfill her dream.

Adversity - the grindstone of life. Will it grind you down or polish you up?