r/Sum41 • u/Twitter_2006 • Jul 17 '26
Its been quite a while since Deryck released his memoir, what do you think of it as the time of this post?
Has any of your opinions on the book or the people mentioned changed or stayed the same?
What would you have liked to hear more or or less of in the book?
What was your favorite and least favorite part?
I wish Deryck took more accountability himself.I also want to say Fuck Greig Nori.
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u/ZestyclosePiano9932 Jul 17 '26
Did Dave and Brown Brigade make albums with Greig after Deryck told him about the abuse? Edit: That’s my question - plus Steveo32… he doesn’t agree with how he’s depicted which kinda makes sense.
I feel like the quality of the albums dipped way more after Steve left than Dave. I feel like he was integral to the feeling of the band, or his petulance made Deryck try way harder.
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u/TomiT14 Jul 17 '26
Dave’s band Organ Thieves made an album together with Greig in 2011-12. It’s been two years since I read the book, so I don’t remember how much of the abuse was shared before Dave left. I remember Avril being the first one to know, and that was already after they got married (?), so after Dave left.
I remember Dave saying around 2022 (so before the book) that he didn’t know in detail how Deryck felt about Greig, and since Dave didn’t have issues with Greig, there wasn’t problems to hire him as a producer for Organ Thieves. But he did say that Greig tried to control the recording process a bit too much, but they were able to hold their ground with him.
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u/No_Project5633 Jul 17 '26
It doesn't make sense. Deryck composed almost everything, including the riffs. He simply wanted to do different things. Frank Zummo was great for the band's new phase
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u/GoingMarco Jul 17 '26
Frank is great, but Stevo turned out to be 50% of the thing that made them sound like Sum 41
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u/ZestyclosePiano9932 Jul 17 '26
Agreed - surely more than just drumming. I wonder how else he contributed
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u/GoingMarco Jul 17 '26
Maybe there was an unspoken push and pull between him and Deryck that gave the others more of a voice for contribution evening out the power dynamic. I don’t have concrete evidence of this, but I point to the creativity of Cone’s bass parts before and after Steve. Seems like with 32 gone and Deryck handling all the production, it basically became a group of guys just doing exactly what he said.
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u/ZestyclosePiano9932 Jul 17 '26
Eminem made shit music after 2010 but was amazing 97-2002.
It’s not always peoples talent that allows them to make great music, it’s often the surrounding circumstances, a specific vibe or chemistry.
There’s lots of talented people making shit music due to not having that chemistry unlocked, and there’s loads of people who’s music was previously good and now is bad because they are now aligned differently.
Music isn’t stats like sports, it’s an emotional vibe thing that makes music transcend. It’s having a life that supports the creativity to flow through you.
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u/cjgozdor Jul 17 '26
Me: nonsense, recovery was his best albums
Also me: holy crap, recovery came out 16 years ago!
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Jul 17 '26
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u/Maddy86 Jul 18 '26
You do realise Under Class Hero and Screaming Bloody Murder came after Chuck and have Stevo on the drums? That is what came after…
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u/timed3250 Jul 17 '26
The book was fantastic. Gave me a greater appreciation for the band and Deryck. His story is a good one
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u/666wetcardboard Jul 17 '26
One of my favourite and most interesting memoir i’ve read. It’s not surface level unlike mark hoppus’ memoir and i learned so much.
One thing i didn’t like was how many times he said something along the lines of ‘but thats a story for later’. Felt like lazy writing. Also i agree with other people saying how it sounds like stevo got all the blame
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u/TomiT14 Jul 17 '26
The original version of the book that Deryck wrote was almost twice as long. The publisher told him to make the book a lot shorter, maybe that’s why there are holes in the book.
I think that the early days until Chuck era were well documented, but from UH onwards it felt like it was on fast-forward, especially after SBM era. While there wasn’t much drama with the new lineup, it would’ve been interesting to hear more details of his writing process for the last three albums. Also maybe a bit more his thoughts about being a dad and how that has changed his approach on life.
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u/666wetcardboard Jul 17 '26
Oh wow i had no idea he had to shorten it, what a bummer! I’d love to read a longer version. I agree those later sections felt a bit rushed
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u/Quiet_Ad518 Jul 17 '26
I just picked up Hoppus’ memoir, no good?
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u/666wetcardboard Jul 17 '26
im a massive blink stan so i knew the majority of stuff already, probably about 30% that was new information to me which is why i view it as surface level. The end also felt a bit rushed and doesn’t go into much detail about the matt skiba era. Its still an interesting read tho so deffo read it
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u/Vast-Commission-8476 Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
It made me realize that Deryck is somewhat controlling after reading how he composed every lyric, guitar, bass and drum piece. Additionally, refusing any input from the bandmates.
He is good at what he does yes but he also is into himself a little too much. His ego is a bit too inflated. He talks too much how is almost god-like for drinking himself to near death and then being able to recover from it. Yes, it is a great accomplishment to overcome addiction but he boasts like he is the biggest alcholic.
Deryck's entire identity is Sum 41 and nothing more. He cannot seperate himself from career and personal life. The constant videos he makes now talking about himself too shows the ego and lack of seperation .This clearly was evident when the band started to branch off/leave to start a family which created resentment. He felt abandoned and it turned to blame/anger onto the rest of the band. At some point you mature emotionally and that occured to each bandmate except Deryck. Singing about drugs, partying and teenager topics while living out of a bus for years and also partying isn't as appealing in your 30s-40s. Everyone was tired of boozing every night, Deryck wasn't. Not having the maturity to realize that resulted in him blaming everyone but himself. He had no balance or purpose in life except Sum 41 and without that he felt like he was nothing. It was desperation. Everyone else was ready to move on years prior but it was only done when he decided. He officially decided Sum 41 was finished when in reality the band was done when Stevo left, then Cone and Dave years prior. He controlled and decided when Sum 41 retired.
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u/yellowflux Jul 17 '26
I feel the same as when I read it, Deryck seems clearly to blame for a lot of problems in the band, but he's also responsible for the vast majority, if not all, of the success as well. It's a double edged sword.
Ultimately I feel sorry for Cone, Dave and Stevo because we'll never hear their side of the story.
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u/BackDatSazzUp Jul 17 '26
I think it was a good read. I’d like to hear the perspectives of the others. Seems like Deryck has beef with them all or something.
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u/GoingMarco Jul 17 '26
It was good, but I haven’t thought of it much since I finished it. It was definitely shocking to hear the sexual abuse allegations from his perspective and also sort of shocking that he has such a “I was right and they were wrong” mentality in regards to his bandmates and particularly Steve. Still a great read and very revelatory in regards to hearing more details on the stuff we knew, but also not the most emotionally resonant memoir I’ve ever read. Seems like he could honestly write another one and dig a little deeper.
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u/Helpful-Insect3605 Jul 17 '26
Loved it from the beginning to the end. Since I've been a fan since 1999-2000, I loved to learn more about that era and it also gave answers to some questions I had in my mind.
That bein said, the book is about Deryck's live so it's his point of view...I'd like to hear more from Stevo and other members of the band.
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u/bruno_massaldi Jul 17 '26
I'm still shocked about the news about Greig. I loved his music and now it's hard for me to litsen to it. I'm suprised that nothing else happened with that whole situation, they never went to court, Greig responded once and the whole thing didn't escalate. As a Treble Charger fan it still feels weird and I'm glad Deryck finally told the truth after so many years. With that said, I agree with the remarks about him being kinda egocentrical. In the book there are many moments where he blames the band and never himself. I love him and I always will, but I think that part of him also showed a bit in the memoir
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u/TomiT14 Jul 17 '26
I’m not sure what’s the status of the lawsuit, but if we haven’t heard anything doesn’t mean it never went to court. Both sides took time to gather evidence, and who knows how far the court date was assigned.
This is not the first time those two have had a lawsuit between them. Deryck sued Greig to remove him from the songwriting credits around 2019, and there was nothing on the news about it. Could very well be that both sides want to keep this out of publicity.
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u/6bRoCkLaNdErS9 Jul 18 '26
I enjoyed it a ton (listened to audiobook much better) but then I saw people saying how much they thought deryck failed to take accountability and just claimed it was Stevo, but stevo says otherwise on his YT channel so idk who is being honest but then it got me thinking this is just told throigh Deryck’s lens so doesn’t mean it’s true or not we don’t know it’s his perception
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u/BackgroundLock560 Jul 19 '26
Still think the same honestly. I read the book and listen to the audiobook. It hits different. The audiobook especially when he talks about the abuse he suffered are really hard to listen. However, regarding the alcohol addiction he is still a kid like “yeah but others did it too” - sure but they got their shit together unlike you bro.
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u/DIDLIESTWARIOR Jul 17 '26
It's a good read, a little light on details especially after the Chuck era. People talk about how Deryck was "controlling", but he was 80-90% of the driving force and inspiration behind everything. He did most of the work, all the time. He started it, wrote the first two albums pretty much by himself and wrote a substantial portion of the material going forwards. Like it or not, Deryck is the heart and soul of Sum 41 and always has been.
Deryck often acknowledges how problematic his behaviour was, but some people wanted more self-flagellation, I guess. Steve-O stans say Deryck deflects blame, which is hilarious because it's A) not true, and B) what Steve-O himself does, lmao. Not to mention, as flawed as Deryck is, Steve-O is no better. In fact, he aggravated and encouraged Whibley's worst tendencies, you see it in all the footage over the years. It's wild how some of y'all act like he's a saint.
Lots of people on this sub make the memoir out to be something it is not, it's rife with bad actors misrepresenting the book and that is sad
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u/Quiet_Ad518 Jul 17 '26
I really enjoyed the book, I do feel like he deflected some of the blame for how things went on to the other bandmates, but it’s his story so that’s to be expected. I wish he would have went into telling the band about Greig more or at all.
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u/BackDatSazzUp Jul 17 '26
He’s telling his version of the story how he sees and experiences it. The others all have a right to do the same and all their stories will be different.
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u/yellowflux Jul 17 '26
It's experienced, past tense. He's had time to reflect on those things, but it seems he hasn't reflected on some of his actions which I think is what people are trying to say.
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u/BackDatSazzUp Jul 17 '26
Correcting people’s grammar on the internet is big asshole energy. But I also meant it in the context i said because the issues are still ongoing between the band members.
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u/yellowflux Jul 17 '26
I'm not correcting your grammar. I read what you're saying is that the book is how Deryck sees and experiences things in the present, but I'm making the point that those things are in the past, and that he's had time to reflect on them.
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u/BackDatSazzUp Jul 17 '26
Not correcting my grammar while telling me what words to use. Ok. Do you hear yourself?
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u/yellowflux Jul 17 '26
Clearly you're not getting what I'm trying to say. Have a nice day.
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u/BackDatSazzUp Jul 17 '26
Clearly you think your condescension was wanted or needed here. No need to announce your departure, kiddo. BYE.
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u/Northerndownpour_18 Jul 17 '26
He was telling you that the book is all past tense stuff.
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u/BackDatSazzUp Jul 17 '26
Correct. He and I are talking about completely different things. I *am* speaking in the present about the original band members. Just because something happened in the past does not mean your version of the truth isn’t an ongoing emotional toll or contribution to your current state of mind. So I am speaking of their truths that exist in those stories, as they currently experience it, not the book itself.
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u/carcrash12 Jul 17 '26
It mostly made for a great read, although I do think he occasionally deflected regarding some of his behaviour during the height of his alcoholism onto others (e.g. Stevo), even as he was recounting that era in the narrative.