Donuts, Cereal and Clown Life: Five Facts We Learned About Sum 41's Deryck Whibley

BY Sarah MurphyPublished Oct 5, 2016

Sum 41 are set to unleash their latest studio album 13 Voices on October 7, but it's an album that almost never happened. After touring in support of 2011's Screaming Bloody Murder, frontman Deryck Whibley wasn't sure he ever wanted to see his bandmates again, let alone make music with them. Following some serious health scares, though, he's sobered up, got guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh back in the band and pulled together a brand new record from the Ajax, ON band.

For this month's issue, Exclaim! connected with Whibley for our Questionnaire. And while the full piece isn't online yet, here are some of the tidbits we were able to glean.

Five Facts We Learned About Sum 41's Deryck Whibley:
 
5. His favourite Tim Hortons donut is a chocolate dip.
 
Whibley now lives in the Los Angeles sunshine, but he's still a good Canadian boy when it comes to his donut retailer of choice. The first thing that springs to his mind when he thinks of Canada is Tim Hortons, and his go-to order is a chocolate dip. "Just the classic, chocolate, hole in the middle — not the cream one," he tells Exclaim! "Not the cream in the middle."
 
You could say he likes his baked goods All Killer, No Filler.
 
4. His ideal dinner party would consist of sharing a box of cereal with Iggy Pop.
 
Donuts aren't the only treat that satisfies the singer's sweet tooth. His dream dinner party would involve inviting Iggy Pop over for a gab sesh over a breakfast classic. "If I was cooking dinner, it would probably just be cereal," Whibley admits, adding that Mini-Wheats would be the box laid out on the table.
 
As for why he chose the legendary Stooges frontman as his guest of honour, it's simple: "He's got the best stories."
 
3. Whibley doesn't want to waste any (more) breath chatting about the Kardashians.
 
When asked what he would most like to hear people shut up about, Whibley's answer was reality TV's most recognizable family — not that he makes an effort to Keep Up with them himself. "I don't really pay attention to what other people are talking about, but one thing I still see that I'm amazed by is the Kardashians," he said. "I don't really pay attention to it, I just can't get away from that name: Kardashian. It's everywhere."

And when he says everywhere, he means everywhere. Like in Sum 41's video for "Fake My Own Death."
 
2. Whibley is happy to absorb life advice from Ice T.
 
In 2003, at a party that Whibley and Iggy attended together, the Sum 41 frontman ran into hip-hop heavyweight Ice T. He recounts the rapper saying, "Yo. The only thing harder than being the Mack is staying the Mack."

More than a decade on, the advice remains as vital as ever. "I try to live up to that," Whibley said. "I try to always stay the Mack."
 
1. Despite his famous mentors, he hasn't forgotten how he started out — working as a clown in Ajax, ON.
 
"You know those guys that have to advertise a store on the side of a busy street?" he asks. "Well, I did that."
 
One of Whibley's first jobs was advertising for a flower shop in Ajax, ON. At age 13, he had to dress up as a clown, stand on the side of a busy street and hold a sign that read: "Roses $9.99." It was a bizarre coming-of-age, circle-of-life moment for the future rock star.

"The weirdest thing about it was that the job was famous on that street, because people would always egg the clown or throw stuff at the clown or honk at the clown — and then I ended up becoming the clown," he recalls. "I was the guy that used to throw stuff at the clown. And then I got eggs thrown at me."
 
He never got hit, though, and was raking in a whopping five bucks an hour. "I thought it was pretty awesome."

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