Toronto – March 9, 2011 – Since becoming incorporated in Canada in 1991 with just seven employees and a vision to become the premium audio solutions brand in Canada, Sennheiser has played an important role in the Canadian music scene through its direct interaction with musicians as well as through its ongoing sponsorship of major music events such as Canadian Music Week (CMW), the East Coast Music Awards, Osheaga, Mont Tremblant, and many others.
As Sennheiser Canada celebrates its 20th anniversary, artists within the Canadian music community continue to express their longstanding loyalty and appreciation for the premium audio brand that has been at their side from the beginning. Many of these artists — including Simple Plan and The Canadian Tenors — have gone on to achieve international success, both on the road and in the studio. Jeff Stinco of
Simple Plan and Fraser Walters of The Canadian Tenors spoke about their respective experiences with Sennheiser.
Can you tell us about your Simple Plan’s earliest experiences with Sennheiser?
Jeff Stinco/Simple Plan: When I was younger, my dad had a pair of Sennheiser headphones that I used with my four-track recorder when I started demoing songs for Simple Plan. That pair of headphones — the yellow HD 414s — stayed with me for a while and consistently delivered purity and high end. As soon as we started as a band, I encouraged my bandmates to start using wireless headsets and we promptly aligned ourselves with Sennheiser very early on.
How important is it for the Canadian Tenors to get pristine sound quality while on stage?
Fraser Walters/The Canadian Tenors: There are four of us tenors on stage, but the sound is the “fifth tenor.” We can perform at our best onstage, but if our gear isn’t up to the task of transmitting what we are putting out there, we are at a disadvantage. We think it is of primary importance to have the best gear out there, and Sennheiser has been supporting us way before we were having the international success that we are having now. Sennheiser was supporting us when we were performing in church basements and small community halls all across Canada. We are happy to take our gear on the road internationally now and truly value our relationship with Sennheiser.
Has the relationship with Sennheiser helped forward Simple Plan’s career?
Jeff Stinco/Simple Plan: Absolutlely. Now that we’re an established band, people offer us endorsements all the time. Sennheiser took a bet on us early on, and to me, that was commendable and visionary. They were growing as a company while we were growing as a band. For us, their support really helped raise the quality of shows and actually helped us grow as a band.
What kind of support has the Canadian Tenors received from Sennheiser?
Fraser Walters/Canadian Tenors: There can be many uncertainties in live performance, specifically around available wireless frequencies — if you are performing in a very busy environment with a lot of other musical acts, or if you are in a location such as a big stadium or crowded city, there can be many other frequencies to compete with. Sennheiser has been right there to help us and navigate all these uncertainties with the best gear available and we’ve never had an issue. We have a great live sound, our and audience is very forthcoming and frequently tell us that our sound is as good or better than on the album.
How has Sennheiser gear held up on the road for Simple Plan?
Jeff Stinco/Simple Plan: We count on Sennheiser products every day while we are on tour. They are of high quality and very rugged. We are doing about 200 dates per year now, but at one point, we were doing as much as 300 dates per year. Sennheiser followed us all around the world and survived.
