Fresh off a new album, The Offspring talk punk rock, bird watching and hot sauce
This is what it’s like to prepare for an interview with Dexter Holland and Noodles of The Offspring:
Do we talk about molecular biology? (Lead singer Holland has his Ph.D. in the subject.)
Do we discuss the merits of bird-watching? (Guitarist Noodles, real name Kevin Wasserman, is an avid hobbyist.)
What about Gringo Bandito? (That would be Holland’s hot sauce brand.)
Or how about those Iron Man competitions and piloting the band to gigs himself? (Again, Holland.)
And of course, there is the reason the guys behind some of the most humorous and clever punk-pop hits of the ‘90s – “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),” “Self Esteem,” “Come Out and Play,” “The Kids Aren’t Alright” – are hopping on a video call in the first place.
The California-bred Offspring, which includes bassist Todd Morse, multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy and drummer Brandon Pertzborn, released its 11th studio album, “Supercharged,” in early October. The album launched into the top 10 worldwide, including Germany, Australia and the U.K. and has already birthed the hits “Make it All Right,” “Light it Up” and “OK, But This is the Last Time.”
Holland and Noodles might be 58 and 61, respectively, but their commitment to crunchy riffs and wry lyrics – in addition to unflagging energy – is undiminished.
Here’s what the guys had to say about their varied interests during a recent chat from their record label office in New York.
Question: The worldwide success of “Supercharged” is not an easy feat 11 albums into a career. Were you surprised when “Make it All Right” became your first song to top both the Active Rock Chart and the Alternative chart?
Noodles: We’re very stoked with the success. You always hope that it's going to happen, but you never know. We’re super-stoked with how well the song has done and how well the whole record's been doing so far.
The song “Come to Brazil” is very funny. But are Brazilian fans really that much more fervent than fans in other countries?
Noodles: They're at least among the most passionate fans you're ever going to have. Whatever you post, all the Brazilian fans say, come to Brazil, come to Brazil, come to Brazil. It's just over and over and over again. So it's kind of a funny phenomenon, but we wanted to make sure that the song came across as a love letter to our Brazilian fans.
Holland: Poland is really mad at us.
I know you have a young drummer (Pertzborn joined in 2023), but how do you keep that punk rock spirit alive?
Noodles: I think doing what we do for a living keeps us young. Playing music, and especially fast, aggressive music, keeps you young. Mick Jagger is the same age as Joe Biden. Whose lifestyle is keeping him younger?
This year is the 30th anniversary of “Smash.” What changed after 1992’s “Ignition” to jump to that next level?
Noodles: Not a whole lot changed until after the record was done. We recorded on a shoestring budget, a lot of times spur-of-the-moment. Our producer lived in his RV to help us finish that record. When “Come Out and Play” was given to the local radio station, KROQ in LA, and Jed the Fish played it during afternoon rush hour as his Catch of the Day, it took off from there.
Holland: That album changed our lives for sure. I look back on it really fondly because it was such an exciting time. We’re lucky to have the success we have, but there’s only that one time you go from zero to 100. That was the vibe that happened in ’94.
You both have so many hobbies. How do you find time to fit them all in?
Noodles: It’s really easy to get out and just go for a hike and take your binoculars (for bird-watching). Whenever I have a day off in New York City, you can go watch birds in Central Park. Where I live, there's wetlands, there's hills, you can go hike. I just like getting out and enjoying the outdoors and moving.
Holland: Being on tour, it is easy to fall into a rut where you're either on the bus or you're in your hotel room and you don't see the light of day for a while. So you do have to make an effort.
Dexter, tell us about the half Ironman that you just did in North Carolina and what goes into the training for that.
Holland: It’s a triathlon … so you swim and then you bike and then you run at the end. I’ve run ever since high school, so running came naturally to me. But as we all get older, it's harder on your body. So I kind of made this transition about five years ago and started doing triathlons.
Noodles: (Laughs) You're not running any less. You just added swimming and bike riding too.
Holland: I might do two swims, two bikes and two runs a week, something like that. And I might do a couple on the same day. So I'm training generally four, five days a week.
When you say you do two swims, two bikes, two runs in a week, how far are you going?
Holland: My last ride was 60 miles. It might not always be that far, but that would be your long ride. Your short ride might be like 20 to 30. … I know it sounds masochistic. I don’t know how to describe it, except that I like endurance sports. I kind of get a kick out of it. Maybe it's just how you feel when you're done, that you've done something hard. I like to say that if I can do something like the half Ironman, it almost makes other things in your life seem less hard.
You also finished your molecular biology degree in 2017. As a rock star, what do you use molecular biology for in your life?
Holland: That’s a very good point. My research had to do with HIV. I’d like to make a contribution in some way toward the fight against HIV and similar viruses. So I don't want my degree just to be a plaque on the wall. I want to actually do some research, and I'm slowly, slowly getting there. I'm trying to finish a paper right now that I hope to get published in the next six months or so, but I've been busy doing press (laughs).
Also Dexter, are you still flying the band to gigs?
Holland: I am. I flew here (to New York) from North Carolina for the race. I call it my golf, if that makes sense. I love the way it makes me feel. I love the freedom that it gives you. I love that you have to focus on it. By focusing, it takes you out of all the usual stuff that you spend your day worrying about. It’s almost like meditation in a weird way.
Noodles, how do you feel about being piloted by your friend?
Noodles: I’ve seen him study and learn and I know how he is. He pays attention and he gets work done. We've had hired pilots that I felt more scared flying with than with him, and we do take a pilot out when we go on tour. Sometimes Dexter will fly and sometimes Dexter will sit in the back with us.
You’re heading overseas for a tour, but it looks as if there is a gap between April and September. Does that mean that we might see you over here in the summer?
Noodles: We're definitely doing U.S. at least one run. We're doing a ton.
Do you still like being on the road?
Noodles: Yeah. I mean, traveling beats you up, but I love the new experiences, meeting new people, trying new food, new cultures. I love all that.
Holland: You have to just bite off the right amount, is the thing. You (tour) in manageable chunks and yeah, it's really cool. We know that we we're lucky to be able to get to play for people all around the world. People that don't even speak English and yet they know our band. We’re very fortunate.