The Offspring

The Offspring rushed into the popcharts with their number one hitsingle 'Selfesteem' back in the early 90's. But after that, they didn't seem to bother about success singles anymore. Instead they delivered us some nice albums: just listen to 'Ixnay On The Hombre' and 'Offspring'. Each record was once again a pleasure for the fans. So we were more than glad when we received a promo advanced copy of their newest baby 'Americana', once again, a typical Offspring album, full of humor. We met Noodles, one of the guitarplayers, in Brussels and sat down for a nice chat.

FM: When 'Ixnay On The Hombre' was released you said in an interview that it was a typical Offspring album. I seem to have the same idea now, Americana is just another Offspring album, with some unusual tracks but still...
Noodles: That's something we hope for with each record. I don't know if it's something we try to do. To a certain extent it is, as a band we have a certain groove that works for us, it's mainly just the fast hard driven melodic rock and roll. And that's the foundation of the band, fast punkrock stuff. We try to stick with that but we also try to branch out and try new ideas.

FM: Some songs jump out of it like 'Pretty Fly (for a white guy)' where you went sample shopping at Def Leppard's...
Noodles: Yeah right, we got it from Def's 'Rock of Ages' and to me it really works for the song. I actually thought it was Dexter's voice. But it is a sample. I never have been a Def Leppard fan though, not at all. I couldn't stand that whole scene. But those guys were really cool when it came to the sample. So now I'm a fan of them at least as human beings if not as musicians (laughs).

FM: 'Pretty Fly' also sounds a lot like the Beastie Boys or do you consider that to be a silly remark?
Noodles: Cool! We are all Beastie Boys fans (hesitates)... actually we are not, I'm one! More so than the Beastie Boys it sounds like Quazar which is the Beastie Boys doing their punkrock thing. Dexter had something more in mind like 'Lowrider'.

FM: That's not the only song where you got your inspiration from somewhere else, just listen to 'Feelings'.
Noodles: Yeah, it's an old seventies song, originally written by Morris Albert, but we changed the words though. Barbara Streissand covered it as well I heard, I'll have to check my Barbara Streissand collection (laughs)! It's a sappy, soggy, juicy song, so we decided to try to get the piss out of that. And originally it would have been a heavy metal parody. To be completely honest, at first we thought Dexter was crazy when he came up with the idea.

FM: But it's defenitaly not a typical The Offsproing song!
Noodles: Well, I have to disagree with that, we didn't want to change the structure of the song but still, it resulted in a typical The Offspring approach. It's not meant seriously anyhow.

FM: 'Americana' really reflects the problems of modern society, problems with the youth, joblosses, positive discrimination, ...
Noodles: 'Americana' is usually considered like American culture. It reflects the, things that are unique to an American like baseball and applepie. Usually it's only the pretty side of it. But our 'Americana' is not about that, we have a lot of things going on in America that are not that pretty. Just look at the album cover on which you see a pretty kid having a good time on a swing. That alone would be the 'American Dream'. But if you look a bit closely you see this imperfection: the kid has a brace around his leg and a pet cockroach which is a kind of a huge perversion. And that octopus is the evil influence reaching out, call it religion or consumerism. To me that is a bit more real, nobody is perfect, we all have our perversions and imperfections. That is realism.

FM: I always find it a bit ridiculous when a so called anarchy band signed to a major label is spreading the word, don't you?
Noodles: Some interviewer once even asked what I'd prefer, selling 300.000 copies or 3 million. Well I just answered we'd prefer selling 300.000 or if possible even less, like 20 or so. To me a punkband should branch out but keeping it punk. I never thought us to be an anarchy band, really. We never were a band that wanted to put forward a political agenda. We're just guys that want to play music. I personally hate bands that preach how to live your life. Fuck you! There should be no rules. And whilst we talk about punk, a lot of the punk movement is just about drinking beer and throwing up.

FM: Did you ever considered giving a copy of 'Americana' to Noam Chomsky like Chumbawamba once did?
Noodles: I'd love to. Speaking about Chumbawamba, they are great live performers and I think we should have more of their music on the radio than, let's say, Michael Jackson or Backstreet Boys.

FM: With the current Monica thing in your homecountry, punkbands must have loads of information to ridiculise. When can we expect the new 'Monica' single by the Offspring?
Noodles: Yeah right! Give me a Ronald Reagan, as far as the healthy state of punkrock is concerned, I'd much rather have him than a Bill Clinton. Bill is doing wonders for underground comedians but not for underground musicians. It's not about US weapons for hostages or so, it's about a fucking blowjob! I'm embarased by those people who like this soapopera with a president involved!

FM: 'Why don't you get a job' is a kinda lullaby for the unemployed people, is it that funny?
Noodles: (Laughs) Yeah, sure it is, but then again, no it's not. I know people who live of people and others who support people. And I kinda feel for both of them. It remembers me of that Jerry Springer show in which a gorgeous blond plastic stripper is supporting that musician who was playing in that really bad heavy metal band. The guy kept on saying that they would make it one day. And between brackets, I know those people, I stayed in their house! He smoked pot all day in front of the tele and his wife went out to strip at night. But I'm not going to tell them how to live their life. They'll figure it out.

FM: Classic question now, what's your fave band at this moment and please don't mention the Backstreet Boys!
Noodles: Celine Dion... (laughs). No, I actually like what Pennywise is doing. I have a lot of favourite bands, you know. It can be The Rolling Stones, because I'm a really big fan of their work. Another one is the Dickies, an LA Punkband. When I first got the Sex Pistols' 'Never Mind The Bollocks' I also got a white label four track of the Dickies. And instantly I liked their work far more than the Sex Pistols'.

FM: Is the internet of any importance to you?
Noodles: You really ask the wrong guy, I don't have a computer. It's not important to me personally. I know we have an Offspring website… (Hesitates) I think it can be helpful but I also think, people can get sucked up in it like in the TV. You already have this thing going on with people carrying out love affairs through the internet! There's not much human contact left here.

FM: Thanks for the interview, Noodles.

From Front Magazine On Line Music News