Dexter Holland Reveals Offspring Home Video Treats

The Offspring's forthcoming home video, Americana, named after their new album (Nov. 17, Columbia), will have a few hard-to-find treats for diehards.

Dexter Holland, the band's lead singer/ guitarist, says the group's longtime friend Paul Cobb gathered footage on a Hi-8 camcorder from all stages of their career, including footage from the band's appearance on The Wally George Show, which Holland believes was taped in 1991. (George is a television religious zealot in Los Angeles, and actress Rebecca DeMournay's father).

The video also features Guttermouth, who are signed to Holland's Nitro Records. They make an appearance in the video in a skit where they go on a beer run. Also showing up in the video is ex-Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra, in a segment taped when he joined the band onstage for the Kennedys' "Chemical Warfare" at a San Bernardino [Calif.] Arena show. Other live footage comes from the Offspring's Reading Festival performance in 1996 and club shows in Santa Cruz, Calif., among other places. Skate, wake, snow, and surf boarders, as well as BMX and MOTO-X bikers, are also featured in the video.

"It literally took [Cobb] two years to do it in his spare time," says Holland, who describes the video as "short- attention- span theatre." "He went on a few tours, we did some skits, and he put pro boarder stuff in there. I've watched live videos before that bands put out, and they're not that interesting, so we only go for the first 30 seconds of the song or so, then cut into board stuff set to music and things."

It's not yet determined how or when the video will be released, but the band will screen it on their Web site on Saturday (Nov. 14).

Meanwhile, the Offspring are on the road.

By Carrie Borzillo, from My Music Boulevard daily news - November 13, 1998