The Offspring have announced Pete Parada (formerly of Face to Face and Saves the Day) as the replacement to Atom Willard, who has been busy concentrating on his current project Angels & Airwaves, formed by Tom DeLonge after Blink-182's first breakup. The band explained the following via their official website.
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Pete Parada has been chosen to be The Offspring's new drummer. The band's first shows with Pete will be at the Summer Sonic festival in Japan this August. Pete is a killer drummer and has spent time in Saves The Day, Face to Face, and Alkaline Trio.
"In the meantime, The Offspring are continuing to put the finishing touches on a new album, no release date yet. Josh Freese (NIN, Vandals, Devo) has recorded all the drum tracks for the new record.
"Atom Willard is now focusing full time on his band, Angels & Airwaves, and remains a friend of the band."
The Offspring are currently in the process of completing their still-untitled follow-up to 2003's "Splinter", which is due for release sometime in late 2007/early 2008 via Columbia Records. As previously reported, they have finished two more songs at Bob Rock's studio in Hawaii and returned to Orange County, California for further studio work. The Offspring have been in the studio working on the new album with Bob Rock (of Metallica fame) since last November and frontman Dexter Holland has mentioned that the band has so far recorded 13 songs, including "Takes Me Nowhere" (read story on UG), for the new album, although they had 10 more songs. The band is uncertain about which songs will make the final cut, or if they will properly record any of the other demos.
The band is also scheduled to play Japan in August, appearing at the Summer Sonic Festival on the 11th and 12th alongside bands like Sum 41, Avenged Sevenfold, Bloc Party, Interpol, and of course Cyndi Lauper. They are also scheduled to play at Studio Coast in Tokyo on August 14th. This is the first time that Dexter Holland and co. have performed live together as The Offspring since the 2005 Warped Tour.
