Kirk Miller of Metromix New York recently conducted an interview with The Offspring frontman Dexter Holland. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Metromix: You're calling this the "S--- Is F---ed Up Tour." That's an interesting theme.
Dexter Holland: It's named after one of our songs on the new album. There will be some incorporation of that theme into our backdrops and such…but it's not going to be a concept show.
You're taking out seven different opening bands on the tour (Dropkick Murphys, Alkaline Trio, Sum 41, Street Dogs, Pennywise, Shiny Toy Guns, Frank Turner), with each only playing a few cities. Why do it that way?
The main reason is that they had already committed to other tours. I mean, we love the Dropkick Murphys, but they were only available for a few East Coast dates. And for someone like Shiny Toy Guns... we've never played with them, but I saw them in a tiny club, and I thought theycd be a cool addition.
As you get older—sorry—does touring get harder?
Not really. I suppose eventually it will. Maybe we drink a little less.
It's been about five years between your new studio album and your last one, and almost as long for a full U.S. tour. What happened?
It wasn't on purpose. It's funny how time gets away from you. We did a "Greatest Hits" album a few years back, and by the time we did some promotion, two more years had gone by. We're like, "We better get started on some new stuff!" Plus, this is our eighth album, and we really wanted to challenge ourselves. We took some extra time.
Chris Cornell did a dance album with Timbaland. Did you ever feel like being that "challenging" with the record?
[Laughs] We worked within our strengths. We were never going to do jazz fusion or anything. The first thing was that it was going to be melodic, guitar-based songs, and we went from there.
Years ago, you wanted to partner with Napster for a tour and give away your album online. Looking back and knowing what you know now, was that a good decision?
[Long pause] Well...that was a dumb idea. [Laughs] The face of it has changed. We were great proponents of things like Napster back then. It was more of a sampling service. But now it's more complicated. That said, things like iTunes are a great, legitimate way to get music. Unfortunately, I think the market has changed—we think an album is about more than just one or two hit songs, but with the new ways of getting music, people seem to be going back to singles.
Have you guys checked out "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero"?
I think they're great. It's a good way to expose people to music. People don’t like music less—it's just getting people to pay for it that's a problem. Actually, [guitarist] Noodles’ young son came back from playing "Guitar Hero 3" the other day and was singing Blue Oyster Cult. He definitely was never getting exposed to that in any other way.
Your latest single "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" is a slower song for you. Is that going over well with your fans?
It seems to be. We played a Top 40 radio station event in San Antonio, and it seems like everyone knew the words. It's a personal song about someone, obviously not named Kristy in real life, who I knew who was sexually abused as a kid. I couldn't put my finger on what happened to her at the time. So, it's me looking back and saying I'm sorry that it happened to you and I wish I could have done more.
You and Coldplay both have songs called "Fix You" on your new albums; which is better?
Ours, of course! Actually, Coldplay is a great band. I wasn't aware they had the same song title.
You could sue them. Everyone else is.
Hey, yeah! I wrote that song waaaaay before they did.
Is there a country where you guys are more popular than here?
It's funny, I think it's different with every band. We do really well throughout Europe. I think if you play there a lot, there's a sort of...well, not "loyalty," but you get established. Japan is amazing for us. Actually, I think it's our use of "whoa whoas" in the songs…you don’t have to know English to sing along.
You were originally going to call your 2003 album "Chinese Democracy (You Snooze You Lose)" as sort of a joke. Did you ever hear the Guns N' Roses album?
We actually shared a drummer—Josh Freese, he was with them for a couple of years, and he's been doing our drum tracks recently. As for the album…I don't like to say negative things about bands, so we'll leave it at that. It's not one of my favorite records.
Very diplomatic! As a band that's been around for almost two decades, what's the weirdest rumor you've ever heard about yourself?
That Noodles had been killed in a knife fight. A long time ago, we did a benefit show at this club with a band called Final Conflict. Some skinheads came by, they had a beef with the band. Noodles, being a peacemaker, tried to intervene. Some skinhead punched him in the arm, and I guess he did have a knife, because Noodles was bleeding a little bit from the bicep. But just a little bit. By the next day, everyone had heard he was dead.
Being eight albums and almost 20 years into the band, do you think you can keep going?
We're still really inspired. I look at bands like U2, for example, and it obviously still feels good for them. They’re still into it. I think we can keep going for a long time.
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