Interviews

THE OFFSPRING

By Marcus Solomon

   It has been 20 years since The Offspring first exploded into existence, and this band has since proven to be one of the most successful bands to ever to escape from Orange County, CA. This world-famous four-piece has also earned the distinction for being one of the few punk bands to make the transition from underground obscurity to top-of-the-market commercial success. That is quite an accomplishment, considering the band did not sacrifice its integrity by altering its essence to accommodate the corporate monster that does its utmost to homogenize everything for mass consumption. Combining the sound and fury of punk rock with just enough gloss to keep the suits happy, The Offspring combines angst, humor, intelligence, and witty social commentary to produce aggressively enjoyable music. The Offspring's latest album is SPLINTER, and it faithfully carries on the tradition of high-energy hook-laden tunes that embrace important messages without taking themselves too seriously. Additionally, lead singer/guitarist Dexter Holland now finds himself part of an interesting, wonderful irony: he is now in the position to sign some of the bands he admired during his youth to his label Nitro Records.

The Offspring:
Dexter Holland—vocals, guitar
Noodles—guitar
Greg K.—bass
Atom Willard—drums

SKRATCH: I am curious about how you had to quit the Ph.D. program to pursue your musical career.
DEXTER: Getting an education was important to me, [but] there was a point where the band was starting to take off, and I had to make a decision. I decided to take a chance and go for it. I was a little worried about it for about a month-and-a-half, then the record [SMASH] started to really grow.

SKRATCH: What year was that?
DEXTER: That was in '94.

SKRATCH: Fame is fleeting, and education is rather permanent. Is this what was going through your mind?
DEXTER: I had been juggling both school and the band for a long time. We would go on maybe one tour in the summer, so it was not that much of a commitment. Then the song ["Come Out and Play"] would come on the radio, and it was clear that it was time to go out on the road and support the album. I was concerned that if I took a leave of absence from school I was not going to be able to come back. They say you can always go back to school, but the graduate program is a little bit different.

SKRATCH: The Ph.D. program is not something to take lightly.
DEXTER: Exactly. I got a Master's Degree. I finished all the coursework and testing for the Ph.D. All I had to do was my dissertation. Yeah, it was a tough decision.

SKRATCH: Your Master's is in molecular cell biology?
DEXTER: Yes…pretty much Genetics.

SKRATCH: What were you planning to do with that, teach, research…hang out with Milo Aukerman a lot or something? [Milo of The Descendents also has a Master's Degree in Genetics.]
DEXTER: [Laughs] I really wasn't sure. I was surrounded by professors and trying to do research. That was what I was most familiar with. I really did not know what was going on in the biotech world, and it was more of a 9-to-5 kind of thing. I was not sure that is what I was interested in.

SKRATCH: Sometimes I use you as an example to try to motivate my students. I point out that a person can be a rock 'n' roll rebel and still have an education.
DEXTER: I hesitate to consider myself a role model. My experience shows that you can really write your own ticket. A lot of kids don't realize that.

SKRATCH: It takes discipline and some sort of focus.
DEXTER: Exactly.

SKRATCH: How did your record label Nitro come into being?
DEXTER: I was in a band without a label, and I was trying to find one that would sign us. A lot of the guys I know were guys who had their own labels, like Jello Biafra with Alternative Tentacles, Fat Mike at Fat Wreck, Bret at Epitaph, Ian MacKaye at Dischord…. I always thought it was a cool idea to have your own label, but I did not have the money or the connections. That all changed after SMASH came out. From being on an independent label I learned how to run one. I had a little bit of money from SMASH. I had these friends of mine in a band called Guttermouth who were looking for a label, and we got together. We literally started on my kitchen table. I was pressing up records and storing them in my bedroom.

SKRATCH: That sounds like fun.
DEXTER: It was a great time. We did it like that as long as we could, and later I had one person helping me, then two people, then we got a small office…. We just did it and learned as we went along.

SKRATCH: What's going on with Nitro today?
DEXTER: There are 13 people who work there. I don't go in every day, because my main job is being the guy in The Offspring. I have a great staff that helps me take care of the day-to-day stuff. I come in more to supervise. I sign all the bands and do the overall general marketing and promotion.

SKRATCH: What bands are on the label today?
DEXTER: They may not be well known right now, but I think they are going to do well. Rufio is one. They are from the Inland Empire. I found this band called The Start that is really great. Their stuff will be out around June. Another new band is called Wilhelm Scream. They will be coming out here soon, and their CD will be out in July. I have also signed bands that were my heroes when I was growing up, bands like TSOL. I put out a record with The Damned, which was awesome to do.

SKRATCH: May I point out that The Offspring's cover of "Smash It Up" is right on the money?
DEXTER: Oh, right on! We were not trying to reinvent it. Some things are so classic that you just want to make it sound good. We were trying to capture the spirit of the original.

SKRATCH: Have you ever had the opportunity to perform with The Damned?
DEXTER: Yeah, at the Inland Invasion.

SKRATCH: I snuck into that show. I somehow got backstage and connived my way to the front of the stage just as your band was beginning.
DEXTER: [Laughs] Oh, really?

SKRATCH: Well, it was Blink 182, but The Offspring was soon after that. I wrote an article that was in part critical of how many guitars you use during the live performance. Somebody told me later that each guitar is set to a different key.
DEXTER: [Laughs] Yeah, that's true. Actually, a little secret is that we tune some of our songs down because it's hard for me to sing that stuff. It's a little bit lower, but not low enough to be really noticeable. All of the songs I write are at the top of my range, so I have to yell as hard as I can.

SKRATCH: Are you getting nodules on your vocal chords?
DEXTER: I've never had anything like that. I have always written songs like that because I like it to have the most energy and urgency.

SKRATCH: How do you select the bands for Nitro?
DEXTER: We have boxes full of demos. We try to listen to every single one, but I don't think we have ever found a band that way. It usually comes about from word of mouth or hearing the band live.

SKRATCH: I have coined a new term, "mujician," a combination of the words "musician" and "magician." Do you ever feel like a magician—creating that mood, that euphoria—when so many people are responding to your performance?
DEXTER: To play shows live, it's just like…When we were recently in Europe, the kids were still wanting to hear the songs off of SMASH, and they were all jumping up and down in unison. It was like, WOW! That is just an incredible feeling.

SKRATCH: Do you ever have to struggle with your own ego?
DEXTER: Things did not happen for us until I was about 28. We had already been struggling as a band for about 10 years.

SKRATCH: You had attained enough experience and maturity to recognize fame for what it is?
DEXTER: Yeah. [I realized that] this is a moment, not the entire reality.

SKRATCH: And now for the O.C. factor. Where are you?
DEXTER: I live in Huntington Beach now. I grew up in Garden Grove. I lived there my whole life.

SKRATCH: Orange County is notoriously Republican and has a reputation for being rather fascist; but at the same time so much great alternative music has come from there, bands like The Adolescents, DI, Agent Orange.... Do you think the staunch politics of that area "squeezes" and generates creative angst?
DEXTER: You mentioned the punk bands, but don't forget bands like No Doubt and a lot of other commercially-successful ones. But yes, there is kind of a conservative overcast that hangs over everything. It may be unspoken, but there is a feeling of being kind of oppressed. Also, the uniformity of it being suburbia. Where I grew up, there were only three different styles of houses.

SKRATCH: The "cookie-cutter" culture.
DEXTER: Yes. The uniformity helped to breed the boredom that the kids felt without even knowing why. I had never been anywhere else, but it is sensed somehow…almost innately. Those two factors, the conservatism and the boredom, bred the conditions that allowed these bands to come out.

SKRATCH: Sometimes when I get a chance to mentor to youth, I will point out that it is much better to form a band and create something with your negative emotions, rather than shooting up the school make music your weapon.
DEXTER: Yeah. I had been into music since I was a little kid. I started with KISS, probably…somewhere around the fourth grade. It started with KISS ALIVE, then DESTROYER and ROCK AND ROLL OVER. I think I got out before LOVE GUN.

SKRATCH: Good time to get out.
DEXTER: That was when other things were starting to happen, things like Devo and The Cars. Even those kinds of bands were considered punk, in a way.

SKRATCH: At that time, there was no uniform idea of what punk was supposed to be. It was more creative. I went to a Weirdos show the other day and was reminded once again that punk is not just leather, studs, and mohawks. Do you consider The Offspring to be a punk band?
DEXTER: Yes. There was always something about punk music—and Orange County punk bands, in particular—that moved me beyond from being just a fan to forming a band. Actually, I have to give credit to my older brother. He brought home RODNEY ON THE ROQ VOL. II. It had The Adolescents and The Circle Jerks and The Crowd—a whole lot of Orange County bands. From there I bought The Adolescents blue album and moved on to The Dead Kennedys. For me, The Sex Pistols and stuff like that came later. I don't know why. Then I got into TSOL, and they were my favorite band ever. And then I actually wanted to start a band. I was like 17 years old.

SKRATCH: How did you learn to play the guitar?
DEXTER: I just messed around with it, taking lessons and all that. It did not sound like fun to me. When I got into this kind of music, I thought that I could do stuff like that. I was just sitting down with my records and trying to play along. I remember trying to figure out how to play bar chords, and I looked at the back of [TSOL's] DANCE WITH ME and I saw how Ron Emory was holding his guitar. He had his thumb pressed against the back of the fret board. I thought, "Oh, that's how you do it."

SKRATCH: You mentioned that The Crowd was one of your early influences. I spoke with James Kaa after a ripping set at DiPiazza's in Long Beach, and he tells me the band is making new music and is looking for a label. So look in that direction if you wish.
DEXTER: Right on.

SKRATCH: When this is all over—if it ever ends—do you think you will return to school?
DEXTER: I would like to. But the nature of that kind of stuff is…that I was growing stuff in petri dishes. I was working on a retrovirus thing. I would have to put the whole music thing on hold if I wanted to go back to that. I want to go back eventually, but I am having more fun doing this.

SKRATCH: Was your family always supportive of your musical endeavors?
DEXTER: At first, my parents were like, "When will you get through this rock phase and go to medical school?" Now they are thrilled. [Laughs]

SKRATCH: To be in a position where you can take care of your parents must be great.
DEXTER: I think about that, too. I just took care of some stuff for my mom, and that is a great feeling.

SKRATCH: Any comments on the political situation at this time? (I hope you vote.)
DEXTER: I voted for Jack Grisham for governor. [Laughs]

SKRATCH: Did you vote in the presidential primary elections?
DEXTER: We were in Europe during the primaries.

SKRATCH: There is this thing called the absentee ballot.
DEXTER: Yeah, you got me there. I didn't get away with that one.

SKRATCH: Did you know that Attorney General John Ashcroft had proposed the building of concentration camps for American citizens he deems "enemy combatants"?
DEXTER: No. What do you mean?

SKRATCH: In August of 2002, Ashcroft spoke publicly about his desire to create concentration camps for Americans that a "high-level committee" declares to be "enemy combatants." Indefinite incarceration without any Constitutional protections for American citizens.
DEXTER: That term is so vague. An enemy combatant, enemy of the state…that could be anybody.

SKRATCH: My point exactly. It is deliberately vague and intended to instill fear. The current regime in the White House is ruling by force, fear, and falsehood. Richard Clarke has put a big hole in that fascist boat, and I hope it sinks soon. What do you think?
DEXTER: We were in Europe during the train bombing in Madrid, Spain. We were not in Spain, but we could see it affected Europeans directly. We Americans sort of have blinders on. Many do not pay real attention to what is happening in the rest of the world. It was interesting to see how most of Europe had the same reaction as we did to the terror attacks of 9/11/2001.

SKRATCH: Please be more specific.
DEXTER: It was a sense of, "Oh, shit! This is in OUR backyard now." In Spain, the people were clearly against their government participation in the attack and occupation of Iraq, but for them to pull out now, it is kind of a victory for the terrorists.

SKRATCH: It is a no-win situation now.
DEXTER: These are very scary times. Things can easily escalate more than ever before. Anybody with a backpack and a cell phone can blow up hundreds of people. Our last record came out a few months before 9/11, and it was called A CONSPIRACY OF ONE, and only a generation ago it was the Cold War, with the threat of nuclear weapons. Now I see it as more likely that one person or a small group can inflict that much damage and fear. It was a weird thing to have the album come out only six months before the terror attacks.

SKRATCH: It seems that the world is spinning out of control, but music helps us to cope with the madness. It sounds clichéd, but I want to thank you for creating music that helps make the world a more enjoyable place.
DEXTER: [Laughs] Well, thank you.

I suggest following Dexter's example by getting an education, never grow up too much, take care of your parents, be cognizant of the world around you, and HIT THAT.

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