Noodles Opens Up About the Offspring's Relationship With Bob Rock

On Oct. 11, the Offspring will celebrate the release of their latest studio album, Supercharged. Ahead of that day, longtime guitarist Noodles joined Loudwire Nights to discuss the record and reflect on the band's last 40 years.

"I wonder where all the time went," Noodles admitted to Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong. "I don't feel 40 years older than I did back then, you know? I haven't matured much, I'll tell you that."

As far as Supercharged goes, Noodles is ready for fans to hear it.

"I want to get the rest of it out. This is always a really nervous time, a frustrating time in a lot of ways because I love the music on this record and I just want to get it to the fans. I want them to be able to hear it."

The Offspring + Producer Bob Rock

Supercharged marks the Offspring's 11th full-length album and their fourth consecutive LP produced by Bob Rock. The first time the band worked with Rock was on 2008's Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace.

"We knew we wanted a change," Noodles said about working with Brendan O'Brien prior to Rock. He said they loved O'Brien, but as they were getting ready for Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, the band was ready to work with someone new.

"Dexter [Holland] met with Bob and it worked out great. They had a great conversation and Bob was talking about his background from the Vancouver punk scene and how he would mix all these Vancouver punk bands. He was working during the day doing jingles, recording jingles and engineering, and at night he would stay in the studio and the local punk bands would come down, like the Pointed Sticks — all these late-'70s punk bands would come in and they would record all night."

It didn't take long for Holland and Rock to hit it off; that shared passion quickly convinced the rest of the band that he was the right guy to work with on their next album.

"We love him," Noodles said without hesitation.

"He knows how to push us to do better. When a song is not quite there, he'll let us know it's not quite there ... He makes us know we can do better."

What Else Did the Offspring's Noodles Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

How their new single, "Make It All Right," isn't necessarily representative of the rest of Supercharged: "There are some poppy songs...I think there are probably two more that we would qualify as pop punk songs. There's one song that's almost thrash, it's unlike anything we've ever done. There's another one that sounds just really straightforward rocking, really fast, ripping guitar."
How he handles the frustration of waiting to release an album: "We've been doing it long enough, I guess you just kind of suck it up and wait until it gets out."
How the Offspring ended up playing onstage with Ed Sheeran at this year's BottleRock festival: "He told us when he was a kid, eight years old, he would play in the mirror and sing 'Million Miles Away' off Conspiracy of One. That was his first record that he ever bought."