Liberty Mutual Advertiser (2:56)

Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (3:01)

Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

Liberty Mutual Advertiser (3:03)

Cut the camera.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (3:04)

They see us only pay for what.

Liberty Mutual Advertiser (3:05)

You need at libertymutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (3:09)

Liberty Savings Very underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.

Buzz Knight (3:13)

Taking a walk.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (3:14)

When we started this, we never thought we were gonna be traveling the world ever. You know, we, we, you know, we knew we wanted to get in a van and just try to go places and, you know, play for different people in different parts of the country, but we never thought would become what it became. For 10 years it was driving in a van and, well, first it was Dexter's pickup truck going across country in his pickup truck.

Buzz Knight (3:36)

Welcome to another episode of the Taking a Walk podcast with your host Buzz Knight. Buzz speaks with musicians about their music, their passion, and their latest work. Today, Buzz is joined by Kevin Wasserman, better known as Noodles, the guitarist of the iconic punk rock band the Offspring. Noodles has been a driving force behind the Offspring's energetic sound for over three decades, helping shape the landscape of punk rock and alternative music. From their breakout success with Smash in 1994 to their continued relevance in the music scene with new music supercharged, Noodles has been there every step of the way. Here's Buzz Knight with Noodles on Taking a walk.

Buzz Knight (4:22)

Noodles, it's so great to have you on the Taking a Walk podcast.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (4:26)

Thanks, Buzz. Yeah, it's good to be here.

Buzz Knight (4:28)

So what was the first time you remember noodling on a guitar?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (4:32)

Oh, gosh, really? When I was probably 12 or so, I actually took lessons from the sweet old lady in the neighborhood who wanted to teach me Flies in the buttermilk shoe fly shoe. And I just couldn't have been more bored with that. So I kind of put it away for a. There was always guitars laying around. Both Mike. We had a cousin who came and lived with us and he was a lefty, but we restrung his guitar right handed anyways. And then my dad had a classical guitar always laying around and so I just always kind of pick it up. But it wasn't until I was really about 18 when I really started learning how to. How to play guitar properly.

Buzz Knight (5:13)

Would you ever consider a punk version of Flies in the Buttermilk Shuffle shoe?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (5:18)

Oh gosh, let's talk to. Let's talk to me first in the gimme gimme See what they see, how they can put that together.

Buzz Knight (5:26)

So what were the other influences at that time? It was like Hendrix, I'm sure was a big deal growing up.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (5:33)

And really, you want to know what, what really wanted got me to want to play guitar was the theme song to Mash Suicide Is painless. I just thought it was so beautiful. In fact, I, I. In fifth grade, I learned how to play the flute because of that song. I wanted, you know, the flute and the guitar thing, and then the flute seemed a little, I don't know, a little too. I don't know. I, I don't know. What's the right word for it? A little too wimpy, I guess. So then in sixth grade, I switched to the trumpet, and my dad was a big trumpet player. He loved the trumpet. And so I think I was trying to, you know, emulate my dad a little bit.

Buzz Knight (6:14)

You were trying to find your. Your way a little bit, right? Exactly.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (6:17)

Yeah.

Podcast Advertiser (6:18)

Yeah.

Buzz Knight (6:19)

And we're still trying to find our way.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (6:21)

Absolutely. You know, you never, you're never too old to try to. Yeah. To try new things and try to learn new things.

Buzz Knight (6:29)

So the, the band's been around for nearly 40 years. What is the secret to this amazing longevity of the band?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (6:38)

I mean, you gotta love doing it. You, You. I love playing music, you know, from the very obsessive compulsive part of, you know, being in the studio, trying to come up with new music that, that sounds good. Something you like, you know, from nothing to just rehearsals and, you know, going over the same stuff over and over again and then getting out and, you know, finally playing, you know, songs for an audience and connecting with them. I mean, it's just, it's. It's what I love to do. Absolutely love it. And all the guys in the band right now feel the same way. It's, it's. We're having a lot of fun doing what we do.

Buzz Knight (7:14)

Congratulations on Supercharged. We'll talk about that in a little bit. That's really astounding. And really great music as well, for sure. First concert experience that you ever can remember.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (7:28)

Oh, gosh.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (7:31)

Yeah. Early days, I remember going and seeing just punk bands and in backyards, really, you know, and bands that would play in my high school quad. And I just thought, man, these guys are just doing it. They, they figured out how to play instruments and, and get together with people and play music. I've just always thought, even, like, some of the crappiest bands, I always thought there's something really special about getting together with, you know, three or four other people and, and making music together and just vibing with each other. I've always, I've always dug that.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (8:09)

First big concert might have been rush and 38 special at the Forum here in L. A.

Buzz Knight (8:15)

And, I mean, it was a positive experience, obviously.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (8:18)

Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I dug it. You know, it was, it was. I always preferred smaller venues, you know, and clubs. Going to see, gosh, the Dickies at Ichabods in Fullerton, you know, stuff like that. I guess the Ramones at the Palladium were. That was kind of, kind of a big, big show, you know, compared to some of the, some of smaller clubs.

Buzz Knight (8:41)

So your guitar playing is so core to the band. Has it evolved in certain ways over time, do you think?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (8:52)

I suppose I. I like to think I've gotten better and more consistent in my playing. I'm less sloppy over time, but I still have sloppy days, you know. And you know, I kind of, I kind of joke about. I'm. I'm the guy who comes in and puts the tattered edge on everything in the stud. I think there's some truth to that, but I think there's also some energy to my playing that just adds something rather than takes away from, from a recording.

Buzz Knight (9:20)

I'm glad you talk about imperfection because I think it is part of the beauty of the sound really, I think. And do you feel at times today, especially with the technology and everything that there's sometimes too much perfection?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (9:36)

Well, I think that was what, what got me into punk rock. You know, there was a lot of really just over produced big arena rock bands where everything was, you know, had to be perfect. And punk rock was kind of the antithesis of that. You could, if you had three chords and, and you know, something to scream about, you can, you can make songs and make music.

Buzz Knight (9:59)

Now were you somebody with your guitar where you would, you know, fool around and, and reverse engineer certain things maybe that you wanted to get out of a guitar? Would you sort of, you know, tech around with things a little bit, you.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (10:14)

Know, experiment with different, you know, different types of effect boxes and stuff? You know, when I was first learning, you know, everything was analog, you didn't have all the digital tools that you, you have today, you know, so, yeah, I mean, you know, gosh, what was the, like the Memory man, you know, effects boxes were so weird, you know, and you can get some really weird sounds out of those. And the different delays and, and stuff were. It was a lot messing around with that stuff and trying to figure it out. And then also, yeah, like, you know, trying to make a sitar by putting, you know, a piece of like metal coat hanger over the edge so that it, it buzzes right next to the bridge. You know, try to make a sitar sound like that. You know, different things like that. Try to make it Sound like bells by how you. How you pick it differently? You know, I know and listening to, you know, other people talking about how they made music. I know the Stones talked about, you know, Street Fighting man was an acoustic guitar that they taped onto little, I think a little tape recorder and then played it back into the microphone and it just distorted. And that's how they got that sound for Street Fighting man, you know, so you kind of. You listen to what other people are doing and then experiment, you know, with your own, your own equipment.

Buzz Knight (11:28)

And I see you got some guitars behind you there. Who, what are some of your. Your favorites? I'm sure they're all favorites, but are there some particular ones that you can highlight?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (11:37)

Yeah, right here. Well, there's my signature model, the kind of Start or Sunburst Talman. That's my, my latest signature model. And I love the Talons. They just, they play great. They have kind of like a 60s vintage feel to them. They're lightweight, which is great. If you're jumping up and down on stage for an hour and a half, it's nice to have something that's not too heavy. I never could handle the. Especially jumping up and down handling of Les Paul is a little heavy. But I love them in the studio. I love, you know, a lot of guitars. I think that's my. I don't know if you can see the classical one. That's the. My dad's classical guitar.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (12:17)

I have a sunburst telly and that's a reissue of the very. One of the very first guitars I ever bought was a telly. And I used to play that in the early days and eventually realized that the feedback from that. That bridge pickup was just a little too much. It was, it wasn't. I mean, it was like screaming microphonic feedback, you know, and it would be a little bit, a little bit too much. So then I, I got a humbucker and. And made it a little bit less noise. I think my first humbucking guitar was a Gibson Sonics like a. And then I had a. I couldn't afford a full on Les Paul so I got an epiphone Les Paul and, and made that work and sounded great. And that was probably around the Ignition era. I started using that stuff.

Buzz Knight (13:02)

You mentioned your pop, who I know you, you lost fairly recently. I know he meant the world to you. Can you talk about your dad and the great influence he had on you?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (13:15)

Yeah. So it's still a little. Little raw, but yeah, sure.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (13:20)

You know, my dad always encouraged me to play music well you know, just not as loudly sometimes, you know, and he hated. He hated punk rock. Remember him yelling at me, there's no such thing as a holiday in Cambodia. And I'm like, you know, dad, you might be getting it. You might be getting it now.

Podcast Advertiser (13:42)

And.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (13:43)

But he always encouraged me to play, you know, and. And was always proud of just my meager accomplishments. He didn't. I didn't need to sell a million records, you know, for, you know, to earn his appreciation. And.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (13:59)

You know, he just. He was always there. So, yeah, you know, it was. And he was always playing music from Simon and Garfunkel with the harmonies and. And Crosby, Stills and Nash. Credence Clearwater for the swampy rocks. I loved Credence. And then, you know, classical stuff. Christopher Parkening, you know, on guitar, a classical guitar. 1812 Overture would always play, like, in the morning. I think he would do that when I was a teenager, my 20s, and I'd be sleeping in, sleeping in. He would blare 1812 Overture to try to get me up. But fortunately, I really liked that. That music a lot, so.

Buzz Knight (14:39)

And I imagine he had a sense of humor as well that you might have obtained from him.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (14:45)

Also, listen to Steve Martin records and. And Cheech and Chong Records. You know, I still have all those. I still have all those records. Yeah. Very fond memories.

Buzz Knight (14:56)

And as life comes full circle. You've recently become a grandfather. Congratulations.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (15:01)

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I'm just so excited. So excited. People call me Grandpa, like it's an insult, but, oh, hell no. It's a badge of honor.

IBM Advertiser (15:10)

I love it.

Buzz Knight (15:12)

Boy or girl?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (15:13)

A little girl. Emily.

Buzz Knight (15:16)

Oh, congratulations. I bet. Full of so much energy that.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (15:22)

Well, not yet, but, yeah, she's very inquisitive. She's strong, you know? You know, but I know, like, you know, as soon as she starts walking, she's going to run, I'm sure. But she's. She's. Her eyes. She's very inquisitive, very. You know, she focuses on things and. Yeah, I can't wait to. I can't wait to see her again.

Buzz Knight (15:43)

And I wonder what the conversation is going to be like when you explain to her what. What you. What you do for a living.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (15:53)

Yeah, I'm. I'm sure she'll grow up just kind of being used to it, you know, isn't everybody's grandpa do something similar, you know, when it's your grandpa? I know with my kids, what I was doing wasn't cool, you know, really, I. I think they appreciate it more now than they did, you know, coming out. It's just kind of what, you know, what dad did. I know my daughter, the one who just had the baby. She didn't really think much of my band until Weird Al covered Pretty Fly for. Well, Pretty Fly for a rabbi. My daughter saw that. She's like, dad, Weird Al covered one of your songs.

Podcast Advertiser (16:29)

You're.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (16:29)

You're like in a real band. Thank you. Yeah, that is funny. Yeah. And my son, you know, had kind of a. You know, I think he appreciated what I do a little bit more because he was a big fan of. He got into punk rock with a. Through a friend of his. Really. Then he started to realize I know these guys. Like, I know the guys in TIA so well. I know Dave Dichter from mdc, you know, some of the. Some of the bands he loved the most. So it was kind of. It was kind of cool.

Buzz Knight (16:58)

So what for you were the. Or are still the. The quintessential punk albums of all time?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (17:05)

Well, the first two records the I ever heard that got me into punk rock were the Dickies White vinyl ep. I think it was a promotional thing. And then never mind the Bullocks, the Sex Pistols. And I was like, and they're both different. The Dickies definitely had a sense of humor, but also that raw energy and power, you know, and in your face, you know, punk rock music. And then, you know, the Sex Pistols had a sort of a dry, witty sense of humor and just tons of just guts and viscera, you know, in their playing. And I just love that. That was the first time I heard that. I was like, what is this? You know, like I said, I grew up with my dad's music a little bit more polished and pretty. You know, I still, still love that stuff. But this was just all leaving on the floor, you know, bloodied and battered and bruised and. And. And I love that about. About punk rock music.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (18:01)

Some of the. Some of the records of Ramon's first record stayed on my turntable for a month. TSOL's Dance with Me is a. The TSO is a local Huntington beach band. Huntington Long Beach Band. And if. If it wasn't for tsol, I don't think there would be any offspring. That was the band that tied us together the most. We all. We all love that band.

Buzz Knight (18:21)

So describe the first encounter with. With dexterity. Yeah, you know what?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (18:26)

I always kind of known who he was. We grew up in the same neighborhood. I was actually in Boy Scouts with his older brother. We were in the same.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (18:34)

Troop pack. And it was like what was the unit called?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (18:40)

I can't remember. The. Yeah, we. We were in the same little group, you know, within the bigger troop. And, and so I just kind of always knew of the Hollands. Our mothers did, uh, children's theater together when we were really young. So I just kind of always knew him. And then I met him. I was playing drums with our original drummer, James Lilia, who's now a oncological surgeon up in the, in the Santa. Santa Cruz area. And I was playing in a band with James and, and Dexter sat in with that band. It was called Clowns of Death. We stole the name from that was Oingo Boingo's undercover band name. They would do shows billed as the Clowns of Death. Like when they would a big show like US Festival or Cal Jam or whatever it was, they would be on that stage and they would play as Clowns of Death, you know, just in a small club as a warm up gig. So we sold the name. I was playing with James and the Dexter sat in and I was like, oh, cool. You know this. I always knew him as like the, you know, straight A student, you know, brilliant guy. It didn't. Knowing what I know about punk rock, it didn't surprise me he got into punk rock, but, you know, so we kind of connected over that. And then he stole James from my band and then eventually asked me to join what was then Manic Subsid and then would eventually become the Offspring shortly after.

Buzz Knight (19:59)

Would you ever have imagined that he'd be flying you guys back and forth to gigs and stuff like that?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (20:06)

No way. Yeah, no way. I'm not surprised, you know, that he got his pilot's license and stuff. You know, I mean, he's such an overachiever. He really is. He's got to be doing something at all times. I'm. I'm kind of the opposite. I. I've like doing nothing and just getting lost in whatever I'm doing. He puts his.

Buzz Knight (20:26)

He.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (20:27)

He sees something. He, he sees a goal and he aims for it and gets it done. He does not like leaving things unfinished. That's why he went back and got his PhD recently. You know, he couldn't leave that unfinished. I really do admire that about him. He's one of the smartest people I know. But when we started this, we never thought we were going to be traveling the world ever. You know, we, we, you know, we knew we wanted to get in a van and just try to go places and, you know, play for different people in different parts of the Country. But we never thought it would become what it became. For 10 years it was driving in a van and. Well, first it was Dexter's pickup truck going across country in his pickup truck, you know, and then after 10 years, Come out and Play came out as our third record smash. And then it. Things just went from there.

Buzz Knight (21:15)

Well, you were saying how, you know, he's always got to be overachieving and stuff like that and, and, and that's how he balances his life. But you find balance in interesting places from the joy of fishing.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (21:29)

I love fishing. I always, always have. Yeah, it's very, you know, it kind of takes me out of the, out of the world I'm focusing on Something's really pretty simple. You know, if you know what you're doing, it's. It's really pretty simple. It takes a lot of patience. But that, I don't know, that's that kind of focus for somebody with adhd. It's surprising that I have the patience to do that the way I do, but I do love it. Yeah. Plus, it puts you in beautiful parts of the world. Being out on a, you know, a boat in the middle of the ocean or, you know, being on a lake or hiking along a stream in the, in the mountains. I love, I love getting out into the, you know, into the wilderness and forests or desert or, you know, open ocean. I love all that happens.

Buzz Knight (22:10)

Well, the other wonderful juxtaposition about you is your bird watching.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (22:17)

I started doing that. Yeah. You know, I moved down to. We moved down. Well, here where we live is, is, is, you know, by the beach and I could see the ocean and I see these birds out there. I'm going, what is that? What is that? You know, I've seen all these different, different birds and, and I started just kind of trying to figure out what they were and look at them all as shorebirds. There's some wetlands nearby where I'll go hiking and, you know, some really interesting birds. I decided let's, let's try to figure out what those are. I'm a complete amateur. I'm not very good at it at all. But I'm starting to recognize some of my local birds. And I have a bird app for when I travel. You know, we were just in Iceland recently, and I'm trying to figure out what kind of birds where. They're just out on a vacation with my, with my wife and son.

Buzz Knight (23:02)

Did you see anything odd there, bird wise?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (23:05)

Not.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (23:08)

You know, mostly just different kinds of seagulls. Really. It's all, you know, yeah.

Buzz Knight (23:13)

What a beautiful country, huh? Thank God.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (23:15)

It really is. It's really unique. You know, it's such a new geographical country. There's not a whole lot, like, there's not a whole lot of mammals. I think the Arctic fox is really the only. The only native mammal there. You know, it's mostly all about sheep, which were introduced. You know, sheep. And then they have their own breed of horses, also introduced, but they've become their own breed of horse. People love the Icelandic horses for some reason.

Buzz Knight (23:39)

One minute you think you're on Mars, and the next minute you're in a completely different terrain. Now it looks like it's almost out west in New Mexico or something, right?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (23:50)

And some of the volcanic hills kind of remind. If the green ones remind you of Hawaii even, you know, because it's very volcanic, like, like Hawaii. So geographically it's. It looks like that, only much, much colder.

Buzz Knight (24:01)

We'll be right back with more of the Taking a Walk podcast.

Podcast Advertiser (24:06)

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Liberty Mutual Advertiser (25:31)

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Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (25:50)

They see us.

Liberty Mutual Advertiser (25:50)

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Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (25:56)

Very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates.

Buzz Knight (25:58)

Excludes Massachusetts.

Liberty Mutual Advertiser (26:01)

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Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (26:04)

I'm Cal Penn and we're the hosts of Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club.

Liberty Mutual Advertiser (26:11)

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Buzz Knight (26:31)

You know what?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (26:33)

I can see you as Mr. Darcy.

Podcast Advertiser (26:35)

You got a little Colin Firth.

Liberty Mutual Advertiser (26:37)

Okay, that's really sweet. I appreciate that. But are you sure I'm not the dad? I'm not Mr. Bennett.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (26:45)

Here.

Liberty Mutual Advertiser (26:46)

Listen to Earsay the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Buzz Knight (27:36)

Welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast.

Buzz Knight (27:39)

You know, you've mentioned you love how you see fans, you know, bringing their kids to shows and how the band has, you know, passed on to other generations. Just talk about the feeling you get when you look out and you see that in the audience.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (27:57)

Yeah, it's. It's super cool. You know, we. And. And we do. You know, we run into a lot of fans at meet and greets or, you know, whatever. Sometimes I'll run into them just at the local supermarket, and it'll be both the parents and the kids who are fans now. I know when Smash first came, most fans would go, dude, my mom hates you. I remember fans telling me that I probably for songs like Bad Habit more than anything, you know, and now you see, you know, the parents and kids both vibing out to. To our music, and I, you know, I think it's just a great feeling. It's. It's super cool. And I know how that is because like I said earlier when. When my son got into punk rock, he and I were able to share that and could go to shows. Now he's, you know, he's 22, and he's all into. We still go to some shows together, but he's more into his own own thing. And. And. But. But that time we had and, you know, able to bond over that was super special. And so. So I get that. And. And I love being able to be, you know, part of that for other people.

Buzz Knight (28:54)

Do you recall the worst gig that you ever played? And why was it the worst gig?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (29:01)

Yeah, we were. We were. Fortunately, we had two gigs that night. We were able to redeem ourselves. The first.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (29:10)

We got paid pretty for us back then, pretty good money to play this co op in Berkeley where a friend of ours was going to school and he lived in this co op and we played the dinner. Dinner hour, I guess. So all these, you know, young college students are coming through, clanking their plates and silverware and. And getting food and then sitting down. And we're in the corner of this cafeteria at this co op trying to shred and play and, you know, all this loud punk rock stuff, and we still weren't even as loud is the clinking plates and silverware, and people are just sitting there looking at us, eating their food. It was the most uncomfortable, weirdest show we ever played. And unfortunately, right after that, we got to go play. I think it was Gilman Street. It might have been a backyard party. I'm not sure it was around the same time. I think it was Gilman street and had a great show. Gilman street was always fun.

Buzz Knight (30:02)

Playing at Woodstock, though, was fairly nasty, wasn't it?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (30:06)

Yeah, yeah, it was. I mean, it was really an inhospitable grounds to have a. Have any kind of concert, just. No. And Mother Nature took a real dump on us with the heat. You know, it was unusually warm and unusually hot. Eight dollar bottles of water. And we could just feel that we played on the first day. And you could kind of feel the tension building. Even, even then we, you know, we knew that this could go and get really ugly really quickly.

Buzz Knight (30:34)

What was that gag, the trash gag that you guys would do?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (30:38)

Oh, God, yeah, we. We did that. I think the first, first. First time we did it was at a local amphitheater. We played. It might have been the weenie roast or something. It's like one of the first times we played there. And Dexter says, you know, it's getting pretty messy out there. Why don't you guys take all that trash around you and throw it up here and we'll take care of it for you. You know, it's like right before the encore, so they start, you know, throwing this. And I thought, this is really funny. And then I realized both my parents are out in the audience. Dexter's mom's out in the audience. My daughter, who I think was 6 years old at the time, was the audience but nobody got hurt. It was funny. It was a funny gag and we got away with it. And I think we did it, I don't know, three or four more times. But then in Chicago, it got real ugly and people started picking up full on trash cans and throwing them at each other. And somebody got hurt by hitting somebody, threw a trash can on him. And so we had to stop doing that, that gag. I think we might have upset the Chili Peppers too, one night, because we did it right before they were on after us and their crew wasn't too happy, so we went and we apologized. You know, we certainly didn't mean to cause them any, any trouble. We're fans of the Peppers, so. Oops. Right? Yeah. Yeah, our bad. So they were, they were, they were gracious about it. You know.

Buzz Knight (31:57)

What do you think the state of the punk scene is now?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (32:01)

You know, there's still. Well, gosh, I think it's stronger than, than it ever has been. I mean, last year we played the When We Were Young festival. I know they just had it again, and we're slated to play it again next year. So that's, that's more like 90s and early 2000s, you know, pun bands and emo bands and all the, you know, the Warp tour kind of, you know, era punk bands. But if you go to clubs, there's still young punk bands that sound like bands we were playing with 35, 40 years ago. And it's, it's really varied. My son plays in a band and they're called the Grin. And I go see their shows and I see a lot of bands that they're playing with that sound like bands we played with 30, 40 years ago. It's kind of cool. You know, they'll add, you know, new elements and different elements. You hear a lot more kind of hip hop and I guess techno, you know, infused, you know, elements to the, to the punk music. But it's still, it's still happening. I think it's, I think it's rad.

Buzz Knight (33:00)

Are you familiar with the recent kerfuffle that occurred with, with Green Day where they were talking about Las Vegas in a disparaging way? Did you, did you pick up on this story at all?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (33:13)

No, I'm not familiar with.

Buzz Knight (33:15)

I think what the, the essence of it was. You know, they were out in, you know, San Francisco Bay Area and they were talking about the departure of certain sports teams ultimately, you know, moving to Vegas. And they weren't too, they weren't too thrilled with it nonetheless. And they, you know, said some Things about Las Vegas. Right. And then all of a sudden, you had. Have a couple of radio stations thinking it would be a cool stunt to ban Green Day, you know, because of their comments. Right. I. I heard about this, and I'm thinking, wait, isn't that the essence of punk?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (33:53)

Yeah, right. I know. Punk. Yeah, totally.

TV Show Advertiser (33:56)

Yeah.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (33:56)

They're trying to cancel Green Day. That might work for a minute, but I don't think that's gonna. I don't think that's gonna last too long. It's not gonna work.

Buzz Knight (34:04)

Right.

Buzz Knight (34:06)

So let's talk about supercharged. Talk about, first of all, the creative process, how this all came together, how much fun it was putting it together, and maybe highlight a couple of your favorite tracks off of it.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (34:22)

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Well, gosh, we just came out of the Pandemic and the Pandemic. We learned a lot during the Pandemic. We learned that we really miss playing live shows when it's taken away from us. We missed it so much that we went in the studio and actually rehearsed. We went back and looked at every song that we played and. And even songs that we don't play that often and. And tried to make sure we were all playing them together in time. Because over 30 years, you'll develop bad habits and you won't even realize, you know, where you're just kind of coming in a little bit late on this one part where you're strumming is like, you know, me and Dexter won't be strumming the exact same thing. And it gets a little sloppy there. And so we went over all of that mostly with me, Todd, and Jonah in the studio. Pete wasn't. Wasn't really well the time he lived out of town, and it was before Brandon joined, so it'd be me, Todd, and Jonah in there just making sure everything's locked, especially the guitar parts. You know, there's certain things where you. You want it sloppy, not sloppy, but it can be a little bit looser. That adds. But if. You know, there's a lot of times, too, where if you're not together on a really heavy, you know, rhythmic part, it takes away from the. The energy. It really does kind of. It kind of muddies it all up. So we just kind of spent a lot of time going over all that and had a really fun time doing it. We'd go into the studio and work on a few songs, working on our backing vocals too, making sure somebody's covering each harmony.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (36:01)

It was a lot of fun. Gosh, I went way back into this, didn't I? So good. No, it's good. Yeah. And we, you know, we released Let the Bad Times Roll was pretty much done at that point and, and we didn't get to tour on it until things started opening up. Then we went back out, you know, on tour. We had Josh freeze on drums at that point and, and just started kicking ass. I mean, it just really felt really good. We had really done our homework and got tightened up. Josh added a lot and, and then, you know, we wanted to keep this going that we, when we did Let the Bad Times Roll, it was nine years in between records and we didn't want that time to, to go by. But also right before that, like the, the last year of making that record, last year and a half, two years was really a creative time for us. Most of the songs on Let the Bad Times Roll happened within that two year period.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (37:01)

You know, and so then we just kind of felt that once we finished touring, well, even while we were touring on Let the Bad Times Roll, we started going in the studio. The way we do it now is we'll go into the studio for like two weeks at a time and Bob will fly out. Usually he lives in Hawaii. He also spends a lot of time in Vancouver. So he either he would fly out here or we'd fly to Hawaii or Vancouver and meet up for a week to two weeks. And we just work on, you know, various songs and you try to get a song close to being done in that time. You know, a lot of times if things are tough and it's going slow, you'll shelve it and then go on to something else, you know, and see how that works and then you know, kind of bounce around and. But within like two years of, of working or, you know, whatever it took, we were, we knew we were done. And then the record said, well, if you finish it by April of this year, we could have it out. And we're like, we can do that. And so I think we had to come up with like the last two songs really. Everything else was pretty much done and it just really kind of, kind of came together and fell into pieces. Working with Bob's great. Bob, our producer, is, is just phenomenal. He's like, he's like an older brother. He's like a friend, a mentor. You know, we just have a really great relationship. We love his ideas, his, his, you know, feelings and beliefs about music and what makes good music, you know, really resonate with us. And I mean, we have a good time.

Buzz Knight (38:25)

I think this Is amazing and so cool. That Make It All Right hit number one both on the alt airplay and the active rock airplay charts. That's, that's frigging cool as hell.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (38:37)

I, I think that's the first for us. I don't think we've ever had a number one on both those charts at the same time. So. Yeah, that is, that is really cool. I mean, it's a different world now than it, than it was, you know, than it has been in the past. But, but still, I'll, I'll take it well.

Buzz Knight (38:51)

But I have to say as somebody who throughout my, my career, you know, help manage some, some mainstream rock stations. I mean, you guys were kind of saviors for that format as well. I mean, I, I, I have to thank you for that because what with the stations that I was part of, like WRF in Detroit or WMMR and Philadelphia, you know, you, you guys were like a lifeblood for us.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (39:20)

Well, well, thank you. I don't know if I can, you know, take on that, but, but, you know, thank you. You know, we've always, well, I mean, grew up listening to radio. It's, it means a lot to, to us. We still visit. We just hung out with Pierre at MMR a couple of months, a month and a half ago. You know, the, the mm. Barbecue.

Podcast Advertiser (39:40)

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Buzz Knight (39:41)

Yeah.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (39:41)

Yeah. So, you know, thank you for that. That's very kind, kind words and I appreciate that.

Buzz Knight (39:46)

And then congratulations on the Spotify Billions.

Buzz Knight (39:51)

My God, that's so cool.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (39:52)

Thank you. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's kind of hard to wrap your, your head around that, you know, a billion, a billion listens. You know, I think only, we only need to hit like 7 billion more people and we've hit the whole world, right? Something like that.

IBM Advertiser (40:07)

Yeah.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (40:07)

I think kids aren't all right. Is, is hot on its heels. I think the end of the year that one should hit a billion.

Buzz Knight (40:14)

And I want to talk about these amazing events that occurred where you guys were playing and were joined by some, some special, some special guests.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (40:24)

Oh, amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Buzz Knight (40:26)

So let's first talk about the Ed Sheeran experience. What was that like?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (40:32)

Yeah, amazing. You know, he is just such a natural, you know, at it, or seems to be such a natural at it. I know he puts a lot of work into what he does, but, but he's, he's just phenomenal. I really like some of his singer songwriter stuff. Songs like the Boat or the Castle on the Hill. You know, I really do like some of that stuff. When I saw that we were Playing with them. I sent off an email and said, let's, let's reach out. Let's see if he wants to, to sit in with us, you know, million in one shot thinking, you know, I knew that he was a fan early on. The first record he ever bought was Conspiracy of One. His aunt gave him. He told us the story when we met. His aunt gave him £10 for Christmas or his BIR or something. And he went out and bought Conspiracy of One. It was his first record and he used to, to pretend to sing and play A Million Miles away in front of the mirror. And so he came out and did that song with us and hit it out of the park. He sent me a demo of him singing, just playing acoustic guitar and singing. He tuned it down another half a step and, and I went, oh, this is going to be amazing. And he came out was. It was phenomenal. It was just so much fun. It's the nicest guy in the world too. He really is very down to earth guy for somebody as successful as he is.

Buzz Knight (41:49)

And then there was the collaboration with, with Youngblood. Yeah, what was that like?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (41:58)

We just had to get out of his way. Like that guy's got so much energy.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (42:03)

He really is. Dexter joked about, you know, it's the best hype man you could have. He came out just getting the crowd going from the get go. He's got a great voice, great personality, great energy. I mean, you know, it was really hard to keep up with him. He's such a ball of fire. And also just a really, really nice guy. Had a lot of fun hanging with him as well.

Buzz Knight (42:23)

And then there's the Brian May experience. Tell me about that.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (42:27)

Well, that was the one that just, you know, blew my mind the most because we've known, I mean, I've known Brian May for as long as I've known music existed. You know.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (42:39)

Big Queen fan. You know, even when I got into punk rock and kind of of stopped listening to a lot of the more bigger rock bands, Queen was still kind of cool because there was something edgy and punk rock about, about Queen. You know, I don't know, maybe it's just Freddy's style, you know, Brian's guitar, the drums. I don't know what it is, but there was something kind of, kind of punk about some of what they did as well.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (43:05)

So yeah, that was just mind blowing. We, we wanted to do. Dexter knew about this festival that Brian does with a friend of his, Garrick Israelian called Starmoose. And it's, it's Physicists and musicians, you know, and astronomers and, you know, like stars and music, astronomy and music. And. And we wanted to do it. We just asked. So we kind of begged to let us play. You know, they don't have a big music budget. We only go out and, you know, play one concert. You know, it's not very big. So we begged and they. They let us do it. And then we. We hit Brian up to play with us. He. Or he hit us. He wanted to come out and do Gone. Yeah, Gone away with us with the. The Slovakian National Symphony. And then. And then Dexter said, brian, will you do Stone Cold Crazy with us? And he agreed. You know, he says he doesn't get to play that much with the. With the current, you know.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (44:06)

Carnation of the incarnation of the band, so. And it was just phenomenal. I mean, our minds were literally blown. Hanging out with this legend, absolute legend and playing with him, you know, sharing music, sharing, you know, licks back and forth. Just incredible.

Buzz Knight (44:22)

What an awesome, awesome experience. Is there anybody on a dream list that you haven't played with that maybe the next time we, you know, who knows?

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (44:32)

Gosh. Any. The Rolling Stones would be a blast last. There's so many. So many heroes out there. It's hard to focus on just one or two.

Buzz Knight (44:45)

Yeah, that would be a good one, that's for sure.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (44:47)

Yeah.

Buzz Knight (44:48)

Well, in closing.

Buzz Knight (44:51)

What would be in a tremendous surprise to your fans that is on your playlist of music that maybe they wouldn't expect that you'd be listening to.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (45:01)

Oh, God, gosh, yeah.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (45:05)

Trying to. You know, there's some pop stuff that I. That I do listen to that I guess maybe people wouldn't think I. I love Ed Sheeran, you know, I've been listening to him more and more since. Since we met and stuff too. I love Billie Eilish especially. Like, she did a. EP of acoustic songs. Those songs just make me weep. They're so good. I like Billie Eilish a lot. She's great. There's a band out of San Diego called Steam Powered Giraffe. They started. They would just kind of busk at. At like a local theme park down there.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (45:37)

Park. And they're great, very theatrical. I like them a lot.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (45:43)

Stuff like that, I guess.

Buzz Knight (45:45)

Well, I have to tell you, this is one of these moments where I have to just say how grateful I am for what I'm doing because I had the opportunity to. To speak with you today to hear about your work, your life and your. Your passion for it all and your honesty. And I'm so grateful, Noodles, that you took the time to be on Taking a Walk.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (46:06)

Well, thank you. It's been, you know, it's been my pleasure. You, you really kind of got in deep into some things and, and, and I appreciate that. This was a good conversation.

Buzz Knight (46:15)

Thank you for being on and thank you for all the music you continue to give us.

Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (46:19)

Well, thank you. Thank you for your time, Buzz. I appreciate it.

Buzz Knight (46:22)

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Kevin Wasserman (Noodles) (48:18)

All.

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