The Offspring believe playing in a band “keeps them young”.
Guitarist Noodles – whose real name is Kevin John Wasserman – has compared the lifestyles of Rolling Stone Sir Mick Jagger and departing President Joe Biden, who are both 81, and believes being a fit touring musician is the key to their good health, especially playing “fast, aggressive music”.
The 61-year-old rocker told USA Today: “I think doing what we do for a living keeps us young. Playing music, and especially fast, aggressive music, keeps you young. Mick Jagger is the same age as Joe Biden. Whose lifestyle is keeping him younger?”
However, that’s not to say that the endless travelling that comes with touring the globe gets any easier.
Asked if they still like being on the road, Noodles said: “Yeah. I mean, travelling beats you up, but I love the new experiences, meeting new people, trying new food, new cultures. I love all that.”
Frontman Dexter Holland, 58 – who also keeps fit by competing in Ironman triathlons – said: “You have to just bite off the right amount, is the thing. You (tour) in manageable chunks and yeah, it’s really cool. We know that we we’re lucky to be able to get to play for people all around the world. People that don’t even speak English and yet they know our band. We’re very fortunate.”
The pop-punk veterans – who released their 11th studio album ‘Supercharged’ last month – are in a rare situation where Dexter can fly them to their concerts as a pilot and he says being in the cockpit is like “meditation”.
Asked if he is still flying the ‘Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)’ band, he replied: “I am. I flew here (to New York) from North Carolina for the race. I call it my golf, if that makes sense. I love the way it makes me feel. I love the freedom that it gives you. I love that you have to focus on it. By focusing, it takes you out of all the usual stuff that you spend your day worrying about. It’s almost like meditation in a weird way.”
In fact, Noodles trusts Dexter more than most pilots they’ve had.
He said: “I’ve seen him study and learn and I know how he is. He pays attention and he gets work done. We’ve had hired pilots that I felt more scared flying with than with him, and we do take a pilot out when we go on tour. Sometimes Dexter will fly and sometimes Dexter will sit in the back with us.”