I got a few minutes to talk with Noodles from The Offspring before his DJ set at Punk Rock & Paintbrushes 10th annual holiday art show in Los Angeles. We talked about being on the road, countries he’d love to play for in the future, and up and coming bands he’s been listening to.

Dying Scene (Spike): I know you have a set to do so I’ll keep this short and sweet. This is such a great event! I know your wife (Jackie Wasserman) has some work on display, right?

Noodles: She does! For the first time ever. I’ve been trying to talk her into it for 9-10 years, and finally she hung out with Emily (Nielsen) over the summer and Emily talked her into doing it. She wont listen to me, but she listens to people smarter than me, so that’s okay.

I really like all of her stuff, it’s all really cool. Especially how she uses rocks?!

The eyes, yeah! “She Still See’s You”.

I love it. How are you keeping up with the modern punk scene? Are there any bands that you’re really into right now that you want more people to know about?

Yeah there’s a bunch and you know some have blown up in the last couple years, like Amyl and the Sniffers are great. They opened up for AC/DC the other day, so they’ve definitely come a long way. There’s a lot of bands, Slaughterhouse is coming up and doing a lot. A band called Pinkshift, I don’t know how long they’ve been around, I just recently discovered them, but they’re great out of Baltimore. The Rumours band, Die Spitz is great, Spunk is a fun one. There’s always up and coming stuff and a lot of local bands, and I love just finding new bands. Anyone that’s out there doing it and just kind of making noise, and doing it well, I love it.

That kind of ties in with my next question, what does punk mean to you?

Oh god, yeah. I’ve said a lot of things, like punk just means questioning convention or whatever, but really punk rock is kind of like Buddha hood. It’s like something you hope to attain, but might not ever actually achieve it. It’s just staying open minded. I’ve seen a lot of people, even in the punk scene, get to be about my age, and all of a sudden their minds are as rigid as their bodies are! So I think having an open mind and trying to step away from all the rigidity of thought, there’s something punk rock about that.

Did you ever think The Offspring would last 40 years?

Fuck no. I didn’t know how long it would last. First of all, we never thought it would be a career choice, you know. I’m hanging out with my friends like Melvin in NOFX, and the very first time we thought “wow man, these guys are actually making a living playing music”, was when we opened up for NOFX in Europe for like 6 weeks, but we were broke! You know, we all had day jobs and were going to school, but those guys were actually making a living so we thought maybe it’s possible. We saw Bad Religion making a living, but not a career choice, still it’s something we love to do, but never a career choice.

You just got back from tour, and now you’re going back on tour soon. Do you ever rest?

I got about a month and a half. I actually sleep better on the road sometimes. I get into a hotel room, put the blackout lights on, and I’m just out. It’s weird how that works, but a lot of times you have to get up early, and you’re traveling, and it’s crazy. The traveling is pretty brutal. The word traveling has the same root word as travail, so you know travails and travels, they do beat you up. But getting out and playing a show every night is what we love to do. That connection with the audience and fans, and when you’re resonating (with them), it’s the best drug in the world. It really is. There’s nothing like that.

Is there one country that has a really great reaction to you guys?

I wouldn’t say there’s one country, you see fans that are different all around the world. South American audiences in general are one of the most passionate and crazed, like there’s no boundaries. You kind of want to hold them at arms distance because they will rip you apart if you get too close, but they are so much fun to play for. They really are, and we’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled really all over the world. The only places we haven’t played are parts of Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta, and nowhere in India. I would love to play some of those places just to see what the fans are like there.

My last question for you, do you have any advice for a young punk like me?

Yeah, anyone trying to be creative, just keep following those creative things. Whether you’re writing, painting, I mean there’s tons of great art here tonight, there’s tons of great music in the world, just keeping doing it. If you’re in a band, play music with like-minded people that share the same love of the music, and be open to opportunities. If there are no opportunities, make some. Get out in people’s faces and eventually, if you’re good atall, people will notice. And have fun!

Getting first hand advice from Noodles himself, then dancing to his DJ set after was pretty damn cool. Check out the video on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube.