The Offspring is an American rock band from California that started in 1984. The band’s original name was Manic Subsidal. Their current line-up includes lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan Dexter Holland, bassist Todd Morse, and lead guitarist Kevin Noodles Wasserman. In their 38 years in the music industry, they’ve released ten studio albums and gone through several lineup changes. But an interesting fact that their fans might not know is, Noodles kept his day job when they started out.
Noodles, guitarist for The Offspring, stayed on as a high school janitor for three months after the band became famous because he promised his employer he wouldn’t quit until the end of the school year.
Who is Kevin John Wasserman?
Kevin John Wasserman, better known by his stage name Noodles, was born on February 4, 1963. He is an American musician and singer who is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for The Offspring.
Wasserman was born in Los Angeles, California. He was initially a member of a local band called Clowns of Death before starting The Offspring. He was allegedly in The Offspring because he was the only person of legal drinking age among the group’s members. Because of his frequent noodling on the guitar, he earned the moniker Noodles.
Wasserman worked as a janitor at Earl Warren Elementary School in Garden Grove during the band’s early days. He had planned to leave the band before the release of Smash, but the unexpected success of Come Out and Play forced him to reconsider.
In a mock interview on their DVD release Huck It, Noodles claims to enjoy the finer things in life, such as red wine, classical music, cigarettes, poetry, and pasta. He likes to go snowmobiling and snowboarding on occasion too. (Source: The Offspring Fandom)
The Offspring’s Style and Musical Influence
The Offspring has been labeled under different genres. They fall under punk rock, melodic hardcore, pop-punk, skate punk, and alternative rock. But what makes The Offspring different from other bands within the same genre is their chorused whoas, heys, and yeahs. While their co-labelmates poked fun at them for their signature sounds, it is what put them on the map.
The lyrics of the songs they make cover a wide range of topics and issues within society in general. They often reflect a very sarcastic point of view along with offensive language.
With the massive success of the song Smash going platinum six times the impact of the band truly persists until this day. They are known as one of the most popular punk bands from the 1990s and have been credited with reviving the genre of punk rock. They influenced younger bands like Simple Plan who have also made it successfully in the industry.
The Offspring’s music was not just popular on the radio, they were also featured in several movies like; The Chase, Batman Forever, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty, Varsity Blues, and more.
As of today, The Offspring is still making music and has released a total of nine albums together. (Source: The Offspring Fandom)