Dexter Holland of The Offspring Talks New Album ‘Supercharged,’ 30 Years of ‘Smash’ & More

The Offspring is gearing up to release their 11th studio album, Supercharged, and to celebrate, frontman Dexter Holland discussed the making of the project with Billboard’s Rania Aniftos.

“We’ve done ten albums or something, so it’s like, what can you offer? You want to do something that you haven’t done before, but you don’t want to go so far out there that it feels strange to people who like the band,” Holland shared of the album’s inspiration. “It just felt like going kind of a little bit more direct was the right way to approach this record. I just wanted something that was energetic and really upbeat and just slamming in your face.”

He continued, “I think the idea is that you should always think for yourself, don’t take anything at face value, don’t do something just because someone says you should do it and go out and find your own path.”

The band is also celebrating 30 years since their seminal 1994 album, Smash, which featured enduring hits like “Come Out and Play,” “Gotta Get Away” and more. “We’re really proud of it. We feel very lucky. I mean, geez, lightning struck and somehow we were there,” Holland recalls. “The album was made very cheaply, we didn’t have the money. You’ve heard the term DIY, right? We did this ourselves, but it wasn’t a choice. We had to make our own t-shirts, we were gluing our own album covers. No label was going to do it. No one was going to sign us. No one was going to book our tours. We grew up that way and it was fun. It was all a big adventure. So when Smash came along and we did it ourselves, and it took off, it was just like, wow, what’s happening?”

Watch Billboard’s full interview with The Offspring’s Dexter Holland above.