BOWLING FOR SOUP play The Roxy Sep. 19 and HOB/Anaheim Sep. 20 Photo: Wil Bolton
Bowling for Soup will conclude its 21st anniversary tour at House of Blues in Anaheim Sep. 20 following a show at The Roxy Sep. 19.
The band, which consists of Jaret Reddick (lead vocals), Erik Chandler (bass), Chris Burney (lead guitar) and Gary Wiseman (drums), are best known for hits like the Grammy Award-nominated “Girl All the Bad Guys Want”, “Almost”, “Punk Rock 101” and “1985.”
Named after a Steve Martin comedy bit, Bowling for Soup was officially formed in Wichita Falls, Texas during the summer of 1994. For several years, the group played the local scene under their previous band name, Rubberneck.
“We were just kids and really didn’t have our flow or our trust in one another,” Reddick said. “Now we’re up there entertaining each other and musician-wise we’re all pretty good now.”
While much has changed within the music industry over the past two decades, the band has managed to adjust quite well.
In February 2013, the Texas natives announced a PledgeMusic campaign to fund a new album, allowing their fans to be heavily involved with the music making process as well as voting on the album title, Lunch, Drunk, Love.
“It’s the new model, the fan is the label now,” Reddick said. “Frankly, fans’ attention spans are increasingly short, too because there is just so much out there. It’s a matter of just maintaining that constant interaction and that’s one of the evolutions in our band.
“You used to just release an album every two years and get in the van and go play a bunch of shows and then come home write a record and release it and repeat. There’s a lot more than just touring which you have to do to keep people engaged and interested. But I like it, it keeps the band active and the fans interested.”
Earlier this year, the band released Songs People Actually Liked – Volume 1 – The First 10 Years (1994-2003), a fan-funded compilation of the group’s best-known songs. The collection of re-recorded songs was released in response to a Best Of album released by their former label without the band’s knowledge.
“It was heartbreaking,” Reddick admitted. “We found out through a fan who happened upon it. Essentially this album was shit out with terrible artwork and they picked songs that weren’t even singles and some of them were B-Sides. It’s just a piece of crap. To be honest, I wasn’t mad or frustrated, I was just sad. I just felt like the band deserved more than what was given.”
According to Reddick, the decision to re-record every song on the album was an easy one.
“The main reason was to make it a concise and listenable album,” Reddick said. “Some of the songs were recorded more than 20 years ago and technology wasn’t there as far as what was available to us on our budget. And, quite frankly we weren’t the greatest musicians.
“I think there’s definitely some bands that have tried to do this before and have had some pretty bad backlash. Fortunately for us, that didn’t happen. The album was really well received by critics and fans everywhere — I didn’t read a bad review.”
On stage, Bowling for Soup remain a dual threat act, half comedy, half pop-punk.
“It’s essentially a comedy show and a music concert all put together. It’s very spontaneous and nothing is rehearsed. You’re never going to see the same show twice,” Reddick said. “It’s really interactive so the audience is very much a part of the show. Whether you’re a huge fan or you’re just coming to hear ‘1985’, everybody leaves with a smile on their face.”