Passafire lead singer Ted Bowne shared high praise and respect for one of his earliest influences: The Offspring.
In a video shared exclusively with The Pier, Bowne discussed Passafire’s involvement in the upcoming compilation album, Operation Irie. The project features a wide array of reggae rock acts reimagining classic punk hits from the ‘90s. Naturally, Passafire decided to put their spin on The Offspring’s “Come Out and Play.”
“Offspring is a huge influence on all of us early on when we first got into the whole rock and roll thing when we were kids,” Bowne noted while explaining the song choice. “[We] really enjoyed doing this cover in sort of a dub rock style because I love turning anything into reggae It’s fun And this song really lent itself to the style well more than I thought it would.”
Bowne further explained that The Offspring’s hugely popular 1994 album Smash holds a special place in his personal music history.
READ MORE: Listen to Passafire’s Cover of Offspring’s ‘Come Out and Play’
“The Offspring was actually one of the first CDs – compact discs, some of you don’t know what that is – but one of the first CDs that I ever purchased was The Offspring Smash, and Green Day Dookie, and In Utero by Nirvana,” Browne revealed. “I bought In Utero before Nevermind, but never mind that.”
Browne closed by thanking Pepper and Law Records for inviting Passafire to contribute to Operation Irie, saying he was “super honored” to be involved. The album will be released on October 10 and is available to pre-save now.
