Buzz is heavy around Sublime once again thanks to the band’s latest single, “Ensenada.” The catchy summer tune marks the band’s first original material with Jakob Nowell, but it wasn’t always a guarantee the group would write new music with the signer.
It was December 2023 when Jakob, son of Sublime’s legendary original frontman Bradley Nowell, initially joined up with his later-father’s former band to perform at a benefit concert for HR of Bad Brains. During a recent conversation with The Pier, Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh recalled feeling something special that night.
“The thoughts came up there, like, ‘Yeah, could this actually work?” he admitted. “But it was like – what we did getting ready for that HR show kind of showed me that he had it in him to do what we needed to do to get to where we are now.”
‘There Was Definitely a Turning Point’
Though the benefit concert confirmed that Jakob and Sublime would fit together perfectly, the idea of new original music was still far away. It wasn’t until the success of 2024’s “Feel Like That” – a tune that featured Jakob alongside archival audio from Bradley, along with guest vocalist Stick Figure – that Gaugh was convinced new original Sublime tracks would be embraced by their fans.
“There was definitely a turning point in things, when we realized like, wow recording something new is definitely gonna work,” Gaugh recalled. “Once we did the ‘Feel Like That’ track it was like, ‘This this could definitely work.’”
READ MORE: Oral History of Sublime’s ‘Feel Like That’
Jakob, who was already established as a solo artist under the moniker Jakobs Castle, certainly displayed the necessary songwriting chops.
“I was down in Long Beach early for a show and Jake was over in Pedro recording at John Joseph’s studio,” Gaugh explained. “And so we went in and [Jakob] showed me a couple of songs that he was was working on. And so I jumped on the kit and and tracked out a couple of these ideas that that he was working on, and that just kinda started… you know, gave him some footprint or base to start working off of. And then he called a few months later and was like, ‘Hey remember that stuff we were working on? Yeah come on down let’s go finish it up.’”
Gaugh Knew ‘Ensenada’ Was ‘Very Sublime’
“Ensenada” was one of the tracks that got recorded at that time and now stands as the band’s first original single with Jakob. Gaugh says he knew the song could stand alongside the band’s classic material the moment he heard it.
“It kinda felt like it was self-titled album leftovers,” the drummer noted. ”Not like leftovers in a sense like it wasn’t good enough. But like… It just kinda had this upbeat kind of vibe and, and it was definitely very Sublime.”
Sublime’s busy summer will continue with performances at major festivals, including the Long Beach edition of Warped Tour. The band will also be taking over Las Vegas for a special three-day event August 14-16.
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