Sublime frontman Jakob Nowell sets his sights on a blockbuster year

It’s a significant year for Long Beach ska punk legends Sublime. Their eponymous third and final studio album turns 30 years old in July, and one of the four singles from that album, “Santeria”, just passed 1 billion streams on Spotify.

This year is also the 30th anniversary of the passing of frontman Bradley Nowell, a tragedy that led to the disbanding of the group. In the decades since, there have been various iterations of Sublime and more than a few tribute bands, but nothing new under the iconic sun logo, so to speak. 

That all changed in 2023, when Jakob Nowell, Bradley’s son and frontman for cosmic hyperpop band Jakobs Castle, took the reins alongside surviving members Eric Wilson (bass) and Bud Gaugh (drums). Nowell, whose frenetic and earnest performances draw comparisons to his late father, has charmed old-heads and brought on a bevy of young new fans under the uniting umbrella of raw, sundrenched songs that seem both timeless and ever-prescient. 

Now, miraculously, Sublime may be having their biggest year yet. Their new single, “Ensendada,” is officially their biggest radio hit, carrying the #1 spot on the Alt Airplay charts for seven weeks, and they’re set to release a new album titled “Until the Sun Explodes” later this year. 

We caught up with Nowell before Sublime’s appearance at Innings Festival in Tempe, when they’ll play at 6:35 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Phoenix New Times: It’s been a crazy journey for you, managing your own musical projects, including Jakobs Castle and launching your own record label, SVN/BVRNT Records, while carrying on the legacy of Sublime. How are you finding the balance in all of this?

Jakob Nowell: It’s a beautiful year for music in general. I think what is really exciting about working with Sublime is the discovery of how many people of all ages are still interested in what I call West Coast alternative sound- everything from punk rock to reggae to hip hop to ska, just that cool coastal sound.

Sublime really was a big blend of that, and a big part of that discovery is that there are so many young bands in this area that are continuing on in that style. It’s been a real renaissance in that style of playing — the ’90s and early 2000s alternative music. … We know musical trends can be cyclical, so it’s cool to see that era coming back in a really big, and really fresh way. 

It seems that, much like during that era in the early ’90s, the Long Beach scene is all about bolstering each other and bringing each other up, and sharing successes. I noticed that as Sublime gets set to host a new traveling festival, Me Gusta Fest, and later this year, the Sublime Reef Madness Cruise, you are bringing a lot of these bands out with you. How important was it for you to continue that tradition?

Jakob Nowell: I think in my career, at times I have felt like an outcast. I mean, what artist doesn’t? That’s why we make art. Sublime, even though it has reached a really big level, has never been invited to certain tables that other radio/pop/alternative bands have. It’s always been in its own lane and doing its own thing, so it feels appropriate to continue that tradition, and to seek the next step in what our scene is — and it’s here, man!

Really, me getting this lucky one in a million opportunity to play with a big band, it would just be meaningless if I didn’t see other musicians who are all around me and deserving of getting some shot. No matter who you are, it feels like you are shouting into the void for an eternity, and you just want that one chance for someone to hear it. That’s sort of the ethos of SVNBVRN Records, is to use whatever buzz this Sublime thing is to continue that march on as a big army. 

Speaking of, there’s the new Sublime songs, which sound so seamless in the catalog. The new record is coming out this year — what was it like stepping into the space of songwriting for a band that has been around for decades now?

Jakob Nowell: It was definitely a unique experience to create a record having not been an original member, but being put into this position where, obviously, this music has given so much to my life, and so many others, so it was an insane honor and burden at the same time because I don’t want to fuck up this legacy. We were really hesitant to even do new music.

So when the idea of the project came around, I approached it like making a tribute, or an epilogue to the work of Sublime. The last ever true Sublime record is self-titled. That’s it. This is the sort of victory lap, looking back after 30 years and celebrating with four or five generations of fans that we are so excited to have on this journey with us. 

How did you approach writing the new songs?

We just had to jump in and do our homework. A lot of it was learning to sing in that style and trying to emulate without only imitating, still trying to innovate without encroaching in weird areas that didn’t need to be encroached upon, if that makes sense.

My father and I have a very different range — he never strayed beyond one or two octaves, but I have four octaves when I am using my super-highish falsetto, and the Sublime recipe doesn’t really call for that. My father’s more bluesy and soulful than I am capable of doing. He had that natural type of vibe with his voice, and it is just a different tradition that I come from when I first started singing. So to try and get into that headspace has really pushed me to grow and evolve as a singer in totally new and different ways.

I’ll never be close to eclipsing the mythology of what my father was capable of — he was such a good guitar player and singer — but we are really proud of the result and it’s the work in my life I have been attached to emotionally. There are some fun songs with some goofy lyrics, like “Ensenada,” but there are also some serious cuts on this record that explore what Sublime has always explored — just our life and times, the good times, bad times and all the times in between, and if we’ve done our job right people will connect with it and it will become the album for this next generation. And you can cross your fingers and hope and pray, but what we put into this record was our honest selves, and we did our homework and tried really hard. But you learn the book and then burn the book, you know?

At the end of the day, you trust the chaos of putting five dudes in a room and jamming, and that’s really what this is. I hope this younger generation accepts this album with open arms, because that is who it’s for, in my head. The title of the new record, “Until the Sun Explodes,” really means we are just doing this forever. Perpetuity. Until the fucking stars blow up in the sky, we want to keep this going. 

For Sublime fans, the “Brown Guitar” — Bradley’s custom Dan MacDonald electric — is as iconic as Willie Nelson’s Trigger or Jerry Garcia’s Rosebud. You can’t really imagine the guitarist without their trusty rig. I have to assume it’s on the record?

It is on the record! And the amp — the Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier, along with Bud’s original drum kit and a lot of Eric’s old equipment. It’s all there, man. And I can report that it does make a difference. Certain guitars contain certain songs within them, and certain amps as well. There’s something about the connection we have with those things that allows us to get to different places. So it was really exciting to get to step up to that role.

My dad’s guitar is my family heirloom. It’s what I have of him and what I’ll pass on one day to my kids. And I’m big into that sense of tapping into such things. Getting to do this record was a heavily emotional process, but it was also very fun, and getting to thread that needle is totally indescribable. To be irreverent and chaotic and wild but also have that glimmer of truth, that bit of authenticity and pain that makes Sublime so iconic is something that we all experience in our lives from time to time, and I can’t wait for this record to be out. I want people to hear it so bad. 

What can fans expect from you guys at Innings Fest? You’re sharing the stage that day with Blink-182, who I read were helping with the new album? And then you have Public Enemy, Big Boi … you’re in great company. 

Jakob Nowell: Blink are our buddies, but they aren’t involved in this record. It kind of got misreported — rumors and stuff. Those dudes rock, and we have done some demos and stuff, but it wasn’t for this record. We would love to go back in and do more with them, but fuck, those are talented, rad dudes. But as for the live show, we have a whole chorus of backup singers, we got like seven of them, we got a guy on the didgeridoo, Eric Wilson brings out the theremin, then whole dancing section of exotic dancers with feathers … I’m just kidding. It’s just the five of us.

Sublime will never be that. We keep it messy and old-school. Every now and again we have our secret sixth member, Zayno Vandervore from Strange Case. He’s our guitar tech and he handles the biblically accurate riffs much better than I can, so I always hand off the good guitar parts to him. I think you can also expect a few new tracks — I mean, no plans survive contact with the enemy, right? We will have a plan, and then it will go totally left field when we start playing, but I imagine that we are going to slowly start sprinkling the new stuff in there. We don’t want to lose sight of the old classics, because I think that’s lame. I’m the new guy in the band, and I love playing the big hits like “What I Got,” “Santeria,” “Bad Fish,” “Wrong Way” and “Date Rape,” and those are mainstays, so someone can come to a Sublime show and always expect to hear their favorite song. But as we get more familiar and comfortable with the new material from this record, I think we will be sprinkling in personal favorites in there, and I hope that fans will respond to that in kind. 

You seem like you guys are having a blast up there, and all the more so with you being the youngest member of this new lineup. Is it safe to say you have found your place in Sublime?

We are all a lot more confident together as a band, very comfortable, and it’s just a blast getting on stage and playing together. And getting to play with them is like driving a Ferrarri — it’s just so fucking exciting! I would just encourage people to come out and see for themselves. It’s a good time.

And as for my place in it, I know what I am capable of doing really well and I am confident of that. I do Sublime to honor my family’s legacy and to honor the fans. It has been quite the journey in just two years, that’s for sure. … I’m here to create and continue this community. That’s what I’m here to do. And I try to find the connection with common ground with all the different members of these different eras. I like to think of myself as multilingual. Or multi-timed? The multigenerational aspect of this current lineup of Sublime really matches up nicely with the multigenerational aspect of our fanbase, and my job is partially to connect all of them. It’s fucking rad.