- Jun 2, 2022

Meet TODD MORSE - Everything Fun Is Bad For Me INTERVIEW

To say that Todd Morse is a seasoned veteran punk rocker would be an understatement. With over 30 years under his belt and no signs of quitting the multifaceted musician already has quite a portfolio with his roles in such bands as Juliette and The Licks, H2O, The Offspring, A Tom Petty cover band called Petty Cash as well as his own solo material.

Todd’s recent track, Everything Fun (Is Bad For Me) is his first solo music since his 2019 album “Late Bloomer.” Everything Fun was written by Todd with the help of recording, engineering and mixing from John Dibiase (sound engineer for The Offspring) and Chris Wonzer who’s credits include everyone from Christina Aguilera and Atlantis Morissette to Breaking Benjamin and New Found Glory with Danny Thomson of The Calling on drums and The Offspring’s own Jonah Nimoy ripping on guitar solos.

I had the chance to chat with Todd while on tour with The Offspring about his new single "Everything Fun (Is Bad For Me)", his secret to work/life/family balance, his Tom Petty cover band and more.

- TPPD: Your new single Everything Fun (Is Bad For Me) has been out for about a month now. What has the reception been like so far?

- TM: Reception has been amazing! I didn’t really go for the streaming approach with my debut full length “Late Bloomer” So I’ve already gotten more streams of the Everything Fun!

-TPPD: You had quite a collective of people on this track. Chris Wonzer recording who’s credits include everyone from The Bare Naked Ladies and Kelly Osbourne to New Found Glory and Breaking Benjamin with John Dibiase who’s Offsprings audio engineer mixing the record. Not to mention Danny Thomson of The Calling on Drums and Offsprings own John Nimoy tracking solos. How did those relationships come about and what was that whole process (recording etc) like?

-TM: Well Danny Thomson has played drums on all my solo stuff so far. Chris I met through working with Juliette Lewis and he produced my solo album. Once I had Everything Fun initially tracked with Chris I brought it to John Dibiase and Jonah for the solo and final mix. Jonah and I share a love for The Cars so I asked for that type of solo.

-TPPD: When it comes to writing your own material how does it differ from what you’ve done with Offspring, H2O, etc?

-TM: I don’t do any writing for The Offspring that’s all Dexter. However I have learned a lot from him just from playing the bass parts. With H2O I kinda had to stay within a hardcore framework energy wise. Every song was looked at like “will the pit go off to this” With my solo stuff I’m free to be more rock and have different grooves.

- TPPD: How does Everything Fun differ from 2019’s Late Bloomer?

-TM: It’s a lot closer to my punk roots. On Late Bloomer I allowed myself to try all kinds of genres like the Clash did. -TPPD: In all the years of playing, what is the cringiest song you’ve ever wrote or had to play?

-TM: Ha! Well I guess that depends who you ask. Some of the stuff from H2O “GO” was hard to get across at a hardcore show when it first came out. But these days people seem to appreciate it more.

-TPPD: Exact opposite question. What’s an old song from say your old band The Outcrowd that you can still listen to and go “okay, that was pretty rad”.

-TM: An old friend just got me to listen to Outcrowd in Spotify. It was the first time I’d heard it in years. I really liked the song “Function” -TPPD: One glance at your Instagram and your life is pretty insane. You’re an active touring musician, you’ve got a ton going on in the music business not to mention a family man. What’s your secret to work/life/family balance?

-TM: During the pandemic my kids kinda forgot what I do for a living. It was kind of hard on me. Since I started playing again they came to some shows and all of the sudden I’m the coolest dad in the world. It’s like this new appreciation. My wife and daughters love music and are very supportive of what I do. Even though we do end up geographically apart fairly often.

-TPPD: Speaking of how crazy your Instagram is you have throwback photos of you on Pink’s Raise Your Glass music video to a pic of you with Sammy Hagar. Long question short, has there ever been a “starstruck” moment in your life, even going back to H2O or Juliette and The Licks?

-TM: Oh there’s been many! Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon come to mind. I remember trying to tell Paul Simonon what a huge Clash fan I was. I think I might have been shaking and “he was like calm down mate, it’s all good” and the he taught me a magic trick!

-TPPD: You also have a Tom Petty cover band featuring yourself as well as members of Chevelle and Fuel which is a pretty awesome. If you could create a supergroup with any living musicians who would it be and what kind of music would you play?

-TM: Well my buddy Tony Kanal on bass for sure. Another friend Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters) on keys. That’s where I would start, Not so much for the name values but more because I love the hang. Drummers would be hard! I know so many great ones!

-TPPD: Back to Everything’s Fun, any plans to release more music or possibly tour with your solo stuff.

-TM: Yes! Working on the next single now. I also plan on releasing an EP soon after. As far as touring goes I’m hoping to make that work in between Offspring stuff.

-TPPD: Lastly, which kind of coincides with the previous question. What’s next for you?

-TM: I’m just starting a European Tour with Offspring now and we have lots more coming up. I write and record my solo stuff in hotel rooms on days off.

You can check out TODD MORSE’s newest track Everything Fun (Is Bad For Me) on all streaming services and catch him out on tour with The Offspring!

TODD MORSE - EVERYTHING FUN (IS BAD FOR ME)