Interview by Kris Peters
Australia, get set to be bowled over in 2026, with beloved UK folk punk act FRANK TURNER & THE SLEEPING SOULS joining forces with Texan pop punk mainstays BOWLING FOR SOUP for a monumental co-headline Australian tour next month.
When a band can make it feel like a summer party anywhere they go, you know you're in for a good time. And with over three decades in their wake as a band, BOWLING FOR SOUP, aka the self-proclaimed "9th greatest pop punk band in history", have left an indelible mark on their genre and pop culture in general, roaring out of Texas in 1994 and never looking back. Eleven studio albums, including two Silver and Gold certified LPs? Yes. Appearances on multiple high-profile soundtracks, including a Disney Channel theme song staple? You bet. Endless amounts of humour, high-octane performances and earworm hits that you'll still know the lyrics to decades after their release? Suffice to say, BOWLING FOR SOUP are here for a good time and a long time, and are definitely not slowing down anytime soon.
Recently celebrating the 20th anniversary of their iconic 2004 album A Hangover You Don't Deserve, which also included their biggest UK tour to date, BOWLING FOR SOUP are set to continue their path to world domination. And in 2026, BOWLING FOR SOUP will continue to jubilantly fly the flag for pop punk, including a return to Australian stages this May after their acclaimed appearances at 2024's Good Things Festival and headline sideshows.
HEAVY caught up with frontman Jaret Reddick to talk more.
"After we got back from Good Things I was thinking, why aren't we coming here more?" Jaret began. "So we were talking to Destroy All Lines and trying to think of a good band that we can tour with and we had just watched Frank Carter And The Sleeping Souls and I said why don't we just come over here with Frank Turner? A lot of things have to align for that to happen. Bands are always talking to each other saying hey we should tour together, or we should do this but you've gotta have agents and managers and schedules and so many things come together for it to actually happen so we were really, really lucky that it went down this way. It's gonna be a really fun, early Summer for us."
The tour is being billed as a co-headlining event, prompting us to ask if that means both bands will be alternating the late slot each night or more just both playing headline length sets.
"I'm not really sure how it's worked out yet," Jaret replied. "I know this. I've seen his band and he's seen mine so we both know that the others band is pretty good (laughs), so there is a bit of pressure for both of us to get out there and put on the best show we can. I'm a huge Frank fan, so whether he plays before or after us, I will be side of stage watching every night. And I'm sure he will be doing the same thing."
In the full interview Jaret talks more about what we can expect from the shows, what has changed with Bowling For Soup since their last visit and how this run of shows will be different.
We also go back to the early days of Bowling For Soup, talking about the musical climate that gave birth to the band and where they fit in. We speak about the first time he heard one of his songs on radio and where he was at the time, how the band has changed over the 30 plus years they have been together, new music and plenty more.
Tickets from www.destroyalllines.com
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