Bowling for Soup

August 3, 2026

Interview by: Ally Arens

Pop-punk legends Bowling For Soup have a busy remainder of 2026 ahead of them, between releasing multiple cover songs and hitting the road with their fellow Warped Tour mainstays Simple Plan and 3OH!3 before embarking on their own North American headliner later this fall. While the band had a day-off on the road, The Encore Nights got to chat with lead vocalist Jaret Reddick about their career, touring, and what’s to come.

The Encore Nights (TEN): So, you all have been recently covering some hit songs by some of your pop punk peers, like your Simple Plan tour mates, as well as Sum 41. How did these covers come about?

Jaret Reddick (JR): You know, we’ve done so many covers over the years, and we had always talked about doing something like this, where we do a collection of songs of our peers, as you said, our friends, and just doing them in a way that sort of like we did “Stacy’s Mom,” where we do keep them intact and just cover the song and keep it in its original form. So yeah, we started to do it, and now we’ve got a whole collection of them that we’re doing, and eventually it’s going to be a full album. Pretty exciting stuff.

TEN: Amazing. And speaking of covers, you all have covered songs from various different genres. Of course, the pop punk ones, as well as some other pop artists like Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, and your upcoming rendition of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please, Please, Please” with Rock Sound [magazine]. So, how do you all decide when and if a song is going to get the Bowling for Soup treatment?

JR: You know, each one of them sort of gets their own little story. I mean, “Please, Please Please,” we had to pick a modern pop cover, and I just thought that song was so well written. I thought, man, this would be a good one to try. And then the Taylor Swift one, I just got blown up with messages after that album was released, or people telling me like ‘this song sounds like a Bowling for Soup song.’

TEN: It really does!

JR: Right? And so, each one is a little bit different in how we decide to do it. But  the Miley Cyrus [one], I actually heard it on a friend’s TikTok for the first time, and it was right when it came out, and I was just like, ‘That song is so good; it’s going to be a huge hit.’ And so it was kind of a race. I wanted [us] to be the first ones to get a cover out there. We just have a lot of fun doing those things, and it’s sort of … it’s a bridge between albums. It’s a nice way to put new music out there for fans who are waiting patiently for a new album.

TEN: I love that! And so, you and your tour mates in Simple Plan have kind of both carved out sort of a special niche in the nostalgia sphere, having both done notable TV themes, them with Scooby Doo and you all with Phineas and Ferb – how does it feel to have something that could have just easily been a tiny blip on the resume become one of the things that you’re most recognized for?

JR: It’s the craziest thing because, quite frankly, you just never know, right? I mean,  I had tried a couple of theme song type things with shows, and the shows either didn’t get picked up or I didn’t get the show. And Phineas and Ferb, we just happened to bond the exact show that we were meant to be on. The creators are so great, and I just knew instantly that the show was going to be a hit. I could have never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that they would have Phineas and Ferb macaroni and cheese and Band-Aids. But, you know, it’s easily one of my favorite things about our story as Bowling for Soup, and I’m just so proud to be a part of it. It’s really cool.

TEN: I love that, especially as somebody who grew up watching Phineas and Ferb – and actually, my parents introduced me to y’all’s music even before that, so it was just like, ‘Oh, cool!’

JR: Good parenting, that’s good parenting.

TEN: (laughs) If you all could construct your dream set list, what deep cuts would you include, and are there any staples that would get cut?

JR: Oh, it’s so hard because, quite frankly, I really enjoy playing the hits. I like when I just see people so happy and smiling and and just appreciative of being there and being in that moment and so I would not want to cut anything and that’s what gets really hard about making a set list because there’s nine or 10 songs that we have to play, so it would be tough. But, there would be some fan favorites that I like, a song that fans [like] and is just huge in our streaming is “Here’s Your Freaking Song and we’ve never played that one live, so I think eventually we’re gonna have to pull that one out. But yeah, I do enjoy playing “Girl All the Bad Guys Want,” “1985,” and “Almost,” and “Ohio,” and “High School Never Ends” and [the] Phineas and Ferb [theme]. The list just goes on and on.

TEN: They’re just all classics!

JR: It feels like that to me, too, so I’m happy  that we’re like minded in that. I know there’s a lot of bands that have a hit song or two that they’re just like ‘oh God, this one again,’ and I’m just not like that.

TEN: I love that. Speaking of touring and set lists, so after this tour with Simple Plan wraps up, y’all are just jumping right into another U.S. headliner through November with Ballyhoo and Rosecoloredworld. So, what can fans expect from your live show, both on this current run and on that upcoming headliner?

JR: Well, right now, it’s just a lot of hits. I mean, we’re coming on and we’re playing all the songs I just listed, and 3OH!3,  we’re rotating with them playing first and second and everybody knows all of their songs and then Simple Plan do such a great job of really exploring their whole catalog, or at least the span of their career when they’re up there, so it’s a fantastic night. But I am excited to get back to the headline slot where we have a little bit more space to throw in some surprises and to play some different songs every night and  to throw in some stuff that maybe people didn’t expect. And, also be a little bit looser with the jokes and stuff, and have a little bit more time to mess with the audience, which is really my favorite part of our show, anyway.

TEN: Definitely, definitely, and one of my favorite things about you guys too is that you’re just super supportive of taking up-and-coming acts on the road, like Rosecoloredworld on this upcoming tour, and a few years ago I saw you all in OKC with Doll Skin and Cliffdiver opening, and they both absolutely killed it. So, what draws you all to a band when you’re searching for openers, and are there any other younger bands that you would love to tour with soon?

JR: It’s relationships, you know.  I  happened to do a solo show with Rosecoloredworld, and then we did the Rock Boat with them. And just, you see them, and you see their drive, and you see just how hard they’re working, and fall in love with their show. The same was true with Cliffdiver, and Doll Skin was a great band as well. I just look at the drive and the passion. My whole thing about putting together tours has just always been [that] I want it to be a great night. I really don’t care as much about the genre of everybody matching up, it’s more of just like, what what is gonna make a fan just smile ear to ear the entire night and leave just going ‘man, that was an awesome show,’ and so that’s kind of what drives me. I would love to take The Paradox out. I love those guys, and I always like taking Don’t Panic out. There’s a new kid called AyoDylan who I think is really really good. So you know, he may pop out on one of our tours before you know it.

TEN: Awesome! I’ll have to check them out. And so, how does it feel to have kind of graduated from being the young kids on the road earlier in your career to now kind of helping usher in the next generation of pop punk, while also continuing to produce your own fun live show for fans of all ages?

JR:  I’m very happy to still be doing it, first of all, that’s just a true blessing. There’s just so many bands that come and go throughout the years, Cliffdiver being one of them. The fact that they’ve ended their run and they did so many great things. So, I feel very blessed to still be out here doing it, and I love watching the new generation come through. It’s been sort of like that for us since around 2014, I think it was. We did a Warped Tour run up in the Northwest, and [there were] all of these bands that were way heavier than us, and we were just like, ‘well, they’re gonna hate our guts,’ and they’re all coming up to us, going, ‘You’re the reason why we bought guitars, and, like, “Girl All The Bad Guys Want” is the first song I ever learned on drums,’ and so it feels really good to hear those things and to watch those up and coming bands take the music to to new levels and to new places, and it’s just a pleasure to be a part of it.

TEN: That’s amazing. I love that. And if you all could collaborate with any artists, legacy or up-and-comers, who would you want to work with, and why?

JR: Oh gosh, man! I mean, we’ve worked with so many. I actually really want to do a song with Ballyhoo. I think he and I just started that conversation the other day, Howie and I. So, we’ll see, I think that would be a lot of fun. Eventually Frank Turner and I are going to do something together, and so that’s one I’ve been really hoping for for a long time, too.

TEN: Awesome. Well, is there anything else in the works (that you’re allowed to talk about, of course) that you would love to share or tease or otherwise plug?

JR: Absolutely, we have a new album in the can. It’ll be coming out early next year. We’re really excited about it, and a big big U.S. tour next year, hitting everywhere we can possibly hit, and some surprises over in Europe as well. So,it’s going to be a fun 2027.

TEN: Well, I am definitely looking forward to it, and I’m sure our readers are too!

The Bigger Than You Think: The Sequel! Tour continues through August 20, including stops in Austin, TX on August 7 and Oklahoma City, OK on August 8. After its conclusion, the band will embark on their own headlining Hey! Let’s Be Friends tour with Ballyhoo and Rosecoloredworld, with appearances at Warped Tour Montreal, Mexico City and Orlando as well as Riot Fest and Louder Than Life in there as well. All upcoming performance dates can be found on their website, and stay tuned to their socials for all things Bowling For Soup!