Science and Music: How Dexter Holland Doesn't "Keep 'em Separated"

    I have a distinct memory of listening to the car radio when I heard the host mention that there was a lead singer in a rock band who had gotten a Ph.D. in molecular biology. I don’t remember exactly when I first heard this, but I can probably bet that it was on Q101, my favorite Chicago radio station, after they had played one of his band’s songs. Just hearing this struck awe in me, and it’s been a fact that I wonder about every once in a while since then. Yet, after looking into the creative process of this artist, it’s even more interesting that the inspiration for one of his band’s most famous songs came directly from his work in the lab. This creative is Dexter Holland.

                                      

    Holland is the lead singer of the rock band The Offspring that blew up in the mid-90s with the release of their third album, Smash. Making it big in the music industry wasn’t always his plan though. At the time that The Offspring’s music really started to take off, Holland was a grad student studying molecular biology at the University of Southern California. He had attended USC as an undergraduate, originally planning to become a doctor, but after he didn’t get into medical school, he decided to continue his education there. He was particularly interested in the study of viruses and eventually began to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular biology, specifically focusing on virology.

    While Holland had been a part of The Offspring throughout his time at USC, the band got lots of public attention with their song “Come Out and Play,” released in 1994. After the band had their big break, Holland made the decision to take a leave of absence from USC in pursuit of his music career. This decision would prove to be a good one. The Offspring went on to receive multiple awards, including the Billboard Music Award for Modern Rock Artist of the Year in 1999 and the Juno Award for International Album of the Year in 2000 for their album Americana.

    Although Holland took a temporary hiatus from his education to pursue music, it was a moment during his time in the lab that helped lead to the band’s break into success. In an interview with Alex Scordelis from VICE in 2022, Holland tells the story of how the iconic opening line of “Come Out and Play” came to be. It all started when he was working in a lab as a grad student, sterilizing a liquid to be used for Petri dishes. To do this, the liquid had to be steamed under a high pressure and temperature in an instrument called an autoclave. After taking some flasks out of the autoclave and waiting for them to cool, Holland recalls saying to himself, “These flasks are never going to cool off. I gotta keep ‘em separated.” Thus, the opening line of “Come Out and Play” was born. The song starts with what sounds like a bit of tame drumming and guitar, then the line “You gotta keep ‘em separated,” followed by a tone shift that sets up the rest of the song. While I can try to describe the song the best I can, nothing beats giving it a listen yourself, so I’ve linked a YouTube video of the song below.

 

"Come Out and Play" - The Offspring

 

    I’m not sure how familiar you are with 90s rock, but after growing up listening to Q101 in the back of my mom’s Honda, that line is one that’s forever ingrained in my mind. Now, as a college student pursuing my own degree in molecular biology, learning how that line came to be is a real full circle moment in my life. I haven’t had any creative breakthroughs myself while working with an autoclave, but hearing how Holland’s work in the lab sparked the idea for what would be The Offspring’s breakout song is truly inspiring.

    The connection that Holland made between a thought he had while working in the lab and his music reminds me of Rick Rubin’s discussion on the source of creativity in his book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Rubin is a music producer, working with artists such as Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many more. In The Creative Act, Rubin discusses different aspects of the creative process, what it means to be creative, and what inspires creativity to manifest in a person. Rubin compares the source of creativity to a cloud, saying that what serves to spark creativity is the same material that one has seen before presenting itself in a new way, just as clouds are all made of the same things, but never look the same twice.

    Holland, who at that point in his education was probably very familiar with an autoclave, took something that he had dealt with before, gave voice to a thought about that material, and expanded that thought into a creative act in another domain: music. This event that began a creative process for Holland resonates with other points that Rubin makes in his book. Namely, Rubin believes that we are constantly perceiving information through a filter that is unique to each of us. In some instances, we then take this information and present it in a way that is new. Here, Holland perceived something in his lab, made note of it, and presented it in a way that would help earn The Offspring their big break.

    I know I’ve spent most of this post talking about “Come Out and Play,” but The Offspring has many other songs that they’ve come to be known for over the years. Some of these titles include “Self Esteem” (1994), “Why Don’t You Get A Job” (1998), and “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” (2008), all of which are also linked to this post. So, during his break from academia to follow his musical aspirations, I’d say that Holland was more than successful in his career as lead vocalist for The Offspring and this career is still going strong, as the band is currently on tour.

                                                                  

                                                         "Self Esteem" - The Offspring

                                                "Why Don't You Get A Job" - The Offspring

"You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" - The Offspring

    While dedicating his time to The Offspring, Holland never lost interest in his research and returned to USC to pick up where he left off some 20 years ago. So, in 2017, Holland graduated with a Ph.D. in molecular biology after finishing his thesis on the research he had done studying HIV. In 2022, Holland would even deliver the commencement speech to USC’s Keck School of Medicine’s graduating class.

    In an interview with Liran Belenzon and others at BenchSci, Holland said that his work in the lab and his music are not totally disconnected. He remarked that both lines of work consist of solving puzzles and even complement each other sometimes. So, while the domains of virology and music may seem totally unrelated at first glance, for Holland, his work in one sometimes leads to a breakthrough in the other. 

Sources:

https://www.billboard.com/pro/the-offspring-dexter-holland-interview-let-the-bad-times-roll/

https://blog.benchsci.com/from-punk-rock-to-ph.d.-a-fireside-chat-with-dexter-holland-of-the-offspring

https://www.audacy.com/national/music/offsprings-dexter-holland-says-science-created-this-hit

https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/people/090114/keep-em-separated

https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgdnnk/how-the-offsprings-lead-singer-went-from-punk-to-phd

https://loudwire.com/the-offspring-dexter-holland-commencement-address-usc-keck-school-of-medicine/