This week Sublime founding member Eric Wilson and the band’s new frontman Jacob Nowell -- son of the late Bradley Nowell -- dropped by the Klein.Ally.Show at the KROQ studios in Los Angeles, bearing gifts including an exclusive spin of their new song, “Feel Like That,” featuring both Bradley and Jakob's vocals.

Now a full member of Sublime, Jakob remembers, “I was definitely a very small child when he passed away but you know, growing up with so much of the interesting culture that Sublime created, it was sort of always there in the background of my life.”

“Having been in and out of bands the last 10 years just trying to toil in obscurity,” he says, “It's so crazy,” getting to work so closely with his uncles, and especially now hearing his and his late father’s voices side by side. “It's totally eerie,” he admits, “but it all came together in such an organic way of us just jamming with people that we like that it feels really natural.”

“I think the universe put it together for us pretty much,” Eric adds.

“It's only gonna keep getting better,” Jakob says of his involvement with the band. “I try to take the gig super seriously and just learn it as best to my abilities, and also try to portray the music faithfully and have fun doing it. That's the main thing when I'm up there with these guys. We’re just having a blast.”

“To be back with my brother Bud [Gaugh] is fantastic,” Eric says of the reunion. “You know, I miss him to death and we weren’t getting along for a long time, but now I'm just so thankful.”

Jakob’s contribution, he says, “Added to his dad's vocals because he's been doing this stuff… building his band… and then so he came out with us. He's put his time in.” Turning to Jakob, Eric asks, “How long have you been listening to Sublime now?”

“I mean, it's always been there when I was a little kid, but actually listening, man, just since we started jamming again. Before the [benefit for Bad Brains frontman HR], I went and actually listened to all the records all the way through because it's like, it was hard for me. I never sought it out because it's kind of emotional hearing a passed family member's voice. It kind of tugs at you, but for this right reason, it just felt totally right.”

“I never thought I'd do something like this track and I think it's the lyrical content, the sound of it -- It's kind of perfect for the era we're in,” Jakob says of their 2024 track “Feel Like That.”

“All the music means so much to me,” he says. “It's been so many years this music has meant so much to so many people, it's so cool to kind of usher in a new era here.”

It’s worth mentioning that Bradley Nowell’s vocals featured in the song are his actual vocals, not AI-generated, a concept the guys are both absolutely opposed to. “It kind of cuts out our job, doesn't it?” Jakob asks. Although he does admit that since the day he started singing he sounded similar to his father. “There's certain things,” he says, “it'll come out almost when I don't even think about it, when I don't try to.”

“It's almost like the less I try to, the better,” he explains. “You know, I could do it one-for-one and try to sound exactly like him, and there'd still be people who would be like, ‘Well, now he doesn't have enough…’ You're never gonna please everybody by doing things one-to-one, so I try to hit things in a genuine way. I think that a lot of times what made my dad's talent so cool is it appeared so effortless, and it appeared so fun and just in the moment, and improvisational. I try to keep that in mind in the spirit of everything we do.”

Don't miss Klein and Ally's full interview with Sublime above, and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Klein.Ally.Show