Welcome To My Green Day Blog!!

Thank you so much for being interested in my Green Day blog. This band is hold a very special places in my heart. Green Day is my number one favourite punk rock band of all time. I hope I can tell you something new or interesting about them that you may never heard of even if you're a die hard fan of them!! So enjoy!

Bllie Joe Armstrong

Billie Joe Armstron was born in Oakland, CA February 17th 1972. Billie is the youngest and 6th kids. His step siblings' father's name was Andrew Marciano Armstrong, he was a truck driver, ex golden glove boxer.

Billie's dad was a drummer according to Billie's siblings he was a really good jazz drummer he played in bands and so there was always music in their house.

He started playing music around 4 he started with singing he cut a record called look for love. On the back side the b-side is an interview with him. Interviewer lady: "Billie Joe you've just made your very first record how does it feel?"

Billie: "Wonderful I love it". Billie went on "tour" with other performers and his dad played the drums. They had a real tight connection. Billie was 10 when he knew that his father's has cancer.

So he was dying within four months he had died. It was devastating for everyone (in the family). Billie's father was 54 Billie was 10! He was fifth grade and his dad already gone it's the worst thing ever.  After this Billie wrote a song about his father and for his father it's called September. I think that's really sad that everyone's playing this song in whole september meanwhile Billie mourn. 

Of course I'm not trying to say that stop doing this because it's awful even if I mean it, but that's just me and I'm no one to tell anyone what to do. It's just ridiculous that they made a meme of this song and everyone's posting about Billie end of september that it times to wake him up. I never laughed I don't find it funny at all. Anyways. After his dad died, their mum had to work harder and she couldn't spend more time with her family including the youngest kid Billie. Billie obviously started to communicate through music that's when he got his first guitar and started writing actual songs he wasn't fan of venting or go to see a therapist they didn't even have that much money. Like imagine her mum is widow and she has to run a house hold alone and feed 6 mouth plus one (herself).

Mike Dirnt

Billie and Mike started hanging out at around 11. This really felt good for Billie after his father gone, Mike and Billie were/are really good friends. They played music together after school and made covers.

Mike in a few words: Skinny, Hyper, Obnoxious and funny. He was born in Oakland, CA on may 4th 1972. Mike has an elder sister Myla who took care of Mike. She was very happy for mike for having a little brother she could help to their mum. Who was a housewife. Mike showed at really early age according to his mum. When he went to kindergarten he got upset and punched his teacher. He was very opinionated, had no sense of fear and that's been his attitude his whole life. His parents divorced when Mike was 6 he stayed with his father Myla stayed with her mum although Mike wanted to stay with his mum like every child do I guess. But his father didn't let him and this whole thing made him cry. His father was very strict with him. One day when Mike was in 3rd grade he was on his way to his mum to stay for the weekend and his father and mum had an ugly scene in the kitchen at night. His parents started fighting, Myla and Mike ran out of the house screaming 'til the police came. They ended up having go to court to his mum get Mike and Milo back. Milo is Myla and Mike brother....

From then Mike and Milo stayed with their mum and sister. Mike after seeing the fight between their parents didn't talk at all, didn't want to go to see a therapist or anything. He hide his feelings and pain!! 

Mike started playing guitar a year after his parents got divorced. They never could get his guitar out of his hands. He played with a buncha other kids after school he spent his time in his room listening to music and playing guitar. According to his sister he found it therapeutic. A lot of expression came out in his music it was in him her mum says. The family soon before mike started 4th grade moved to rodeo and he started 4th grade at carquinas middle school that's where he met Billie. The music was the only thing that connected them together. They were both into music and they were both were both played lead guitar Mike's mum says. The main place was Billie's house that's where Mike and Billie practiced and hang out together. Billie's mum let them permanently. They played cover songs of mötley crüe, Van Halen & Kiss. But then Mike started writing his own stuff and they went wild. They were 8th grade rockstars and often performed at school. Billie taught Mike his first bass licks and Mike just took to it. In high school he couldn't bring his bass to school and so he would sit around and go dirnt, dirnt, dirnt, dirnt, dirnt... and that's how he got the name Dirnt. His mum had 3 jobs to just pay the bills and rent and of course to be able afford the daily food for the kids. But unfortunately they lost their house. His mum wanted to go to Bay but Mike didn't want to leave Mike and Billie was planning big stuffs like starting a band. And that was the only thing in Mike's and Billie's life THE MUSIC. So Mike stayed in Rodeo he moved into Billie's house into the garage. Mike was just another sibling to the Armstrong family. They played shows at the weekends Billie and Mike started a really bing thing. 

John Kiffmeyer

John Was the very first drummer for Green Day Officialy. He was in a pretty big local band called Isocracy and Billie used to go see him play and John ended up being their drummer. He gave them some more street cred.

I've got no more information about John he'll leave the band in 1990 due to his college studies. 

1000 hours

1000 hours was Green Day's demo "album". They changed their name 2 weeks before their EP came out to Green Day. Everyone thought (managers, producers) that this name is wack and has no special meaning but once they decided something that's how it went. The first ep came out in april 1988 it was called 1000 hours. About a year later in 1989 their debut album came out it was called 39 smooth. They sold the pressing of a thosand and repressed it. Mike and Billie were 18 at that time. They weren't interested in high school at all they were sitting in class writing songs. Billie didn't graduated from high school and didn't recieve his high school diploma although his mum would love her kids to finish school. Billie's sister says:"...But I also think that she believed in him as a musician that he had a place to go other than school". Mike always did good in school. He wanted to complete high school to make her family proud. He graduated from panel valley in may of 90 and a day after he went on tour for 45 days. They got their own van and they took off. They went to venues like open mic nights, small bars, pubs & people's house. Sometimes they got place to sleep and meal and that was their pay. So soon John as I told left the band and Billie and Mike had no idea what they should do because in the past 6-7 years they only played music that was their life, job and dream.

You can take a short listen:

The Clown Of The Band

Shortly after that they met Tré! After a few jam with Tré it was too obvious that who will be the next engine of the band. That's funny to say engine, but musicians and drummers think and used to say that drummers are the engine of the band. And also bassists.

Tré Cool

(Frank Edwin Wright III)

Tré Cool aka.: Frank Edwin Wright III was born in Frankfurt, Germany December 9th 1972. His father was in the military at the time and when he got out of the army they moved up in the mountains on north of Laytonville.

They didn't have electricity or tv or cartoons and Tré liked it. He could run around and make as much noise as he wanted. Larry Livermore lived in the neighborhood and he knew the wright family. Tré started playing drums at 11. Larry needed a drummer at the time and asked Tré to join he didn't needed too much fancy stuff to be in a band back than, Larry was happy about it. Tré was 12 when he joined officialy to his first band ever called The Lookouts. Of course it was a punk rock band and Billie knew Larry so I guess it made sense how they met Tré. A month or two later they were pretty sure that they have a band. He was serious and passionate about music he wanted to get out of school earlier to focus on his career. Well they dropped out of high school and Tré moved out from that small town, he moved to Berkeley, CA. According to his friends and musician mates he was/is like the most outgoing human being you can imagine also the class clown of the punk scene. Tré met Billie and Mike at Gilman the "Main Venue" of the Green Day and hung out with them a while. They were looking for a drummer and Tré happened to be at the right place at the right time. Tré was such a cool/good drummer he's perfectly fit with those guys one of his friends says. When Tré came on he took them to the next level. Which means whole new dynamic even style and so on. Larry the front man of The Lookouts knew that if they succeed and get an actual record deal there's no way back and The Lookouts has to break up. Well they did!

Tré with his first band The Lookouts:

Kerplunk

The day Kerplunk came out in December 17th 1991 they sold out the whole pressing at 10 000 which in those days was unheard of! They recorded all the songs in three day their goal was to make this album as fast as they can from 111 dollars. Loading at 10 am til 2 am. This album marked Green Day arrival as like a staple of the punk scene. From 1992 they went on tour across the country to bigger venues than the gilman. The gilman gigs were always sold out gigs. But they went to bigger venues than the gilman and they were sold out and payed gigs. They came to even europe and as soon as they went back to america they weren't kids without high school diploma anymore they were more than that that was too clear and obvious. They had tattoos and biker boots. They looked like rock stars. 4-5 bigger record labes tried to get their attention at the same time. Green Day assigned to reprise in 1993 they were all 22 year old kids and it was a hard decision to make, they were all high school dropouts. And that was their big chance to break out.

The biggest hit on the record and the most streamed song on the record also the first single:

If you have a good musical ear you can tell the difference between the two drummer!

Dookie

After they signed with reprise they could spend a lot more hours in the studio with real producers and mixers. They even made music video to the singles of the record. Dookie came out in february of 1994. After that every time you turned on MTV you'd see Green Day. The producer and the manager said this is going to be something huge and unusual. AND THEY WERE RIGHT :D

Biggest hit on the record and most recognisable song on the record and a few other hits:

Lollapalooza '94

Green Day had the opening slide on lollapalooza in 1994. They felt little out of place because of the older bands. Perry Farrell was freaked out a bit because he was responsible for starting the palooza and Green Day didn't get respect from him. Billie: "Perry Farrell didn't want us on the bill anymore because he thought that we were some band that was that some corporation put together or something. You know we knew where we come from and you know we don't need to really explain it to anybody."

Woodstock '94

Woodstock was the next big event in the band's career in 1994. This is a legendary event because every one was full of mud the whole stage and all the fans. Thousands of fans took part of this gig. There was an accident on the stage so Mike lost his front tooth. There was 2 helicopter with cameras and they showed the whole event they just wanted to get out of those guys alive and safe (green day). That was a huge success for them obviously and they showed up on the rolling stone magazine and every on every rock magazine back then. They were huge, big, new and popular. Woodstock made Green Day a travelling riot, mob scene everywhere they played. All of a sudden they were selling 400 000 records a week holy molly. Dookie sold 10 million records was/is huge like still!!

They introduced punk to kids who didn't like or never heard of punk rock! (Even to me T_T) They were worrying about losing their fan base they all felt a little guilty about it, Tré father's says. They were exiled from the gilman. But these guys didn't care about being a rockstar or traveling the world or anything like that, they only cared about their fans and playing music that's what really matters to Green Day still! Billie's sister:"Knowing what the community was to Billie, Mike & Tré was heartbreaking for them and for us. To see it happen because the gilman held such a place in their hearts and their lives." Larry:"It was as much their family as the family they grew up in." One of their friends:"I can't imagine how tough that is to have to just turn your back and walk away from something you considered your home and family."

Insomniac

After Dookie and the huge world wide success Green Day wanted to make another record. This one is called Insomniac came out in October 6th 1995. There's a song that is called 86 which is about their local community didn't welcome them as they thought. This album is holds a lot more anger than any of their album in the 90s. Larry:"They were like we're doing what we want to do and if you don't like it that's your problem." After insomiac touring wrapped up they were definitely burnt out they needed some time off. It was about 5 months that they actually took off and didn't do Green Day. They had family and wives and three new wives. It wasn't much of a break because they were back in the studio in 1996 recording nimrod.

Nimrod

Nimrod was the third album that was level of maturity. Billie wanted to show another side of his, good riddance hit the airwaves and it was off the hook. Everybody related/realte to this song. Actually the only song on the record that has no bass or drum part at all. It was number one wedding song of the year, they played in tv series, at baseball matches and the list goes on. The song is not written about hope you had the time of your life from a good point of view it's actually a big FUCK YOU.

I often laugh at commercials where they play good riddance first of all because they don't know the REAL message of this song, Second I'm happy to hear this song. I hate those people who are just sitting in the office and randomly pick a song and they don't even know the story behind it and the message so anyways. (FUCKERS) I freak out from them.

The big BREAK

Billie said all from the sudden:"I don't know if I wanna do this maybe I should go solo." There was huge pressure on the band and Billie was/is a workaholic. Near the end of morning they stopped talking. They did a break down as a group for a while, Tré's father says. They took a period of time off after warning nearly tow years. Warning was the new record after Nimrod in 2000. Came out in october 3rd 2000. After 15 years of drinking alcohol touring, kicking ass and playing music they had to relearn how to be friends with each other. One of their friends: "The way to do it was to go through and uncover all the things that hadn't been said and you know all the fears and the paranoia. Whatever the hell it is you know that are in there." Billie's wife:"Billie joe was able to tell them about his fears and his hesitance with bringing music and ideas and they finally were able to sort of form this bond with each other and create without feeling restricted." Right after that they spent a lot of time working and writing. They pulled up in a studio in Oakland, there was a new fire in them. They were just able to meet up in this great place again and willing to bring all their individuality to the table with confidence.

American Idiot

Billie wrote a song called American idiot. Green Day's manager:"We're in such a politically charged climate in the world." The band position was I don't want to be an american idiot, I don't want to be somebody who just follows blindly...

Soon they turned american idiot into a punk rock opera. Later they made a broadway show of American Idiot in 2010. They had the idea to make a whole story around like a concept record. They felt really proud of what they had done. Doubtfully they took a big risk making a punk rock opera. Billie's wife:"They were putting everything on the line for this record creatively and personally. It pushed their personal relationships to the breaking point." Tré was going through a really tough divorce. Mike's realtionship fell apart. There was some strain between Billie and Adrian because he had to put his whole mind, body, heart and soul into making the record. American idiot was released in september of 2004, debuted number one sold 267 000 records the first week. Green Day won the grammy award in 2004 for the best rock record. 

American Idiot was the album and era that introduced me Green Day and after I took a listen as a young kid I just fell in love with them!!

I guess they still didn't grow up we can hear funny news about them. Plus they dropped their new album Saviors so thank god they're still active and writing hits. I hope they'll never break up! This year was the 20th anniversary American Idiot and 30th anniversary Dookie at once. I just wanna be like them I really love their energy and the only band that goes against the law, rules and politicians and this makes me feel like omg the only band that I wanna listen to. I hate all the politicians I could write about this a whole essay but I won't lolz I guess this site isn't about it but out of this site I would and I would talk about it! American idiot is still valid. ALL THE POLITICIANS CAN KISS MY ASS FUCK YOU!! Anyways. 

CLOSING

So, thank you so much for reading my blog about Green Day and my small rage on Politicians. I hope you liked it and I could show, say something new about Green Day the greatest rock band of all time imo. This blog like my other band blogs are took me a lot of hours to make and prepare. Honsetly it's not a secret this blog took me 4 days to write in notes on my computer. Kudos as always are highly higly appreciated BUT not necessary only if you think I deserve it and you liked this blog and found interesting. Leave me a comment if you want again not necessary, but I love to read people's opinion or reaction! :))

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Darius