Green Day FAQ
F.A.Q
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Will Nimrod be Green Day's
last album? Nope...despite the rumours, Green Day have no plans of
breaking up. The band claims "we will never break up".
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Does Billie really have his
own record label? Yes he does, it's called Adeline Records and their
official site can be found here at GreenDay.net.
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When will the next Green
Day album be released? Green Day typically leaves about two years (give
or take a couple months) between albums. Since Nimrod was released in the
fall of 1997, a new album probably won't be released until the summer of
1999.
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What does F.O.D. stand for?
It means "Fuck off and die".
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Where can I buy Green Day
merchandise such as imports? You can buy all of Green Day's singles
and imports at the Green
Day Web Store.
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What Green Day songs went
to #1 on the charts? Off of Dookie - Longview, Basket Case and When
I Come Around hit top spot, their next hit was J.A.R. off the Angus soundtrack
and their last number one hit was Insomniac's Brain Stew/Jaded. Since then
their highest has been Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) which was at number
2 for more than 15 weeks.
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How many albums have each
of Green Day's albums sold? The bands first to albums from Lookout
Records (39/Smooth, Kerplunk) have sold over 500,000 copies each. Worldwide,
Dookie has sold 12 million (8 million in North America) and Insomniac has
sold 8 million (4 million in North America). So far Nimrod has sold close
to 2 million copies.
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Are Green Day going to tour
with Weezer? At this point nothing has been confirmed. It is rumoured
they may tour together in November.
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What happened to the two
unreleased songs you had on the site? It turned out that it was a hoax
by a kid trying to get publicity for his band. It did bring some heavy
media attention to the site though with several music news pages and radio
stations discussing it. During the week of the incident, hits went up at
the site by over 1,000 a day (from about 3,100 to 4,100).
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Do Green Day use drugs or
drink? The band admits to using speed in their younger days but since
they have had children they have cleaned up a bit. The band does not hide
the fact that they smoke pot quite frequently. Billie has said that he
drinks a lot and it's not rare to see one of the band members with a beer
in their hand.
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When/where can I buy tickets
to Green Day concerts? This vary's from city to city so you would have
to call and ask the venue they are playing these questions. Another good
bet is to call your local Ticketmaster.
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Was Billie Joe in New Kids
On The Block? Believe it or not, I get this question a lot, but no,
Billie was never a member of NKOTB.
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Can you give me Billie &
Adrienne's email address? No. I'm sorry but no matter how much
you beg and plead or how badly you claim to need it, I cannot give it out.
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Do Green Day use the internet?
I'm not sure about Mike and Tre but Billie and Adrienne are online.
Adrienne uses the net quite frequently and I think that she checks out
a lot of the Green Day sites.
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Will there be a live video
and CD coming out in 1998? According to Reprise, the live video never
completed to production phase and is on hold for the time being. As for
the CD, a couple concerts where recorded and the live CD is a possibility
but probably not until the band is done supporting Nimrod and are working
on a new album. You can buy bootleg live video's of Green Day from Brownlabel.
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What is the meaning behind
the album names? I don't know about 39/Smooth or Kerplunk but Dookie
was originally going to be called "Liquid Dookie" but the band decided
that was a little to gross, in case you don't know, dookie is shit. They
called their next album "Insomniac" because it fit in with the mood in
which Billie wrote the album. BJ's son Joey often kept him up at night
crying and so he wrote most of the songs in the middle of the night (ex.
"I'm having trouble trying to sleep, i'm countin' sheep but running out"
- Brain Stew). Another reason for the name is described below by Winston
Smith. As for Nimrod, Billie explains, "There's this guy named Nimrod in
the Bible who tried to fool God in Babylon, or something like that," Armstrong
said. "It fits.We're kind of moronic."
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What is the painting on Insomniac?
The title of the artwork on Insomniac is "God Told Me to Skin You Alive."
It was created by Winston Smith.
Here's what Winston told me about making the Insomniac cover: "I knew Tre
back when he was a teenager up in
Mendocino County where my
ranch is, not far from Lawrence's (Livermore) place up near Willits.
The original title for that LP (Insomniac) was Tightwad Hill. Then
I did the cover, staying awake over 48 hours to assemble it. By the
time I delivered it to the green boys I was a zombie. Bill asked
me how I could stay awake all that long and I said, "It's easy for me,
I do it all the time. I have no choice. I'm an insomniac."
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Did Mike and Tre divorce
from their wives? Yes, unfortunately they are both no longer with their
wives.
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Is there a Green Day emailing
list? Yes there is, get more information about it here.
If you decide to sign up though, you may receive up to 80 emails a day.
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How about the real names
and some personal info about the band members?
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Billie Joe's real name is Billie
Joe despite the rumours that it is William Joseph. BJ is married to Adrienne
Nesser, and their son Joey was born in March, 1995. They have a new child
coming in September. Check out his bio for
more information.
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Mike Dirnt's real name is Michael
Pritchard. He was an adopted child and has a daughter named Estelle-Desiree,
who was born in late 1996. He is currently single. Check out his bio
for more information.
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Tre Cool's real name is Frank
Edwin Wright III. His ex-wife's name is Lisea Lyons, and their daughter
Ramona was born January 12, 1995. Check out his bio
for more information.
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Al Sobrante used to be in the
band. His real name is John Kiffmeyer, and he seems to have dropped off
the face of the earth after college; however, he has been spotted around
Berkeley, supposedly in other underground bands.
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Could you tell me more about
Adrienne (Billie's wife)?
[sent in by Adrienne]: "Billie
Joe and I met on the very first Green Day tour when Al Sobrante was in
the band. I was one of only ten people at a Green Day gig and me and Billie
ended up hitting it off. So, I moved out to California in the heat of Dookie.
Thats when we got married, a month later. I had been working in the this
small town in Minnesota called Mankato as a manager for Pier 1 imports.
I had graduated with a degree in sociology from Mankato State University
and stayed there till Billie Joe finally convinced me to move out to Cali.
I work now, occasionally, at Cinder Block Printing. They do music merch.
for band like Screeching Weasel, OP IVY, Mr. T -Experience, first GD shirts
for kerplunk, tons of other great bands. But mostly Joey's my full time
job."
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Does Adrienne ever take offence
to lyrics Billie writes? No, according to Adrienne she does not take
offence to them. She says the he writes about what he feels at certain
times in his life, and he's just being honest.
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Where did they go to high
school? Mike and BJ went to Pinole Valley High in Pinole because Rodeo
has no public school system of its own. FYI -- Pinole is a boring, working
class suburbabout 15 miles north of Berkeley. It lacks both the cosmo-
politanatmosphere and the progressive politics of Berkeley. Pinole (and
ElSobrante, its neighbor) is a town of small, older single family homesand
a heck of a lot of churches. There is no place for ki ds to hangout other
than Hilltop Mall in nearby Richmond. The big news recentlywas the opening
of Mervyn's -- no kidding. Pinole is a town with all ofthe disadvantages
of suburban life (you need a car to escape, there'snothing but chain stores,
college radio is out of reach. . .) and noneof the advantages (money).
The most amazing thing about Green Day ishow they were able to make some-
thing from this total vacuum. Oh yeah,Green Day played at Pinole Valley
HS in the central courtyard area(called "the Mall" -- helps you understand
the whole culture, doesn'tit?) in the Spring of 1990 . The occasion was
"Foreign Foods Day," aschool event during which clubs sell ostensibly foreign
food and bandsplay. Green Day played first. They were followed by Separate
Ways (whoare still together and playing in the Bay Area). Most faculty
membershated Green Day and said, "Now that's more like it" when Separate
Wayscame on. Just shows what they know.
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Why did they cut the Insomniac
tour short? They cut the last tour short because they were totally
wiped out from so much time on the road. They went on a break for about
a year to relax and spend more time with their families. After two years
of almosy non-stop touring, they just needed a good long break.
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Who is John Kiffmeyer a/k/a
Al Sobrante? John Kiffmeyer (not Kiftmeyer, as has been printed in
some publications), played drums for the band while they were Sweet Children.
He used to go by the name Al Sobrante, which was a play on his hometown
El Sobrante. John also drummed on 39/Smooth and several EPs, and was executive
producer on Kerplunk (the album on which Tre Cool became Green Day's drummer).
(from Lawrence Livermore) "John is living in San Francisco with
his wife Greta (they were married in the summer of '94). I haven't seen
him in about nine months, though." (from Gustav) "Al Sobrante was
in Ne'erdowells after Green Day. He left Green Day to go to college. The
Ne'erdowells changed their name to the Hi-Fives and Al no longer plays
for them."
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What bands have the guys
played with?
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BJ has played with Pinhead
Gunpowder, Goodbye Harry, Blatz, and one Lookouts track. Plus a couple
others.
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Mike has played with Screeching
Weasel and Corrupted Morals.
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Tre has played with the Lookouts.
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Billie, Mike, and John formed
Sweet Children prior to changing their name to Green Day.
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Where can we get Sweet Children
music? There were 6 songs written while BJ, Mike, and John were called
Sweet Children, but only 4 are on the Skene! Sweet Children EP:
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Sweet Children
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Best Thing in Town
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Strangeland
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My Generation
The only Sweet Children EP that
exists is the one on black vinyl from Skene! Records. It is no longer in
print. The Flipside "Big One" compilation is still in print. The songs
from that EP appear at the end of the Kerplunk CD.
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When are the guys' birthdays?
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Billie -- February 17, 1972
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Mike -- May 4, 1972
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Tre -- December 9, 1972
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What color is Billie Joe's
hair naturally? Reddish brown. If you've seen him with it dyed, you
know he's no-holds-barred: blue, red, green, orange, and bright yellow
are regularly rotated.
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Why do they sound British?
Why do they sound like a lot of other bands? They like to have fun,
and they like to emulate the sounds that they enjoy. It's all for having
a good time. And yes, they do like to parody the stereotypical "punk rock"
genre and look. Billie Joe admitted to MTV-Europe, "I sound like an Englishman
impersonating an American impersonating an Englishman."
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Why are they called Green
Day? The phrase GREEN DAY is Bay-area slang for a day with lots of
green bud where you just sit around taking bong hits, hanging around. Billie
Joe picked the phrase up from friends while chilling in his "habitat" (in
the basement of a Berkeley University building), and wrote the song Green
Day about his first pot experience. The group changed their name from Sweet
Children to Green Day in 1990. Note too that Ernie from Sesame Street has
also uttered the phrase Green Day (Ernie also appears on Dookie... coincidence?).
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When did Billie Joe write
his first song? Billie first sang Looking for Love when he was
just 5 years old! However, the first song he wrote and then recorded was
Why Do You Want Him? when he was 12.
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How did Tre Cool get his
name? He was dubbed "Tre Cool" by Lawrence Livermore, founder of Lookout!
Records when he signed 12 year-old Frank Edwin Wright III to be the
drummer in his band, The Lookouts. Tre was born in Willits, CA. His father
was a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam war. He moved to Willits to escape
the pressure in San Francisco. Tre was also the DJ for his high school.
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Where do Green Day live?
They live in Berkeley, California, USA. If you're not too technical, it's
a part of San Francisco. Other cool bands from the Bay Area include Rancid,
Dance Hall Crashers, the Mr. T Experience and A.F.I.
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Is the story by Laurie L
inside the Kerplunk CD bogus or for real? Laurie L.'s story is purely
fiction - in fact, "Laurie L" is a homage to "Larry Livermore". The author
wrote the story for Tales from Blarg!, a punk 'zine that's really
good and run by this really cool girl named Janelle.
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Is Tim Armstrong of Rancid
related to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong? Actually, Tim Armstrong
is not Billie Joe's brother, nor are they cousins, even though they have
the same last name. However, Tim and BJ do get along. FYI, Tim was in Operation
Ivy (he went by the name Lint), the band that wrote Knowledge which Green
Day covered and plays at many of their concerts. Billie also helped Tim
write the song "Radio" on Rancid's "Let's GO!" album.
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What make and model of guitar
does Billie Joe play? BJ has a Fernandes, that his mother bought for
him when he was 11, although he has used other guitars on the Nimrod album
to attain a better sound. See the next question for description of Billie's
guitar and amps, but briefly... "Blue" was given to him by his mother so
it's very special to him. It's also the first guitar he ever owned. He
is so used to it, that it is like a part of him. Billie owns several guitars
(about six or so), but "Blue" is by far his favorite!
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What kind of distortion does
Billie Joe use? (from Jerry Finn, the mixer on Dookie and Insomniac)
Now the distortion question. ( I get this one all the time ) The main thing
to remember about Billie's sound is that 70% of it comes from the way he
plays. If you came to the studio and played "Blue" , his favorite guitar,
you still would not sound anything like him. His style is truly unique.
But there are some things I can tell you to get your sound pretty close
to his. In the most basic sense Billie's sound is a Strat guitar plugged
into a Marshall amp. He doesn't use any pedals, all the distortion comes
from the amp. On "Dookie" the amp he used was an old 100 watt Marshall
that had been modified in L.A. This amp belongs to their producer Rob Cavallo.
We now call it the "Dookie" amp. I also used this amp for all of Lint's
guitars on "And out come the Wolves." When GD went on tour Billie had a
clone amp made to copy the sound of the Dookie amp. That amp is called
the "Pete" amp. If you look at footage from Woodstock you can see that
it has "Pete" spray painted on it. For the new album (Insomniac) Billie
decided he wanted a little chunkier sound so he played through two amps
at the same time. One was the "Dookie" amp, and one was a new modified
Marshall that Rob had gotten that we called the "Meat" amp. The combination
of the Meat and Pete amps is what Billie will be playing on the "Insomniac"
world tour. The exact Marshall amp Billie plays is called the 59 SLP. You
can get one anywhere, but keep in mind that his have been modified. His
main guitar "Blue" is a Fernandes stratocaster copy with a Seymour Duncan
"Jeff Beck" pickup in the bridge position. Billie only plays through one
pickup, the front two in the guitar are never even turned on. On an interesting
side note, before the making of "Insomniac" Billie had Fernandes make him
a copy of "Blue", he wanted to have a backup guitar. When they sent it
over he started playing it in order to get used to it. After a couple of
weeks he decided it didn't feel right and smashed it to pieces. There's
just nothing that can match the feel of his beloved "Blue" !
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What's the size of Tre's
ride cymbal? Tre has dozens of cymbals. His Zildjian ride cymbals vary
from 18" to 21".
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Where can I get the song
"J.A.R."? The song "J.A.R." was released on the Angus soundtrack and
is available at most music stores.. J.A.R. stands for Jason Andrew Relva,
a friend of Green Day's who died (Mike wrote the lyrics, Green Day wrote
the music).
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Who sings "I Wanna Be Billie
Joe"? I
Wanna Be Billie Joe is a single by Wat Tyler of Britain, featuring
a pic of BJ wearing just pink boxers and a pink tie on the cover.
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What are GD like in the studio?
(from Jerry Finn) "For the most part they are a lot of fun. We spend
14 hours a day, 6 days a week together when we're mixing and they never
get on my nerves. I must say that to work with them is a total pleasure.
They are constantly joking around and playing pranks on people ( Tre' locked
me and Rob Cavallo in a storage room once! ) "
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What is Pulling Teeth about?
Pulling Teeth is about Mike and his (ex) wife Anastasia. Back around the
time of Kerplunk! they were at a friends house having a pillow fight. Mike
ran around a corner and hit his head on a low ceiling beam. He fell backwards
and broke both of his elbows. So now if you read the lyrics it all makes
sense! The name Pulling Teeth was stolen from Metallica. They have a song
called Anesthesia Pulling Teeth, and since the song was about Mike's girlfriend
Anastasia ( pretty close to anesthesia ) Billie named the song Pulling
Teeth.
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Where's "Stuart and the Avenue"
in Stuart and the Ave.? The corner of Stuart Street and Telegraph Avenue.
It's in Berkeley, CA.
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Where is Tight Wad Hill?
Tight Wad Hill is a hill in Crockett, CA where all the druggies would hang
out and watch all the John Swett High School football games for free.
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Were people in the studio
during All by Myself? That song was actually recorded at someone's
house with a four-track recorder, not in a studio. There were a bunch of
people (very stoned) hanging around while they recorded it.
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Why don't we ever see Adrienne?
She's not a spotlight grabber. She's medium sized with dark brown hair
(when it's not dyed). Judging by the contact I have had with her, she is
also extremely nice and very cool.
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What if a question
isn't on here? Ask away, and i'll
look into it.
Email: posta@mattesini.it