WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Deep Dive, where we really get 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:04.660 into the details you need to be instantly up 00:00:04.660 --> 00:00:08.439 to speed. Yeah, definitely. Today, we are strapping 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:11.500 in for a real deep look at the career, decades 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:15.119 long, really multifaceted, of Billy Joe Armstrong. 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:17.620 Right, the front man, you know. primary songwriter, 00:00:17.780 --> 00:00:20.960 the guitarist for Green Day. Exactly. And we 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:23.460 really need to go beyond just, you know, the 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:25.739 surface level stuff, the big radio hits, the 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:28.620 three chord punk stereotype. Absolutely. Because 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:30.920 what we're looking at here is, well, it's a career 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:32.700 that stretches all the way from the East Bay 00:00:32.700 --> 00:00:36.509 punk scene, like 1987. Right. Right up to today. 00:00:36.570 --> 00:00:39.929 And he moves across genres so easily. Punk rock, 00:00:40.229 --> 00:00:44.049 pop punk, new wave, even garage rock. It's quite 00:00:44.049 --> 00:00:46.090 the range. That's really the core puzzle, isn't 00:00:46.090 --> 00:00:48.170 it? I mean, he's not just a rock musician. Not 00:00:48.170 --> 00:00:50.469 at all. He's an actor. He's had this big fashion 00:00:50.469 --> 00:00:52.630 influence, a Broadway guy. Yeah, the Broadway 00:00:52.630 --> 00:00:55.310 thing is wild. And on top of all that, a pretty 00:00:55.310 --> 00:00:57.829 successful entrepreneur, like a small business 00:00:57.829 --> 00:01:01.450 empire. And still hailed by critics as, you know, 00:01:01.469 --> 00:01:03.509 one of the all -time great punk rock guitarists. 00:01:03.630 --> 00:01:06.640 It's a lot. It really is. The work ethic is just 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:10.540 staggering when you lay it all out. Yeah. You 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:12.739 got Green Day, obviously, that he started with 00:01:12.739 --> 00:01:15.079 Mike Dirnt. The main gig. The main gig, yeah. 00:01:15.340 --> 00:01:18.319 But then there's... Pinhead Gunpowder, that really 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:20.859 aggressive punk side project. Right. The network, 00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:25.040 that whole masked synth rock new wave alter ego 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:27.599 thing. Which was confusing for a while. Totally. 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:31.000 And Foxboro Hot Tugs, the garage rock band. So 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:33.319 our mission really is to unpack all of this. 00:01:33.379 --> 00:01:36.859 This constant evolution artistically, entrepreneurially. 00:01:36.939 --> 00:01:39.319 Yeah. Traits back where the angst comes from. 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:41.000 Look at the controversies and figure out what 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:43.980 happens when punk goes, oh. Yeah. Massively global. 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:46.159 Okay. Let's dive in. Let's unpack this. All right, 00:01:46.180 --> 00:01:49.319 so to really get a handle on the intensity, the 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:51.780 melancholy you sometimes hear in Billy Joe Armstrong's 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:53.459 writing, you've got to start back in Oakland, 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.239 Rodeo, California. Yeah, his early life. He was 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:57.980 the youngest of six kids. Right, youngest of 00:01:57.980 --> 00:02:00.819 six. And his childhood was hit hard by tragedy 00:02:00.819 --> 00:02:03.819 really early on. He was only 10. That's the death 00:02:03.819 --> 00:02:06.799 of his father, Andrew. Sources say he was a jazz 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:09.460 musician but also a truck driver. Yeah, a mix. 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:12.719 He died of esophageal cancer. September 1982. 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:17.500 And that specific loss, that month, it's not 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:19.560 just biography, is it? It's right there in the 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:22.319 music. Oh, absolutely. It's the core of Wake 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.460 Me Up When September Ends, one of their biggest, 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.879 most enduring songs. An acoustic ballad, which 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:29.699 was kind of unusual for them at the time. It 00:02:29.699 --> 00:02:31.419 really captures something, doesn't it? Not just 00:02:31.419 --> 00:02:34.699 loss, but how a specific time that month, September, 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:37.360 just keeps coming back around, reopening that 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:39.759 wound from childhood. Exactly. It's powerful 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:42.340 stuff. But, you know, even before that tragedy 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:45.360 sort of shaped his writing, he was already doing 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:48.659 music way early. Like super early. He recorded 00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:51.539 his first song, Look for Love, when he was five 00:02:51.539 --> 00:02:54.120 years old. Five. Yeah, on this tiny local label, 00:02:54.219 --> 00:02:57.719 Fiat Records. Bay Area label. And his mom, his 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:00.539 mother, she provides this working class anchor, 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:02.560 right? She was a waitress. At Rod's Hickory Pit 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:05.000 in El Cerrito. Yeah. And that diner, that's not 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:06.939 just a detail either. That's where their first 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:09.340 band, Sweet Children. Before Green Day, yeah. 00:03:09.460 --> 00:03:12.060 Played their very first gig back in 87. So it 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:14.659 really grounds his beginnings in that local scene. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.180 And the partnership that defined Green Day started 00:03:17.180 --> 00:03:20.979 super early too. Yeah. He met Mike Dernt. The 00:03:20.979 --> 00:03:23.639 bassist. Longtime bassist, yeah. Yeah. In the 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:25.520 elementary school cafeteria, they were both 10. 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:29.020 Wow. Bonded immediately over music. Just obsessed. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:32.259 And that friendship, that's the bedrock, really. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:36.000 So Sweet Children, the first band. It started 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.819 as a four piece. Yeah. Originally him, Dernt, 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:41.300 Raj Punjabi on drums and Sean Hughes on bass 00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:43.159 initially, though Dernt quickly switched to bass. 00:03:43.300 --> 00:03:45.580 Okay. Punjabi and Hughes left. And then John 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:47.979 Kiffmeyer, better known as El Sobrante, came 00:03:47.979 --> 00:03:50.520 in on drums. That's when they became that tight 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:53.560 power trio format. The classic punk setup. Exactly. 00:03:53.780 --> 00:03:57.740 And then the name change. April 1989, they ditch 00:03:57.740 --> 00:04:00.139 Sweet Children, become Green Day. And the name 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:02.699 itself. Kind of funny origin. Yeah, the sources 00:04:02.699 --> 00:04:04.460 are pretty clear on this. It was Bay Area slang. 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:07.020 A green day was just, you know, a day spent doing 00:04:07.020 --> 00:04:09.080 nothing but smoking weed. Which is hilarious 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:11.219 because later on, BJ himself said he thought 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:13.939 it was, quote, the worst band name in the world. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:16.060 Huh. Yeah, but sometimes those are the ones that 00:04:16.060 --> 00:04:18.279 stick, right? Yeah. Define the whole era. Definitely. 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:20.759 So their early success, that was all indie. Totally 00:04:20.759 --> 00:04:24.139 outside the system. Look out. Records. Fiercely 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:26.600 independent label. They put out the 1 ,000 Hours 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:30.540 EP first. Yep. Then the album 39 Smooth. And 00:04:30.540 --> 00:04:33.959 those got compiled later into 1039 smoothed out 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:37.139 slappy hours. Classic early stuff. And then a 00:04:37.139 --> 00:04:39.959 drummer change. Kiffmeyer leaves. Yeah. Late 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:42.600 1990, he went off to university. That's when 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:44.839 Trey Cool joined. His first record with them 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:47.220 was Co -Plunk. Right, Co -Plunk. And that album, 00:04:47.339 --> 00:04:49.620 that started to make waves, didn't it? Even on 00:04:49.620 --> 00:04:52.439 an indie label? Big time. Selling 50 ,000 copies 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:54.959 in the indie punk world back then. That was huge. 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:57.939 Monumental, really. And that's what got the major 00:04:57.939 --> 00:05:00.420 labels sniffing around. Immediately. It completely 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:02.620 changed their path. That's the big turning point. 00:05:02.779 --> 00:05:04.920 They ended up signing with Reprise, part of Warner 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:06.920 Brothers. Yeah, apparently they were really impressed 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:09.759 with producer Rob Cavallo. He'd worked with the 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.600 Muffs, and they liked his sound. Felt like maybe 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:15.420 they could keep some artistic control. But signing 00:05:15.420 --> 00:05:18.579 to a major? That was a massive deal in that scene. 00:05:18.699 --> 00:05:21.879 Created huge friction. Oh, yeah. Foundational 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:25.689 controversy. especially concerning 924 Gilman 00:05:25.689 --> 00:05:29.069 Street. The legendary DIY punk venue, all about 00:05:29.069 --> 00:05:32.089 being anti -corporate, anti -major label. Exactly. 00:05:32.149 --> 00:05:35.089 Gilman had this strict rule. No major label bands. 00:05:35.449 --> 00:05:38.449 Signing was seen as like the ultimate betrayal 00:05:38.449 --> 00:05:41.470 of punk ideals. So Green Day, who had been a 00:05:41.470 --> 00:05:44.430 core Gilman band, they were out. Pretty much 00:05:44.430 --> 00:05:46.689 instantly. The sources confirm it. They played 00:05:46.689 --> 00:05:49.769 one last show there, September 3rd, 1993. Under 00:05:49.769 --> 00:05:52.069 a fake name. Yeah, Blair Hess. And after that. 00:05:53.110 --> 00:05:55.449 Permanently banned. Wow. It crystallized that 00:05:55.449 --> 00:05:57.790 whole debate. Does punk stay pure, underground, 00:05:58.129 --> 00:06:01.649 local? Or does it grab the bigger platform, risk 00:06:01.649 --> 00:06:03.829 selling out to get the message out to more people? 00:06:03.990 --> 00:06:06.290 And Green Day clearly chose the platform. They 00:06:06.290 --> 00:06:09.069 did. And wow, did it pay off immediately. Their 00:06:09.069 --> 00:06:12.430 major label debut, Dookie, 1994. It wasn't just 00:06:12.430 --> 00:06:14.670 a hit. It was a phenomenon. A generational cultural 00:06:14.670 --> 00:06:16.930 moment, yeah. Sold over 10 million copies in 00:06:16.930 --> 00:06:18.889 the U .S. alone. Just massive. What was it about 00:06:18.889 --> 00:06:21.759 Dookie, do you think? Why then? Well... Timing, 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:23.740 maybe grunge was getting really dark, kind of 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:26.240 nihilistic. Right. And Dookie comes along. Yeah. 00:06:26.579 --> 00:06:30.259 It had angst. Sure. But also vulnerability. These 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:33.319 incredibly catchy hooks, relatable suburban frustration. 00:06:33.699 --> 00:06:36.620 It just connected. MTV jumped all over it. Absolutely 00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:39.620 dominated MTV. Longview Basket Case. When I come 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:42.709 around, they were. Everywhere. Modern rock radio, 00:06:42.829 --> 00:06:45.730 too. It was this energetic, accessible kind of 00:06:45.730 --> 00:06:48.990 rebellion. And with that massive fame came chaos. 00:06:49.490 --> 00:06:51.930 Yeah, the perfect example is Woodstock 94, the 00:06:51.930 --> 00:06:54.430 infamous mud fight. Oh, man. The footage of that. 00:06:54.589 --> 00:06:57.250 Just spiral. Total mayhem. And then the story 00:06:57.250 --> 00:06:59.529 about Mike Dirt getting punched. By a security 00:06:59.529 --> 00:07:01.629 guard who thought he was a fan jumping on stage. 00:07:01.930 --> 00:07:04.110 Yeah, knocked out some of his teeth. Crazy. That 00:07:04.110 --> 00:07:07.470 image, the mud, the chaos broadcast globally. 00:07:08.350 --> 00:07:10.470 It kind of cemented their new reality, didn't 00:07:10.470 --> 00:07:12.829 it? Totally. Still punk rebels. Still anarchic. 00:07:12.870 --> 00:07:15.529 Yeah. But now on this huge multi -million dollar 00:07:15.529 --> 00:07:18.089 stage. So Dookie explodes, changes everything. 00:07:18.250 --> 00:07:20.009 How do you even follow that up? The pressure 00:07:20.009 --> 00:07:22.290 must have been immense. It really was. And the 00:07:22.290 --> 00:07:25.730 response was interesting. Insomniac in 1995. 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:27.949 Yeah, that album felt different. Definitely. 00:07:27.990 --> 00:07:31.699 It was like a direct reaction. Much darker, heavier, 00:07:31.939 --> 00:07:35.079 way more frantic sounding. You can almost hear 00:07:35.079 --> 00:07:37.579 the anxiety about the sudden fame in the tracks. 00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:40.439 Did it sell as well? It did well. Went double 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:43.740 platinum. Sold like three million copies. But 00:07:43.740 --> 00:07:47.160 nowhere near Dookie's numbers. It almost felt 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:48.980 like they were intentionally pushing back, you 00:07:48.980 --> 00:07:51.360 know, refusing to just repeat the formula. Like 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:53.680 an artistic resistance maybe? Could be. Like 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:56.100 we're not just that catchy pop punk band. Almost 00:07:56.100 --> 00:07:58.750 self -sabotage in a way. But then, just two years 00:07:58.750 --> 00:08:02.029 later, they pivot again. Dramatically. 1997, 00:08:02.629 --> 00:08:05.009 Nimrod. Yeah, Nimrod was where they really threw 00:08:05.009 --> 00:08:06.709 everything at the wall. It was super experimental 00:08:06.709 --> 00:08:09.589 for them. BJA songwriting just expanded hugely. 00:08:09.829 --> 00:08:11.790 What kind of stuff was on there? Oh, man. A bit 00:08:11.790 --> 00:08:14.149 of everything. Punk, sure, but also hardcore 00:08:14.149 --> 00:08:17.370 blasts, actual folk songs, surf rock instrumentals, 00:08:17.449 --> 00:08:20.329 straight -up pop tunes. It was all over the place, 00:08:20.410 --> 00:08:22.410 but in a good way. And it had that song on it, 00:08:22.449 --> 00:08:25.110 the acoustic one. Ah, yes. Good riddance. Time 00:08:25.110 --> 00:08:27.470 of your life. The big surprise hit. Putting an 00:08:27.470 --> 00:08:29.850 acoustic ballad on a punk album. That was a gamble 00:08:29.850 --> 00:08:33.870 back then. Huge gamble. But it paid off massively. 00:08:34.570 --> 00:08:37.909 That song became absolutely ubiquitous. Graduations, 00:08:37.909 --> 00:08:42.730 TV show finales, Seinfeld, sports highlights. 00:08:43.269 --> 00:08:45.029 Everywhere. Yeah, it proved they could reach 00:08:45.029 --> 00:08:47.289 way beyond the punk audience. Though, you know, 00:08:47.289 --> 00:08:49.570 some of the hardcore fans weren't thrilled. Saw 00:08:49.570 --> 00:08:51.409 it as maybe too sentimental, too mainstream. 00:08:51.730 --> 00:08:54.509 Right, the eternal sellout debate again. Always 00:08:54.509 --> 00:08:57.299 lurking. But then the momentum seemed to shift 00:08:57.299 --> 00:09:00.840 again. 2000, they release Warning. That one felt 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:03.059 different, too. More stripped down. Yeah, much 00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:05.259 more folk punk influence. Apparently inspired 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:07.779 by bands like The Kinks. Very different feel. 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:10.419 How did that one do? Critically. Kind of divisive. 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:12.519 Some liked the change, others didn't. Commercially. 00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:16.590 It only went gold, which after Dookie and Insomniac 00:09:16.590 --> 00:09:19.470 and even Nimrod's big hit felt like a drop off. 00:09:19.610 --> 00:09:22.049 So people start thinking maybe Green Day was 00:09:22.049 --> 00:09:24.850 losing steam. Yeah, there was definitely that 00:09:24.850 --> 00:09:26.889 perception among some observers, like maybe their 00:09:26.889 --> 00:09:29.289 moment had passed as the 2000s began. And then 00:09:29.289 --> 00:09:31.789 things got really weird. The lost album. Ah, 00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:35.049 yes. The mystery of cigarettes and valentines. 00:09:35.049 --> 00:09:37.610 This is a crazy story. So they had a whole album 00:09:37.610 --> 00:09:40.600 ready to go. Pretty much. written and recorded, 00:09:40.740 --> 00:09:44.059 apparently 16 tracks, sometime in 2002, 2003, 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:48.059 ready for release. And then? Poof. The master 00:09:48.059 --> 00:09:50.179 recordings were stolen. Just vanished in the 00:09:50.179 --> 00:09:52.700 studio. Seriously? Stolen? That's the story. 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:54.720 And instead of trying to re -record it all from 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:58.379 scratch or track down the tapes, they just scrapped 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:00.860 it. They abandoned the entire album, 16 songs. 00:10:01.019 --> 00:10:03.559 Yep. Made this huge decision to just start over 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:08.080 completely from zero. Wow. That takes guts. Or 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:10.559 maybe desperation. Maybe both. But it speaks 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:15.250 to a real commitment to getting it right. and 00:10:15.250 --> 00:10:17.210 maybe a feeling that what they had wasn't quite 00:10:17.210 --> 00:10:18.950 it anyway. It paved the way for their biggest 00:10:18.950 --> 00:10:21.070 comeback. But not immediately, right? There was 00:10:21.070 --> 00:10:23.389 a detour first. The masked detour, yeah. The 00:10:23.389 --> 00:10:25.970 network. Okay, explain the network. Right. Because 00:10:25.970 --> 00:10:29.470 that was bizarre. Totally bizarre. So 2003, Billy 00:10:29.470 --> 00:10:31.929 Joe's own record label, Adeline Records. He had 00:10:31.929 --> 00:10:33.789 his own label? Yeah, co -founded it back in 97. 00:10:33.929 --> 00:10:36.750 Anyway, Adeline signs this mysterious masked 00:10:36.750 --> 00:10:40.110 six -piece band playing new wave synth -heavy 00:10:40.110 --> 00:10:42.169 stuff. And they claim they weren't Green Day. 00:10:42.769 --> 00:10:44.789 Vehemently denied it. Said they were from Sacramento. 00:10:45.029 --> 00:10:47.529 They even cooked up this fake feud with Green 00:10:47.529 --> 00:10:49.830 Day that went on for years. So what was the point? 00:10:49.950 --> 00:10:53.970 Just a joke. Partly, maybe. But it seems strategic, 00:10:53.970 --> 00:10:57.710 too. It let BJA and the guys experiment with 00:10:57.710 --> 00:11:00.309 this totally different sound, high energy, new 00:11:00.309 --> 00:11:04.169 wave garage rock on the album Money Money 2020. 00:11:04.610 --> 00:11:07.620 Right. Without confusing the main Green Day brand, 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:10.179 which was still figuring out its next move after 00:11:10.179 --> 00:11:12.659 the perceived dip with warning in the lost album. 00:11:12.759 --> 00:11:14.720 Like a creative pressure valve. Exactly. They 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:17.179 could try stuff out, maybe even fail a bit under 00:11:17.179 --> 00:11:20.320 this disguise. It wasn't until 2013 they officially 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:22.840 admitted it was them, though lots of fans figured 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:24.980 it out way earlier. They even brought the network 00:11:24.980 --> 00:11:27.559 back in 2020. So while the network was doing 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:30.379 its thing, Green Day was regrouping. Regrouping 00:11:30.379 --> 00:11:32.559 and aiming high. Really high. Taking that start 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:35.580 fresh mentality after the stolen tapes very seriously. 00:11:35.779 --> 00:11:38.059 And that led to the rock opera. The punk rock 00:11:38.059 --> 00:11:40.940 opera, American Idiot, 2004. And this album was 00:11:40.940 --> 00:11:45.039 huge. A massive comeback. Monumental. Artistically. 00:11:45.299 --> 00:11:48.220 Commercially. It just exploded. Debuted straight 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:50.679 number one on the Billboard 200. Sold, what, 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:52.899 over 15 million copies worldwide eventually and 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:54.659 put it right back on top of the global stage. 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:56.559 What was the concept? It had a story, right? 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:58.799 Yeah, a full narrative. It followed this character, 00:11:58.919 --> 00:12:01.899 the Jesus of Suburbia. And it was this really 00:12:01.899 --> 00:12:06.080 potent critique of American life at that moment. 00:12:06.179 --> 00:12:08.200 Early 2000s, the political climate. Well, it's 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:11.840 9 -11, Iraq war era. Exactly. BJA talked about 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:14.279 it being against a redneck agenda under an idiot 00:12:14.279 --> 00:12:17.470 ruler. protest art that really captured the anxiety 00:12:17.470 --> 00:12:19.509 and frustration of that time for a lot of people. 00:12:19.570 --> 00:12:21.509 And it got critical acclaim too, right? It's 00:12:21.509 --> 00:12:23.769 a time. Won the Grammys for Best Rock Album in 00:12:23.769 --> 00:12:27.190 2005. And then Boulevard of Broken Dreams, maybe 00:12:27.190 --> 00:12:29.370 the biggest single from it. Massive song. Won 00:12:29.370 --> 00:12:32.610 Record of the Year in 2006. That's a huge deal. 00:12:32.769 --> 00:12:35.350 It proved punk rock could be ambitious, complex, 00:12:35.570 --> 00:12:37.730 conceptual, and still dominate the charts. They 00:12:37.730 --> 00:12:39.690 basically invented a new phase for themselves. 00:12:40.029 --> 00:12:42.440 Completely. Yeah. And they leaned into it. Their 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:45.259 next album, 21st Century Breakdown in 2009, was 00:12:45.259 --> 00:12:47.200 another rock opera. Also did really well commercially. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:49.120 Yeah. But the American Idiot story didn't end 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:51.279 there. It went to Broadway. Yeah, which is just 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.740 wild when you think about it. A punk rock opera 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:56.980 adapted into a full -blown stage musical. Yeah. 00:12:57.059 --> 00:12:59.919 And it was successful. Won Tony Awards. Did Billy 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:02.059 Joe get involved with the stage show? He did. 00:13:02.220 --> 00:13:04.080 He actually played one of the main characters, 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:07.049 St. Jimmy, for several weeks on Broadway. In 00:13:07.049 --> 00:13:09.549 2010 and 2011. Seriously. He went from playing 00:13:09.549 --> 00:13:11.909 punk clubs and stadiums to acting on a Broadway 00:13:11.909 --> 00:13:15.110 stage. Yep. Made that leap. Shows a real commitment 00:13:15.110 --> 00:13:17.830 to the whole concept beyond just the album. A 00:13:17.830 --> 00:13:20.590 fascinating turn. So they reach these incredible 00:13:20.590 --> 00:13:23.090 heights again. Rock operas, Broadway success. 00:13:23.490 --> 00:13:26.389 But that level of intensity, the constant touring, 00:13:26.690 --> 00:13:30.129 writing, performing. It took a toll. A severe 00:13:30.129 --> 00:13:33.090 toll, which led to a very public crisis in 2012. 00:13:33.389 --> 00:13:35.970 The iHeartRadio incident in Las Vegas. Yeah, 00:13:35.990 --> 00:13:38.309 that was pretty shocking to see unfold live or 00:13:38.309 --> 00:13:40.769 on video afterwards. During their set, Armstrong 00:13:40.769 --> 00:13:43.809 just lost it. What triggered it? He saw a timer 00:13:43.809 --> 00:13:46.190 on stage flashing one minute left, apparently 00:13:46.190 --> 00:13:48.210 for the end of their set time. He got furious, 00:13:48.350 --> 00:13:50.049 thought they were being cut short by the promoter. 00:13:50.049 --> 00:13:53.110 And he went off? Big time. Launched into this 00:13:53.110 --> 00:13:56.899 expletive -filled rant. famously yelled, I'm 00:13:56.899 --> 00:14:00.139 not figging Justin Bieber, smashed his guitar. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.500 Yeah, I remember that. And stormed offstage. 00:14:03.100 --> 00:14:05.379 Just complete meltdown. What happened right after? 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:07.820 Well, the band had to issue an apology pretty 00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:10.419 quickly. They clarified that actually their set 00:14:10.419 --> 00:14:12.059 hadn't been cut short. It was a misunderstanding 00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:14.899 about the timer. Okay. But the bigger consequence 00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:17.840 was the immediate announcement that Billy Joe 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:22.019 was seeking treatment. for an unspecified substance 00:14:22.019 --> 00:14:24.279 abuse problem. So this wasn't just a diva tantrum. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.000 There was something deeper going on. Clearly. 00:14:26.340 --> 00:14:28.740 The band had to cancel everything, all their 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:32.720 remaining tour dates for 2012, early 2013. It 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:35.279 completely derailed the promotion for their album 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:38.039 trilogy Uno Dos Tres, which was just coming out. 00:14:38.139 --> 00:14:40.159 And later he opened up more about it, right? 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:42.279 Put it in context. Yeah, in 2013 he gave some 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:43.899 interviews that shed a lot more light on it. 00:14:44.169 --> 00:14:46.169 He revealed this wasn't some sudden thing. It 00:14:46.169 --> 00:14:49.070 was a public collapse after years, maybe decades, 00:14:49.289 --> 00:14:51.690 of struggling privately. How long had it been 00:14:51.690 --> 00:14:54.070 going on? He actually said he'd been trying to 00:14:54.070 --> 00:14:58.470 get sober since 1997. Wow, 1997. That's right 00:14:58.470 --> 00:15:01.350 around Nimrod. Exactly. Back near that experimental 00:15:01.350 --> 00:15:04.350 phase, that first brush with massive, slightly 00:15:04.350 --> 00:15:07.529 awkward mainstream success with good riddance. 00:15:07.789 --> 00:15:10.450 So this struggle had been simmering for 15 years. 00:15:10.529 --> 00:15:13.500 At least. He specified that it really escalated 00:15:13.500 --> 00:15:15.519 during the making of the Uno Dos Tres albums. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:18.259 He said it was mostly alcohol, but also prescription 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:20.600 pills he was taking for anxiety and insomnia. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:22.980 Just got out of control. So the iHeartRadio thing 00:15:22.980 --> 00:15:25.539 was basically the breaking point. A public cry 00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:28.580 for help, almost. It seems that way. A necessary, 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:31.940 albeit messy, public stop to years of private 00:15:31.940 --> 00:15:34.340 self -medication and struggle. They eventually 00:15:34.340 --> 00:15:37.279 returned to touring in late March 2013. It's 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.820 clear through all that, though, that music, especially 00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:42.340 the guitar, remains central for him. Let's talk 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:44.419 about his playing style, his sound. Yeah, the 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:47.500 Green Day sound is so identifiable, largely thanks 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:49.720 to his guitar work. What defines it? It's that 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:52.259 aggressive, super fast, palm -muted power chord 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:55.240 attack. Very driving. But he uses a couple of 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:57.100 specific techniques that are key. Like what? 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:59.580 One is called stubbing. It's this way of hitting 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:01.879 all six strings with a really forceful downstroke. 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:05.100 Lots of energy. Okay. And the other is fret -hand 00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:08.700 muting. He uses his left hand, the fretting hand, 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:11.860 to mute the strings he's not playing. This keeps 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:13.720 the sound tight and clear, even with all that 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:16.840 speed and aggression. That combination is signature 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:20.399 BJA. And that sound is so tied to his famous 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.200 guitar, Blue. Oh, absolutely. Blue is iconic. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:26.059 His first proper electric guitar. What kind is 00:16:26.059 --> 00:16:28.700 it exactly? It's a Fernandes. A Stratocaster 00:16:28.700 --> 00:16:31.879 copy, specifically the Revival RST -50 model. 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:34.759 And he got it way back. Yeah, 1982. He was 10. 00:16:34.899 --> 00:16:36.720 Yeah. It was a gift from his guitar teacher, 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:39.559 George Cole. 1982. That's the same year his father 00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:42.320 died. Exactly. So that guitar, Blue, became this 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:45.100 immediate, really powerful, emotional anchor 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:47.200 for him right from the start. And the setup was 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:49.279 kind of unique, right? Yeah. Influenced by another 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:52.120 legend. Totally. George Cole put a Bill Lawrence 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:55.659 L500XL humbucker pickup in the bridge position. 00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:58.779 But crucially, he installed it at an angle. Why 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:01.419 angled? It was a direct nod to Eddie Van Halen's 00:17:01.419 --> 00:17:04.539 famous Frankenstrat guitar. Billy Joe was apparently 00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:07.619 a huge Van Halen fan as a kid. Just mesmerized 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:10.559 by him. So Cole customized blue in that image. 00:17:10.740 --> 00:17:13.500 Does he still use blue after all these years? 00:17:13.660 --> 00:17:16.079 Yep. Still uses it. It's been modified over the 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:18.980 decades, of course. The pickup was changed around 00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:23.960 95, apparently to a Seymour Duncan SH -4 JB Humbucker, 00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:27.250 usually black. And the other pickups. That's 00:17:27.250 --> 00:17:29.309 key to the sound. The middle and neck pickups 00:17:29.309 --> 00:17:31.589 are disconnected. The pickup selector switch 00:17:31.589 --> 00:17:34.069 is basically locked in the bridge position. Just 00:17:34.069 --> 00:17:36.869 pure, aggressive bridge pickup tone all the time. 00:17:36.970 --> 00:17:38.769 You see it everywhere in their history. Oh, yeah. 00:17:38.849 --> 00:17:41.069 It's on the cover of Insomniac, which is fitting, 00:17:41.210 --> 00:17:43.690 given the sound of that record. And it's in practically 00:17:43.690 --> 00:17:46.309 all the iconic early music videos, Basket Case, 00:17:46.470 --> 00:17:49.880 Longview, Minority. Practically a fourth member 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:51.960 of the band. And this deep connection he has 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:53.619 to the guitar, and maybe to his own experience 00:17:53.619 --> 00:17:55.619 as a fan, it comes out in their live shows too, 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:57.160 right? The thing he does with audience members. 00:17:57.420 --> 00:18:00.019 Yeah, that's become a real tradition. He frequently 00:18:00.019 --> 00:18:02.079 pulls people up from the crowd during certain 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:04.579 songs, like their cover of Operation Ivy's Knowledge 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:06.960 or sometimes Longview. And lets them play. Lets 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.960 them play guitar or bass or drums right there 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:12.500 on stage with the band. That's pretty cool. It 00:18:12.500 --> 00:18:14.859 really is. And often, he lets the person keep 00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:17.339 the instrument afterwards. Seriously? He gives 00:18:17.339 --> 00:18:20.230 away guitars? Yeah. Apparently, it's a direct 00:18:20.230 --> 00:18:23.970 callback to his own childhood awe watching Van 00:18:23.970 --> 00:18:27.170 Halen, remembering what it felt like to dream 00:18:27.170 --> 00:18:30.089 of being up there. It's this amazing way of breaking 00:18:30.089 --> 00:18:33.109 down the wall between this huge rock band and 00:18:33.109 --> 00:18:35.670 their fans, connecting back to those punk roots. 00:18:35.910 --> 00:18:38.269 You know, when you really look at Billy Joe Armstrong's 00:18:38.269 --> 00:18:40.470 career, especially the later parts, you see this 00:18:40.470 --> 00:18:43.630 restless energy. Like Green Day, even as huge 00:18:43.630 --> 00:18:46.309 as it is, isn't enough to contain all his creative 00:18:46.309 --> 00:18:48.650 impulses. Absolutely. He's constantly exploring 00:18:48.650 --> 00:18:51.609 other avenues, which leads us to his role as, 00:18:51.630 --> 00:18:53.650 yeah, an entrepreneur, but also just a really 00:18:53.650 --> 00:18:56.210 versatile musician beyond guitar. Even while 00:18:56.210 --> 00:18:58.470 Green Day was massive, he kept the side projects 00:18:58.470 --> 00:19:01.529 going, like Pinhead Gunpowder. Right, that punk 00:19:01.529 --> 00:19:04.690 band he joined way back in 1991. They're still 00:19:04.690 --> 00:19:06.829 putting out music occasionally. Just released 00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:11.049 an EP on this year, 2024. Still active after 00:19:11.049 --> 00:19:13.349 all this time. Who else is in that? It features 00:19:13.349 --> 00:19:15.809 Jason White. who's been Green Day's touring guitarist 00:19:15.809 --> 00:19:18.250 for ages now. Ah. And Bill Schneider, who's an 00:19:18.250 --> 00:19:20.730 associate of Mike Darn's. So it keeps those connections 00:19:20.730 --> 00:19:22.910 strong. It feels like less of a commercial thing 00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:24.710 and more about staying connected to that raw 00:19:24.710 --> 00:19:27.410 punk sound. Exactly. A community -focused outlet. 00:19:27.730 --> 00:19:30.450 And then there's Foxboro Hot Tubs. The garage 00:19:30.450 --> 00:19:33.730 rock band. Yeah, formed around 2007. That seems 00:19:33.730 --> 00:19:36.569 more like pure fun. They used it to play secret, 00:19:36.690 --> 00:19:39.569 unannounced shows in small clubs. Put out that 00:19:39.569 --> 00:19:42.450 one album, Stop, Drop & Roll. In 2008, just straight 00:19:42.450 --> 00:19:45.369 up raw garage rock. And instrumentally, he's 00:19:45.369 --> 00:19:47.650 not just a guitarist and singer. Not at all. 00:19:47.730 --> 00:19:50.170 He branches out quite a bit. On Nimrod and Warning, 00:19:50.309 --> 00:19:53.029 for instance, he played harmonica and mandolin 00:19:53.029 --> 00:19:55.130 on some tracks. That's where some of that folkier 00:19:55.130 --> 00:19:57.230 sound came from. Right. He also taught himself 00:19:57.230 --> 00:19:59.750 piano, which became pretty important on the later 00:19:59.750 --> 00:20:02.589 rock opera albums American Idiot and 21st Century 00:20:02.589 --> 00:20:04.859 Breakdown. Did he play other instruments in other 00:20:04.859 --> 00:20:06.920 bands? Yeah, he's played bass in a couple of 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:09.059 short -lived projects like The Boo, apparently 00:20:09.059 --> 00:20:11.500 also The Shrives for a bit, and he played drums 00:20:11.500 --> 00:20:15.259 in his 2018 project The Long Shot. So definitely 00:20:15.259 --> 00:20:17.759 a multi -instrumentalist. This love for different 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:20.460 kinds of music also led to some surprising collaborations, 00:20:20.859 --> 00:20:23.460 right? Outside of punk entirely. Oh yeah. The 00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:25.519 big one that stands out is the album Foreverly 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:28.500 from 2013. Who was that with? Nora Jones. Nora 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:31.279 Jones, the jazz pop singer. That seems like an 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.230 odd pairing. On the surface, yeah. But Foreverly 00:20:34.230 --> 00:20:36.009 was a tribute album. They covered the entire 00:20:36.009 --> 00:20:39.390 1958 Everly Brothers album, songs Our Daddy Taught 00:20:39.390 --> 00:20:42.089 Us. Wow. Deep cut. What did it sound like? Very 00:20:42.089 --> 00:20:45.390 acoustic. Lots of close harmonies rooted in classic 00:20:45.390 --> 00:20:47.690 country and folk. Totally different from Green 00:20:47.690 --> 00:20:50.430 Day. It really showed his depth, his appreciation 00:20:50.430 --> 00:20:53.250 for American musical roots beyond punk rock. 00:20:53.430 --> 00:20:55.150 And even during the pandemic, he kept making 00:20:55.150 --> 00:20:58.009 music. Yeah, he did that No Fun Mondays project 00:20:58.009 --> 00:21:01.109 in 2020. Basically recorded a cover song every 00:21:01.109 --> 00:21:03.509 Monday in his home studio and released them. 00:21:03.690 --> 00:21:06.490 Just a way to stay creative and connected during 00:21:06.490 --> 00:21:09.150 lockdown. Ended up releasing it as a solo album. 00:21:09.329 --> 00:21:11.529 Okay, let's shift to the business side. The entrepreneur 00:21:11.529 --> 00:21:13.829 stuff. This seems like another way he balanced 00:21:13.829 --> 00:21:17.109 the punk ethos with mainstream success. I think 00:21:17.109 --> 00:21:20.470 so. Adeline Records, for example. Co -founded 00:21:20.470 --> 00:21:22.950 in 1997. We mentioned that earlier with the network. 00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:25.549 Right. The label was specifically set up to support 00:21:25.549 --> 00:21:28.930 other. often smaller emerging bands. They signed 00:21:28.930 --> 00:21:32.250 acts like AFI, The Frustrators, Dillinger Four. 00:21:32.529 --> 00:21:35.410 So using Green Day's success to help other indie 00:21:35.410 --> 00:21:38.269 bands get a start. Exactly. A way to give back 00:21:38.269 --> 00:21:40.329 to the scene, maintain some punk credibility 00:21:40.329 --> 00:21:42.710 by investing in independent music. The label 00:21:42.710 --> 00:21:44.930 eventually closed down in 2017, but it had a 00:21:44.930 --> 00:21:47.509 good run. And he invested in guitars themselves. 00:21:47.970 --> 00:21:50.730 Yeah, literally. In 2015, he co -founded a guitar 00:21:50.730 --> 00:21:54.049 shop right in Oakland, California with Bill Schneider 00:21:54.049 --> 00:21:55.700 from Pinhead Gunpowder. What's it called? It 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:57.240 was originally called Broken Guitars, now it's 00:21:57.240 --> 00:21:59.680 Oakland Guitars. Right. A direct local investment 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:02.079 back into the community and the tools of the 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:03.960 trade where it all started for him. Okay, and 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:06.059 then there's the coffee, Pump Bunny Coffee. Right. 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:08.960 Originally called Oakland Coffee Works, co -founded 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:11.980 with Mike Dern in 2015. Someday selling organic 00:22:11.980 --> 00:22:14.980 coffee beans. Yep. But here's the interesting 00:22:14.980 --> 00:22:17.700 angle. Beyond just being a celebrity side hustle, 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:20.640 they made a real commitment to environmental 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:24.150 stuff. How so? The sources note they were apparently 00:22:24.150 --> 00:22:26.990 the first company to use mass -produced compostable 00:22:26.990 --> 00:22:30.029 bags and single -serve pods for their coffee. 00:22:30.309 --> 00:22:32.609 Huh. That's actually pretty forward -thinking. 00:22:32.750 --> 00:22:35.670 A punk band pioneering eco -friendly packaging. 00:22:36.029 --> 00:22:38.289 It's a cool juxtaposition, right? Shows a very 00:22:38.289 --> 00:22:40.710 modern, maybe more responsible kind of entrepreneurship. 00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:44.089 Beyond music and business, he also got into acting 00:22:44.089 --> 00:22:46.029 more seriously, especially after the Broadway 00:22:46.029 --> 00:22:48.190 experience. Yeah, he started taking on small 00:22:48.190 --> 00:22:51.380 roles in films, like Sunday, like Rain. But his 00:22:51.380 --> 00:22:54.940 first proper lead role was in a 2016 movie called 00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:57.720 Ordinary World. What was that about? He played 00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:00.660 this character, Perry Miller. Basically, a husband 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:03.400 and dad hitting a midlife crisis, trying to revisit 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:05.980 his old punk rock past for his 40th birthday. 00:23:06.099 --> 00:23:08.519 Sounds kind of familiar. Extremely familiar. 00:23:08.740 --> 00:23:11.759 Almost autobiographical in a way. Seemed like 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:13.859 a perfect role for him to explore some of those 00:23:13.859 --> 00:23:16.960 themes of aging, past, identity, stuff that... 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:19.380 Probably felt very real after the 2012 crisis. 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:22.119 Did he do TV, too? Little bits here and there. 00:23:22.339 --> 00:23:24.180 Popped up on King of the Hill, did an episode 00:23:24.180 --> 00:23:27.140 of Drunk History, front cameos. And now there's 00:23:27.140 --> 00:23:28.980 a movie coming out that's directly about their 00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:31.980 own history. Yeah, supposedly in 2025. It's called 00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:34.619 New Year's Rev, described as a coming -of -age 00:23:34.619 --> 00:23:37.240 road trip comedy. Based on? Based on the band's 00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:39.339 actual experiences and exploits right before 00:23:39.339 --> 00:23:42.400 Dookie hit. That crucial period. Are they involved 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:45.180 in making it? Yep. Billy Joe, Mike, and Trey 00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:47.259 are all confirmed to appear in it and produce 00:23:47.259 --> 00:23:49.539 it. So they're actively shaping how their own 00:23:49.539 --> 00:23:52.079 story gets told on screen. Very meta. One thing 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:53.880 that seems consistent with Billy Joe Armstrong 00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:57.119 is how openly he shared his personal perspectives, 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:00.220 his identity, his convictions. It's woven into 00:24:00.220 --> 00:24:02.500 his public persona in the music. Definitely. 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:04.940 And that goes way back. Take his views on sexuality, 00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:06.920 for example. He's been open about that for a 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:10.140 long time. Since 1995, yeah. He publicly identified 00:24:10.140 --> 00:24:13.039 as bisexual. There's a quote where he said he 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:15.900 believes people are born bisexual, but society 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:18.799 makes it taboo. Called it a very beautiful thing. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.299 Did he connect that to the music? You know, he 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:23.980 did. He specifically mentioned that Dookie, their 00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:26.319 breakout album, actually touches on themes of 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.579 bisexuality quite a bit. Which maybe wasn't obvious 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:31.759 to everyone at the time. And his songwriting, 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:33.920 we know about his dad, but relationships seem 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:36.849 key too. Oh, absolutely. Sources talk about his 00:24:36.849 --> 00:24:39.710 first serious girlfriend, Eureka Polino, who 00:24:39.710 --> 00:24:42.470 he met on his 16th birthday. She apparently inspired 00:24:42.470 --> 00:24:45.130 songs like Christy Road. But there was a more 00:24:45.130 --> 00:24:47.430 difficult one later. Yeah, a really turbulent 00:24:47.430 --> 00:24:49.650 relationship with a woman usually identified 00:24:49.650 --> 00:24:53.349 only as Amanda. This was around 1994, right as 00:24:53.349 --> 00:24:55.569 Dookie was exploding. She apparently left him 00:24:55.569 --> 00:24:58.950 to join the Peace Corps. Wow, timing. Yeah. And 00:24:58.950 --> 00:25:02.009 he said that breakup left him feeling deeply 00:25:02.009 --> 00:25:05.089 depressed, even suicidal. That experience fueled 00:25:05.089 --> 00:25:08.210 several really key emotional songs from that 00:25:08.210 --> 00:25:11.109 era and beyond. But his marriage has been long 00:25:11.109 --> 00:25:14.910 -lasting. Extremely. He met his wife, Adrienne 00:25:14.910 --> 00:25:18.589 Nesser, way back in 1990 at a Green Day show 00:25:18.589 --> 00:25:21.829 in Minneapolis. They got married in 1994. Quick 00:25:21.829 --> 00:25:24.789 turnaround. Very quick. Apparently, she found 00:25:24.789 --> 00:25:26.349 out she was pregnant the day after the wedding. 00:25:26.450 --> 00:25:29.200 They have two sons together. That relationship 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:32.299 seems like a real stabilizing force through all 00:25:32.299 --> 00:25:34.519 the craziness of his career. On a lighter note, 00:25:34.579 --> 00:25:37.460 his look, his style, that's been influential 00:25:37.460 --> 00:25:40.359 too. Totally. The punk fashion thing. Eyeliner, 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:44.700 spiky hair, ripped jeans. He's been a style icon 00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:47.359 for that look for decades. He even did a makeup 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:49.660 line, right? Yeah. He collaborated with the tattoo 00:25:49.660 --> 00:25:52.559 artist and makeup mogul Kat Von D. Launched an 00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:55.000 eyeliner actually called Basket Case. Lean into 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:57.059 the brand. Okay, but let's get into the controversies 00:25:57.059 --> 00:25:58.680 again. The big one that's never really gone away. 00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:01.380 Punk credibility. Right. The are they really 00:26:01.380 --> 00:26:03.480 punk debate. It started the second they signed 00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:05.440 with Reprise and never stopped. Who are the main 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:08.460 critics? You had figures like John Lydon. You 00:26:08.460 --> 00:26:10.599 know, Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols. He 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:12.839 famously called them a wank outfit. Basically 00:26:12.839 --> 00:26:15.579 dismissing them as posers who co -opted punk 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:18.559 for commercial gain. The ultimate punk gatekeeper 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:21.119 perspective. But others defended them. Yeah, 00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:23.819 contemporaries too. Brett Gergetz from Bad Religion, 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:27.019 also founder of Epitaph Records. He argued they 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:28.940 were crucial, called them the biggest band in 00:26:28.940 --> 00:26:31.960 the genre, acknowledging their impact. How did 00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:34.119 Armstrong himself respond to all that criticism 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:36.519 over the years? His line has been pretty consistent. 00:26:36.700 --> 00:26:39.099 He acknowledges they left the specific Gilman 00:26:39.099 --> 00:26:42.640 Street scene, the really strict DIY world. But 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:44.779 he always pushes back hard, saying things like, 00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:47.180 you can't take the punk rock out of us. Does 00:26:47.180 --> 00:26:50.339 he embrace... The pop punk label? He seems to 00:26:50.339 --> 00:26:52.579 resist that one, actually. Prefers to see Green 00:26:52.579 --> 00:26:55.400 Day as just melodic punk rock. He's talked about 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:57.140 how even in the early days, they were always 00:26:57.140 --> 00:26:59.539 kind of left of center compared to the really 00:26:59.539 --> 00:27:03.059 harsh, hardcore bands. Melodic, but still punk. 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:05.480 That fighting spirit definitely comes through 00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:08.160 in his more recent political commentary. Oh, 00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:11.180 absolutely. He identifies as an independent politically, 00:27:11.460 --> 00:27:13.579 but he hasn't been quiet, especially in the last 00:27:13.579 --> 00:27:15.900 few years. He's been very critical of Donald 00:27:15.900 --> 00:27:18.369 Trump. Calling him a fascist. Yeah. use that 00:27:18.369 --> 00:27:22.049 term directly and he uses his stage his platform 00:27:22.049 --> 00:27:25.250 to make statements like changing the lyrics an 00:27:25.250 --> 00:27:28.349 american idiot exactly that's become his signature 00:27:28.349 --> 00:27:32.029 move on new year's eve 2024 during that big televised 00:27:32.029 --> 00:27:35.160 performance he famously changed the line I'm 00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:38.440 not a part of a redneck agenda to I'm not a part 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:40.680 of the May J agenda. That got a lot of attention. 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:43.440 Huge attention. It instantly makes a 20 -year 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:45.420 -old song feel relevant to the current moment, 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:48.480 generates headlines. Smart protest tactic, really. 00:27:48.660 --> 00:27:51.279 He also explicitly endorsed Kamala Harris in 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:53.779 the 2024 election cycle. He used that same lyric 00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:55.640 changing tactic against someone else recently, 00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:58.160 too, right? A tech figure? Yeah, Elon Musk. He 00:27:58.160 --> 00:28:00.559 started changing the American Idiot line to Elon 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:02.660 agenda during some performances, calling him 00:28:02.660 --> 00:28:04.299 out directly. How did the band justify that? 00:28:04.569 --> 00:28:06.230 Mike Durant actually gave an interesting quote 00:28:06.230 --> 00:28:08.930 defending it. He said something like, Elon Musk 00:28:08.930 --> 00:28:13.150 actually is the machine. Arguing that Musk represents 00:28:13.150 --> 00:28:16.130 that kind of modern, untouchable corporate power 00:28:16.130 --> 00:28:19.289 structure that punk has always aimed to critique. 00:28:19.509 --> 00:28:23.680 But taking these strong stances. It can backfire 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:25.599 commercially, can't it? Definitely. There are 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:27.539 consequences. Like after the Oakland Athletics 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:29.559 baseball team announced they were relocating 00:28:29.559 --> 00:28:33.240 to Las Vegas, BJA, being an Oakland native, was 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:36.039 furious. He went on stage somewhere and called 00:28:36.039 --> 00:28:38.460 Las Vegas the worst shithole in America. Ouch. 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:41.559 How did Vegas react? Not well. Two major radio 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:44.220 stations in Las Vegas immediately banned all 00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:46.539 Green Day music from their airwaves in protest. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.900 So, yeah, real commercial fallout is possible. 00:28:49.059 --> 00:28:51.380 His advocacy extends beyond just electoral politics, 00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:54.240 too. Right. He's spoken out strongly on social 00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:56.619 issues. particularly in support of transgender 00:28:56.619 --> 00:28:58.859 people, transgender youth specifically. What 00:28:58.859 --> 00:29:01.180 does he say? He told the Times newspaper that 00:29:01.180 --> 00:29:03.759 people critical of trans rights are fingo close 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:06.279 -minded. He really emphasized the importance 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:08.779 of parents supporting their kids, saying basically, 00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:11.579 let your kid just be the kid that they are. Very 00:29:11.579 --> 00:29:13.720 direct support. And his commentary even goes 00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:15.839 international now. Yeah, that's more recent development, 00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:19.380 particularly noticeable in 2025. During performances, 00:29:19.619 --> 00:29:22.319 like their set at Coachella in April, he showed 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:25.710 support for Palestine. Again, modifying lyrics. 00:29:25.950 --> 00:29:28.630 He apparently changed lines in Jesus of Suburbia 00:29:28.630 --> 00:29:31.210 to specifically reference kids from Palestine 00:29:31.210 --> 00:29:33.769 when talking about the ongoing conflict in Gaza, 00:29:34.009 --> 00:29:37.490 using that massive global platform to address 00:29:37.490 --> 00:29:40.069 really current contentious international issues. 00:29:40.730 --> 00:29:43.390 So when you step back and look at the whole picture, 00:29:43.650 --> 00:29:47.490 the impact is just undeniable. The numbers alone 00:29:47.490 --> 00:29:49.650 are staggering. How many records have they sold 00:29:49.650 --> 00:29:53.269 worldwide? Roughly 75 million. 75 million records. 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:56.519 which is just huge. And the awards. Five Grammys, 00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:58.680 including that really prestigious record of the 00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:01.519 year for Boulevard of Broken Dreams. That's a 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:03.339 major achievement. And the Rock and Roll Hall 00:30:03.339 --> 00:30:06.839 of Fame. Inducted in 2015, their very first year 00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:10.259 of eligibility, which is the ultimate establishment 00:30:10.259 --> 00:30:13.140 recognition for a band that started out railing 00:30:13.140 --> 00:30:15.140 against the establishment. Their influence on 00:30:15.140 --> 00:30:17.160 other bands is huge, too, right? They really 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:19.240 brought punk back into the mainstream in the 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:22.160 90s. Absolutely credited with that. Reigniting 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:25.200 interest. You can draw a direct line from Green 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:28.420 Day to bands like Fall Out Boy, Blink -182, My 00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:31.140 Chemical Romance. That whole wave of pop punk 00:30:31.140 --> 00:30:33.839 and emo that dominated the 2000s. But it goes 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:35.759 beyond just punk bands, doesn't it? Oh, yeah. 00:30:36.279 --> 00:30:38.380 Major pop artists cite them, too. People like 00:30:38.380 --> 00:30:41.400 Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish. They've talked about 00:30:41.400 --> 00:30:43.799 Green Day's influence on their attitude, their 00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:46.579 energy, maybe even their willingness to tackle 00:30:46.579 --> 00:30:48.799 bigger themes. So Billy Joe Armstrong's career, 00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:51.140 it's really a story of refusing to stay still. 00:30:51.470 --> 00:30:53.869 Completely. Constantly reinventing the scale 00:30:53.869 --> 00:30:55.890 of the music from those early three -chord punk 00:30:55.890 --> 00:30:59.990 songs to these sprawling, ambitious rock operas. 00:31:00.029 --> 00:31:02.170 Juggling all those side projects like the network, 00:31:02.410 --> 00:31:04.109 keeping those different creative outlets alive. 00:31:04.589 --> 00:31:06.789 Navigating those really tough personal crises 00:31:06.789 --> 00:31:10.869 very publicly, building businesses, and maybe 00:31:10.869 --> 00:31:13.480 most significantly... channeling his politics, 00:31:13.700 --> 00:31:16.880 his social views directly into the work, especially 00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:19.460 later in his career. He somehow managed to keep 00:31:19.460 --> 00:31:23.119 that core punk energy, that restlessness, while 00:31:23.119 --> 00:31:25.279 also doing things like starting coffee companies 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:28.099 and starring on Broadway. And becoming this prominent 00:31:28.099 --> 00:31:30.579 voice of political resistance within the mainstream. 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:33.940 It's a fascinating tightrope walk. So that brings 00:31:33.940 --> 00:31:36.240 us to our final thought, something for you, the 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:38.900 listener, to chew on. Yeah, think about this. 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:42.299 You have a band, Green Day, and a frontman. Billy 00:31:42.299 --> 00:31:44.940 Joe Armstrong, who become absolutely synonymous 00:31:44.940 --> 00:31:48.420 with 90s youth rebellion, anti -establishment 00:31:48.420 --> 00:31:51.460 anger, that whole DIY punk ethos. Right. Banned 00:31:51.460 --> 00:31:53.119 from Gilman Street for selling out. Exactly. 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:55.940 But then decades later, they're starting businesses, 00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:59.220 collaborating on Broadway musicals, getting inducted 00:31:59.220 --> 00:32:01.579 into the Hall of Fame, becoming a go -to voice 00:32:01.579 --> 00:32:03.740 for mainstream political protest. So the question 00:32:03.740 --> 00:32:06.440 is, does that mean the original punk ethos died? 00:32:06.619 --> 00:32:09.059 Did they inevitably sell out just over a longer 00:32:09.059 --> 00:32:13.519 timeline or? Did that ethos just evolve? Did 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:16.720 it find new ways, maybe more complex, multi -platform 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:19.119 ways to challenge the system, maybe even fight 00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:21.519 it from the inside using the tools of the mainstream? 00:32:21.900 --> 00:32:23.359 What do you think? When you look back at his 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:25.220 whole career, all these twists and turns we've 00:32:25.220 --> 00:32:27.619 talked about, what stands out to you as the most 00:32:27.619 --> 00:32:29.940 surprising pivot, the most defining moment in 00:32:29.940 --> 00:32:31.440 that evolution? Lots to consider there.