Green Day - Edgefest interview 11 July 1998

This vid was already on youtube but this is the complete interview and it has better quality! (Yeah, it still sucks, I know ahaha)


http://members.fortunecity.es/gdonline/2.htm

OK, I admit it - I've never understood the "punk rock" thing.

Take spit, for instance. Being purposely spit upon is usually considered a terrible insult. It's what brave men do before being shot by a firing squad. But in punk rock circles, it's a tribute. It's manna from punk heaven. Fans come away from punk concerts happy, exhausted and just a little bit damp. Weird, no?

The same goes for the way punk rockers tell their fans, "We love you! You're the best!" in a manner that can't be printed in a family newspaper. There's punk "dancing," which to many observers looks like a soccer riot. And let's not even discuss punk "fashion."

So it was with great interest that I finally had a chance to interview Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of Green Day. Considered one of the most influential punk rock bands of the '90s, the trio is among 13 edgy rock bands playing Edgefest at Commonwealth Stadium on Wednesday. (Bassist Mike Dirnt, who suffered a fractured skull from being hit with a beer bottle following a backstage fracas with a member of Third Eye Blind in L.A., is apparently feeling much better.)

The band is touring on its latest album, Nimrod. Note the self-deprecating album title.

Before Armstrong became fed up with my stupid questions and hung up on me, some remarkable insights were gained into the mind and myths of "punk rock."

First of all, he explains, there are many "factions" of punk rock. He insists that his opinion on the matter is just a personal viewpoint.

Conclusion: Punk is a personal thing.

"It's about celebrating your insecurities," Armstrong says. "A lot of people were into these different things that I wasn't into in school, sports and cheerleading, whatever. I wouldn't want to call myself an outcast. I think I was just more invisible. I wasn't a nerd or anything like that. I just sort of didn't really exist. And punk was a completely different world that I could relate to that no one else could. And I was sort of proud of that. I still am."

Point No. 2: Punk is hard to explain.

Says he, "It's almost like trying to describe a smell. It smells like dirt and Pine Sol. Maybe if you hung out with me and my friends for a couple of days, that would be the best way to understand it."

(Note to self: This is not likely to happen.)

Another thing about punk: It need not sound like punk at all. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), the mellow first single from the new album, was such a departure from the in-your-face previous work of Green Day that "a lot of people didn't even know it was us," Armstrong laughs.

But it's still punk: "A song like that is so vulnerable, and in a way, that's sort of what punk is. Instead of throwing your insecurities into a closet somewhere and keeping your guard up all the time, it's like celebrating it. Yeah, even Green Day can have a tender moment. I don't really care what people think. I just write my songs and that's it.

"I put myself on the line as far as whatever credibility is concerned and there was reaction to it. Everybody knows that, the whole sellout thing. But I'm not going to beat some 15-year-old kid over the head to tell him what punk rock means. Or just because some 35-year-old stockbroker bought my CD doesn't mean I'm going to sit here and worry about whether or not he identifies with punk rock. It's just a song. I know what it means to me and sometimes I'm not even sure I know how to explain it."

Conclusion: Analysis of punk is perhaps best (or worst) left to journalists. That goes double for talking about album sales. Armstrong becomes annoyed when asked if he's disappointed that Nimrod didn't sell as much as Green Day's previous two albums.

"What are you, a Billboard reader?" he sneers audibly.

"I don't give a #@&!! I write my songs, dude. That's all I do. What do you want me to say?"

Just be honest, I reply. Then comes the interview-ending question: Do you think your band is responsible for the punk rock revival in pop music?

"Oh, God," he mutters. Click ... Hello? Hello?

I think I got it now: Hanging up was just Billie's way of saying that he loves me. I wish it could've been in person - he might've spit on me.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Green
• Day
• Edgefest
• interview
• 11
• July
• 1998
• Nimrod
• Punk
• Rock
• Pop
• Gilpow

[shelloz09]

and then at the very last second of this video, Billie is playing guitar without wearing any pants. LMFAO

[Gilpow]

@shelloz09 HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA :DD

[emobloomsilver13]

billie is so cute when he was young he said "y'know?" and he still say it now lol

green day is the best band on earth

[gothicfairy21]

Haha tre smelled mikes dirty underwear hehehe:)

[TreDirntyCool]

Woooow! I haven't seen this one... LIKE!... Wooow I haven't seen this one.. LIKE! Woow I haven't se... Oh I have...

[pepperdreamer44]

Hahaha its amazing that the hottest guy on earth aka billie joe armstrong is the same age as my mum eek! Lol x

[L0ve4Cookies]

@gothicfairy21 ah ah, correction, " Haha tre smelled mikes DIRNTY underwear."

[Whenicomaroundiscool]

School is important... fuck!! Billie you sayed exactly what i feel about school!

[mentalfeed70]

I have been a fan of older green gay albums but I must admit i got scarred to listen to american idiot because a lot of there fans turned on them and said it sucked then a bunch of teens started listening to it and that got me more scared but i bought it any ways and i must say it is a masterpiece there best album for sure!

[Brokenhell13]

Alright billie i realize u b a international rock star, but learn some other word beside "y'know!" 15 1/2 times he says that goddamned word

[BJAluver4ever]

The Famous Y'know! :D

[ponypeep51]

someone should count how many times he says "y'know."

[blueandpurpleful]

@Oetzrock not that I don't like American Idiot (I like all of their albums), but I think that American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown are more like rock music and the most pop-punk album is either Dookie or Warning

[Oetzrock]

@IguanaSpunk

Yes, in earlier times they were much better but since 21st century breakdown, they are not that, what they were at once ... Now they more Pop-Punk, than real punk ( like american idiot)