Green Day related projects
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Ever since 1991, some members of punk band Green Day have branched out past their "main band" and have started other projects with other musicians and have released full-length albums and several EPs. Notable related projects of Green Day include Billie Joe Armstrong's Pinhead Gunpowder (which also featured Green Day's live backup guitarist Jason White), The Frustrators in which Mike Dirnt plays bass, and The Network which many speculate has all three members of Green Day, although under stagenames.
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[edit] Pinhead Gunpowder
Since 1991, Billie Joe Armstrong has been a member of Pinhead Gunpowder, providing guitars and vocals along with Jason White. Prolific musician and Zine writer Aaron Cometbus (drums, lyrics), Green Day Road Manager Bill Schneider (bass), round out the line-up. Primarily a "studio only" type of side-project, the band has done a scant few rare shows, the last one occurring on February 3, 2008 in Anaheim [1]. The band's last release was 2003's rarity collection "Compulsive Disclosure" on Lookout! Records.
[edit] The Frustrators
Mike Dirnt also plays bass for the band The Frustrators, who are signed to Billie Joe's Adeline Records. They have two releases on the label, the Bored in the USA EP and their first full-length album Achtung Jackass. Dirnt has a Frustrators sticker on his bass that is very visible in Green Day's more recent videos. Members of the band are Jason Chandler (lead vocalist), Terry Linehan (guitar, vocals), Art Tedeschi (drums), and Mike Dirnt (bass). Interestingly, all of the members are from other bands, Terry Linehan from Waterdog, Jason Chandler and Art Tedeschi from Violent Anal Death, and, of course, Mike Dirnt from Green Day.
[edit] The Network
In 2003, during time Green Day spent time in the studio, a New Wave band known as The Network appeared on the scene. Three of the five members of the band are allegedly the three members of Green Day. The frontman, known only as "Fink", is believed to be Billie Joe Armstrong. Armstrong has referred to himself as Wilhelm Fink in the past, and a Pinhead Gunpowder fansite bio of Billie Joe Armstrong confirms Fink's identity.[1] Armstrong's voice is also unmistakable on The Network's albums. The Network's bass player, known as "Van Gough," is supposedly Mike Dirnt; and The Network's drummer, "The Snoo," is thought to be Tré Cool. John Roecker, director of Live Freaky Die Freaky, starring Green Day and other East Bay punk alumni, and Green Day's DVD Documentary Heart Like a Hand Grenade, has spoken of various projects recorded at Studio 880, including a New Wave album and a Christmas album, during the sessions of their latest album. Studio 880 is the credited studio in The Network's Money Money 2020 album and Green Day's American Idiot. No official connection has been made between the two bands, and both bands have defended, sometimes aggressively (in a probably staged press conference where some members from both bands engaged in a heated argument that broke into a minor conflict), the lack of connection between the two. Green Day's management has always declined to comment on the ongoing situation between Green Day and The Network. On October 6, The Network agreed to support Green Day with Jimmy Eat World on the American Idiot tour. Sources close to Green Day have been quoted as commenting, "That's a really bad idea," and, "Can we just make them go away?"
[edit] Foxboro Hot Tubs
During the first week of December 2007, a MySpace profile appeared featuring a band whose lead singer's voice unmistakably belonged to Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. Later that week, an official website, with six downloadable mp3s, also came into fruition. Not much information has be attained at this time, but surely more will surface soon after such a sudden appearance.
[edit] American Idiot: The Motion Picture
In 2005, a 12-minute video for Jesus of Suburbia was completed, as well as a live video for St. Jimmy. The video of Jesus of Suburbia is stated to be a prequel to their upcoming film, American Idiot: The Motion Picture. In an interview with Billboard magazine, Billie Joe Armstrong revealed that the group are still considering turning their punk rock opera into a film, in much the same spirit as the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, Marillion's Brave, Pink Floyd's The Wall and the Who's Tommy and Quadrophenia. Shooting of the movie is planned to start in 2006.[2] The band has stated they have no intentions to act in the movie, although they may make an appearance. Lou Taylor Pucci and Kelli Garner from the "Jesus of Suburbia" music video could make an appearance if the motion picture does go into production. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has said "It's definitely unfolding. Every single week there's more ideas about doing a film for American Idiot, and it's definitely going to happen."[2]
[edit] Charity events and songs
- Green Day performed at the 1999 Bridge School Benefit.
- Armstrong was part of an ensemble of musicians that sang The Beatles' "Across the Universe" at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards as part of a tsunami relief production. The band also pledged to give the profits from the downloading of their song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" to the tsunami relief fund.
- Green Day performed at the Live 8 concert on July 2, 2005, in Berlin, Germany, where they played "Holiday," "American Idiot," "Minority," and a rendition of Queen's "We Are the Champions."
- The band also contributed a prerecorded performance to the Hurricane Katrina Benefit relief event on September 10, 2005 from their performance the prior week at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The televised portion (shown on MTV and VH1) showed the trio performing their single "Wake Me Up When September Ends."
- The band used to write songs in People's Park[clarify] and has generously supported Food Not Bombs (supposedly $25,000 to each of several organizations).
- On September 7th, Greenday.com[3] announced that Green Day will record a song with legendary rock band, U2, in which they will they record The Saints Are Coming by The Skids, to benefit Music Rising, an organization that replaces instruments musicians lost in Hurricane Katrina's wake. The song reached number one in Ireland and number two in the UK charts.[4]
- Green Day joined forces with the Natural Resources Defense Council to fight for the environment.
- Green Day had an auction for an autographed bike, the money is going to charity.
- Green Day covered John Lennon's song Working Class Hero on the CD Instant Karma: The Campaign To Save Darfur which helps Amnesty International to focus attention on the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan. The CD was released June 12th, 2007
- Billie Joe and family helped to build homes in New Orleans (April 2007) and send in daily updates to Green Day's myspace [5].
[edit] References
- ^ "Fansite bio of Billie Joe Armstrong" Pinheadgunpowder.pwp.bluyonder.co.uk. Retrieved on September 7, 2006
- ^ a b Green Day album update: The US trio speak out. NME.com (2006). Retrieved on June 15, 2006.
- ^ Green Day
- ^ BBC News. "U2 to join forces with Green Day", 2006-09-09. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
- ^ http://www.greendayauthority.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1176424742&archive= GDA
