Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their major-label debut Dookie, released through Reprise Records, became a breakout success and eventually shipped over 10 million copies in the U.S. Alongside fellow California punk bands Bad Religion, the Offspring, Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise and Social Distortion, Green Day is credited with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S.
Billie Joe Armstrong is an American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for the punk rock band Pinhead Gunpowder, and provides lead vocals for Green Day's side projects Foxboro Hot Tubs, the Network, the Longshot and the Coverups. Armstrong has been considered by critics as one of the greatest punk rock guitarists of all time.
1,000 Hours is the debut EP by American rock band Green Day, released in April 1989 through Lookout Records. Through a shared interest in music, school friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt formed the band Sweet Children. With the addition of drummer John Kiffmeyer, the played at the local punk club 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California, where they started attracting a following. After playing a show with the Lookouts, one of their members, Larry Livermore, signed Sweet Children to his label Lookout Records. They co-produced their debut EP, 1,000 Hours, with Andy Ernst at the Art of Ears Studio in San Francisco, California, in early 1989.
Michael Ryan Pritchard, better known by his stage name Mike Dirnt, is an American rock musician who is the co-founder, bassist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist of Green Day. He has also played in several other bands, including the Frustrators. His stage name Dirnt was originally a nickname that his friends from grade school gave him, as he constantly played "air bass/guitar" and made a "dirnt, dirnt, dirnt" noise while pretending to pluck the strings.
Sweet Children is the third EP by American rock band Green Day. It was released in August 1990 through Skene! Records. The name of the EP is a reference to a previous name of the band. One of the tracks is a cover of "My Generation" by The Who. All tracks were later included on the CD and cassette releases of the band's second studio album Kerplunk.
The Network is an American six-piece new wave band. A secret side project of rock band Green Day, they released their debut album Money Money 2020 on Adeline Records on September 30, 2003. After a 15-year hiatus, the band became active again in 2020, releasing a follow-up album titled Money Money 2020 Part II: We Told Ya So! in December 2020.
Pinhead Gunpowder is an American punk rock band that formed in East Bay, California, in 1991. The band currently consists of Aaron Cometbus, Bill Schneider (bass), Billie Joe Armstrong and Jason White. The band's name comes from a brand of "high octane" green tea served at the Arcata co-op and discovered by Aaron Cometbus during one of his many dumpster diving adventures.
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours is a compilation album comprising early recordings by American rock band Green Day, released October 1, 1991, on Lookout Records. Often erroneously referred to as the band's debut album, the compilation combines the band's actual debut 39/Smooth (1990) and its first two EPs 1,000 Hours (1989) and Slappy (1990), as suggested by the amalgamation of the titles of the debut album and two EPs for the resulting compilation album. The album includes one cover, "Knowledge", which was originally by influential California punk band Operation Ivy, whose singer, Jesse Michaels, contributed the artwork for the album. The cover art features the same image from 39/Smooth.
39/Smooth is the debut studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on April 13, 1990, by Lookout Records. After finalizing their line-up, the band played frequent shows at the 924 Gilman Street venue, and eventually caught the attention of Lookout Records' founder Larry Livermore. Following the release of the 1,000 Hours (1989) EP and stints in other bands, Green Day went to Art of Ears Studio, located in San Francisco, California, to record their debut studio album, which was co-produced with Andy Ernst. Sessions started at late December 1989 and ended in January 1990, costing $675. 39/Smooth has been tagged as punk rock, pop-punk and skate punk, with comparisons made to the work of older punk bands the Buzzcocks and the Ramones, as well to contemporaries Crimpshrine and the Lookouts. Unrequited love and longing for desire served as the main lyrical topics, while reminiscing on youth appeared in two of the songs.
Operation Ivy was an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California, formed in May 1987. They were critical to the emergence of Lookout Records and the so-called "East Bay Sound."
Energy is the only studio album by the American ska punk band Operation Ivy. It was originally released on vinyl and cassette in May 1989 through Lookout! Records with the catalog number LK 010. Although the album itself has never been released on CD, all of the tracks were featured on the career-spanning compilation Operation Ivy issued by Lookout in 1991. Despite achieving no mainstream success, Energy is considered one of the most important albums of ska punk and is frequently cited as an influence by many later bands of the genre.
Kerplunk is the second studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on December 17, 1991, by Lookout! Records. Following a US tour promoting their debut studio album 39/Smooth (1990), drummer John Kiffmeyer left to attend college and was replaced by Tré Cool, formerly of the Lookouts. By this stage, Green Day's audience shifted to teenage girls from suburban towns. In May 1991, they decamped to Art of Ears Studios in San Francisco, California, to record their next album with Andy Ernst, who co-produced the sessions with band. Six songs were recorded until the proceedings stopped in order for Green Day to resume touring, returning to the studio in September 1991 to finish the work.
John Kiffmeyer, known professionally as Al Sobrante, is an American cinematographer and retired musician and songwriter. He is best known as the first drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. His stage name is a reference to his hometown, El Sobrante.
"Knowledge" is a song by American band Operation Ivy. It was written by lead vocalist Jesse Michaels and appeared on the album Energy.
Compulsive Disclosure is the second compilation album by the American punk rock band Pinhead Gunpowder. It was released on October 21, 2003, through Lookout! Records. The album features songs from the group's eponymously titled 2000 EP, the Dillinger Four / Pinhead Gunpowder split EP, the 8 Chords, 328 Words EP and also features re-recorded versions of the songs "2nd Street" and "At Your Funeral". Compulsive Disclosure was re-released on CD and vinyl through Recess Records on February 12, 2010, with two unreleased tracks, "Salting Agents" and "El Lasso Grappo".
Carry the Banner is the third EP by the Berkeley, California-based punk rock band Pinhead Gunpowder. Originally released on 10" vinyl in December 1994 through Too Many Records, the EP was reissued on CD by Lookout Records shortly after as the initial vinyl pressing sold out quickly. It was the group's first release to feature Jason White on guitar/vocals, replacing Sarah Kirsch, who left the band in 1994 due to differences with Billie Joe Armstrong after his main band Green Day signed to major label Reprise Records.
Demolicious is a compilation album by American rock band Green Day. It was released on Record Store Day on April 19, 2014. It is a collection of demo versions of songs from their ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! album trilogy. The album also includes the previously unreleased "State of Shock" and an acoustic version of "Stay the Night". It was released on double vinyl, CD, and cassette tape. The cover art was designed by comic book artist Tom Neely with Kristina Collantes.
The Coverups is an American cover band that serves as a side project for Green Day members Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt. Founded in January 2018 as an outlet for performing cover songs, the band consists of guitarists Armstrong and Dirnt as well as several musicians from the Green Day circle, such as touring guitarist Jason White, audio engineer Chris Dugan on drums and tour manager Bill Schneider on bass. White, Armstrong, and Dirnt all share lead vocal duties.
Money Money 2020 Part II: We Told Ya So! is the second studio album by American new wave band The Network, a side-project featuring the members of Green Day. It was released on December 4, 2020, and was their first new album after seventeen years, following several weeks of subtle teases by the band via social media and several music videos from the promotional EP, Trans Am.
