Original subtitles

in 1994 something happened punk rock had

become the most popular style of music

in the world all of a sudden the

alternative was now the mainstream the

outcasts had become heroes and what was

ours was now theirs

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

like Monty

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

what is Punk a common question that has

been at the heart of many arguments

since its inception who started Punk was

it The Ramones or was it the Stooges

where did Punk begin was a Detroit or

New York City or did it come out of

England who was the most Punk was it the

Sex Pistols with their snarly

anti-authoritarian attitude or was it

the clash with their socially infused

lyrics unfortunately for you the viewer

this film would not answer these

questions nor will it delve into the

frequent arguments of who is or who is

in punk instead this is a story about a

group of people with common interests

who at a certain period of time took

punk rock out of the basements and

backyard parties and to the television

screens and radio airwaves across the

world this is their story and this is

how it happened in the early 80s America

had a blossoming punk rock scene

influence but not a carbon copy of the

punk rock scenes of the 70s this new

scene was more of a hardcore punk and

communities were popping up all over the

United States

in places such as Boston Washington DC

and Los Angeles but by the mid-80s the

scenes had mostly imploded and most of

the bands were either dismantle or

experimented with other styles and music

by 1986 punk rock as it was known

considered dead it's ten years the 80s

when punk rock was around it completely

changed from early 80s kind of the LA

adolescents descendents sound to the

late 80s when there was nothing good

it's it's like punk rock was really

strong like you know 80 80 through 85

and probably like 84 it started dying

away a lot of the bands started breaking

up there were no clubs really to play at

it was really there was no functioning

labels may be like SST but there was

nothing new really happening you know it

was kind of a dark time for punk rock

all the other bands that either died off

or you know you know English dogs bands

like exploited started making heavy

metal records discharge [ __ ] that let

started making a techno record I was

disgruntled with the punk scene because

it became very intolerant nobody goes to

Punk anymore that's like six years ago

but if punk rock was dead in 1986 it was

about to get a healthy shot in the arm

starting on New Year's Eve of that same

year in the Bay Area of Northern

California in the eighties the whole

thing and kind of died away even even I

kind of have given up on it because like

our local scene had gotten really

violent

getting a fighter tripping over some

people shooting up speed and heroin

that's that's what it was like back in

those days a lot of the clubs were

playing were really like hardcore spots

like CBGB's or something like that the

games were getting smaller so if you

found a place that we do all ages shows

it would usually be like a veteran's

hall or some kind of recreation center

and usually it was it was owners that

were not aware of what the show was

gonna be like you know they didn't

realize it was gonna be a big huge mess

and probably a couple fights and stuff

was gonna get broken so if you were

lucky enough to get a hall to do the

show whoever was promoting it it he

would inevitably lose it after a show or

two but in Northern California in

Berkeley they had Gilman Street mid 86

we put on a show at a pizza parlor in

Berkeley and it kind of everything

clicked for once there was no violence

it was all really cool bands and we

spent the rest of the year developing at

that warehouse 31st of December 1986 I'd

be bored open the very ends we've been

up I swept up every day

you know all these sweeping up at the

machine I was the garbage man you know

I'd go in in the morning on Monday

morning and take all the garbage down in

the DOM I mean Gillis street with one of

those places where it was run by the

kids just totally ghetto spray paint you

know really really nice example of

people getting together and making it

work the first time we played I remember

we do 80 people I got hit in the face

with the basketball

first song well it's here best about my

face good shot too I just started kind

of getting into you know starting to go

there and start seeing bands like creme

Shrine

you know operation ID and aisaka see

it's great just like that do it in six

months after we opened there was all

these new bands and it was this whole

kind of buzz suddenly you know that

following year

arguably one of the most influential

bands to come out of the Bay Area

Operation Ivy were a direct product of

the Gilman Street Club I don't think how

much never would have happened

we've always wanted to be in bands and I

mean we were always playing together and

then you know he hooked up you know

started going this you know he went to

New York and he came back and goes

there's his club down on Gilman Street

just gonna open up and I was like Gilman

Street like it's nothing down there but

junkyard to the day-old bread store you

know and like he goes no it's in the

basket we in place I'm like what we went

there yeah you know New Year's Eve in 86

and you know we saw the show and it was

like wow this is this is quite really

something I used to see Tim around

Gilman all the time I used to call him

that floppy kid because he likes are

always bouncing around and jumping on

you and just sort of like he was made

out of rubber or something you know just

started doing the band thing and I only

had this beard rehearsal place that was

must have been in September of 87 and

they they played right after that at

Gilman and I I was just so amazed they'd

only been a band for about three months

but already everybody in the crowd knew

all their songs I was singing along and

jumping up on stage with them and it was

most one of the most exciting live shows

that I had ever seen

with the upper Sam's about 40 years for

a shorter look there was no label they

put out corrupt immoral scrim strong and

sokrati and opportunity and seven

teachers I remember telling that we like

crazy

Normie even though I didn't really

properly have a record company yet I

mean I I put out my own round dance

record but I had no idea but putting in

other records but Tim came offstage and

said well would you think and that's a

want to put out of your record he sought

out a sort of thought I was joking

because I said they'd only been

abandoned for months but okay one of the

first times I heard a man that was that

good

that was my age and almost like you know

you hear people saying that they got

into Punk because they heard they said I

can play this and operation he was the

band like kind of like everybody was

like whoa I used to go see Operation Ivy

all the time like they were like my

favorite band you know these guys were

like rock stars or something you know if

there was such thing as a rock star

coming out of Gilman Operation Ivy

changed my life for sure we were on tour

in the US and I heard that 7-inch of the

first time it was incredible

they were pretty much the pioneers of

that sound and no one's touched them

since you got into a four-door car 69

Newport six-week tour

six weeks you know to the East Coast we

were to first Gilman band hit the road

and we didn't have a blueprint you know

what the [ __ ] we were doing another

young band that formed out of the Gilman

scene would go on to completely change

the way people viewed punk rock and then

we just started really getting into punk

music at groups more like you know who

score do and the replacements seven

seconds

Dead Kennedys it was kind of eclectic

you know not nothing was like consider I

wasn't like some straight-up hardcore

kid I wasn't like a straight 77 punk kid

I wasn't totally into maybe college rock

or I'll turn to music or anything like

that it was just it's kind of all of it

combined it was just different I just

had more eclectic taste than just going

for one thing that means in specific

because we get this guy in our band his

name is John also known as El Sobrante

we met him in another backyard party he

wanted to come play with us so we

started playing with him just starting

to play gigs we start playing Davis we

started playing Gillman just start

playing these these shows he said there

was a big party that was going on the

top of this mountain and it was put on

by the drummer from the lookouts friend

which was tray so there was just kind of

these sort of dope-smoking hippie kids

that were sitting around on the floor

with ticketed you know with candles they

were 15 or 16 there already had this

kind of just Rockstar persona and he

kind of very shyly okay and they want to

do records so you know it's cool it was

the greatest thing in the world I mean

they'd already had you know pop IV and

Crim's Rhine and they were making

records at that time that we absolutely

loved you know we're you know some of

them as far as I'm concerned some of the

best records ever made in Northern

California with the new mecca for a

do-it-yourself scene Southern California

was about to have its own research

[Music]

Southern California's like always being

like the surf

you know skate capital of kind of the

world you know and it's like it was all

about you know hanging out on the beach

you know surf him in the morning

drinking beer you know all day long at

the beach skating some backyard pools

going to a punk show or a party that

night and it was kind of like the de no

[ __ ] was the kind of the no fashion punk

in a way I mean I call you it had its

its fashion function [ __ ] but like you

know the uniform for like a kid down

here growing up was just like a pair of

Levi's you know in a t-shirt and black

flag shirt and converse or something

well I think a lot of it has to do a

location pissed off all the time here

screaming Southern California we're all

happy it's like sunny and beautiful so

we're singing about Nixon [ __ ] because

either we go girl West Coast was

political as well but it was more of a

rage like black flag and then the scene

down here was a lot of fighting a lot of

violence a lot of gangs like punk gangs

and just more of just a [ __ ] chaotic

mess of [ __ ] drugs

then up in San Francisco you have all

these like it's like a lot of educated

people and want to art artists and a lot

of liberal thinking and a lot of think

tanks and whatever so you have these uh

a lot of punk rock bands that are more

like socially aware and socially

conscious about feminism and the

environment they're like kind of hippies

in whatever it's on DC you have it's

very political you have all these

discord bands like the minor threats and

for Ghazis of the world are very stand

for something and and why I actually

feel like they can't change the world

and try because they see it happening at

and every day in their City but very few

good records came out from 85 to 89 of

course with the exception of Bad

Religion suffer that's what invigorated

our whole scene that's what changed

everything

but by then the music scene had changed

completely because it was mostly you

know

80s metal and have gotten huge and

that's all our Punk friends grew their

hair long and joined metal bands and at

the time we made suffer there was a real

desert in the music in the punk music

scene and we sort of offered a little

bit of a revamped style of the early

eighties punk and by that time Bret's

skills in the studio were better and so

we became more of a high-fidelity punk

band in 1987 when we released suffer and

I guess that was a I open and for a lot

of people

well supper was the first time I heard

it bad a punk man do three part

harmonies I think that was kind of the

start of something new it was it was

sort of a lot it kind of thing that

people hadn't really done before hadn't

done well

so I started epitaph proper really in

about 87 and at that time I signed the

l7 aside the little kings and I signed

halogen also in 87 I had just gotten

clean and sober so like when I was a kid

I was a real partier and became pretty

heavily addicted to drugs and I got

clean April 14 1987 and just right

around the time that I started writing

suffer and and write you know so I

basically got clean and sober I needed

something to focus on and put all my

energy into and that was it it was the

new the renewed Bad Religion and epitaph

in 84 we were going to shows myself and

Greg Kay and a couple other guys and we

tried to get into a social distortion

show and it was sold out this was in in

Irvine Orange County also so we had

nothing to do so of course we went to

somebody's house whose parents weren't

home and we're drinking beer in the

backyard and stuff and just kind of

shooting the [ __ ] and so why don't we

start our own band of course none of us

played instruments at all but that

didn't seem like a deterrent at the time

none of us had any really good ideas you

know we're asking people talking around

whatever and ended up just picking the

offspring because we kind of just didn't

dislike it too much it's like the best

the best thing wasn't like we're all

stoked like this is the perfect name

it's like I can live with that

there was also a healthy dose of rivalry

and not just between the east and west

coasts but rather between the northern

and southern california scenes

in the 90s when we started getting into

it when Pennywise was around and no

effects and everybody there was the East

Coast West Coast rivalry saying you know

is sick of it all and then all the bands

from back there and agnostic front and

there was like there was always this

East Coast versus West Coast thing but

Dillon when everyone eventually got

together then everyone was super cool

the rivalry I think it it there was a

kind of beach and Hollywood Punk's

didn't get along there was just you know

part of the whole thing it was just

supposed to be dangerous and supposed to

be you know [ __ ] up so there had to be

some kind of tension along the way that

to make it across well so just wouldn't

be punk rock well we you know they were

always behind us it's just I mean like

punk rock started in LA and it would

would trickle up to San Francisco but

they were always three years behind us

and you can ask anyone from LA don't ask

anyone from San Francisco no but

seriously we would we would be doing

shows in LA and the kids would have like

the style and the like the dances and

the sound right that early you know that

early you know California hardcore sound

and then we go play shows in San

Francisco and there would be dudes up

there wearing leopard skin tights and

Devo glasses with long afros I mean like

and that was Anna skinny tie and that

was Punk to them and we look like what

the [ __ ] you know seriously they were

lame I don't care I mean they did have

the Dead Kennedys that's her one claim

to fame San Francisco is every bit as

new wave as LA when it came to like the

you know the art school kids but I went

when it came to hardcore punk rock they

were like three years behind three years

back then was a lot but the truth is

that the tension that exists in in

general among the population maybe

played a little bit of a role in the

competition

and for us leaving the East Bay I mean

it sounds weird now but it was a bit of

a coup right operation have you guys

going down to tap right there's no

northern cow we're actually the first

non Southern California band on the

thinnest label I loved your tape mares

and it's amazing it's cassette tape I

love it

well one thing's gonna change the name

yeah man

Rancic man come on better name than that

I'm like no I only know about that well

I'm a Harvard man look listen to me

really from Orange County or LA

newspaper I play the ranch

honey when I was talking about I love LA

hardcore man but because I believe in it

so much my name I think now is being up

to him to whenever he doubts me about

something I go bed oh no bread you

didn't even like my band name at the end

of the 80s the California punk scene had

reimburse as a self-sufficient entity

that didn't rely on commercial

television radio or major label

distribution it's strong focused on DIY

ethics and a camaraderie between the

bands made it possible for them to tour

full-time and make a living there used

to be this book maximum rock'n'roll put

out I don't know if they even do it

anymore but it was called book your own

[ __ ] life and it was a great thing

for bands in that early nineties I'm I'm

sure it was for a long time it was

really great for us because it was just

they just publicized it once a year and

it had all new context for people that

were doing punk shows and so you can

call somebody in some tiny town in Utah

or something you know and find a place

to play and and a lot of times they were

parties you know but but you could be on

tour and maybe make gas money at least

find a place to sleep

yeah we just play basement parties and

we played kids would rent out vets halls

and you know wherever Sioux Falls South

Dakota and we would end up playing

pretty much wherever whenever you know

and and none of it was there was no

clubs I think we made me play one or two

clubs then we played one club in

Portland the place called the Satyricon

and we were all underage so we had me

and Mike had to stand outside before we

played and then they told us to come in

to play and then they said okay now

leave and we'll they paid us you know 20

bucks or something

[Music]

he had our ribbed album out we just did

a tour and I made $15

I got no from the tour and I thought I

can I can live off this

[Music]

in 91 I made $8,000 that year and that

was great that was amazing to make

$8,000 in a year playing punk rock so

that's when I thought as long as my wife

has a good job I can do this for a while

longer another factor was the

correlation between punk rock and the

lifestyle that revolved around surfing

skating and snowboarding the surfing and

skating were always you always

considered like a pothead or a loser or

a dropout if you were doing that [ __ ] so

punk rock fit in

naturally with that you know I grew up

as a skateboarder because I wasn't an

athlete you know now people are saying

you are an athlete of your skateboard

which is totally true but back in the

day I grew up as a skateboarder cuz I

was a punker you know and we its away

from you to run around and you'll get

into trouble and get the [ __ ] out of

there you know

[Music]

Rasha magazine you know always had that

connection you know always made the

connection you know I mean you always

saw bands like JFA you know then he had

the whole skate punk and the skate rock

compilations and [ __ ] I mean the faction

you know was a band that I grew up with

one of the first shows I was a rap is

that the faction show and but they're a

huge influence on getting into

transitioning from the skateboard thing

to the music because they kind of hear

at least they kind of started that whole

thing and to me see it seems like they

started the whole thing worldwide

because there's a lot of sort of ideas I

think punk rock and skateboarding or

surfing and they've it's always been you

know the same kind of people it's the

same mentality

I mean skateboarding and surfing all

know pretty much Southern Californians

you know this is where it all kind of

started a lot of it but mostly on the

skating side the surfing side was more

like hippie [ __ ] you know people listen

to Led Zeppelin and Bob Marley and and

and kind of more folk music and you know

long-haired weed smoking dudes like it

wasn't punk rock wasn't really accepted

in the community surfing community I

said like Black Flag bar spray pendulum

on my board and just skinhead out in the

water and people would want to beat me

up because you know to the [ __ ] out of

here tennis ball head or whatever or

whatever but we we we were connected

with like a local surf shop in Hermosa

called spider boards and you know

through some people there and whatever

there's a guy named Taylor steel that

started making surf movies and there was

this whole young breed of surfers coming

up Kelly Slater Kalani Rob Rob Machado

these guys that were super aggro super

ripping and doing stuff that no one had

ever done before on a surfboard and he

put out a video and he wanted to use you

know penny wise as the soundtrack and a

couple other bands and you know

battle-ax didn't surf and down by law

didn't sarah fleet we grew up with the

beach so we were like I don't know if

those some of those bands said no but we

wound up being like the main one of the

main

one of his first movies called momentum

and that movie went worldwide and it

kind of set the bar for this new level

of surfing and along with it came this

punk-rock soundtrack which had never

been heard

[Music]

and you guys got guys got you got Kelly

Slater like ripping away to shred some

blasting airs and then you got fast punk

rock music behind it and you just looked

at it and go wow this is it this is

right so then it you know went in this

end of a skateboarding stuff because

their aggressor sports and an aggressive

sound tracks it's when I was in my early

teens I studied surf videos watching

Kelly and Rob and Shane and all those

guys and I just I studied it so it kind

of just got in my mind and I was like

that's the feeling I'm studying those

guys and then stretching before I go

surf it was like getting an amp to go

surf and so it definitely made a huge

impact I remember too when I first

started doing the wqs and contests I'd

listen to punk rock music and all that

stuff and and I'd actually get too

psyched and too amped

I'd go out there and just spaz and like

fall off and I'd be like relax I'm like

I'm ready to go you know we gotta

imagine if you're gonna drop in on a

wave and you might die or a shark is

gonna eat you you want to hear something

that's the fast and motivating the same

thing of skateboarding but you got to

understand also to the genesis of

skateboarding surfing right here in

California and the people that did it

will complete Derek's that were that

didn't have jobs and dropouts in school

you know so like so the music they

listen to and the life they lead is

something

you know it's like it's all the same so

the music huh it has to be justice just

as full of some kind of personal anarchy

as anything else I don't think punk-rock

music shows its athletes it's athletics

or whatever or the are these athletes

chose us music I think they kind of

chose each other

[Music]

and then really I think I got a credit

to Fletcher and Pennywise he I think

convinced epitaphs to submit the penny

wise stuff for some of the surf movies

that were coming out I think that was

the first momentum movie I'm not sure

there's a few of them and I that

instantly there was this whole new

audience I wouldn't say that we were

responsible for it I would say that the

Taylor steel is responsible for them and

I give him all the credit because he's

the one who decided to put that music

into his into his video and and it

opened the door Taylor steel is a surf

video photographer that he's made on

momentum focus good times all these

great no historical surf films he's the

one that found it like you know brought

Kelly Slater and Benjy Weatherly into

the world you know Rob Machado or before

Taylor's so come along mr. Frodo's no

just had rock or whatever made all kinds

of different performance music until

just a really focused and on Southern

California punk rock putting an

offspring blink us a penny wise in these

videos when this happened it was a

cultural phenomena it was a huge hit

surfing video it's like really the the

one that kind of started everybody

making surf and skate videos and then I

just got it out there that anyone who's

making a skate video if they wanted

music you know major labels will charge

you a bunch of money but I'll give you

music for free it's a big way that I

that I that a lot of my bands got

popular because kids in Kansas would buy

a skate video to see this so the latest

skate tricks and then they would hear no

effects and you know what's that you

know I mean I mean it's definitely the

soundtrack to all those videos you know

it happened for us because the very next

crop of movies we were on with ignition

and stuff and and you could just you

could see it within a few months that we

had a whole different audience a whole

new audience in in addition to the the

regular punker gets more the surf and

skate guys this single relationship

between this culture and the music was

enough to take these bands overseas I

met Taylor one day who's videoing down

to Mission Beach and I knew it was him

because the surfers out there were 10

times better than anyone who served

there normally and I ran out to him and

I'm like a UTI were stealing so yeah and

I'm like I'm Rick DeVoe and I promote

concerts and I'm like I want to take my

bands and mix them with your video

let's tour around the world so we can go

surfing and he was like all right so I

got hold the offspring and he did the

offspring and it was really bitchin and

then we did Pennywise you know we just

start doing them all over the place

Devo was great because he he was the guy

in in San Diego that was so pumped on

all the epitaphs stuff and this would be

back in 92 93 and stuff and he was

putting on shows there he was really

combining it with the surf thing and he

got it going when there was no radio to

support you know punk rock which it was

that time period and there was no MTV

support for punk rock something like a

kid getting a surf video in Australia I

mean we all know that Australia is a

huge I mean everything revolves around

the water there and and surfing and I

remember Taylor Steele's video over

there you know was one of the main

things that brought like all of a sudden

we were popular Australia we had no idea

it kind of hit in certain places where

like surfing was big so Australia got it

Hawaii got it Florida guy California got

it Japan got it and so when that

happened it kind of used everything made

it possible for bands like us and

anyways an offspring to actually go out

and sell tickets and sell record so it

wasn't because the radio wasn't because

MTV it wasn't because of anything except

that video people started buying the

records and we went over there not

knowing what to expect I mean we played

Sean Seanie I remember at a festival or

standing there and there wasn't one

person there and that band live was

playing at the other stage against us

and worse and they're going with us this

is [ __ ] [ __ ] you know everyone's

gonna go see live they were like one of

the biggest bands in the world and ten

minutes later there was 10,000 people on

our stage going [ __ ] crazy and we're

like what the [ __ ] we had no idea and

you know it was all because the trailer

steals video that's what I think while

the punk rock scene was reestablishing

itself all of the industry and media

attention was focused on a music scene

coming out of the Northwest which they

labeled grunge Sub Pop Records seemed to

be at the center of this explosion

boasting releases from bands such as

Soundgarden Mudhoney and Nirvana

some of these bands remain independent

while others chose to sign with a major

label

even though this alternative scene was

hip and promising it had not yet had a

real breakthrough genre-defining hit but

this was all about to change on january

11th 1992

Nirvana's Nevermind became the number

one album on the US Billboard chart

knocking off Michael Jackson's dangerous

and this alone would change the face of

music forever there was never really an

idea that we were gonna make it as a

band it just it wasn't possible because

they're just those kinds of bands were

not on the radio they weren't MTV they

weren't making it so the first thing

that even started to change that really

has got to be Nirvana and teen spirit

Nirvana was there was a pump in you know

there's no denying that and when those

guys broke broke down that barrier and

that that that door kicked the [ __ ]

door in with smells like teen spirit we

were like just going [ __ ] yeah like now

what I well now and then I look back in

retrospect if it hadn't been for Nirvana

I don't think bands like rancid would

have ever had an opportunity or a green

day or an Oscar or whatever because me

now that was huge it was on MTV and to

me when I saw that video was like well

yeah that's what a show kind of looks

like you know when they had all the kids

jumping around the stage diving and

stuff and that's what Gilman Street

looked like and it was like wow this is

actually pretty cool that this kind of

stuff is being being seen by a bigger

audience and that was the real break I

don't think it was green get off string

that was the real break for us that's

the first time really cool alternative

and exciting it was just like it was

like boom get out of the way here comes

the real deal here comes the guys in a

flannel shirt and a [ __ ] pair of

Levi's that are just playing music and

they're not trying to be anybody they're

just trying to get their art across

they're not trying to be rock star

and when I came on the mat they changed

radio got all the hair metal bands off

the radio and brought punk rock to the

forefront even though they weren't

totally punk rock but they were they

were they were a punk band but just a

kind of a different style of it even

though people call them arongino

so they brought back stripped-down raw

real music to radio like punk rock was

pretty much anti-metal you know anti

anti rock-and-roll anti all that [ __ ] it

was no [ __ ] makeup and I mean well

there was makeup granted but I mean it

wasn't like you know looking there was

it was anti looking like a girl and

[ __ ] the hairspray and all that [ __ ]

so it was kind of funny to see the

effect that Nirvana had on all the bad

hair metal bands for my generation

everyone remembers the first time they

heard everyone and the first time is

rich in spirit Thank You Joey something

you remember I don't know if you guys

are old enough but that was the song

that changed everybody in our city

because everything kind of happened in

cycles and if you think about it like

when the punk with the Pistols and the

clash and [ __ ] Iggy and the Stooges mc5

you know it was it was kind of David

Bowie so he started it was kind of in

New York Dolls it was going that way you

know what I mean so it was just a matter

of time I don't really feel like there

was a separate there's really separation

between grunge and punk rock like I said

I think if there's there's very similar

energies in both I feel like it was very

similar ethos in both there's an honesty

in all that music and I don't feel like

I don't really feel like there was one

scene versus another scene I feel like

they kind of like was this big mass

together I mean you also got to remember

this is when you know the whole music

industry seemed like it was willing to

take a little couple more chances you

know what I mean because as much as

people want to think it's all evil and

corporate and [ __ ] like that yeah

everything's evil and corporate whether

it's the chair you sit on or the food

that you put in your mouth

yeah there's no way to escape it unless

your neck naked levitating in a forest

you know what I mean and then you're a

[ __ ] hippie and then you should be

shot anyway

but you know what else was happening

look at the guitar sales in the 90s

fender and Gibson those companies went

through the roof as well so I mean

you've got a lot of different things

maybe adding up I think it was kind of

just one step at a time first it was

Nirvana and then once kids got into that

then it was easy to get into Smashing

Pumpkins and then maybe they got into

rollins or whatever I just got oh you

know little by little a little bit more

aggressive on bands like us and our

friends were just a few steps away

although the grunge and punk scenes were

not aligned the fact that distorted

guitars were now ruling the airwaves

sent the major labels on the hunt for

the next big thing we didn't get our

deal with Atlantic until 1993 so and

then 94 was a very big year I want to

borrow you for a second it wasn't really

until them that we even had a chance but

from the very early days we thought it'd

be great to be on a real label you know

epitaph wasn't until the early nineties

epitaph was still just run out of breath

Garage basically and so when we were

kids it was our dream to be on a big

label that religion was a good solid

built they were they got they got

popular they started drawing it started

happening for them fast and you know

they made very smart records

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

a green day you know I started working

with them you know they had just dead

there their second record out on Lookout

you know coupon coming out is like 1992

and we were just everywhere we played

there was a like you know a lot of

people in the clubs and even if there

was even if there's a small show there

is a sense of enthusiasm that was

happening that we we were just having a

great time and you know we brought

around silkscreen t-shirt you know

making t-shirts on people's front lawns

and stuff like that yeah so just

basically as I'm finishing mixing an

album for Jeff and Elliott they get

Green Day they put a four song demo and

one of the songs is basket case I don't

think Longview was on there she was on

there it was a cassette as I was mixing

one night was like 12:00 at night they

put thick is set on they go Rob you

gotta listen to this we think this is

great so of course I'm thinking tired

last thing I want to do is do some ANR

I've been been working with the mops for

four months every night you know it's

late but I put the cassette in on the

way home and I hear this music come out

and I was just like I gotta sign these

guys it took me like two seconds I don't

know we just kind of talked to rob and

we ended up really liking him he had a

strong opinion in music I think we were

really impressed with let you know he

was just a huge Beatles fan and played

guitar and was producer you really

wanted to put up with our record and I

just think when it came down to it he

was the guy that sort of made the most

sense and just because it was kind of

like he was a musician and he had he

knew what the mentality of a musician

was it seemed that everything up to this

point had been brewing slowly and

organically but no one had any idea what

was about to happen next

Kurt Cobain killing himself and a

Nirvana going-away created a vacuum for

like catchy aggressive music when the

Duke he started getting playing the

radio I thought wow here we go like this

is this is it I mean Nirvana was one

thing but Green Day was you know pretty

much a straight up punk rock band Green

Day did two Grimes the Nirvana did it's

a hair Rock

I can even greedy came runs done because

in essence you know Billy Joe kilograms

you know let's go into college and I was

working actually at a record store and

you know there's people that had no idea

about the punk rock scene at all and all

of a sudden they were asking me about

Green Day and they were asking me like

people that I went to college with were

asking about these punk rock bands I was

like how did you hear about this band

they're like oh you know I saw the video

on MTV or I see you know I started

hearing them on the radio like what's

this all about and it really kind of

took me by surprise that these bands

that I thought it was like underground

punk rock bands we're starting to get

picked up on by people that would never

normally listen to that kind of music so

it was really starting to tip at that

point and spill into mainstream culture

for the punk rock scene I think they

were the best of the time for sure you

know and the timing was impeccable

because no one's ever heard power pop

like that before you know and uh you

know I could power pop it's such a I

love that term and I don't know who else

might categorize Green Day is that but I

think the Lincoln and Green Day and a

few others kind of comp in the same you

know we both speak to the same audience

a white suburban kid whose life isn't

that bad

it's not that good you know I remember

hearing longview on the radio the first

time and just like that that opening

riff and just being like holy [ __ ] what

is this

I remember when Mike wrote the bass line

to it he was on acid and he was like

sitting on the floor and kind of you

know you know and it's like yeah and

then but thank God he remembered it and

then we just kind of started piecing it

together you know playing in different

spots but I think the first time we ever

really played that song was in Longview

Washington months just grinded it took a

few months for months after two months

character playing it a little bit they

play it at night and then it just grew

good after six months

Longview basically made Dookie go gold

but it took all that time but what was

really happening was is a new sound was

emerging

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

an mtv got it it was a three-piece the

video was shot really kind of ghetto

when that hit they just poured the

gasoline on and it just exploded that

was a you know that's pretty much

history that was it

punk rock was now official and it was on

the map Spin Magazine down in Green Bay

was on the cover and I was like yes you

know who's like yes finally

next thing you know I mean Spin Magazine

put on the cover of 1994 the year Punk

broke you know so the whole music

climate change it wasn't just for

epitaph all of a sudden punk rock was on

the radio it's just unheard of when I

was growing up he was gonna happen

eventually it had to happen it was

either gonna be Green Day or battle

again the offspring no one thought they

were gonna get big that was totally out

of left field

yeah I had a feeling about it yeah I

should clarify though I've had that

feeling on records subsequently and it

never came true

I remember getting that when I first got

the the finished mixes and I was driving

home from work I was listening to them

in my car which at the time was like

that you know like a 1978 beige Volvo

station wagon and I'm driving home and

I'm cranking this this see know the

cassette tape and and I was already into

my home neighborhood and I just started

circling the house I did want to go in

because I listened to self-esteem over

and over I listened to it like 11 times

and I just kept circling the block

because I didn't want stop listening to

it I didn't want to look like a weirdo

sitting in my car but and then I went in

I said to my wife and this might sound

really vulgar but I said honey I think

we're gonna be rich

[Music]

we were listening we were on tour The

Offspring was opening with us they

weren't having a holiday in school bus

that the drummer Ron had converted like

made a bunch of bunks and [ __ ] and you

know where it weren't a van

you got six guys in a van with no

trailer all of our equipment and all of

our [ __ ] merchandise and six guys and

we're touring the entire United States

and we're listening to smash you know on

the CD walkman

and Brian's like jab breath thinks this

like this is a radio song it's a radio

hit and he's playing like he's playing

keep it separated number one what do you

mean Radiohead and he's like stakes of

this song is gonna be like they're gonna

play it on the radio or something

I'm like really well no [ __ ] way

they're not gonna play this and he's

like I don't know so he seems to think

likes a hit song I'm like yeah whatever

he's all I told the same thing well yeah

[ __ ] yeah twelve million hours later it

was a hit song

there was a lot organic about the

offsprings record happening yeah keep

him said it was just well written the

song they they write great songs

it was almost instantaneous I mean their

previous record had sold 50,000 so

[Music]

you know the song coming out and play

got on the radio k-rock in LA grabbed it

right away put it on and they blew it up

in a local market and then the next

thing you know I'm you know character

very influential station oh his has been

and so other stations said hey what's

this tune you know and they all started

playing it you know and the next thing

you know marching bands are playing it

at baseball games and basketball games

and and you know it's in them you know

whose it was almost everywhere they're

playing keep him separated over the

radio and I was even launched or

something and I saw the people and the

cooks in the kitchen doing this sort of

like Egyptian dance they're so happy for

Brian and and all the guys in the

offspring because it was like one of us

hit it big you know

I know Brad was Gurewitz at the time was

really you know they saw was having a

green day so there was like calendars

you got a couple moves you can make to

be one of the two or three original

bands you know the only a few slots like

to get in as one of the originals you

know and no Brian hall and Ruth he's a

great songwriter and you wrote that song

man in that video they made I think they

only made for 5,000 bucks all right so

you know it was really cool that they

did that helped all of us out I think

probably when I knew something was

really going on is when because I lived

in a tiny apartment at the time and I'd

gotten up and I was in like my underwear

and I was in my kitchen like getting a

glass of water of the kitchen sink and

in the apartment complex you can see

through the kitchen window to the doors

of the people on their side and there's

a guy on his cordless phone standing on

his porch and he goes yeah man I'm

looking at him right now because when

that blew up really what happened is the

sound blew up not just the offspring it

was shortly after that the rancid record

went platinum and blue

and movie Soho and time bomb on the

radio it was around that time that I

quit my band after writing a record for

my band that went gold so you know one

day punk rock is a school underground

thing that I'm doing and working very

hard on and nurturing and developing and

then it just popped I called the

democratization of punk when punk left

the urban center and you could now find

it in the malls throughout America

throughout the world when I saw her

answer on MTV for the first time I said

this is so over hat that's all I thought

it this is so rad if the world came

around to me what I was doing I'm one of

my own business they came to me you know

me I have to go you know well you know

it was just a crazy time because I mean

everybody thinks that you know they have

some preconceived idea that there's so

much money going around that you know

you know all of a sudden like because

you're maybe on TV or you you're doing

this or you're doing that or you got

this kind of record whatever you got

through your life your pockets are lined

with [ __ ] dough now all of a sudden

it's like well if that's the case why is

my man out in the street count crowd

couchsurfing yeah I mean I mean [ __ ]

Top Ramen you know I mean if this is the

glamorous lifestyle rock and roll

where's my [ __ ] give me some real

spaghetti man

I actually thought they were all

successes whether they sold or not just

because I thought the music was so cool

but I mean face it you know Punk and Rob

look sold a half million records one

monitor it as success in that way that

would probably have been the biggest

record well yeah we got it no effects

got a gold record but it's I think it

took us eight to ten years before it

went gold it never hit the charts Punk a

drug look I don't think it ever sold

more than two thousand records a week

but it did 500,000 in the u.s.

eventually religion and no effects

started raising the bar and writing

really good songs you know I kind of

noticed that scene and totally changed

I saw a grown man walk into a bar with a

no effects hoodie and I knew no effects

from Trevor I knew Fat Mike from summer

camp probably when basket-case came out

I think you know towards the end of that

I had that and that single I think was

like things were you know it was like

Woodstock and Lollapalooza and you know

mud fighting and all that [ __ ] was like

well this is definitely gone haywire you

know but it wasn't just the bands that

were experiencing this unprecedented

level of success the indie labels most

of which were run by the bands

themselves were also reaping the

benefits of punk rock's newfound

popularity it is interesting how so many

label owners in punk rock are or were

advanced as far as I'm concerned

it gives it gave me a really good

perspective because I I know what I

wanted being in a band so I could figure

out what to give a band or how to make

them happy or how to make them feel

comfortable

because I just told them things that I

would want to hear or just honest with

them

and then working with Mike is always

really cool for us because he you know

he had a first-hand idea well he had

experience for what we were dealing with

you know I mean he was doing at the same

time so flag wagon propoganda knows her

name all sold the same rental records

pretty close they each got in between

two and three hundred thousand within a

few years

like wagon though use proper Gandhi

face-to-face they were all around the

two hundred thousand months and then our

next record electric and Carney was kind

of ridiculous it wasn't more or less

like an overnight thing and it was the

first album on fat to sell hundred

thousand records epitaph had a huge part

to do with it was that that you know

they were really I mean if you think

about that label you know here's a guy

that's like you know probably selling

records out of his apartment and he ends

up you know making some of the most

definitive punk rock in history you know

they were coming out of that you know

it's like Bad Religion rancid no effects

panty wise an offspring make sure that's

five [ __ ] huge bands you know and

there's us well I mean it changed

everything if they put us on the map for

one thing we outgrew our little space we

had records we had offspring records

piled up to the ceiling epitaph records

was just a total breeding ground for

like creativity you know punk rock like

just playground it was like you you had

this father figure bread you know girl

it's in a way who was in one of the

greatest punk bands of all time Bad

Religion and he's kind of saying yeah

here you know I'm gonna do this for you

I'm gonna do that we're gonna put your

records out and do whatever you want

funk yeah that's radical that's punk

that's cool do this and you're just

going wow it just had a really good vibe

of like positivity family vibe all the

bands supporting each other bands on

epitaph touring together recording

together and just never you know it was

they everything went beyond everyone's

expectations you know no one was

expecting someone to sell a hundred

thousand records

twelve million records so it just kept

getting bigger and bigger and it just

got you know like better and better and

everyone was like [ __ ] yeah we're doing

you know we're doing something we built

this from the ground up and and felt

like we were part of something really

special I always thought it'd be cool to

have a label you know I certainly didn't

invent the idea I mean everyone from you

know ian had discord Biafra had

alternative tentacles of course Brett

had epitaph and Fat Mike had fat already

by the time I decided to start I never

had the means to start one but I always

thought it would be cool to be able to

shout out like hey look at all these

other cool bands that you guys should be

listening to that was a big part of the

fun of having the labels signing bands

that I knew were great that people

hadn't heard yet like where there was a

Fi or TIA so well or or the gutter mouth

or whatever Dexter Holland proposed that

we would we should all quit our jobs and

tour full time because we had signed a

nitro records his labeled about 1994

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

with punk rock's skyrocketing popularity

and record sales it seemed as though

everybody was trying to get onto the

bandwagon whether it meant dyeing their

hair blue or trying to sign the next

Green Day you know all these [ __ ]

people you know people from this record

label that record don't even know our

[ __ ] names you know what I mean

decide yeah can I speak with Jim

Fredricksen how does my name's I'm like

[ __ ] Jim dude it's L'Arche you

[ __ ] prick next you know I mean so it

was it was crazy because you know all of

a sudden everybody's paying attention

yeah well I think in the mid-90s we

really could have signed to any record

deal we wanted to it to any label but we

met with one we met with Hollywood

Records and the meeting was so

distasteful that we never wanted to have

another major label meeting again and

basically we just kept asking the guy

what can you do for us that epitaph cap

so we can't do for ourselves anybody had

no answer I mean major I don't think no

major labels for trying to poach my

bands but I got numerous offers on my

label you know I mean I've turned down

50 million dollar offers more than

Lloyd's hey I got enough for cellphone

records but you know I didn't want to

sell it you mainly you know major labels

that come to you and go congratulations

I want to sign one of your veins and

that was not you know the business model

the business model is absolutely not

keep everything and keep the bands if

you can sell you know 200,000 CDs on a

punk label that's a great living for the

band but all of this came with a price

have the DIY ethics of punk rock been

compromised to reach this level of

success with the term sellout being

thrown around heavily the backlash was

really starting to heat up you know it

was like back then you know the

offspring were the good guys for the

Osmond were the good guys for having a

platinum record on an indie and Green

Day where everyone was like mad at

Greendale you know but it was the

offspring and rancid were cool because

they had platinum records on epitaph and

back then there was a real division

and what people thought was right and

acceptable within the punk rock

community or the punk rocker ethos of

doing things on your own do you do it

yourself do you stick them in D do you

sign with a major you take your shot do

you not and I mean it really divided

things there was a huge argument for

years and years in the punk rock

community oh you know who's a sellout

who's not a sellout

oh this band signed to a major oh you're

a sellout oh you're on an indie okay

you're still cool there was that whole

struggling mentality in the scene

definitely we didn't want to be on an

indie major you know we didn't want to

you know we were on Lookout we loved

look out that was to us for us I mean

lookout was the ultimate independent

label we ended up taking control of it

ourselves we can control up like our own

destiny so you know so for us to sort of

to make a leap to a different and II

just didn't make any sense when we do

hit the airwaves and it blew up you know

there was a huge backlash like all the

in their band from guilt Gilman Street

there were banned from truckin you know

the whole bear it was pretty outside

green there right

I don't know how Bob green day was you

know it's it's it's a catch-22 I know

they were bummed because that was their

hometown and that was like you know

their their whole deal but at the same

time they were making millions of

dollars so you know where do you draw

the line I think that mentality is

definitely necessary though I mean for

you know a club like Mike Gilman to say

the close of doors to certain people

know you know what when we signed to a

major label we knew we weren't ever

gonna play there again we knew it you

know it was there's no memo

we knew the deal and we did it anyway

apparently there's a list now at

Gilman's creative vans that are banned

from there more on the list but no one

ever called me and told me we were

banned and we've never done anything

against them and we've never been on a

major label or MTV or commercial radio

really so I'm not sure why we're banned

from that we put out our own records

we're probably the biggest DIY band in

the world but I think they

just wanna vanish because we're fun

again well yeah we received a lot of

backlash but I wouldn't say from fans

I'd say from what we call the punk

police and people who talk about the

rules of punk and how this is Punk but

that is not those are to me some of the

most uninteresting people to hang around

and those are the ones who did most of

the criticizing you can't please

everybody but but I never the backlash

i'ma bother me because you know we're

doing the same thing we're strolling up

with tap records we stayed in D you know

doing what we want to do play music I

love the bad guys never affected me man

it never did I walk down any Street or

any show do what the [ __ ] I want to do

rarely do people say [ __ ] to my face

that was rare that would and very no-one

ever say [ __ ] to me man you know what I

mean

well they're gonna say your songs on the

radio yeah that's me

that's what I diss my music I love my

band doesn't my brothers this is what I

do now I never gave a [ __ ] like this ro

this guy comes out to us one time to

blink show and he's like you guys are

awesome you're amazing

oh my god you know what label are you on

this and that you know I go through this

whole speech of how we were on an

independent but we couldn't get paid and

we couldn't find our records anywhere

they couldn't keep up with getting our

records and stores so we had a move to a

major label and so now we're on MCA and

the guy goes oh well I run a Gilman

Street and turns his back and walk away

and we started laughing like [ __ ] Gilman

Street it's like so like throw up you

know like and we thought I mean we

thought was the funniest [ __ ] we know

we'd never played Gilman Street I know

that like you had to submit your lyrics

I think we were going to play that one

point and they asked us to submit our

lyrics and then they have read where our

lyrics were and they said you know what

I think we're cool Thanks come we're

down in Southern California at this

festival

[Music]

that Mike was there and there was also a

guy there from MTV like a program

director and I was talking with him and

Mike and they're talking about the

soulmate video and then when I when I

left or he might have pulled Mike aside

and he told Mike Mike later told me that

he told him that we really want the no

effects video and if you don't give it

to us we're gonna pull the no use for a

name video

[Music]

so Mike basically just told him to f off

you know and so our video got cold

yeah but MTV yeah soul mate MTV pretty

much stopped playing that video because

we wouldn't give him the car video punk

rock success in 1994 also led to the

formation of a small tour that would

take the DIY ethos punk rock camaraderie

and so-called extreme sports from

California and take it all over the

United States the Warped Tour as it was

named by founder Kevin Lyman would go on

to become the longest-running traveling

festival in US history so I got to put

something I got to put something

together for one last summer we take a

skateboard ramp you get some friends

together go around the country and and I

was gonna try to get fans to support

each other at that point there are so

many bands touring around and start

calling a few bands that I know I got

guys like Steve Salva skaters to kind of

organize a few skaters and yell Hendrix

Mike Fraser

we've built a brought a ramp that was

mace and I Mason that doesn't really

work in the rain and it rains a lot in

other parts of the summer country during

the summertime that's Southern

California something I learned and we

kind of was

we just got sub-1 got no use for the

name l7 quicksand sieve Orange

nine-millimeter it's funny no doubt

played on it first year for part of the

tour and we all loaded up kind of shot

off into kind of see if we could pull

something together we had no idea we had

a share buses it's so funny now when I

have this tour there's bands bringing

two buses the levels and then back then

it was strange combinations of people l7

and no use of her names sharing of us

those goals were tough back then we had

orange nine millimeter and sub line

nothing like putting a bunch of drunks

and the vegans together straightedge

vegans together we did the first Warped

Tour actually and it was a lot different

than it is now

it was the attendance wasn't you know

nearly as good

and but it was just cool to be a part of

because it was the first time that that

there was a summer tour for punk bands

that's that punk bands been going to

Kevin Lyman and Starr the Warped Tour

was uh this he's amazing and he's he's

more down for the scene and more

responsible for the punk rock scene I

think in most bands you know and so he

has this grand idea you know where the

Warped orbit asteroid and then when

Sleeps intends we all travel are like

brothers got a hand at the cabin he

really created you know something

monstrous with that sound was awesome

you do the Warped Tour because it's

there's so much camaraderie you know and

every day we get to park next to Bad

Religion about some souls or less and

Jake flogging.molly it's super fun even

though the Warped Tour was gaining more

and more popularity each year the main

streams interest in punk rock was

dwindling bands such as Green Day and

The Offspring were selling less and less

of each release and the new alternative

was dubbed new metal with bands such as

Korn and Limp Bizkit now holding the

reins as nu metal gained in popularity

and with manufactured pop music boy

bands and plastic pop princesses all

sharing the spotlight ska punk an

offshoot of punk rock gained popularity

with bands such as The Mighty Mighty

Bosstones no doubt sublime and

Goldfinger all having hit

[Music]

but two things would happen at the end

of the decade that would cement the

importance of the 90s incarnation of

punk rock and pave the way for the slew

of breakout pop punk bands of the new

millennium it would also make the most

arguably successful DIY movement in

musical history okay so so blinky

started out as just like after schools

we'd be going around same route you know

single [ __ ] dogs and girls and and

you know homosexuals and like food and

like a most crazy [ __ ] and stuff that

really made us laugh hysterically and

the next thing you know people start

coming to the shows and so we just kept

the jokes up and then we started getting

worse and worse and worse

Tom DeLonge he comes in my office if

this was Tom I just got kind of hired by

the promoter bill Silva it was right

around that time and he comes in he's

like man Rick he's like I love your punk

shows man who's I they're super around

and he's like we manage us and I'm like

yeah you called Bleek right he's all

yeah he's like we draw like 200 in San

Diego I'm like all right cool y'all

manage you I agree to manage them side

on scene I had no idea what was gonna

happen you know I had no idea when we

were first starting off as blink

Pennywise took us on tour countless

times we were worth no tickets

whatsoever it cost them money to take us

out on tour but they were friends of

ours and they believed in our band and

they supported us they took us out and

put us in front of a bunch of people our

very first tour ever of Australia

Pennywise paid for us to go over there

nobody noticed in Australia we were a

tiny little band from San Diego at that

point this is back in like 95 so I think

Cheshire cat had just come out people in

Australia didn't really know us and we

get a chance to go and true with penny

wise who were huge over there you know

bands like blink you know we kind of

took under our wing and took them on

tour with us and off-spring anybody

anybody that we could help you know we

were in the wind helping him you know a

lot of the bands would not want one

being you know some of the biggest bands

in the world my favorite stories is

Pennywise we're in Europe and Fletcher

looks at Kevin Lyman and he goes you're

gonna put the link on next year's Warped

Tour on Kevin's like ah this is awkward

kind of like right in front of me he's

like you could tell it this is just

awkward and he didn't want to commit to

it and Fletcher goes he saw in

Fletcher's like getting started to get

drunk I saw pulls a piece of paper I

know you're gonna sign this right now

and even put blink I'm extra tore up

tour cuz they're gonna be gigantic and

you're gonna pay them 1,500 bucks a

night and I'm gonna pay them 500 bucks a

night out of my own pocket because I

believe in these guys so much and forced

Kevin to do it three men and another man

so if I take it that philosophy and went

and said all right blink you got to go

on the small stage because they're

selling more records and they're bigger

than you would I don't think blink would

have come back in 1999 and played for me

when they were so I'd sold 8 million

records

[Music]

in LA Katie Rock was you know all about

playing dammit and that started playing

Josie but damn it was really just became

like a stable and they were really like

in Southern California they had just

really created this thing and a lot of

other places you know they toured the

country a bunch of times but it was a

lot smaller a lot and I think just at

the end of that cycle you know they'd

sold about six hundred thousand records

and it felt like they were on the verge

none of us ever thought that it would do

what it did I mean we didn't even think

it wasn't that we didn't think it was

possible is that the thought never even

entered our head of what it was going to

do we were just writing songs that we

love and doing what we did and you know

dude ranch would come out and it had

gone gold in the US and damn it had been

you know a success at Radio and we've

done a video for it and we were like wow

that's amazing that's really cool that's

that's awesome and then we started

writing our next record but it wasn't in

our head like oh that's gonna happen

again or we're gonna beat that we were

just like let's go in and write a record

that we really love and that I remember

writing that record happened very

quickly everything felt real natural you

know is Travis me and Tom in a studio in

San Diego writing these songs and

everything was just banging at that

point people love to ask those questions

like when did you know this was gonna

happen or when did you feel you know

it's like they're never exact moments

necessarily because get remember we're

traveling you know touring 13 months out

of the year you know we're always gone

sleeping on floors make it happen so

every little piece of good news comes

and strides you know so it doesn't

happen overnight well it does if some

people wouldn't offer blank you know we

were

years before happened they were on tour

with us supporting us in Europe and at

home here in the states they were

selling like ninety thousand records a

day or something you know it's crazy and

you know I was there witnessing them

getting these you know messages about

their record sales at home and and you

know kind of like I was saying things

like what are you doing here go home

okay get out of here good you know you

know why do you want to be on tour with

like dragging around man and I remember

actually being out a show and and

noodles from The Offspring he comes out

to me he's like congratulations I thinks

man enema of the state just came out and

he looks at me right in the eyes and he

goes he's so you're next I go you know

don't say that I hope Bobby you're a

diesel no you're next you know and then

right after that we sold 7 million some

records or something about how I'm in Oz

I always remember that one moment good I

didn't believe him when he said it you

know I remember standing on stage at a

sold-out Madison Square Garden Show and

looking up and seeing the scoreboard

Madison Square Garden and having just

this feeling colder me oh my god I can't

believe that we're playing a headlining

show at Madison Square Garden and it's

sold out and how can you top that

I'm bigger and bigger and bigger and

bigger

and then one year my life completely

changed and I couldn't go anywhere in my

private jets limousines and buses

we would sit around and say dick jokes

got us this far that's what we used to

say all day long what's going on dick

jokes get us in the private jet

is there credit no credit is deserved so

Lincoln had a lot to do with a lot of

things you know changed a lot of lives

after bling came there was just I mean

we would you know you know when you chew

and stuff you get thousands of tons of

people come to you listen to my record

and check this out you know and every

single record we got from every kid it

sounded just like blank and so I mean it

was it was revolutionary

I mean equally as revolutionary is this

Green Day when it hit you know I don't

think if they just didn't get the credit

that came with you know selling 20

million records yet Nirvana come in with

a punk attitude there's an edge but it

was grunge in Green Day come in and then

you had sublime and no doubt kind of in

96 and then blink just uh you know kind

of kept the dream alive I think for pop

punk infer you know punk rock for that

matter on the flip side Green Day had

been struggling to make the same impact

that they had in 1994 with Dookie a

cultural phenomenon such as Dookie is a

hard thing to do once in a career let

alone twice as Green Day did on May 14

1998 the most successful television show

in history Seinfeld was having its final

episode after nine seasons this was a

big deal when Jerry Seinfeld announced

in December 1997 that they were

canceling the show it was on the front

page of every major newspaper across the

world and even made the cover of Time

magazine as the final episode of the

show drew to an end the track good

riddance time of your life by Green Day

was played that single episode of

Seinfeld was watched by 76 million

viewers which equated to 58 percent of

all television viewers that night

I think well you know it's interesting

about time of your life is that that was

actually written for Dukie that was

around that was written during the

Dookie era but it didn't fit on to but

it did seem to fit on Nimrod and so

again I don't think it was anything

conscious we were just being honest

about that about what how the band was

feeling and I think Billy was you know

willing to branch out more and

experiment with other things good

riddance or time of your life was a song

that at first we were like like I

actually said to him I think I think we

should put strings on this and they're

like are you strings and I said I know I

know

it's like it's a punk band but weird

with strings and they were like all

right well you know Beatles did it you

know eventually you can't just stay in

one box I mean it's really a credit to

them as artists that they have such a

wide array of things that they can do I

mean there's nothing that can play any

kind of music they can do anything you

know I really think that you know Billie

Joe Armstrong is is probably the Lennon

McCartney of this generation or of the

last generation I'm a thing I think he's

such a prolific songwriter that I mean I

think that's first and foremost and then

everything else in the history that he

had you know growing up where he did and

how he brought his band up and being who

he was certainly didn't hurt but his

songs I think were the most important

thing before the part of the biggest

punk rock fan actually until their time

so I mean you're always kind of looking

at them seeing what they're doing but

they're really cool I'm rebellious you

know and they were fun and colorful or

like cartoon characters almost female

[Music]

thank you for coming everybody who's

sitting in the theater go home now

it's something unpredictable

right help you have the time of your

life

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

vamos

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

what was it like being in a punk band

before that happened so Wayne grunting

sorry

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]