deleteduser7593 Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 P.O. Box 81623 San Diego, CA 92138 Green Day Interview An Interview With Billy from Green Day by Dave Quinn If you've yet to experience the music of Green Day you're missing out. For some, their ultra-poppy love/hate songs may be hard to take, and according to rule #567348.32 of the punk rawk handbook, they are in direct violation of the "can't let my friends see me with this uncool shit" code. However, their sound is irresistible and crucial to anyone who has ever wanted what they couldn't have. The real kick in the ass is how young these guys are combined with their dead on insight into relationship crap. DQ: You're playing in San Diego quite a bit lately, do you like it here? I totally love San Diego... (holds arm up and begins to point to different parts of it) Like San Francisco (wrist), the Bay Area (forearm), part like that, then Northern California (elbow) and here in the armpit, that's where L.A. is, and if you go down to the nipple that's where San Diego is. San Diego's way cool. The whole attitude is you should be totally separated from Los Angeles... (it) reminds me of Berkeley, but bigger with a lot more beaches. It's cool. (He's just saying that because I'm bigger than he is.) DQ: Have you ever hung around here long enough to check out the scenery? We walked around today, checked out some cafes, hung out at the beach (P.B.) on the boardwalk, looked at the shops. Lots of tourist trap bullshit going on, but there were cool Mexican food places... I love Mexican food. DQ: Word on the street is that you've been signed to Virgin? I've heard we've been signed to Geffen. We're definitely going to a major label, we have no idea yet... Dyno she-babes enter at this point. Dyno she-babe: What kind of food do they have in here? There's chips, some turkey breasts and cheese... iced tea. Eat up! What was the question again? DQ: Major labels. There's five of them that are interested, we've gotta hold out as long as we can so we know we're sure. I've heard of so many bands getting totally destroyed by major labels. That's why we never really did it from the start; we were seventeen, sixteen years old when we put out our first 7-inch. And I wouldn't want to be labeled as a "young alternative rock band" or something on MTV. We'd be in and out within six months, so we did everything on an independent label. Now we're going to do bigger things, you know, movin' up. DQ: Have you worn out your welcome with Lookout? Lookout is totally cool, we talked to them about it and they're hip on it. They knew it was coming for a while. We're doing one more EP on Lookout... It's a decision that took a year for us to make... We're not going to do anything cheesy, like put Lookout's logo on a major label, we'll make a clean break. DQ: How's the new crap different from the old crap? Well, it's still the same kind of style, but the lyrics have changed a lot. There's a lot less about love and stuff like that, and more about phobias and stuff. DQ: What do you hate? My fears. I hate being insecure. I hate being neurotic. I hate neurotic people. It's a lot of talkin' shit... there's also a friend of ours who was killed in a car accident about a year ago, so Mike wrote a song called "Jar" about him. Well, not really about him, (it's) about growing up. (Our new record) is like both records combined. We want to put out the ultimate Green Day sound. That's what we're trying to accomplish with the next record. DQ: Are you going to lose a lot of your "old school" fans when you sign? Yeah, definitely. There's going to be a few people who will be bummed out. I have nothing bad to say about punk rock or the underground. I think it's like the greatest scene in the world, but opportunity knocks. People ask "why are you doing this, because you have a family or anything?" Basically, it's because I fucking want to do it and so do the other members. The music hasn't changed. We're not changing ourselves to suit some big corporate record label. The music will be there if you want to listen to it. If you feel that you're contributing to a major corporation I got nothing to say because one time I said that, and now I've completely contradicted myself. There's not much to say about it. Some guy came up to me in New Jersey saying, "I heard you're signing for millions of dollars to so-and-so's label" and all this shit and I'm like, "...yeah, that's what we're gonna do." I didn't really have anything to say to him, and he's like, "Well, don't you know you're supporting a multi-million dollar corporation..." and I said "yeah.. I'm not doing it for them, I'm doing it for myself." DQ: What changes with signing? One thing changes when you get a bigger name. Stress. That's definite. It's funny because there's some people who will be totally into Green Day, and there will still be one person who will say "Oh, I think they fuckin' suck. I hate that pop shit." Whatever. And for some reason you'll totally ignore the people who think that you're good. You'll go to the people who think you're bad and say, "Well, what's up?" (laughs) People are going to say stuff to you that's pretty shitty, but you gotta just throw it behind you and not look at it. Not take it personal. DQ: A lot of people judge bands on their "PC"-ness, but you're really more personal as you grow older. Do you find yourself getting more political? There's going to be songs on the next record about slaving. My mom has been working at minimum wage jobs as a waitress for the past four years, and there's definite problems in that. We're young and we don't know much about politics, but now we're growing, getting out of high school and figuring out that things aren't given to you on a platter--living free at your parent's house, just going to school, now you gotta go out and have a job and all that bullshit. That comes along with what you're programmed to do in high school. I don't want to fuckin' live like that... I don't want a job, ever. DQ: Make up our own question. Wow. That's difficult... If I was a girl, who would I be?... Kathleen from Bikini Kill. DQ: From Bikini Kill???!!! (His voice gets louder) I've never really listened to them before, but then I heard a record when I was in Florida... she's got the radest voice, man. So fuckin' hard and shit. She's dope, man. She knows what's up. For some reason, I don't know... Kathleen from Bikini Kill. DQ: Who did you lust after but never get? Um... (long pause) ...that's a really revealing question. DQ: Reveal! Reveal yourself! This zine won't go past San Diego--it doesn't matter. (laughs)... Wow, there was a girl when I was sixteen--my best friend's sister. Her name is Jennifer. She's the one that got away. She's a couple of years older than I am. You know, a sixteen-year-old wanting to be in love with some girl. It wasn't quite there as far as she was concerned, but I was there. I was down. I knew what was up, but she wasn't willing to take that risk so... (laughs) DQ: What song is about her? The entire first seven inch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montclare Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 "This zine won't go past San Diego." Fast forward 24 years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleteduser7593 Posted November 23, 2017 Author Share Posted November 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Montclare said: "This zine won't go past San Diego." Fast forward 24 years... @360Degrees Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlissaGoesRAWR Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 There’s something oddly endearing about teenage Billie talking about being unable to “get” girls. Especially considering how many would throw themselves at him now. If only he could see the future back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeJennsitized Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 This is such a cool interview. Love the part about Kathleen Hanna, especially as they got her on Letterbomb ten years later Bit of early foreshadowing with that political question too. Nice find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 This interview is circa May 30th, 1993 (for anyone looking for a more specific date) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus of Seneca Posted November 24, 2017 Share Posted November 24, 2017 I love these kinds of interviews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleteduser7593 Posted November 27, 2017 Author Share Posted November 27, 2017 On 11/24/2017 at 9:01 PM, ¡Jenn! said: This is such a cool interview. Love the part about Kathleen Hanna, especially as they got her on Letterbomb ten years later Bit of early foreshadowing with that political question too. Nice find! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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