Jon Benjamin Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 I recently got in touch with John Kiffmeyer via a friend. I asked him a bunch of questions, and here's what he had to say. He wasn't big on doing the House of Blues show, but after a couple months of Billie and Mike trying to convince him, he agreed under certain terms. No risers, no Marshall Half Stacks, he picked most of the setlist, and Billie had to use his amp from back in the day. Billie was like, "man, I got rid of that years ago" and his guitar tech found it and had to fix it. There were some songs out of Billie's range that had to be turned down. One was an unrecorded song from John's era called "Angel". Dry Ice was an audible that Billie wasn't wanting to do, and John was surprised they played it. That was his first show in front of an audience since 1997 with his last band The Ritalins. I got some tour dates from him we didn't have or had incorrect. 1990: July 8: Chicago, IL July 9: Bloomington, IN July 10: Indianapolis, IN (cancelled due to no one showing up) July 12: Detroit, MI July 14: Harrisburg, PA As far as the rumor he never cashed a royalty check, here's the story. One year, his accountant gave him a form that had to due with taxes for royalties, and he was like "What royalties?". Apparently someone in Green Day's crew said they knew John and that they'd get the check to him and never delivered it. He has seen the House of Blues full video that's on YouTube. The cameras that were on stage that night weren't actually recording and we're just there to broadcast to the bar unfortunately. His last show with the band was in Olympia, WA in 1991 and Dave Grohl was there (and according to an interview with Billie in 1994, so was Kurt Cobain). It it was awesome getting to talk to someone so important to the band's history. We talked for over twenty minutes and he was extremely nice and very interesting. I'll be updating with something badass hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 So he's a big talker both on and off stage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Benjamin Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 17 minutes ago, Todd said: So he's a big talker both on and off stage? Definitely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThibautDookie Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Thank you for sharing this Really excited to learn more as I don't know much about him except that he was Green Day's original drummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerjeezus Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Sorry to hear he got screwed over. I've definitely seen more professional ways of delivering money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungBlood Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Does anyone know if John wrote any songs for Sweet Children / Green Day when he was in the band ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerjeezus Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 3 minutes ago, ElectricBlue said: Does anyone know if John wrote any songs for Sweet Children / Green Day when he was in the band ? 3 minutes ago, ElectricBlue said: Does anyone know if John wrote any songs for Sweet Children / Green Day when he was in the band ? He wrote I Was There. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghesboro Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Thank you so much for sharing! This was quite interesting as we don't really know much about John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermione Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 So cool that you got to interview him! Interesting to hear what he had to say especially as it's like a quarter of a century since the last interview with him I've seen. I like that Billie and Mike had to convince him to play the show and do it on his terms, haha. 8 hours ago, Jon Benjamin said: As far as the rumor he never cashed a royalty check, here's the story. One year, his accountant gave him a form that had to due with taxes for royalties, and he was like "What royalties?". Apparently someone in Green Day's crew said they knew John and that they'd get the check to him and never delivered it. Cometbus's account wasn't quite accurate then . I know he says someone in Green Day's crew but could it perhaps have something to do with Lookout Records? I know they weren't paying the royalties they should've been paying to the other members of Green Day for the first two albums at one point (leading to them eventually pulling the albums from the label) so I'd assume they weren't paying his share as they should either. Or maybe it's both. Either way shame he wasn't done right by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Benjamin Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 7 hours ago, Jane Lannister said: Sorry to hear he got screwed over. I've definitely seen more professional ways of delivering money. He said he didn't care about the money. He talked about how being super rich makes people really lonely. I praised him for being so positive about it and explained that when I met Pete Best (original Beatles drummer), he seemed like he hated his life. John was really interested that I'd met him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteTim Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Strange royalties aren't usually handled by bands... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Benjamin Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 2 hours ago, WhiteTim said: Strange royalties aren't usually handled by bands... I think I'd consider Larry or someone else working with Lookout their "crew" probably. I've also heard lookout was pretty loose with Green Day too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteTim Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 6 minutes ago, Jon Benjamin said: I think I'd consider Larry or someone else working with Lookout their "crew" probably. I've also heard lookout was pretty loose with Green Day too. Well royalties are usually sent out by ASCAP or BMI not the labels or group themselves and ASCAP/BMI usually mail directly to the writers but maybe lookout did stuff differently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerjeezus Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 3 hours ago, Jon Benjamin said: He said he didn't care about the money. He talked about how being super rich makes people really lonely. I praised him for being so positive about it and explained that when I met Pete Best (original Beatles drummer), he seemed like he hated his life. John was really interested that I'd met him. I do admire his attitude - few people wouldn't be bitter in his situation. However, it's a shame there has been injustice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermione Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 1 hour ago, Jon Benjamin said: I think I'd consider Larry or someone else working with Lookout their "crew" probably. I've also heard lookout was pretty loose with Green Day too. Just to point out the Green Day not being paid royalties they were owed thing happened after Larry had left Lookout. No idea when John's thing happened or if it was definitely related to that though so it's hard to judge anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritz Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 Cool stuff. Great to know some things from the band's first drummer's perspective! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThibautDookie Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 Important question : Has he ever spoken to Tré Cool ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteTim Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 1 hour ago, ThibautDookie said: Important question : Has he ever spoken to Tré Cool ? they were both at the House of Blues plus the hall of fame and they were both in the whole Lookout and gilman scene id assume they know each other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 2 hours ago, ThibautDookie said: Important question : Has he ever spoken to Tré Cool ? Of course. John's the one that picked Tre to replace him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather. Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 What is meant by "out of Billie's range"? Guitar or vocals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteTim Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 15 minutes ago, Heather. said: What is meant by "out of Billie's range"? Guitar or vocals? Vocals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 14 minutes ago, Heather. said: What is meant by "out of Billie's range"? Guitar or vocals? Vocals. John also said Billie and Mike shot down songs because they hated them too. We know 1000 Hours is one of those songs that at least Billie hates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Benjamin Posted May 9, 2016 Author Share Posted May 9, 2016 I would've loved to hear Angel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteTim Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 31 minutes ago, Jon Benjamin said: I would've loved to hear Angel. That's what I thought when I first read your post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alf Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 Really nice to read this interview, and that he saw the Sweet Children video that I editted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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