Green Day on GQ Spain

[WorryRock02]

Green Day are ont he new GQ Magazine ( Spain ). Sorry for the blurry scans but anyway i tried to transcribe the text

 

GREEN DAY
GREEN DAY returns this month with 'FATHER OF ALL MOTHERFUCKERS', an album that is pure energy. We talked with them about how rock can narrow the generational leap.

One of the most important bands of the last decades returns this month with Father of All Motherfuckers,

An album that is pure energy. We talked with them about how rock can narrow the generational leap.

Oh, blessed prejudices.

When you are confirmed by an interview with the members of one of the most important rock bands of the last three decades, preconceived ideas push you to think of them as arrogant, bland or living types. That nobody be surprised: we have been selling rockstars for years through these terms, shaping a very concrete imaginary in cinema or literature. We ourselves have generated a stamp that, well thought out, does not have to correspond with reality. This is the case of Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt, the three proper names behind Green Day, some people who spoil all the topics associated with their position.

Before we meet in the space where they wait for those who subscribe these lines, the entourage of people who accompany them during their stay in Spain - representatives, public relations or personal of their record company - warns us that the boys are tired after a flight very long and could be somewhat apathetic, that there are certain political issues that they prefer not to deal with and that time is very limited. However, they seem oblivious to all this: they are friendly and very formal, answer all questions without frowning, excuse any lapsus linguae and even squeeze the three in an armchair in which two people hardly fit in order of giving the most comfortable seat to the journalist. No sign of stereotyped ideas during the conversation, a talk that takes place in a central hotel in Madrid, a city they traveled to at the end of last October a few days before leaving for Seville to perform at the MTV EMAS gala 2019 His passage through the capital was not a simple stopover along the way: in addition to attending some media, Green Day played by surprise in the room La Riviera before the handful of lucky people who managed to get an entry. The bolus had nothing to do with, much less: apart from celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of D ookie (perhaps his best album, which was performed entirely), Billie, Tré and Mike played many other great hits and advanced several songs of his imminent new album (already go 13), Father of All Motherfuckers (Warner Music), a work that arrives four - long - years after their last studio, Revolution Radio.

"We are very satisfied with this album. We love publishing new material, but we didn't want to rush. We take it out when we're sure it sounds like we want it to sound," explains Billie Joe Armstrong of this ten-cut album that lasts a little longer 30 minutes: "What else? There are two-minute songs that can be made heavy; we run away from that. The duration of the songs adapts to the message we want to send. This is a very direct, very primitive, very bright. In half an hour we can transmit all that, somehow, we have returned to our origins, to the sound we liked when we started playing. " The truth is that in a first listen of Father of All Motherfuckers you can perceive echoes of Foo Fighters, The Hives or even The Who. There are also palms, choirs, bass lines that are pure surf rock, falsetto, some boot reminiscent of the western sound ... The album is a delight, really. Close to the fan's taste and always accessible to the neophytes. "It is important that we continue to challenge ourselves. Keep the energy and make it fun. If you have nothing new or not convinced by what you offer, keep working until you do it. You must persevere, which is precisely what has caused us to take almost four years in publishing new material, "says Mike Dirnt.

GENERATIONAL LEAP

The three components of the California band were born in 1972, which indicates that today they are dangerously close to the half century of life. They began to play together in the late 80's as teenagers and reach this 2020 in full physical and intellectual maturity. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the energy of rock continues to run through their  veins. You just have to see them live to understand that age is nothing more than a number. Many young people would accuse hour and a half of guitars and jumps relentlessly on stage. Not them, who continue to make the live show their main cover letter. Fortunately, this magnet not only attracts the members of its generation, those who grew up with their records or received the superb American Idiot (from 2004) as a gift fallen from the sky, but also has managed to hook boys and girls who weren't even born when Green Day was already filling stadiums. What can a group of nearly fifty offer to the Z generation? "Free ice cream!" Replies Billie Joe with a laugh. "No, seriously.  I think they have not lost their validity, that they can be heard and enjoyed today as they were heard and enjoyed when they were published. very special, because it encourages you to think that you are doing something that transcends fashion. It is a very exciting feeling, "adds the vocalist.

This March 8, Green Day is going to starts a tour that will take you through Asia, Europe and North America (do not count on them in Spain; they already covered this area with the Madrid and Seville  concerts ). Singapore, Tokyo, Moscow, Florence, Paris, San Francisco, Toronto ... Do not get tired of so much flight, so much hotel, so much accumulated fatigue? "Not at all! It's what we do and what we live for," explains Tré Cool, who adds: "It's the most exciting part of our job. Reach a city on the other side of the world and connect through music with 60,000 people who do not speak your language. We like being at home and spending time with our families, but a tour is always exciting and fun. "

The new album will have a good part of the year from here to there. However, on November 3 they will be in California to participate in the US presidential elections. Always combative, they do not hesitate to show their antipathy for Trump, of whom Billie Joe has even come to say not long ago that he is a guy who causes diarrhea. "Our country is divided by his fault. We are a strong nation, but we are immersed in a state of confusion. It makes no sense to me that someone like him is president. We must reflect and be aware that our future is at stake, that we cannot put our future back in their hands. Populisms scare. White men very angry with everything around them because they think they are going to steal their privileges. It seems like a joke, but it is not. We must regain freedom; it is our duty as members of a democracy. "

At this point, the band's press officer concludes the interview. Before leaving the room, we launched a final question on the air: "By the way, who is the father of all motherfuckers referred to by the name of the album?" The boys smile ... but they shut up in response: "It's just a fun title, nothing more."

[HAPPY ZOMBIE UNICORN]

Cool article, I really enjoyed the opening description about the guys, and another really good comment about the new record. 
On top of this we can’t really say that the promotion is not kicking in, I can’t keep track of all these new threads anymore 😄