Upcoming 2 Billie’s Rolling Stone Interview

[Lenny]

37 minutes ago, solongfromthestars said:

Music was the only option because it was all many in the scene felt they could do. There were many valid reasons for that - being mentally/physically ill, high school dropouts, LGBTQA+, homeless, having criminal records, etc. They may not be barriers today but they were in that area in the 90s. Some never made it and later found they could work normal jobs as their lives stabilised or the world became more accepting. Others didn't and stayed homeless or died of addiction issues (Billie friend Lucky and the guy X-Kid was about are prime examples). Hence the "music or death" comment. It's this I think we'll have to agree to disagree on, because why would I agree with a stranger who wasn't there rather than my partner of nine years? You might have had similar experiences but not the same. That's not weak or ignorant, I just value a firsthand opinion more than a secondhand one.

You mentioned North America, which is why I said I'm not from there. Whether you agree with the definition of poverty anywhere in the world or not, I'm sure the band's families - like most in that scene - were below the legal poverty line even before they left home.

Anyway, I'm in Seville for MTV World Stage so I'm not going to reply again until I get home, sorry. I'm also not going to agree with you if that helps you decide whether to bother continuing.

I'm not just talking about the warehouse though. They come from very poor backgrounds in general.

You can value whichever opinion you wish but it's based on anecdotal information which is fine, human experiences can often be aligned with objective truths and in other cases not. Honestly, at this point I'm just seeing a lot of excuses and left wing rhetoric. I'm part of an immigrant family that has several members (including myself) with physical illnesses. Despite that we were able to overcome that as well as racism. Try being turned down for a loan because of your NAME and origin. It's funny cause these people still somehow never considered their condition to be of poverty and the question is was it? They weren't financially comfortable but they ate and had a roof over their head despite all cards being stacked against them.  Post WWII Italy was worse by all means and it taught them to seize opportunity and if you let it go that's on you.

They did what they needed to do to survive, no excuses made. To be anecdotal here I've lived and experienced many different situations in my life. I've lived in the ghetto where people were shot and killed across the street from my house and I've lived in a nice quiet middle class neighborhood. I've also been to mansions and beach houses. I've seen a lot of different things. I'll say it's easy to fall back on an excuse than it is to A) pull your socks up and get the job done or B) To pursue a dream or passion while accepting economic opportunity costs that are paid out by making that decision. I've seen that life and recognize 2 things A) I am proud to never have to live that life again. I will do everything and anything I can not to 

B) There's people all over the world like in Syria that don't get a choice. Their world, families, businesses, communities have been torn apart due to civil war. How can you compare someone choosing to not take a job to pursue something else to someone who's living in a real tragedy? Even if a musician is starving there are social programs in place to help those in need. Syria doesn't even have a legal government let alone a program to help. They need as much help as possible. My heart goes out to those people rather than someone like me who chose a lifestyle to pursue something. I think that's fair. Would you not be an asshole if you were to disagree? And if those people get a chance to come to Canada let's say and they overcome all these challenges and get to give their family everything would they not allowed to speak about their story? 

 

In the 90's it was still illegal to discriminate based on orientation as well as illegal to even ask such a question. I was alive in the 90's and even remember trans people working service jobs. A high percentage of them working government jobs which are actually some of the highest paying jobs with full benefits and pensions. I get it the LGBTQA+ was your hail mary pass.  Common 2019 strategy there but that was a huge fail. Sure it wasn't as accepting as a society as it was today but they were eligible for assistance in a case where they were rejected by a market. 

How can use high school dropouts and criminal records as an excuse here? The opportunity cost of being either or both is a smaller job market to pick from. There's also processes to overcome both. You can get a GED no? You can appeal any illegitimate criminal cases. Even then there's still a ton of labour jobs that hire w/o background checks or interviews. They pay quite well too. 

Even if you think it's valid reasoning there was actually more jobs available to people of lower level education in N.A at the time. There was way less when I pursued music and way less now. Not to mention inflation rates were already doubled during my time and have tripled as of now. Meals were double the price, taxes were hiked up another 3-4 %. You seem a bit out of touch with economics which is the basis of this whole argument. 

 

13 minutes ago, Beerjeezus said:

The thing with squatting is that people are doing it for various reasons. There are people who have no other choice because they've become homeless and can't afford paying rent, there are people who just don't give a fuck anymore  (drug addicts etc) and then people who could easily switch to some more conventional lifestyle if they wanted to (= they have or could easily get a job that would pay them enough to live on normally/have family that would support them). It can be a last resort solution for someone or it can a choice someone made, because why the hell not, they didn't want to live in their parents' suburban house. Many people in squats are travelers - they settle for a limited amount of time and then they move on. It's not just something people do out of desperation, but it also can be.

Yes this is valid. I also think it's funny to see people trying to comment on what North America was like in the 90's when they didn't live there. They heard second hand anecdotal info. 

90's was an economic high time. It was much easier to pursue a career in music then. Try it now in Canada where all venues have closed down. The one or two that are open need you to play for free and an average fast food meal costs $14 and is half the size of the meal from 2 years ago. 

Also gasoline prices were much cheaper with no additional taxes on it 

[Hermione]

I think this is getting a bit off topic and personal now, how about we get back to the Billie interview

[Beerjeezus]

2 hours ago, SnaggletoothRecords said:

Yes this is valid. I also think it's funny to see people trying to comment on what North America was like in the 90's when they didn't live there. They heard second hand anecdotal info. 

90's was an economic high time. It was much easier to pursue a career in music then. Try it now in Canada where all venues have closed down. The one or two that are open need you to play for free and an average fast food meal costs $14 and is half the size of the meal from 2 years ago. 

Also gasoline prices were much cheaper with no additional taxes on it 

I can't talk about what the US in the 90s were like and I can't really say I'm something of a squatter myself, because I've only visited a few places and stayed for a few days at longest, so I'm not saying I'm an Expert TM, but from what I've seen, it doesn't look like most people you see in these places are suffering.

That said, to place someone into a class, it's necessary to look at other things than just how much money they have. There's economic capital but also social capital, cultural etc. If I, a university student from a middle class family decided to move into a local squat (which I can't because there are no good ones in my city anymore lol), I would be in a lot better, more perspective situation than Billie was. With my education, I most likely could get better-paying jobs, it would be easier to pursue another career if I had to (lower risk of having to live in a warehouse with a wife and a baby if Dookie flopped yay), I have parents who would most probably let me go back to live with them if I decided to leave the punk house. Most of my friends are also middle class, which means I have at least some contacts not just with people who are down and out. That's not the same situation he was in as a high-school drop out, who could possibly only do blue-collar jobs and had parents who weren't supportive. Even if he finished hs, he'd still have less options than me, because in the US further education is expensive, so it's unlikely he could afford it, while I assume if I was middle class in the US, my family could afford uni education.

So, tl,dr, if I moved into a squat, I'd still be middle class, while he definitely was working class.

[Lenny]

4 hours ago, Beerjeezus said:

I can't talk about what the US in the 90s were like and I can't really say I'm something of a squatter myself, because I've only visited a few places and stayed for a few days at longest, so I'm not saying I'm an Expert TM, but from what I've seen, it doesn't look like most people you see in these places are suffering.

That said, to place someone into a class, it's necessary to look at other things than just how much money they have. There's economic capital but also social capital, cultural etc. If I, a university student from a middle class family decided to move into a local squat (which I can't because there are no good ones in my city anymore lol), I would be in a lot better, more perspective situation than Billie was. With my education, I most likely could get better-paying jobs, it would be easier to pursue another career if I had to (lower risk of having to live in a warehouse with a wife and a baby if Dookie flopped yay), I have parents who would most probably let me go back to live with them if I decided to leave the punk house. Most of my friends are also middle class, which means I have at least some contacts not just with people who are down and out. That's not the same situation he was in as a high-school drop out, who could possibly only do blue-collar jobs and had parents who weren't supportive. Even if he finished hs, he'd still have less options than me, because in the US further education is expensive, so it's unlikely he could afford it, while I assume if I was middle class in the US, my family could afford uni education.

So, tl,dr, if I moved into a squat, I'd still be middle class, while he definitely was working class.

Working class at the time was considered lower middle class. What that looks like now heading into the 20's is alot different than what that looked like in the 70's, 80's or 90's. Lower middle class is growing. The divisions that once existed in middle class are on the brink of extinction. 

What's the price of college in the US vs university? I chose to take a uni-level program but through college. It saved me about $4000 a year and I'm still eligible to apply to the same jobs. Either way, I don't know if I could see Billie Joe in a university. I don't think he's a dummy but I don't think he could pull it off as an academic. He's definitely a hands on kind of guy. There's nothing wrong with that at all though. 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Hermione said:

I think this is getting a bit off topic and personal now, how about we get back to the Billie interview

I understand

[Long Lost King of Fools]

On 11/1/2019 at 6:59 PM, pacejunkie punk said:

That’s basically how I discovered Operation Ivy. It works.

Me too! And pretty much punk music in general. Thank FUCK for Green Day!

On 11/1/2019 at 5:57 AM, Beerjeezus said:

Oh good point comrade  I wasn't considering Tre because we were discussing businesses they own and I don't know if Tre has any, so I'm not worried about having to overthrow him as a capitalist haha

Ah, I understand. I'll still have the guillotine sharpened just in case. 😫

Wait, I just remembered I'm a pacifist! Eeep! Where'd that guillotine come from... 🙄

[Beerjeezus]

11 minutes ago, Long Lost King of Fools said:

Ah, I understand. I'll still have the guillotine sharpened just in case. 😫

Wait, I just remembered I'm a pacifist! Eeep! Where'd that guillotine come from... 🙄

It starts out as a meme and the next thing you know, you're Robespierre

[Long Lost King of Fools]

1 minute ago, Beerjeezus said:

It starts out as a meme and the next thing you know, you're Robespierre

I'm pretty sure this is EXACTLY how the French Revolution started. 

[Lenny]

So I was going deeper into Billie's music and found the song Xanny. I still stand on my original point I'm not into her music too much but this song was interesting. I like the little Ode to jazz in the song. 

There's a lot of unnecessary stuff in the production but when that's taken away and her voice is isolated she sounds good. 

[Rumpelstiltskin2000]

Just noticed these comments from Billie on Billie Eillish's instagram:

Had to smile at Cardi B's comment underneath Billie!

Wasn't sure whether to put this in this thread or the IG thread

[pacejunkie punk]

Aw you can just feel the love 💕 

[desertrose]

https://bradogbonna.allyou.net/9810231/billie-joe-armstrong-amp-billie-eilish?fbclid=IwAR08q37wD3i0CGXT5zgy6f9j4YKoQhbu3zzLUdg7t_GfhYb2h2VDN1ya6kc

BRAD OGBONNA
Billie Joe Armstrong & Billie Eilish
ROLLING STONE