New Interview in Augsburger Allgemeine (translated from german)

[Flashback]

There's a new interview in Augsburger Allgemeine, I translated it with Google Translate for you

https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/kultur/gesellschaft/interview-green-day-wir-muessen-uns-rettungsinseln-suchen-ansonsten-werden-wir-verrueckt-id68974976.html

All three of you had Corona. Are you fit again?

Billie Joe Armstrong: Yes, fortunately we are all healthy again. At best, a little groggy from last night, as we shot our video for the song “Dilemma” late into the night. But what has to be done, has to be done.

In the said video you can be seen partying, and at the end you are lying on the floor, completely drunk, singing: “Welcome to my problems, this is not an invitation.”

Armstrong: The song has a really serious core. It addresses the difficult topic of getting sober, being sober, and staying sober, which is a constant challenge for many of us, myself included.

They had to seek treatment for alcoholism in 2012. Have you had your addiction under control since then?

Armstrong: Yes. With a few ups and downs, but the general direction is right. “Dilemma” is actually a very personal song. At the same time, however, it broadens the view. So many people, in our environment and in general, struggle with addictions, but also with problems of a psychological and emotional nature. This struggle is often very painful for us as well as for our loved ones, but we cannot avoid it.

It's all the better that you've made an album that's full of energy and, in a way, combines the best sides of Green Day on fifteen songs. Who do you want to save with “Saviors”?

Tré Cool: Rock 'n' Roll, ourselves, and ideally the whole world (laughs). The title song “Saviors” was one of the first we wrote for the album. At the time, the pandemic was still raging, everyone was desperate and at the same time looking for something to lift themselves up from.

Mike Dirnt: It was no different for us, and fortunately we had and have the music, the punk rock and finally this album born out of chaos. In a world of uncertainty and in the midst of a sea of madness that seems deeper than ever, we must look for small, safe life rafts. Otherwise we'll go crazy.

Do you also support each other?

Armstrong: Absolutely. We cling to ourselves and we hold on to each other. The band has actually always been something like our lifeboat over the years. The three of us are very, very close friends. Yes, more than that. We are like a family.

Your song “The American Dream Is Killing Me” paints a picture of a torn society. In the video you appear as zombies. Can you only take the world with humor?

Armstrong: Horror films have always been great at taking reality to the extreme. Especially here in the USA, fear, hatred and unforgiveness are rampant. There is no real middle path anymore, or if there is, no one seems interested in taking it. Anger and weapons are everywhere. We live in a dangerous country that hardly allows any real discussions and arguments, fueled of course by social media.

Which you view very critically?

Armstrong: Yes, because it often doesn't help to impulsively and unreflectively spread content in these media, which is often wrong and also has a divisive effect. I see myself as responsible here. There's a big difference between being a songwriter who puts a lot of thought into every single line he writes. Or if I just put out everything that comes to mind on Twitter. Thanks to the Internet, each of us has the potential to bring something politically stupid into the world.

Is the song also a warning about another term in office for Donald Trump?

Armstrong: Indirectly, definitely. We originally wrote “The American Dream Is Killing Me” for our previous album. Trump was in power at the time, and we didn't want to release it because another anti-Trump song seemed like low-hanging fruit. So it's just too obvious. It would also be too easy for yourself to just bash Donald Trump and ignore the much deeper grievances in our country. Nevertheless, Trump is of course a real threat. Populism has no useful answers to the challenges of our time.

2024 will not only be an important year for world politics, but also for you as a band. Not only your marriage, but also your breakthrough album “Dookie” are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. Is it a coincidence that these two events happened in the same year?

Armstrong: 1994 was damn intense and also impulsive. Crazy when I think about it today. I was already married to my wife Adrienne at 22 and became a father at 23. And suddenly we were no longer playing in front of our small, loyal following, but in front of a really large audience that no longer just consisted of typical punk fans. We had to grow very quickly and get used to everything. We were young, we were crazy. Suddenly we had this success and quickly agreed that we wanted to continue making music for the rest of our lives. For me, Green Day and my wife are the linchpins of my adulthood.

With the song “Fancy Sauce” it becomes clear that you must have really liked the Beatles too.

Armstrong: Absolutely. The Beatles have always been a prominent influence for us. They lived the dream that we later lived, they paved the way for us. I love all these British rockers anyway, The Who, The Animals, The Kinks, I'm also really into glam rock. The Sweet are just awesome and I could listen to David Bowie all day.

Didn't you also record the new album mainly in London?

Armstrong: We did. We were with our producer Rob Cavallo at RAK Studios, right by Regent's Park, where we often went for walks. We just wanted to get out of our usual surroundings in Oakland and see something new. I think it was worth it. Once we ran into Paul McCartney in the basement of a music store and said hello. Just the other day we were driving in a taxi and it turned out that our taxi driver was Malcolm McLaren's brother. This really only happens to you in London.

The acoustic, soft “Father To A Son” clearly stands out among the uptempo numbers.

Armstrong: I dedicated the song to my two sons, who are now 28 and 25 years old. I wrote “Wake Me Up When September Ends” about my father twenty years ago. I was ten when he died. Then I became a father myself at an early age and simply didn't know what I was doing, what was expected of me. I did my best and was always there as these babies became boys, these boys became young men.

Age seems to have little effect on you.

Armstrong: Oh, no? Can't you see them, all those wrinkles? You're right, aging is good for us. Sure, I color my hair, but I've been coloring my hair since I was fifteen. That's just punk rock. I was always into fashion, and my hairstyle was a bit of a statement for me. I wouldn't even know if I'm actually gray because I've always dyed it (laughs).

They are now all 51 years old. Can you believe that when you compare yourself to friends your own age who don't play in rock bands?

Dirnt: (laughs) We just made a very good life decision. Rock 'n' Roll is an art form that invites restlessness. You are always in motion, in your head as well as on stage. Our band is a natural fitness program.

Armstrong: Interestingly, many of my punk rock friends from back in the day now work as teachers. Some also as activists. In general, most of them took honorable jobs.

As a politically active poet, are you also an activist?

Armstrong: Well, I don't know if that's too much of an honor. I've always been against war, all of us in the band are against war, but is that activism or just common sense? For me, an activist is someone more like a close friend of mine. He founded a refuge for chimpanzees who had to live as laboratory animals for years and can now feel real earth under their feet for the first time. I cry tears of joy when I see these animals jumping around between the trees and how happy they look.

[The 99th revolution]

"once we ran into Paul McCartney"
when musicians collide

[jengd]

Nice, thanks @Flashback

[alienlifeform]

Unfortunatelly, this is just the same interview found here: https://www.tagblatt.ch/kultur/interview-ueber-50-und-immer-noch-punks-green-day-sprechen-ueber-ihr-neues-album-und-alkohol-probleme-ld.2563350

[That Dude]

On 1/14/2024 at 7:37 AM, The 99th revolution said:

"once we ran into Paul McCartney"
when musicians collide

And monkeys!