b_armstrong

Hey Billie, got some questions for you!

I won’t even talk about how long it takes me to get ready, but honestly now, how long does it take for you to get ready before a show?

Haha... it takes me a long time, to be honest. It's not necessarily the getting dressed part but emotionally and physically preparing myself can take hours at times. I don't like to talk to anyone for at least an hour before the show; at that point I'm trying to get into the zone. Also, you'll probably see me running around and jumping with my guitar.

Now that I think about it, I probably look ridiculous! Whatever does the trick, right?

2. Now it may not seem like it, but I have listened to quite a few of your albums and from what I’ve noticed, you’re a very vocal person when it comes to expressing what you think and how you feel, in a kind of subtle but not so subtle way. What drives you to be so up front like that? Is it just your personal views and opinions or do you feel as though others deserve the right to know as well as far as the general aspect of it?

You listen to Green Day? Well, I'm flattered!

I've always been pretty straightforward - in music and in life in general. Growing up in the punk scene in the East Bay, we were kind of groomed that way and that attitude helped us along the way.

There are some things that I feel very strongly about, whether it be political issues, environmental concerns, personal matters - anything, really - that I feel needs to be brought to light. We have to stop sweeping things under the rug, so to speak. Then there are other issues where I feel as though it should be left up to the listener to glean what they want or understand from a song or album even. Take American Idiot, for example. There have been many interpretations of the album as a whole, and I think it's a good thing. Sometimes it doesn't matter what we had in mind initially. We try to bring awareness but never brainwash, you know?

People need to become informed and form their own opinions, it’s the first step in changing the world.

3. Out of the three other bands that you perform with, which would you say has the most drive and ambition? Of course disregarding whatever reason you either decided to join the group or form the group.

That’s a really tough question. I wouldn’t say that one band has more ambition than another, per se. I think that perhaps each band's intentions differ, though. With Foxboro Hot Tubs, the goal was to fly by the seat of our pants and just make music we loved that was a little more low key, a little more garage-y than “Green Day songs.”

Pinhead Gunpowder, another side project, is more about performing when we feel that urge, you know? Sometimes there's this drive to just beat the shit out of your instruments at a local club. We get together to write and create music when we're all feeling that passion.

I guess the word's out about the Network.... this is probably the most absurd yet liberating of the three. For a while we (or so we thought) had our fans thinking I'd signed this weird New Wave European band to my record company, Adeline. But it was really the members of Green Day plus a few other guys. We had a blast. It wasn't about the deception, it was just about trying something so off the wall and completely different.

The experiences have been so different that I couldn't pick between them.

Wow. That's a big question. I think the way that bands get their "big break" is so different from the way it was when we started out. We made our own shirts and demos (on tape and vinyl) and sold them to our friends. It was all by word of mouth. We hopped in an old bookmobile that Tre's dad drove and took off to tour. And by tour, I mean play at house parties, barbeques, basically anything we could get. We made just enough money for gas and food - sometimes - and slept in stranger's homes. It's not like that anymore. It's a lot easier to get your name out there. Especially with the internet. You have YouTube and MySpace and all these things available to you. Ha, I sound like an old man right about now. The point is, promotion is a lot easier now, and with television shows like American Idol, well, it's just a different scene. There's two sides to the coin because now piracy is such a major issue. I guess you just have to take the good with the bad.

I also feel as though the idea of an album is a dying concept. There just aren't as many good albums out there. A lot of the time it feels like there are a few good songs and the rest are filler. I suppose with the rise of purchasing single songs and not albums has bred this culture.

5. Would you consider yourself a patient person or no? Red or blue? Dog or cat? And last but not least, do you watch any sports?

Me? Patient? Most of the time I'm not... unless it is with regards to my family and loved ones.

I'm 100% blue

Dogs over cats any day!

I played football for a *very* short period in high school so I think it stuck with me. I’ve been to watch a game or two in my lifetime.

Thank you Jessica. I really enjoyed interviewing with you.