6 Bands You Didn’t Know Were Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool make up the punk rock band Green Day. But what some fans might not know are the other band monikers these rockstars operate under. Find out which bands are the members of Green Day playing different personas.
Before Green Day, there was Pinhead Gunpowder
Pinhead Gunpowder was a band that formed in 1990 in East Bay, California. Armstrong played guitar and sang vocals alongside Jason White, who would later join Green Day as a backup vocalist and guitar player. Aaron Cometbus wrote lyrics and played the drums for Pinhead Gunpowder, while Bill Schneider played bass.
The group disbanded in 1993 after struggling with Armstrong’s decision to sign with a major label as Green Day. In 2008, Pinhead Gunpowder reunited for a performance after the release of their EP West Side Highway. The following year, the band released a greatest hits album, Kick Over the Traces. One of Pinhead Gunpowder’s most recent performances was at a breast cancer benefit at the legendary 924 Gilman Street in February 2010.
The Frustrators is Mike Dirnt’s side project
The Frustrators are Dirnt’s side project. The punk band consists of Jason Chandler on lead vocals, Terry Linehan on guitar and vocals, and Art Tedeschi on drums. The Frustrators have two releases with Adeline Records, Armstrong’s label: Bored in the USA and Achtung Jacka*s. The Frustrators’ new EP Griller was released on February 15, 2011.
The Network
The Network is one of the most widely known side projects amongst Green Day fans. The six-piece band creates new wave music under the personas Fink (Armstrong), Van Gough (Dirnt), and Captain Underpants (Cool).
The Network’s debut album Money Money 2020 was released through Adeline Records in September 2003. Fifteen years later after going on hiatus, The Network released Money Money 2020 Part II: We Told Ya So! in December 2020.
Songs like “Supermodel Robots” and “Right Hand-A-Rama” had many fans convinced The Network was a collaborative effort from Green Day and Devo. But there’s a lot of mystery surrounding this side project. A faux feud between The Network and Green Day surfaced at one point, complete with fake footage of a press conference ending in mayhem upon mention of Green Day. When Money Money 2020 was released, many fans understood The Network was the members of Green Day in masks.
Foxboro Hot Tubs
Foxboro Hot Tubs is another side band many Green Day fans are well aware of. The garage rock meets doo-wop band consists of: Armstrong, Dirnt, Cool, and White. Jason Freese, who also tours with Green Day, is another member of the Foxboro Hot Tubs, as is Prima Donna’s Kevin Preston. Armstrong and White operate under stage names when they perform as the Hot Tubs; Reverend Strychnine Twitch and Frosco Lee, respectively.
“We think that the only similarity [between the Hot Tubs and Green Day] is that we are the same band,” Armstrong once wrote in an email to MTV.
That is basically the only similarity. We are Jason White, Jason Freese, Michael Pritchard, Frank Edwin Wright the Third, and the Reverend Strychnine Twitch.
We are four guys who love to play music and be spontaneous, [and] after a few late night jams and a few too many bottles of wine, we were inspired to record some rockin’ eight-track recordings
The Foxboro Hot Tubs only have one studio album, Stop Drop and Roll!!!. It was released in April 2008.
The Coverups is Green Day’s cover band
One of Armstrong’s more recent side bands is The Coverups, a supergroup consisting of Dirnt, White, and several other Green Day members, including audio engineer Chris Dugan and tour manager Bill Schneider.
Armstrong and Dirnt founded the band in 2018 to perform their favorite cover songs from bands like The Clash and Cheap Trick. The Coverups have no albums or tour dates. Instead, they sporadically perform one-off shows, usually in small clubs.
The Longshot, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong’s side project
The Longshot is a side project Armstrong is involved in, along with touring members of Green day Jeff Matika and Kevin Preston. Drummer David S. Field is also part of The Longshot.
Their studio album Love Is for Losers, was recorded after Green Day’s Revolution Radio tour. The Longshot is Armstrong’s first venture into a solo career.
