Warning is a perfect title for a Green Day album, as they have always been the perfect band to relieve an audience from boredom. Frontman Billy Joe Armstrong also has a fondness for giving journalists a taste of adventure. The three guys seem to have taken holy vows to never grow up and to cause as much trouble as possible--all in good fun, of course.
     Their "redecorating sessions" were feared by hotels all over the globe, as countless hotel suites were destroyed and bars left in ruins in Green Day's wake. They openly mouthed off about other bands and caused the legendary mud fight at the Woodstock revival-a piece of mud struck Billy Joe in the face and he tossed it back into the audience, who took it as the signal to start a gigantic mud fight. Where Green Day is, something is bound to happen. This seems to be an unchangeable, universal law, but-surprise, surprise-even punk bands grow up ... sometimes.
     They were typecast as the typical punk band, due to their outrageous behavior and their often multicolored hairstyles, when in fact they always had strong melodies and rather catchy songs that frequently bordered on pop. Like those on Nimrod, the songs on Warning are quick, catchy, heavy on melody and harmony. Say what you may, there is a reason why their single "Minority" went to No. 1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart after only four weeks. Growing up certainly hasn't done Billy Joe Armstrong's songwriting any harm.
     "I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan songs, Tom Waits and Springsteen," he says. "I always thought it's important to keep your mind open, to be interested in what happened before but still keep an eye on what's happening today. A lot of people just saw us as some three-riff punk band who couldn't really play. I don't mind what they say about us; I know that we always tried out new things. One thing they can't say is that we never experimented or that we recorded the same album over and over again."
     Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitars), Mike Dirnt (bass, vocals) and Tre Cool (drums) are not the young punkers they were when they started out in Berkeley, Calif., and their main worry was finding a joint where they could play for free beer. The guys are in their late 20s and have families, which does alter their outlook on life quite a bit.
     "In a way, everything just happened in our career," Billie Joe says. "We were a couple of guys with shitty jobs, playing in a band, having fun, recording an album and all of a sudden we really were famous. Of course we were having fun, of course we did a couple of outrageous things. Who wouldn't? But you reach a point in your life where you ask yourself, Is it all I want to do? And then you have to decide. Just because we're a bit older doesn't mean we've become boring. We have different values and--let's face facts--I'm a family man. It's a lot harder to be on tour when you've got a family."
     It looks like Billy Joe takes his responsibilities rather seriously, but that's hardly surprising, since Green Day has always showed a strong responsibility toward their fans and were known to stop concerts if they saw somebody getting injured. So worrying about their audience--what would sound like a cheap excuse from some other bands--is definitely very believable from Green Day. And that Billie Joe's two sons, ages 3 and 5, and his wife are closest to his heart is even more understandable.
     "I never thought I'd say it, but I do miss my family more than I thought [I would] when I'm on the road," he says. "Of course, I could take them along, but it wouldn't really be fair. Being on tour is a lot of stress and I wouldn't have much time for them, so it's better for them if they're in their environment. How much fun can it be for a kid to be on tour without any other kids to play with? To have different time zones, no other kids around and everybody's really busy because things have to get done. Of course we're still going to tour; we were on the Warped Tour, but it's great to come home again."
     Home isn't always a bed of roses. He confesses that "Church on Sunday" was inspired by his marriage. Even if the lyrics sound rather depressing, he insists that they're not.
     "Church on Sunday' deals with compromises in the relationship I have with my wife, but you've always got to look ahead, have a future in front of your eyes and work on your relationships, no matter if they're with your partner or with friends. There will always be problems, but you've got to find solutions, or at least try to find [some]. I really hope there is a solution for every problem."
     That seems a far cry from the angry young man of the past, and he's honest enough to admit that he has mellowed out in the most pleasant way. "Oh, I was an angry, pessimistic and egomaniacal person. Sometimes if I look at my old lyrics, they seem to be full of rage but still empty. There was an emptiness in my life; now I'm trying to fill that void. It doesn't mean that you have to bottle up all your anger and your rage, but I learned that it makes a lot more sense to find out what really makes you angry, then try and channel the anger and to try to remove the cause for it. I think it's your own choice if you turn from an angry young man to an a bitter old bastard, or if you stay angry in a good way. I don't want to live in an ivory tower, being the songwriter who just turns inwards. I always want to be a part of the whole thing. That's why I live a pretty normal life at home, go shopping, all that. It's part of my life and I don't want to have that part of my life taken from me."
     Billy Joe confesses that in the past he has often been annoyed by fame and the necessities of marketing, but according to him, he's through with it and has decided to play the game after his own rules. "You can never tell if your fans will like an album or if they won't and I'm not gonna sit and try to market myself to anybody. If you feel like getting into this record, then do it. If you don't, then don't. It's as simple as that. I know a lot of people are going to call me arrogant and all that, but I don't care."
     And how about the naysayers who are going to claim, yet again, that Green Day is not punk anymore and probably throw the old "sold out" accusations at them?
     "I don't want to paint myself into a corner," he says. "Punk will always be a part of my life, but I don't want to limit myself musically. On Warning, we managed to test how far we can go. I love punk, and punk songs will always be part of Green Day, but it would be really limiting if we'd neglect something we really want to do, like explore other styles of music."