Living in ambiguous times
Green Day’s Mike Dirnt talks to about his first Trump encounter, that new controversial music video, and his hopes for America.
On the balmy New York evening of April 20, 2010, Green Day’s bassist Mike Dirnt was on cloud nine. He was at the premiere of American Idiot, the Broadway musical inspired by his band’s album of the same name.
Hundreds of fans had turned up to get a glimpse of their favourite rock and roll trio, and paparazzi lenses flashed as one-by-one, big names walked the red carpet to catch the premiere.
But there was one particular guest he didn’t expect to see.
‘‘Somehow he showed up and I thought, are you kidding me? What the f... are you doing here?’’
The unexpected guest: Donald Trump.
Back then, ‘‘everyone just knew him as this rich, weird guy,’’ Dirnt says.
But for a show with themes about blind patriotism and the disillusionment of a generation brought up on an ‘‘American Dream’’ based on wealth and excess, it seemed a curious choice of show for a rightwing tycoon.
Trump even tweeted about the show the next day: ‘‘Melania and I saw American Idiot on Broadway last night and it was great. An amazing theatrical experience!’’
Six years later, Dirnt would find himself waking up in Paris to find out something he didn’t think possible. Trump had won the election, and was to be the next President of the United States.
Speaking on the phone from his hotel room in ‘‘freezing cold’’ Oslo, Dirnt said he hadn’t managed to catch much of Trump’s inauguration due to time differences. But it would have been hard to watch anyway.
The band is on the world tour for its 12th studio album, Revolution Radio, heading to New Zealand for two shows at Auckland’s Vector Arena on May 13 and 14.
The new album is much like any other Green Day effort, packed with punchy, pseudo-political lyrics that aim to tap into the psyche of a troubled western world.
But Dirnt insists the album was not consciously written to coincide with Trump’s race to power.
Green Day members could be rubbing their hands together over the timeliness of releasing a political album with one of the biggest upsets in American political history. But they’re not: ‘‘I would trade the emphasis on our record for getting him out of office any day of the week,’’ Dirnt says.
‘‘At the end of the day, we’re not going to keep our mouths shut if we see something we don’t like.’’
It is one of the reasons why the band gave the green light for the controversial lyrical video for Troubled Times. The clip features images of placards reading ‘‘Make America Hate Again’’, and Ku Klux Klan hoods transforming into Trump’s teeth, while his hands grasp at nuclear warheads.
‘‘The artists actually called us and said ‘do you mind if we do this?’ and we said go ahead, we don’t want to step in the way of your creative process, and it turned out phenomenal.
‘‘I think it’s very telling of where we’re at right now, it really is a mess in
'At the end of the day, we're not going to keep our mouths shut if we see something we don't like.' Mike Dirnt
America.’’
But for Dirnt personally, the political troubles don’t compare with challenges he faced at home in 2014 when his wife Brittney, whom he calls one of Green Day’s biggest supporters, was diagnosed with breast cancer.
‘‘She’s doing great now,’’ he says, ‘‘My wife is a pretty strong person, she never said ‘oh, poor me’.
‘‘She went through nine months of treatment and we gained gratitude and life perspective from that.
‘‘We learned that sometimes life just happens and you can’t always be in control of everything. We learnt none of us are going to be here forever, so let’s really appreciate where we’re at.’’
This year, both Dirnt and Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong will celebrate their 45th birthdays, and the 30th anniversary of the band’s foundation. But they met even earlier than that. ‘‘We met in the 5th grade when we were 10 years old. Billy’s school went bankrupt, or something, so his school came over to my school and we were in the same class.
‘‘I remember hanging out in the playground area at lunch and, it’s funny, I think the very first conversation we had was about music. He was already playing guitar and I was learning, and it was just kind of a natural friendship. I was kind of the class clown so I made him laugh a lot too.’’
So how have they stayed together for so long when other bands not only break up, but seem to end up loathing each other?
‘‘Well, I think the common theme with me, Billy, and [drummer] Tre Cool is that this band is the greatest thing we’re ever going to do, so to not keep doing it would be foolish.
‘‘And, you know, it’s a great life, we’ve lived and learned everything through this band.’’
When it comes to the future of America, Dirnt says he isn’t exactly optimistic, but hopeful.
‘‘I think America’s been duped by somebody who put themselves out there to be the second coming.
‘‘We’re just as confused as everybody else, but I think people need to stay vigilant and not give up on the things that are important to them.
‘‘I’m hopeful people will come together, I’ve seen it with all the protests and everything else that’s going on, but it’s really kind of ambiguous times right now.’’
Tickets to Green Day’s May 14 concert at Vector Arena are still available at Ticketmaster.co.nz.