Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagicGreen Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong shares his feelings on fame and social media in a wide-ranging interview with Kerrang!
In response to a question about whether he’s “comfortable with fame,” Armstrong replies, “I think the thing that makes it uncomfortable is how f***ed-up social media has become, and how everyone’s got a camera in their pocket now.”
“There are a lot of people out there who aren’t fans who just wanna be guilty by association or something,” Armstrong explains. “They wanna hold you in their pocket as a souvenir. And I think that sometimes that’s the part that gets annoying.”
“I don’t like my picture being taken with people,” he laughs. “It’s fine with fans — and I can always tell when someone is a genuine fan. But then there are people where you’re just sitting there in your f***in’ sweats and they just want to get a piece of you for their own ego.”
Armstrong also talks about exploring mental health topics in Green Day’s music.
“The punk rock scene, for me, was a scene of all these people with personality disorders coming together a lot of the time,” Armstrong says. “I didn’t really realize that until later on. If you’re into punk and hard rock, it kinda mellows people out. In a way, it’s the antidote for really troubled people.”
“I think that maybe Green Day is kind of the same way,” he adds. “I sing about a lot of anguish and despair — but I try to do it in a funny way. And I think that’s maybe what’s relatable about it…I don’t know. It’s just being real.”
By Josh Johnson
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
