Rancid
Tim Armstrong (guitar/vocals); Lars Frederiksen ( guitar/vocals); Matt Freeman (bass/vocals); Brett Reed - drums.
Rancid was formed in 1991 by childhood friends Tim Armstrong (guitar/vocals) and Matt Freeman (bass/vocals) from Berkeley and Albany, CA. The two first met back in 1972 when they were just 6 years old. By 1987 they were playing together in Operation Ivy one of the original bands of the now legendary Gilman St. scene. But by 1989 Operation Ivy were already falling apart, due largely to Tim’s worsening alcohol problems. In the next couple of years Tim would be in and out of detox and he and Matt would play in a few other bands, the most well known being Downfall. They made one album which was never released but bootlegged in its thousands. According to Tim “Downfall never felt right, even from the beginning”. Matt left to join MDC and took Tim along to be his roadie. They continued to play in a few other bands together including ska band Shaken 69 and punk band Generator. However when Matt left MDC to join the Gr’ups and Tim continued to hit rock bottom, it looked like the long-lasting partnership may finally have been coming to an end.
Out of the depths of despair and humiliation, Tim found the strength to quit drinking and his first mission was to get his partnership with Matt back again. They started jamming again and putting together the band that would become RANCID.
Matt was wary at first and continued to play in the Gr’ups with Rancid being his “side thing with an old friend”
Good luck finally seemed to bless the pair in 1991 - money was starting to come in from the Operation Ivy releases and Tim finally had enough money to take care of himself and concentrate on writing music. Now that Tim had proven to Matt he was going to stay sober, Matt finally packed in the Gr’ups and RANCID was officially born.
They recruited a young skater punk and member of local band Smog, named Brett Reed to play drums, Tim described him as “a sarcastic skater kid who could barely play.”
In 1992 they released their 1st single “I’m not the only one” on Lookout records. By the end of 1992 they signed to Epitaph to record their eponymous debut album in 1993.
While getting ready to record their 2nd album they decided they wanted to expand to a 4 piece and recruited a young Berkeley kid named Billie Joe Armstrong. They played one show at Gilman with him and he co-wrote the song “Radio”. Although everything went well with Billie it wasn’t to work out, as Tim puts it “he had other things going on…….another band he was doing pretty well with”!!!
What next? That came in the form of 19 year old Lars Frederiksen from Campbell, CA who had previously opened for Rancid with his band Slip and was more recently a member of the UK Subs. In his words when he first heard the Rancid record he thought “Oh God this is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life” There was a slight hitch however - at this point Lars was a recovering heroin addict and still very much liked to drink. At first Tim didn’t think it would be too much of a problem, after all Matt still drank the odd beer. But the truth came to light when the band went to a Green Day/Tilt gig in Berkeley - Lars was intoxicated to the point where Matt said “Fuck that guy, no fucking way is he going to be in my band” Tim was a little more understanding and had a heart to heart with Lars and told him to decide between the alcohol or the band…..luckily Lars made the right decision!
In the New Year, they released the "Radio Radio Radio" single, on Fat Wreck Chords. This was Lars’ debut on record.
Let’s Go was recorded in 4 days and released in 1994. It won the hearts of punks around the world, not to mention selling almost a million copies and starting a bidding war between several major labels, Madonna even sent the band a naked photograph from her new book to try and coheres them into signing with her Maverick label. However they stuck to their DIY punk attitude and remained with Epitaph.
The following year Rancid released ...And Out Come the Wolves. The album further thrust the group into the limelight with the singles, "Roots Radicals," "Time Bomb" and "Ruby Soho." This recent fame was already beginning to grate on some of the DIY ‘till I die punks especially after the band performed Roots Radicals on Saturday Nite Live. Tim’s words to the “punks” muttering the words “sell out” were “Have you ever turned down a million and a half dollars - well I have”! After a year and a half of touring, including a slot on the 1996 Lollapalooza tour with The Ramones, the band took a well-deserved year off.
Their most eclectic album to date Life Won’t Wait was released in 1998. It fused punk with touches of ska, reggae and rockabilly. To this day it remains to divide Rancid fans, although this time the arguments were about the music and not the usual “sell out” jibes that were ever too frequent when discussing …And Out Come the Wolves.
A new millennium saw the release of Rancid 2000, probably their most hardcore record to date burning through 22 songs in 38 minutes. This album was enough even for those self-righteous punkers that had left Rancid’s side to admit that this was a grinding, raw, amazing punk record!
In the few years to follow both Tim and Lars would work on side projects. Lars' being Lars Frederiksen & the Bastards which was co-written and produced by Tim. Tim's being the critically acclaimed Transplants alongside Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and Rancid roadie "Skinhead" Rob Aston.
That brings us up to date with 2003’s Indestructible. This album was critically acclaimed from the likes of Rolling Stone and Spin, it has made Rancid the godfathers of modern-day punk amongst the new wave of pop-punkers crediting them as inspirations. It has put them on top where they truly belong. Of course the brilliance of this album was overshadowed by Rancid’s decision to sign to Warner Bros for a distribution deal. The main topic of concern from "fans" and haters alike seemed to be the damn Warner signing, they didn’t once discuss the music. The only words they could manage to utter through their newly pierced lips was “sell outs.” In my opinion I don’t care who they sign to as long as the music and the touring continues, shit I don’t even care which current pathetic pop star Tim has decided to write songs for - it’s all irrelevant.
So to all the “punks” that continue to spew shit from their mouths I say this - maybe you were never really a fan to begin with - because if you were you’d know to Rancid and their fans the thing of most importance is the music, the love of the tight family unit that is Rancid and above all the punk rock attitude that you do what YOU want to do, you don’t care what’s right or wrong (even in terms of what label you sign to) you just do it and don’t give a shit what anyone thinks of you!
-Jennifer Lynn-
Rancid was formed in 1991 by childhood friends Tim Armstrong (guitar/vocals) and Matt Freeman (bass/vocals) from Berkeley and Albany, CA. The two first met back in 1972 when they were just 6 years old. By 1987 they were playing together in Operation Ivy one of the original bands of the now legendary Gilman St. scene. But by 1989 Operation Ivy were already falling apart, due largely to Tim’s worsening alcohol problems. In the next couple of years Tim would be in and out of detox and he and Matt would play in a few other bands, the most well known being Downfall. They made one album which was never released but bootlegged in its thousands. According to Tim “Downfall never felt right, even from the beginning”. Matt left to join MDC and took Tim along to be his roadie. They continued to play in a few other bands together including ska band Shaken 69 and punk band Generator. However when Matt left MDC to join the Gr’ups and Tim continued to hit rock bottom, it looked like the long-lasting partnership may finally have been coming to an end.
Out of the depths of despair and humiliation, Tim found the strength to quit drinking and his first mission was to get his partnership with Matt back again. They started jamming again and putting together the band that would become RANCID.
Matt was wary at first and continued to play in the Gr’ups with Rancid being his “side thing with an old friend”
Good luck finally seemed to bless the pair in 1991 - money was starting to come in from the Operation Ivy releases and Tim finally had enough money to take care of himself and concentrate on writing music. Now that Tim had proven to Matt he was going to stay sober, Matt finally packed in the Gr’ups and RANCID was officially born.
They recruited a young skater punk and member of local band Smog, named Brett Reed to play drums, Tim described him as “a sarcastic skater kid who could barely play.”
In 1992 they released their 1st single “I’m not the only one” on Lookout records. By the end of 1992 they signed to Epitaph to record their eponymous debut album in 1993.
While getting ready to record their 2nd album they decided they wanted to expand to a 4 piece and recruited a young Berkeley kid named Billie Joe Armstrong. They played one show at Gilman with him and he co-wrote the song “Radio”. Although everything went well with Billie it wasn’t to work out, as Tim puts it “he had other things going on…….another band he was doing pretty well with”!!!
What next? That came in the form of 19 year old Lars Frederiksen from Campbell, CA who had previously opened for Rancid with his band Slip and was more recently a member of the UK Subs. In his words when he first heard the Rancid record he thought “Oh God this is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life” There was a slight hitch however - at this point Lars was a recovering heroin addict and still very much liked to drink. At first Tim didn’t think it would be too much of a problem, after all Matt still drank the odd beer. But the truth came to light when the band went to a Green Day/Tilt gig in Berkeley - Lars was intoxicated to the point where Matt said “Fuck that guy, no fucking way is he going to be in my band” Tim was a little more understanding and had a heart to heart with Lars and told him to decide between the alcohol or the band…..luckily Lars made the right decision!
In the New Year, they released the "Radio Radio Radio" single, on Fat Wreck Chords. This was Lars’ debut on record.
Let’s Go was recorded in 4 days and released in 1994. It won the hearts of punks around the world, not to mention selling almost a million copies and starting a bidding war between several major labels, Madonna even sent the band a naked photograph from her new book to try and coheres them into signing with her Maverick label. However they stuck to their DIY punk attitude and remained with Epitaph.
The following year Rancid released ...And Out Come the Wolves. The album further thrust the group into the limelight with the singles, "Roots Radicals," "Time Bomb" and "Ruby Soho." This recent fame was already beginning to grate on some of the DIY ‘till I die punks especially after the band performed Roots Radicals on Saturday Nite Live. Tim’s words to the “punks” muttering the words “sell out” were “Have you ever turned down a million and a half dollars - well I have”! After a year and a half of touring, including a slot on the 1996 Lollapalooza tour with The Ramones, the band took a well-deserved year off.
Their most eclectic album to date Life Won’t Wait was released in 1998. It fused punk with touches of ska, reggae and rockabilly. To this day it remains to divide Rancid fans, although this time the arguments were about the music and not the usual “sell out” jibes that were ever too frequent when discussing …And Out Come the Wolves.
A new millennium saw the release of Rancid 2000, probably their most hardcore record to date burning through 22 songs in 38 minutes. This album was enough even for those self-righteous punkers that had left Rancid’s side to admit that this was a grinding, raw, amazing punk record!
In the few years to follow both Tim and Lars would work on side projects. Lars' being Lars Frederiksen & the Bastards which was co-written and produced by Tim. Tim's being the critically acclaimed Transplants alongside Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and Rancid roadie "Skinhead" Rob Aston.
That brings us up to date with 2003’s Indestructible. This album was critically acclaimed from the likes of Rolling Stone and Spin, it has made Rancid the godfathers of modern-day punk amongst the new wave of pop-punkers crediting them as inspirations. It has put them on top where they truly belong. Of course the brilliance of this album was overshadowed by Rancid’s decision to sign to Warner Bros for a distribution deal. The main topic of concern from "fans" and haters alike seemed to be the damn Warner signing, they didn’t once discuss the music. The only words they could manage to utter through their newly pierced lips was “sell outs.” In my opinion I don’t care who they sign to as long as the music and the touring continues, shit I don’t even care which current pathetic pop star Tim has decided to write songs for - it’s all irrelevant.
So to all the “punks” that continue to spew shit from their mouths I say this - maybe you were never really a fan to begin with - because if you were you’d know to Rancid and their fans the thing of most importance is the music, the love of the tight family unit that is Rancid and above all the punk rock attitude that you do what YOU want to do, you don’t care what’s right or wrong (even in terms of what label you sign to) you just do it and don’t give a shit what anyone thinks of you!
-Jennifer Lynn-