ISOCRACY
Isocracy was an American punk rock band from the Berkeley, California-area, formed in 1986. The band was one of the key bands in the MRR/Gilman Street project. John Kiffmeyer (a.k.a. Al Sobrante), who later went on to play for Green Day, was the drummer for the band. The other members were Lenny Johnson (guitar), Martin Brome (bass) and Jason Beebout (vocals), who went on to form Samiam. (More from Wikipedia)
Childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong (lead vocals and guitar) and Mike Dirnt (bass) are from Oakland (across the San Francisco Bay from San Francisco) and formed a band called Sweet Children when they were just 14. Their first live show was on October 17, 1987, at Rod’s Hickory Pit in Vallejo, California. Drummer John Kiffmeyer joined the line-up in 1988; he was previously in Isocracy. By the time their first EP, 1,000 Hours came out on Lookout! Records in 1989, they had dropped the name Sweet Children, since it was similar to that of another local band, Sweet Baby. Their new name, Green Day was selected because of their fondness for marijuana.
(June 2017)
