Growing Up with a Band

         Green Day is God’s favorite band. At least, that is what their recent greatest hits album title signifies, and to me, they are still the band that predominantly impacted my decision to be in a band during high school. I am a Green Day fan who owns every studio album, live album, and documentary. I own a few Green Day books and magazines with cover stories featuring the three members of the band: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool. I can even name every track in order from a majority of their 13 albums; however, I am not special in this skill set. There are millions of fans, both young and old, that can do the same. Music fans who have grown up with and followed a band understand this sense of ownership and dedication. While I do not listen to Green Day as much as I did when I was in my teens, discovering a band to latch onto like them was vital for making the mundane moments of my teenage years fun and memorable. 

            I remember getting a 1 gigabyte iPod for my 8th grade graduation (the fact that storage amount is so small today makes me feel old) and with that gift, came the need for some fresh music, so I went to the greatest place for any type of shopping, Target. Going straight to the music section, I searched the isles for a record worth dedicating my small amount of storage towards. Recent releases from Susan Boyle, Adam Lambert, and, of course, Mac Daddy Eminem had my attention. However, I ended up being drawn to graffiti laden album artwork featuring a young couple embracing and kissing in front of an orange and red brick wall with the title 21^st Century Breakdown standing out in bright yellow.  The artwork was blunt, eye catching, and on the CD's sleeve, Green Day was written in large, boxed, white text. At that time, my only knowledge of the band were from two instances. The first from hearing their song, "Good Riddance", played during the Seinfeld finale and mistaking their song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" as being written by Linkin Park. This showed I hardly had knowledge of them or other contemporary music with my listening habits consisting of 1960's psychedelic rock and 80's pop, so with $20 to spend on records, I purchased Green Day's 21^st Century Breakdown and American Idiot.

            After listening and learning the guitar from those two albums, I went onto discover the band's entire discography. Every new album I acquired made me feel as if I alone had discovered it. That somehow, Green Day was my band. Each album even had its own distinct personality. It felt like I was apart of an eclectic group of friends, which made these records great company throughout high school. The long bus rides to and from campus were fun because I had each album to accompany me while sitting three to a seat tightly gripping my 2 gig iTouch (yes, I moved up in the world of tech). At night, I would put my headphones on and fall asleep after completing AP homework with ease listening to the entirety of their 1997 record Nimrod with the song "Hitchin a Ride's" bass line stuck in my head till I would wake up hearing the band's harmonies on the art rock song "Redundant." This became my routine with me only changing albums to reflect my mood or the situation. This continued into to my first year of college when I finally bought tickets to see them in 2013 at UC Berkeley's Greek Theatre.

            As I stood in the packed Greek Theater with hundreds of other fans as the warm up song, "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly," finished playing on a cool Berkeley California evening, Green Day leaped into action and delivered a memorable home town concert experience that I have recollected on every week since. Going to see them was the accumulation of each moment listening to those records and standing with a diverse group of people who shared the commonality of viewing Green Day the same way I did; a band that speaks for the naïve nature of youth, and the careless fun we like to take part in at the age. That moment picking those records was the start of realizing it’s okay to be me (as stereotypical as that sounds). You may not know the members of your favorite band, or have never seen them live, but the idea that you can feel so close to a group you’ve never met just by hearing them through your ear buds or car stereo is worth recognizing. Basically, if you can, grow up with a band. 
If you've had a similar experience growing up, which band or artist did you grow up with? 

Interesting article about Record Store Day and the act of going into a record store: 
https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/736-record-store-day-and-the-ambivalent-branding-of-independence/