Tim Armstrong

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Tim Armstrong
Background information
Birth name	Timothy Lockwood Armstrong
Also known as	Lint
Born	November 25, 1965 (1965-11-25) (age 43) Berkeley, California, U.S.
Origin	Albany, California, U.S.
Genres	Punk, ska punk, street punk, ska
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Producer, Director
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Bass, drums, keyboards, Synthesizer, Harmonica
Years active	1983–Present
Labels	Hellcat, Epitaph
Associated acts	Rancid Transplants Operation Ivy Dance Hall Crashers Downfall Basic Radio Shaken 69 The Silencers The LJs U.S. Thugs Generator
Website	Official Site

Timothy Lockwood Armstrong (born November 25, 1965^[1]) is an American musician and songwriter best known for his work with punk rock bands Rancid, Operation Ivy, Downfall, and the Transplants. He is also the owner and operator of Hellcat Records.

History

Personal life

Tim Armstrong was born November 25 in 1965. He has two brothers- Jeff and Greg; Greg is in the army.^[2] At the age of six, Armstrong met Matt Freeman while playing Little League Baseball in California. Freeman became one of his best friends and the bass player for Rancid. Armstrong and Freeman grew up together in Albany, California. Embracing punk culture during high school, Armstrong's favorite groups were the Clash and the Ramones.

Armstrong was quoted in Maximum Rancid - The Unauthorized Biography Of Rancid, that "If it wasn't for the Ramones, Rancid would have never become a group." After the demise of his first locally (and later internationally) successful group, Operation Ivy, Armstrong suffered from alcoholism, and eventually became homeless.^[3] During this time, Freeman suggested the two start a group together, partially in hopes of curbing Armstrong's alcohol addiction. Armstrong began writing songs that would appear on their first album, Rancid.

Tim Armstrong while in Operation Ivy

Hellcat Records

Armstrong started Hellcat Records in 1997 as a sub-label of Epitaph, owned by Armstrong's friend and Bad Religion member Brett Gurewitz. Armstrong acts as a talent scout for Hellcat, and has final say concerning what groups are signed to the label. Contrary to popular belief, Hellcat Records is not a lucrative venture for Armstrong, and is just a vanity label. Armstrong also owns the merchandise manufacturer Machete Mfg,[2]which provides merchandise for bands on Hellcat Records.

Musical history

One of the first groups that Armstrong played in was Basic Radio. After Basic Radio disbanded, he performed in the ska punk group Operation Ivy under the nickname "Lint" from their beginning in 1987 until they disbanded in 1989. Soon thereafter, Armstrong helped found the Dance Hall Crashers, but left them after a brief period of time. He was also in Downfall with Matt Freeman. In 1991 Armstrong went on to greater fame with Rancid with bassist Matt Freeman (who had previously played with Armstrong in Operation Ivy, Downfall, and Dance Hall Crashers). Brett Reed was a local skate punk who had only been playing drums for six months when Armstrong and Freeman asked him to join their group. Reed was later replaced by Branden Steineckert (formerly of The Used) in 2006. Steineckert has said that Rancid is one of his favorite groupsand one of his biggest musical influences. Tim Armstrong is a left-handed guitarist.

In 1999, Armstrong invited Rob Aston ("Skinhead Rob") to work on some solo material that Armstrong had been creating in his basement, and the two worked together writing and recording music. They formed the group Transplants with Travis Barker (of blink-182 fame) and released their self-titled debut album on October 22, 2002. Also in 2002, Armstrong contributed vocals to Tom Delonge's (also of blink-182 fame) side project Box Car Racer, on the track "Cat Like Thief". A second Transplants album, Haunted Cities, was released on June 21, 2005. The Transplants break-up was confirmed by Rob Aston on January 16, 2006, when he told a reporter that the group had split.

Tim in Nashville, TN on 6/27/08.

Tim co-wrote 8 songs with Pink for her 2003 album Try This, he has also collaborated with Gwen Stefani on her debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby.

Tim in 2006

In addition to his projects, Armstrong has also been known to pop up on others' albums in various roles. He's contributed vocals/guitar to tracks by groups including The Lordz, Box Car Racer, Bad Religion, Cypress Hill, Stubborn All-Stars, Head Automatica, Fefe Dobson, The Matches, NOFX, Time Again, Left Alone, and Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, which is a side-project of his Rancid bandmate Lars Frederiksen. He's collaborated with Pink, the Aggrolites, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Osbourne. He has also produced several albums, including the first album by AFI, Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995), Viking by Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards and two tracks for the Matches, "You (don't) know me" on Decomposer and "Yankee in a Chip Shop" on A Band in Hope.

Armstrong has become a very iconic figure in punk rock.

Recent history

Armstrong is still very active in the Berkeley scene that grew up around 924 Gilman Street. He has showcased his other artistic talents and created artwork for the INSAINTS logo. He has also done a solo album entitled A Poet's Life, giving fans the option to download the tracks for free on the internet. He has so far released 10 music videos. After much airplay of the song "Into Action" (featuring Skye Sweetnam on guest vocals), A Poet's Life was released on May 22, 2007 with a bonus DVD containing video clips for each song.

Despite Armstrong's solo tour, drummer Branden Steineckert mentioned in June that Rancid would go back to the studio to resume work on their new album in January 2008.^[4]

The LA Times reported in February 2008 that Rancid had booked 3 weeks at George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch studio for recording their seventh studio album.^[5] Brett Gurewitz, who produced the band's new album, recently reported that Rancid was finished mixing it.^[6] The album is now known as Let the Dominoes Fall, which was released on June 2, 2009.^[7]

Discography

Operation Ivy

• Hectic EP (1988) – (credited as Lint) guitar and backing vocals on entire album
• Energy (1989, 1991) – (credited as Lint) guitar and backing vocals on entire album
• Seedy (1996) – (credited as Lint) guitar and backing vocals on entire album

Downfall

• Although no records by Downfall exist, the band did release a demo and a couple of songs. It should be noted that essentially Downfall is Operation Ivy minus Jesse Michaels but adding Pat Mello (Dave Mello's brother) on guitar. They were featured on the compilation Can Of Pork with a song called "North Berkeley".[3]

Rancid

• Rancid (1993) – guitars and vocals
• Let's Go (1994) – guitars and vocals
• ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995) – guitars and vocals
• Life Won't Wait (1998) – guitars and vocals
• Rancid (2000) – guitars and vocals
• BYO Split Series, Vol. 3 (2002) – guitars and vocals
• Indestructible (2003) – guitars and vocals
• B Sides and C Sides (2007) – guitars and vocals
• Let the Dominoes Fall (2009) – guitars and vocals

Transplants

• Transplants (2002) – guitars and vocals
• Haunted Cities (2005) – guitars and vocals
• Haunted Cities: Screwed and Chopped (2005) – guitars and vocals

Solo albums

• A Poet's Life (2007) – guitars and vocals

Produced albums

• Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995) by AFI
• East los Presents (1997) by Union 13
• At Ease (1997) by The Gadjits
• F-Minus (2000) by F-Minus
• Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards (2001) by Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards
• Try This (2003) by Pink
• Viking (2004) by Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards
• The Stories Are True (2006) by Time Again
• Decomposer (2006) by The Matches
• Live Freaky! Die Freaky! (2006) by John Roecker
• Sound Soldier (2007) by Skye Sweetnam

Other

The following is a list of songs that Armstrong has appeared on where he was not a member of that group.

• "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" by AFI
• "Television" by Bad Religion from Stranger Than Fiction
• "Gotta Go" by Agnostic Front from Something's Gotta Give
• "Faster Than The World" by H2O from F.T.T.W.
• "Fearful" by The Specials from Guilty 'Til Proved Innocent!
• "Pick Yourself Up," "Tired of Struggling," and "Because of You" by Stubborn All-Stars from Back With A New Batch
• "Tomorrow Burns" by F-Minus from their debut album
• "Werecat" and "Moonlite Dreams" by Tiger Army from Tiger Army
• "The Stories Are True" by Time Again from their debut album
• "Cat Like Thief" by Box Car Racer from Box Car Racer
• "What's Your Number" by Cypress Hill
• "Dance Party Plus" by Head Automatica off of Decadence
• "You (Don't) Know Me" by The Matches from Decomposer
• "Go Go Go" by Shiragirl from Not Sold In Stores
• "My Life To Live" by Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards from Viking
• "City To City" by Left Alone from Dead American Radio
• "Travelin' Band" (guitar solo) by The Heart Attacks from Hellbound and Heartless
• "Outlaw" by "The Lordz"
• "It All Makes a Lot Less Sense Now" by 7 Seconds from Soulforce Revolution
• "Misty Days" by Buju Banton from "Unchained Spirit"
• "No More" by Black Flag from Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three
• "Tell Me What You're Feeling" by Nocturnal from Give 'Em the Boot
• "Policeman" by The Silencers from Give 'Em the Boot

Filmography

• Larry is dead (1995) Director, Actor, Producer

• Live Freaky! Die Freaky! (2003) Producer and Narrator

• The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004) Acting

• Give 'Em the Boot (2005) Producer

Guitars and Amplification

Armstrong uses Mesa/Boogie Amplification, mostly the Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier and most of the gain is from the rhythm channel.
Here is a partial list of guitars he has been known to use:
1. Gibson SG, black finish with a black pickguard, rosewood fretboard.
2. Hagström Viking, pink finish, rosewood fretboard.
3. Epiphone ES 335, sunburst finish, rosewood fretboard.
4. Hagström Viking, red finish, rosewood fretboard.
5. Hagström Viking, black finish, rosewood fretboard.
6. Gretsch 1974 Country Club, originally natural, spray-painted black (now chipped), rosewood fretboard.
7. Gibson Les Paul, black finish, rosewood fretboard.
8. Schecter S-1, originally black finish, sanded off and spray-painted black, rosewood fretboard.
9. Gibson SG, originally red finish, spraypainted black, rosewood fretboard.
10. Fender Acoustic, natural with a brownish "pickguard, rosewood fretboard.
11. Gretsch White Falcon, white finish, rosewood fretboard.

During "Rancid": guitar 1.
During "Let's Go": guitar 1, 2 and 3.
During "And Out Come The Wolves": guitar 2, 3, 4 and 5.
During "Life Won't Wait": guitar 2, 6, 7 and 8.
During "Rancid 2000": guitar 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
During "Transplants": guitar 6, 8, and 9.
During "Indestructible": guitar 6, 8, 9 and 10.
During "Haunted Cities": guitar 6, 8, 9 and 10.
Solo, "A Poet's Life": guitar 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
According to the Rancid Webisodes on youtube from their most recent cd, he uses the Country Club for most of the recording even though he uses other guitars live

References

External links

• Rancid Official Website