Mike Dirnt

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Mike Dirnt (2013)

Mike Dirnt [ maɪk dəɹnt ] (as Michael Ryan Pritchard * May 4, 1972 in Berkeley , California ) is the bass player for the American punk rock band Green Day .

biography

Mike Dirnt joined an adoptive family after his birth because his mother, who was addicted to heroin, gave him away. He attended the same school as the later frontman of Green Day , Billie Joe Armstrong . After his adoptive parents divorced, he lived with Armstrong for a while at the age of 15, who did not want to leave his best friend behind. Mike then worked as a cook at Rudy's can't fail cafe , a diner in Emeryville. Billie Joe and Mike formed the band Sweet Children together with Al Sobrante ( John Kiffmeyer ) in 1987 , which they renamed Green Day in 1989 .

After joining Green Day, Pritchard played in the bands The Frustrators , Screeching Weasel , Crummy Musicians and Squirtgun . He seldom appeared with the Frustrators in clubs and bars on the East Bay in California.

Private life

Michael Ryan Pritchard married his long-time girlfriend Anastasia in 1996, with whom he has a daughter (born April 1997). In 2004 they separated again. In the same year he married his girlfriend Sarah, from whom he separated again shortly afterwards. In the summer of 2008, he obtained custody of his daughter. Mike also has a son from Brittney Cade, who was born on October 11th of the same year. On March 14, 2009, Mike Dirnt married Cade in a private ceremony in Ojai , California. His second daughter was born on November 29, 2010. Mike Dirnt is part owner of the diner "Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe", in which he worked as a cook.

After the release of the album Warning (October 2000), he had to undergo an operation for a carpal tunnel syndrome .

Instruments

Mike Dirnt used to play mainly a Gibson G3 bass. However, he switched to a Fender Precision Bass . He has recently got his own Fender signature bass , a mix of vintage and modern precision bass , which, like the Sting signature model, can be bought for free. He uses Mesa Boogie MB2000 as an amplifier . Mike Dirnt used a Peavey Patriot bass on the album 1039 / Smoothed Out Slappy Hours . When recording Kerplunk, he switched to a Gibson G3 Bass, which he also used on Dookie and which he also used at Insomniac . On Nimrod, however, Mike Dirnt used two Fender Precision basses from 1963 and 1969, which can also be heard on Warning . He used his Squier Mike Dirnt Signature Precision Bass on American Idiot, and ended up using his new Fender Signature Precision Bass on 21 Century Breakdown .

In addition to the bass, Mike Dirnt can also play other instruments. This includes Farfisa , guitar , and drums .

Dirnt as a composer

Although the songwriter of Green Day is mainly Armstrong, Mike Dirnt also wrote some of Green Day's songs: Dirnt wrote the songs Emenius Sleepus for the third studio album Dookie and JAR , which also serves as the soundtrack for the film Angus . He also wrote the songs Scumbag and Ha Ha, You're dead for the Shenanigans compilation . For the song Homecoming on the album American Idiot , Mike wrote the subtrack Nobody likes you , which he also sings himself. Dirnt also takes on the lead vocals in the song Governator - which can be found on the single American Idiot - as well as in the second part of the song American Eulogy on the album 21st Century Breakdown . He also wrote the songs Sweet Children and Panic Song with Billie Joe Armstrong .

Trivia

  • Pritchard brought his bass case to school and plucked the thick strings at lunchtime and in the breaks, which is why he was nicknamed "Dirnt", an onomatopoeia of the string noises he made with his bass at the time.
  • Allegedly, Mike nearly missed his high school education because his mother refused to fill out an attendance form for him. However, he graduated from high school while at Sweet Children.

Web links

Commons : Mike Dirnt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files