Artist: Tim Armstrong Genre(s):
Rock
Discography:
A Poet's Life Year: 2007
Tracks: 10
One of the key figures of American punk stone in the 1990s and forrader, Tim Armstrong is best known as the singer and guitar player with the band Rancid, though his résumé begins years before that band blush wine to prominence. Born in Oakland, CA, in the fall of 1966, Armstrong was friends since childhood with Matt Freeman, and as teenagers the deuce became converts to tough stone after visual perception the Clash open for the Who in Oakland in 1982. Armstrong and Freeman were besides deep influenced by the British ska revival of the '80s, which had a major impingement in California, and in 1987 they formed the influential ska punk band Operation Ivy; while the chemical group lasted a morsel less than two age and only released unitary single and peerless album, their revved-up fusion of kindling and Jamaican sounds made them kings at Northern California's fabled all-aged guild 924 Gilman Street. Internal clash caused Operation Ivy to fracture up in 1989, and an attempt by Armstrong and Freeman to commit together a unexampled band, Downfall, fell apart later on a bare leash shows in late 1989. Armstrong developed a serious imbibition problem, spell Freeman started playing basso for warhorse anarchist punks MDC. But in 1991, a fresh sombre Armstrong and his champion Freeman gave first appearance a band some other try, recruiting drummer Brett Reed and by and by guitar player Lars Frederiksen to grade Rancid. While Rancid's 1993 debut record album, released by California indie-punk label Epitaph Records, south Korean won small notice external the Bay Area, their second gear LP, 1994's
Let's Go, earned them a massive report in punk circles, especially after they were accorded "adjacent big thing" status by A&R manpower following the commercial-grade breakthrough of their Epitaph labelmates the Offspring. However, to the surprise of many, Rancid turned down seven-figure offers from several major labels in favor of the release originative atmosphere at Epitaph, and their side by side deuce albums, 1995's
...And Out Come the Wolves and 1998's
Life Won't Wait were both major commercial-grade and critical successes. While Rancid continued to write and record material at their own footstep, respective of the members began working on solo projects, and Armstrong helped Frederiksen with his stria Lars Frederiksen & the Bastards, spell too forming the hip-hop-influenced mathematical group Transplants with Rob Aston of Expensive Tastes and Travis Barker of blink-182 connexion Armstrong in the studio apartment; they released their self-titled debut in 2002, and a second disk,
Haunted Cities, in 2005, with a "sliced and screwed" remix edition coming into court a few months later. Both of Frederiksen's albums with the Bastards and the first Transplants album were released by Hellcat Records, a label launched by Armstrong in 1997 (and distributed by Epitaph), which also released material by Joe Strummer, the Dropkick Murphys, the Slackers, Tiger Army, and Hepcat. In 2003, Armstrong surprised more than than a few of his fans by collaborating with dance drink down headliner Pink on her third gear record album,
Try This; Armstrong co-wrote ashcan School songs on the record album, as well as handling some of the production duties and tributary guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals. In May 2007, Armstrong released his first solo record album, a lively but low-key place of old school ska- and rock candy steady-influenced originals called
A Poet's Life, recorded with California ska rig the Aggrolites. Armstrong has promised fans that a novel Rancid album is on the way for the fall of 2007.
