Tim Armstrong
Tim Armstrong | |
|---|---|
| File:Tim Armstrong.jpg Tim Armstrong | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Berkeley, California |
| Years active | 1987–present |
Timothy Lockwood Armstrong (born November 25 1966) is an American musician best known for his work with punk rock bands Rancid, Operation Ivy, and Transplants, as well as his record label Hellcat Records.
Biography
Personal life
Armstrong was born in Oakland, California, the youngest of three brothers. In 1997, he married Brody Dalle, who is the front person of The Distillers. They divorced in 2003 when Dalle left Armstrong for Josh Homme from the band Queens of the Stone Age.
Musical history
One of the first bands that Tim played in was Basic Radio. He performed in the ska/punk band Operation Ivy under the nickname "Lint" from their beginning in 1987 until they disbanded in 1989. Soon thereafter, Armstrong help found the Dance Hall Crashers but left the band after a brief period of time. He was also in Downfall with Matt Freeman. In 1991 Armstrong went on to greater fame with the very successful Rancid with bassist Matt Freeman (who had previously played with Tim in Operation Ivy, Downfalll, and Dancehall Crashers) and Brett Reed, a local skate punk who had only been playing drums for six months when Tim and Matt asked him to be in the band. Rancid later added Lars Frederiksen on guitar and vocals to fill out their sound. While still with Rancid, he also has a side-project, Transplants, which started with Armstrong, his friend "Skinhead Rob" Aston and a drum machine. blink-182's drummer Travis Barker later came on to replace the drum machine.
In addition to his projects, Armstrong has also been known to pop up on others' albums in various roles. He's contributed vocals to tracks by bands including Box Car Racer, Bad Religion, Stubborn All-Stars, Head Automatica, The Matches and Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, which is a side-project of his Rancid bandmate Lars Frederiksen. He's collaborated with P!nk, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Osbourne. And he's produced a few albums, including the first album by AFI, Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995) and Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards Viking.
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. A new album by Rancid is set for an early 2007 release. He has also done a solo album entitled A Poet's Life, which fans can download for free on the internet. He is releasing one song at a time, and has so far released a music video with each song.
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 songs. It should be noted that Tim and Freeman started the band. They were featured on a compilation "Can Of Pork" with a song called "North Berkeley" [1].
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
- TBA (2007) – (presumably) 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 (2006) – guitars and vocals (download only)
Produced albums
- The Stories Are True (2006) Time Again
- Viking (2004) Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards
- Try This (2003) by P!nk
- Answer That and Stay Fashionable (1995) by AFI
Other
The following is a list of songs that Armstrong has appeared on where he was not a member of the band.
- "The Stories Are True" by Time Again from their debut album
- "Cat Like Thief" by Box Car Racer from Box Car Racer
- "Pick Yourself Up" by Stubborn All-Stars
- "Televison" by Bad Religion from Stranger Than Fiction
- "Dance Party Plus" by Head Automatica
- "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" by AFI
- "Werecat" by Tiger Army from Tiger Army
- "City To City" by Left Alone from Dead American Radio
- "Outlaw" by The Lordz
- "Gotta Go" by Agnostic Front from Something's Gotta Give
- "What's Your Number" by Cypress Hill
- "Faster Than The World" by H2O from F.T.T.W.
- "Moonlite Dreams" by Tiger Army
- "You (Don't) Know Me" by The Matches from Decomposer
- "My Life To Live" by Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards from Viking
Filmography
- Live Freaky! Die Freaky! (2003) Producer and Narrator
- Give 'Em the Boot (a film by Tim Armstrong) (2005) Producer
Guitars and Amplification
- On Rancid's first album, Armstrong recorded with a Gibson SG through a Marshall
- With Let's Go, the same SG was used along with his custom-built Hagstrom Viking through the Marshall
- On AOCTW, he used a Gibson Les Paul along with a Fender Stratocaster
- By Life Won't Wait Armstrong used various guitars, such as the Hagstrom, Gibson Les Paul, Fender Stratocaster, and a 1974 Gretsch Country Club
- On Rancid (2000) he switched to a Mesa Boogie amp and used the Hagstrom and the Gretsch Country Club
- Currently Armstrong is using his Country Club and a Schecter S-1 which he started using since the Transplants released their second album, Haunted Cities
Trivia
- Founder of Hellcat Records.
- Armstrong overdosed twice in his younger years, but fully recovered in both instances.
- Armstrong is left-handed.
- Armstrong has never had a driver's license, apparently due to his dyslexia.
- Armstrong can be seen discussing thunderstorms with former bandmate Travis Barker in the MTV reality show, Meet the Barkers.