Local musicians play tribute to Green Day

Upon its release in early February of 1994, Green Day's first major label album — the recording with the title that's hard to print in a family newspaper — launched the band into the mainstream.

While many of the band's core fan-base saw the group's switch from then-punk label Lookout! Records to mainstream label Warner/Reprise as a slap in the face to the punk-rock community, others, including the band, saw the move as a way to get its music in front of those who, otherwise, may have never heard of the band.

Now, 14 years later one would be hard-pressed to find a best-of list that didn't include the band's major label debut. What was once seen as cutting-edge in punk rock has now become the norm in today's pop music world.

On Friday, Scott Baumil of local band The Young Republicans and Slow Runner will celebrate Green Day's influence on pop music when he joins forces with another local outfit, The Conveniences, to perform Green Day's 1994 album in its entirety at the Map Room in West Ashley.

The free, all-ages show will begin with an acoustic set of songs from some of Green Day's other albums followed by the aforementioned electric set.

Before the musicians take the stage, a few band members took time to talk about their favorite tracks from the album and the impact the recording had on them.

Ryan McKelvey — The Conveniences' guitarist on the song "Welcome to Paradise"

"Although I'm looking forward to playing all of the songs on the album, I think 'Welcome to Paradise' should be really fun to play live. The thing about this song that stands out to me is the break right in the middle of it. It starts out with a really cool bass line, and it slowly builds up with the drums and guitar filtering in at different times. I think the one thing that made Green Day stand apart from other "punk" bands I heard growing up is that they weren't afraid to try throwing in random instrumental breaks into their songs. I basically taught myself how to play guitar by listening to the album as a 12-year-old kid, and it's going to be a lot of fun getting to play the whole album live."

Josh Martin — The Conveniences' drummer on the song "Burnout"

"I'm excited to play 'Burnout,' which is the first track on the record. It's a test for me right off the bat, because (Green Day drummer) Tre Cool does this four-measure drum fill that is not too complicated, just really fast. It shouldn't be hard, seeing as how I partly modeled my drummer style after his when I was younger. It's a gnarly song to start the record, or any record, for that matter. I used to play the same tempo all the time back in the Conveniences, but for the most part those days are gone. And since I have a broken leg, it's not any easier."

Scott Baumil, singer and guitarist, on the song "Basket Case"

"I feel lucky to have grown up in the age of the MTV Buzz Clip. For a short period in time, videos for songs like Weezer's 'Buddy Holly,' Eels' 'Novocaine for the Soul,' Superdrag's 'Sucked Out,' and Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage' actually turned me on to good, new music. Although that time is gone, I'm still able to trace my love for albums like Green Day's back to the first time I saw 'The Video.' Their first single, 'Longview,' was a fun song ... that gained some popularity. But it was 'Basket Case' and its music video that catapulted the band from Bay Area punks to mainstream rock stars.

The clip for the track about psychiatric disorder, sex shortages and marijuana is set in a mental hospital, with Billie Joe Armstrong playing his white Stratocaster and showing off his trademark exaggerated head-bobbing and guitar-strumming. It was a visual wake-up call to wannabe punks everywhere, saying 'What we do could actually be cool.' As we continue to endure the less talented, less original successors of bands like Green Day, NOFX and Rancid, at least some of us can look back on a time when we truly were the 'Minority.' "