Last Thursday on NPR's Fresh Air Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day spent some time remembering his teenage experience at the legendary 924 Gilman, located in downtown Berkeley, California.
"I was getting an education that I wasn't really getting at home, or from the schools I had to go to," he says. "It was this feeling, like, I'm out of prison."
The shout-out comes during troubled times for 924 Gilman, as the decades-old community-run punk venue struggles to raise funds to pay for an abrupt and massive rent hike. From the 924 Gilman website,
The club’s rent has been increasing every year for the last twenty three years, and up until now we’ve been able to make the adjustments needed to compensate for those increases, but what we are facing now is the equivalent of having twenty years of rent increases condensed into one, and once it goes into effect the clock will begin to tick away as we struggle to generate the extra $31,000.00 a year needed to cover this massive rent hike.
And with a $25 donation to 924 Gilman earning you a handsome Gilman t-shirt or tote bag, now if the perfect time to let them know how much you care.
Keep 924 Gilman alive by donating now
Read AMP's spotlight on 924 Gilman, excerpted from IN EVERY TOWN: an All-ages Music Manualfesto.
Listen to the entire 36-minute interview with Billy Joe Armstrong