Profile of Brett Reed on Famous Like Me

This page is about a musical group; for the process of food becoming rancid, see rancidification.

Rancid formed in 1991 in Berkeley, California, by former members of Operation Ivy, Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong. Rancid is Tim Armstrong on guitar and vocals, with Matt Freeman as backing vocalist and bassist, and Brett Reed as drummer. After searching for a second guitar player in 1993, Matt met Lars Frederiksen and he was added to the band on guitar and vocals, to round out the line up.

History

Rancid's musical style blends punk and hardcore with ska, reggae, rocksteady, and minor elements of dub and funk. Among mainstream audiences, Rancid are best-known for "Ruby Soho" and "Time Bomb" from the 1995 recording ...And Out Come the Wolves.

Rancid were very popular throughout the 1990s, with the band touring constantly from 1993 through 1998. They have released 6 full-length albums, the first 4 through the independent label, Epitaph Records, along with numerous 7" vinyls and singles. Following the success of Let's Go, which garnered gold status in the U.S. with 500,000 copies sold, the band was pursued by several major labels, including Madonna's Maverick Records; Rancid chose to stick with Epitaph despite these offers.

Rancid's self-titled 2000 album was released on Hellcat Records, and their 2003 record, Indestructible, was released by Hellcat Records with Warner Brothers distrubuting the record.

Their songs and albums are based on hard times ("7 Years Down," "Hyena"), world issues ("Rigged On A Fix," "Brixton"), old friends ("Old Friend," "GGF"), and love ("She's Automatic", "Corazon de Oro").

References in their music

Some of their songs are about or allude to famous people or events.

• Travis Bickle - Robert De Niro's character, Travis Bickle, from the 1976 Scorsese film Taxi Driver.
• David Courtney - Dave Courtney is a famous ex-mobster from London who is now crime-free and an author.
• Harry Bridges - Harry was an American labor leader a long the westcoast.
• Don Giovanni - Don Giovanni is a play from 1787 which featured music by Mozart.
• Rwanda - The song Rwanda is about the (Rwandan) genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994.
• "I always end up back on the hill, looking down at the landfill" from the song "As Wicked"-refers to Albany Hill, in Albany, CA where Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman grew up.

Post-Hiatus

In 2004 and 2005, Rancid has been "on hold", due to its members being involved in side projects. The group did not completely become in-active.

• Tim Armstrong plays with Travis Barker and Rob Aston (a.k.a. Skinhead Rob) in the Transplants. In late 2005, he is going to participate in the Clash's reunion of almost 30 years of forming. He will be the replacement of longtime guitarist Joe Strummer, who died in 2002. Unfortunately, there have been no announcements for a tour.
• Lars Frederiksen has a side band named Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards (currently released their second LP Viking in 2004).
• Matt Freeman joined Social Distortion in 2004, replacing previous bassist John Maurer. Brent Harding replaced Freeman as bassist for Social Distortion in early 2005, after Freeman was diagnosed with lung cancer. Freeman is also bassist and lead vocalist in the psychobilly band, Devil's Brigade, in which Tim Armstrong and Brett Reed also play.
• Brett Reed plays drums for Devil's Brigade.

In February 2005, it was announced by Lars Frederiksen on British radio show "The Lock Up" on BBC Radio 1 that Rancid would begin recording again at the end of 2005, with a release scheduled for early 2006. More on this is expected once the Rancid website overhaul is finished.

Discography

Studio albums

Rancid, 1993 (Gun Cover)	Let's Go, 1994	...And Out Come the Wolves, 1995	Life Won't Wait, 1998
Rancid, 2000 (Skull Cover)	BYO Split Series, Vol. 3, 2002 (split with NOFX)	Indestructible, 2003	(title TBA), 2006

EPs

• Single I EP, 1992
• Radio Radio Radio EP, 1994

Singles

Collaborations

• Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day joined the band for a brief period of time prior to Fredriksen's joining the band, doing a live show with them in 1993 and co-writing "Radio" on Let's Go.

Originally Armstrong had asked Frederiksen, a member of UK Subs at the time to join, but he turned it down. So Armstrong enlisted Green Day's frontman for a time, finally asking Billie Joe to become a full-fledged member of the band. Billie Joe turned him down, wanting to stick with Green Day, but Frederiksen changed his mind upon the breakup of UK Subs.

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Brett Reed