Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong says he fell in love with many things while recording the band's latest album in London – not least the notoriously lively atmosphere at Millwall Football Club's stadium, The Den.
The punk band's upcoming new album Saviors was recorded at RAK Studios in Marylebone, London. It is due for release on January 19, 2024 via Reprise/Warner.
And the singer/guitarist says he immersed himself in British culture during his time in the country.
Asked what his favourite thing about London was, he tells the Guardian: "I went to a lot of football games: Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Fulham.
"I went to The Den to see Millwall. That was amazing. Man, if you really want to experience British culture that’s what you should do. Football is like a fucking religion. It’s like being at a big rock concert. You practically need earplugs!
"I’ve always wanted to check out all the different divisions, not just the world-class teams like Arsenal and Man City. I wanted to go to some of the lower-league games – especially Millwall, which has that gritty, pissed off, underdog, 'no one likes us and we don’t care' vibe. It reminds me of being an Oakland Raiders fan."
Millwall play in the Championship, the second tier of English professional football. The club's fans have historically had a reputation for being linked to football hooliganism.
Elsewhere in the interview, Armstrong explains why Green Day returned to political themes on Saviors.
He adds: "When we released our last album, Father of All Motherfuckers, everybody was a pundit. Everybody had an opinion and everybody hated Trump. It was such an obvious, easy thing to jump on that bandwagon, but at the same time completely ineffective.
"So just allowing time to pass by and seeing how the world has changed, and how America has changed – especially through social media and conspiracy theories and then Covid hitting – allowed me to collect my thoughts about everything going on in the last five years and how things have become so divisive."
