Tré Cool
| Tré Cool | |
|---|---|
 Tré Cool playing drums on Sessions @ AOL. |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Frank Edwin Wright III |
| Also known as | The Snoo[1] |
| Born | December 9, 1972 Frankfurt, Germany |
| Genres | Punk rock Alternative rock Hardcore punk Hard rock Rock New wave Garage rock Pop punk |
| Occupations | Musician, Drummer |
| Instruments | Drums, Vocals, Accordion, Guitar |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Labels | Reprise Records Lookout! Records Adeline Records |
| Associated acts | Green Day The Lookouts The Network Foxboro Hot Tubs Samiam |
Tré Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright III; December 9, 1972) is a German-born American drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. He replaced the band's former drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1989. He has also played in Samiam, The Lookouts, and the Green Day side projects The Network and Foxboro Hot Tubs.
Contents |
Life and career
Frank Edwin Wright III was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He lived in Willits, California with his father and his older sister, Lori. His father, a helicopter pilot in the Cold War, decided to move the family there to insulate them upon his return to the United States.[2]
Wright's closest neighbor was Larry Livermore, who at the time was the singer of the punk band The Lookouts. When Wright was 12, Livermore recruited him to join The Lookouts and gave him the name of Tre Cool,[3] relying on both the French word très (meaning very)[4] combined with the word cool. However, the silent "s" has been dropped in the spelling, as a play on the "third" in his name.
When Green Day's drummer, John Kiffmeyer, left the band they recruited Cool to play drums. Cool decided to drop out of high school in his sophomore year. Instead, he passed an equivalency test and earned his GED, and began taking classes at a nearby community college. He had to drop out of college, however, when the demands of Green Day's touring intensified.[5]
Cool's father, who owned a small company, overhauled a bookmobile and even served as the driver on three separate tours. "I watched them go from a bunch of kids to a group of musicians with work ethic," he later recalled. "On their first tour or two, it was more of a party than anything else. I still scratch my head and say, 'How in the hell did they make it?' They used to practice in my living room here - a lot of the songs they did on Dookie. You hear it coming together, and you don't expect people are going to go out and buy it. But when it does, you just say, 'Wow that's so cool.'"[6]
In 1998, after Green Day won a "Moon Man" Trophy at the MTV Music Awards, Tré Cool famously scaled the Universal globe at Universal studios, but escaped with no punishment - only compliments and cheers. Cool has been the only person to ever do so.[7]
Cool was once notorious for burning his drum kit, on stage, upon completion of every set on the "Warning" tour. He also has a tradition that if he cracks a cymbal during a concert, he gives it away at the end.
Personal life
In January 1995, Cool's daughter Ramona was born to girlfriend Lisea Lyons. (Ramona was named after Ramones frontman Joey Ramone, an idol of Cool's.) Lisea and Cool were married in March of the same year, but divorced some time later. In May 2000, Cool married his girlfriend Claudia, and their son Frankito was born in 2001. Cool and Claudia split up in 2003. He has also been linked to Donna C., the drummer of The Donnas.[8]
Singing and songwriting
Cool sings and plays guitar on the tracks "Dominated Love Slave" and "All by Myself", from Kerplunk! and Dookie, respectively, both of which he wrote and composed. He wrote and sang the subtrack "Rock and Roll Girlfriend" from the medley "Homecoming" featured on the album American Idiot. He also sang and composed the track "DUI" ("Driving Under the Influence"), which was recorded during the Nimrod sessions and was due to be released on Shenanigans (a compilation of B-sides), but it was omitted and can only be found online.
During a radio interview at Washington DC's alternative station DC 101, Cool sang and played the guitar to a short song titled "Like a Rat does Cheese," a song about the pleasure of fellatio. This song was acoustic.
Several live tracks also exist, usually from around 1993, such as "Food Around the Corner," a song from the 1943 Elmer Fudd cartoon An Itch in Time. Another live track, "Billie Joe's Mom" was also recorded.
Cool had also recorded a version of Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain." It was posted on YouTube on August 2, 2007. His cover was mentioned in several news journals.[9]
Equipment
Cool has used the drums of different companies. He currently uses Leedy drums and Zildjian cymbals. In the past, Cool has used drums built by DW (Drum Workshop), Ayotte, Slingerland, Sherwood and Ludwig.[10]
Drum kit: Leedy custom maple set in White Marine Nitron with Remo heads
- 16"×22" Bass drum with a Clear Powerstroke 3
- 9"×13" Tom with a Coated Emperor on batter and Clear Ambassador on reso
- 16"×16" Floor Tom with a Coated Emperor on batter and Clear Ambassador on reso
- 16"×18" Floor Tom with a Coated Emperor on batter and Clear Ambassador on reso
- 6.5"×14" Leedy Broadway Standard Snare with a Coated Emperor x on batter and hazy snare side Ambassador
Cymbals: Zildjian
- 14" K/Z Special hi-hats
- 19" K Dark Medium Thin Crash
- 19" A Medium Thin Crash
- 22" A Deep Ride
- 21" A Sweet Ride
- 20" Oriental Classic China[11][12]
Drumsticks: Zildjian Tré Cool Signature
References
- ↑ Owen, Chess. "Names -> Music Performer Pseudonyms -> S". http://www.amiright.com/names/pseudo/s.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-12. "The Snoo, Frank Edwin Wright LXI, Tré's cover name when he plays in the band The Network"
- ↑ http://greendayauthority.com/TheBand/trecool.php
- ↑ http://greendayauthority.com/TheBand/trecool.php
- ↑ très Reverso French-English Dictionary
- ↑ http://greendayauthority.com/TheBand/trecool.php
- ↑ Rolling Stone, January 26, 1995
- ↑ "Tre Cool Climbs The MTV Globe". 26 Nov 2006. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1477893185.
- ↑ http://greendayauthority.com/TheBand/trecool.php
- ↑ Joal Ryan (August 9, 2007). "The "Chocolate" Reign of Tay Zonday". http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=151be882-67a1-443e-9a05-2eee53b2db58&entry=index. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
- ↑ "GDA Equipment". http://www.greendayauthority.com/TheBand/equip.php.
- ↑ BehindTheDrums - Tré Cool
- ↑ http://www.zildjian.com/EN-US/artists/artistDetail.ad2?artistID=2638&genreID=
External links
- Tré Cool at the Internet Movie Database
- DRUM! Magazine's interview with Tre Cool
- Tré Cool at DrummerWorld.com
- Tré Cool at BehindTheDrums.com contains discography and equipment list
- Tré Cool at Zildjian.com
- Tré Cool biography on Green Day Authority
- YouTube Chocolate Rain as performed by Tré Cool
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