John Kiffmeyer (born July 11, 1969), also known professionally as Al Sobrante, is an American

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

and retired musician and songwriter. He is the former drummer for the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

, leaving in 1990 and replaced by

Tré Cool Frank Edwin Wright III (born December 9, 1972), better known by his stage name Tré Cool, is an American musician, best known as the long-time drummer for the rock band Green Day. He replaced the band's former drummer, John Kiffmeyer, in 1990. ...

. His stage name is a reference to his hometown, El Sobrante.

Biography

John Kiffmeyer was born in El Sobrante, California on July 11, 1969. His first exposure in the punk scene was as the drummer of the band

Isocracy An isocracy is a form of government where all citizens have equal political power. The term derives from Greek ἴσος meaning "equal" and κρατεῖν meaning "to have power", or "to rule". The first recorded use of the term was by the Re ...

. The group was popular in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

, and mainstays at the club

924 Gilman Street The Alternative Music Foundation located at 924 Gilman Street, almost exclusively referred to as "Gilman", is a non-profit, all-ages, collectively organized music club. It is located in the West Berkeley, Berkeley, California, West Berkeley ar ...

. He chose his stage name Al Sobrante for an evident pun on his birthplace. Kiffmeyer is most well known for his time in

; after Isocracy broke up, he joined

Mike Dirnt Michael Ryan Pritchard (born May 4, 1972), better known by his stage name Mike Dirnt, is an American rock musician who is the co-founder, bassist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist of Green Day. He has also played in several other ...

and

Billie Joe Armstrong Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician and actor. He is best known for being the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is als ...

in 1987 to replace original drummer Raj Punjabi and join Sweet Children, which was later renamed Green Day. Because of his experience and knowledge of the underground community, Kiffmeyer was able to get the young band on its feet by placing calls to friends, among them prominent figure of the East Bay

Larry Livermore Lawrence Hayes (born October 28, 1947), better known by his stage name Larry Livermore, is an American singer, musician, record producer, and author, best known as the co-founder of Lookout Records. Biography In 1977, Hayes began to attend punk ...

. The first few performances took place at

Contra Costa College Contra Costa College is a public community college in San Pablo, California, United States. It is the west campus of the Contra Costa Community College District. It is part of the California community colleges system, one of the three college s ...

, where Kiffmeyer was a journalism student. On the strength of an early performance, Livermore vowed to release a Green Day record on his

Lookout! Records Lookout Records (stylized as Lookout! Records) was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California, and later in Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having released Operatio ...

. The group's first full-length effort, 1990 album ''

39/Smooth ''39/Smooth'' is the debut studio album by the American Rock music, rock band Green Day, released on April 13, 1990, by Lookout Records. After finalizing their line-up, the band played frequent shows at the 924 Gilman Street venue, where they st ...

'', would feature a Kiffmeyer original, "I Was There", which documented the band at that place in time. Being a fan of

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

, he inspired the mini-covers of some famous songs, such as " I Don't Know" by Osbourne and "

Sweet Home Alabama "Sweet Home Alabama" is a song by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on the band's second album '' Second Helping'' (1974). It was written in response to Neil Young's songs " Southern Man" and "Alabama", which the band felt blamed t ...

" by

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...

during the bridge of "Disappearing Boy", a practice that is still carried out today. In 1990, he attended college at

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt or Humboldt) is a public university in Arcata, California. It is one of three polytechnic universities in the California State University (CSU) system and the northernmost c ...

Arcata, California Arcata (; ; ) is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay (United States), Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. A ...

. While Kiffmeyer was attending college, Green Day members Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt accepted drummer

into the band, which Kiffmeyer "graciously accepted". In 1991, he worked as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

for the Green Day album ''

Kerplunk KerPlunk is a children's game invented by Eddy Goldfarb with Rene Soriano and first marketed by the Ideal Toy Company in 1967. The game equipment consists of a transparent plastic tube, plastic rods called ''straws'' (normally 26 to 30 in total ...

'', released that year. Kiffmeyer later joined the band The Ne'er Do Wells, leaving abruptly in 1994. Following a stint with punk band The Ritalins, he became manager of The Shruggs until their split. In 1998 he was the executive producer of ''The Great Lost Trouble Makers Album'' by The Troublemakers, a

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

band from

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

. He now lives in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and is married to experimental filmmaker and

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

professor Greta Snider. He works as a

Director of Photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, specializing in

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fie ...

and producing mainly commercial work. On April 16, 2015, Kiffmeyer joined Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt on stage during a Green Day concert at The House of Blues in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, where the trio performed as ''Sweet Children'' and played songs that they had not performed since the 1990s, including "Sweet Children", "Green Day", "I Was There", "Don't Leave Me" and "Dry Ice".

Discography

With Isocracy

* ''El Sob Demo'' (1987) * ''Bedtime For Isocracy'' (1988)

With Green Day

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1990)

Other releases

* '' 1,000 Hours'' (EP, 1989) * '' Slappy'' (EP, 1990) * '' Sweet Children'' (EP, 1990) * '' 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours'' (1991)

With The Ne'er Do Wells

* ''Hello, It Is I, Thee Intolerable Bastard, Child Genius'' (1993)

Other appearances

* ''

Turn It Around! ''Turn It Around!'' is a punk rock compilation album by '' Maximumrocknroll''. Originally released as two 7-inch records in October 1987, it served as a benefit to raise money for the Berkeley, California DIY punk scene (known as the Gilman Stree ...

'' (1987 compilation album) ("Confederate Flags") * ''The Big One'' (1991 compilation album) ("I Want To Be Alone")

Production discography

* Green Day – ''

'' (1991) as Executive Producer *

Screeching Weasel Screeching Weasel is an American punk rock band consisting of Ben Weasel (vocals), Mike Kennerty (guitar), Mike Hunchback (guitar), Zach "Poutine" Brandner (bass) and Pierre Marche (drums) founded in 1986 by Ben Weasel and John Pierson (music ...

– ''

My Brain Hurts ''My Brain Hurts'' is the third studio album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Screeching Weasel. The album was originally released on CD, vinyl and cassette in September 1991 through Lookout Records. It was the group's first album on Lookout as ...

'' (1991) * The Trouble Makers – ''The Great Lost Trouble Makers Album'' (1998)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiffmeyer, John 1969 births American punk rock drummers American male drummers Record producers from California Green Day members Living people American people of German descent Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area Contra Costa College alumni California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt alumni 20th-century American drummers People from El Sobrante, Contra Costa County, California American cinematographers Drummers from California hu:Al Sobrante