Kinda, Sorta Have a Huge Crush on Joey Armstrong? 10 Things to Know About the SWMRS Drummer

Joey’s passion for music shouldn’t come as a big surprise, considering that his dad is the legendary punk rock lead vocalist and lead guitarist for Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong. Joey credits his dad for supporting his career, and Billie Joe even helped Joey’s band produce their first studio album, Don’t Be a D*ck, back in 2011. Of course, Joey doesn’t want to just ride on his dad’s coattails. “I want to be playing music without my family,” he explained to Pure Grain Audio back in December 2015, “so starting off at a young age definitely kinda kick-started me.”

It’s clear that performing runs in the family, as Joey’s younger brother, Jakob Danger, is also a musician, and his latest project is the band Ultra Q. Luckily, Billie Joe is equally supportive of his two sons. “I’m a fan of their music,” he told Beats 1, calling Jakob “a great songwriter,” and Joey “an unbelievable drummer.”

In 2004, Joey formed his first band with Max and Cole, and they originally called themselves The Raining Souls. Eventually, the band decided to rename themselves Emily’s Army in honour of the Becker brothers’ cousin, Emily, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1998. Travis Neumann joined Emily’s Army in 2009, but due to creative differences, he left in 2014 and new bandmate Sebastian Mueller came aboard. After releasing their first single, “Miley,” (which is an ode to Miley Cyrus), the band rebranded themselves as SWMRS.

As Emily’s Army, Joey and his band released two studio albums: Don’t Be a D*ck in 2011 and Lost at Seventeen in 2013, which were both produced by Billie Joe Armstrong through Adeline Records. Since becoming SWMRS, the band has released two more studio albums: Drive North in 2016, and – most recently – Berkeley’s on Fire in 2019, which were both produced through pop-punk label Fueled by Ramen.

Joey serves as the drummer of SWMRS, and he draws inspiration from several different drummers whom he admires. However, his biggest influence is the famed drummer from The Beatles. During a February 2019 conversation with Modern Drummer, Joey said, ” . . . as I was getting ready to go into the studio to record my band SWMRS’ sophomore record Berkeley’s On Fire, I began to reflect upon which drummers truly inspired me and why. I thought back to my love of Fabrizio Moretti, Chris Mars, Tré Cool, Brian Chase, Dave Rowntree, and my vote for greatest of all time, Ringo Starr.”

According to Joey, the best drummers aren’t just the ones who are the most technically skilled. He thinks the ability to take a songwriter’s vision and not only execute it, but enhance it, is the mark of a truly great musician. “All of [my favourite] drummers complement writers and have a unique way of approaching a song that sets them apart,” he explained to Modern Drummer. “My approach to tracking drums on the record was a new experience, and I wanted to shed some light on it for any drummers out there who may want to experiment with something similar.”