Al Sobrante

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Al Sobrante
Background information
Birth name John Kiffmeyer
Born 1969
California

Al Sobrante (born John Kiffmeyer 1969) was the original drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. His name is a reference to El Sobrante, California, a town north of Berkeley.

Sobrante's first exposure in the punk scene was as the drummer of the band Isocracy. The group was popular in the East Bay, and mainstays at the famed club, 924 Gilman Street.

Sobrante's claim to fame, however, is his time in Green Day. After the end of Isocracy, Sobrante helped form the group. Because of his experience and knowledge of the underground community, Sobrante 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. The first few performances took place at Contra Costa College, where Kiffmeyer was a journalism student. On the strength of these performances, Livermore vowed to release a Green Day record on his Lookout! Records. The group's first full-length effort, 39/Smooth would feature a Sobrante original, "I Was There", which documented the band at that place in time.

In 1990, he left the band to attend college at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. Sobrante 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. Recently he produced "The Lost Troublemakers Album" by The Troublemakers, a garage band from Sacramento, California. He now lives in San Francisco, California with his wife Greta and his young son Lolo.


  • Al is left-handed and plays drums open handed, playing the hi-hat cymbals with his left hand, and the ride cymbal positioned just to the left of the hi-hat.
  • With the Ne'er Do Wells, Al was known for not showing up for practices and even missing gigs if so inclined. He would often interrupt shows with jokes or monologues and get up and wander away from the drums.
Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong | Mike Dirnt | Tré Cool
Jason White | Jason Freese | Ronnie Blake | Al Sobrante
Discography
Studio Albums: 39/Smooth | Kerplunk! | Dookie | Insomniac | nimrod. | Warning: | American Idiot
Studio EPs: 1,000 Hours | Slappy | Sweet Children
Compilations: 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours | International Superhits! | Shenanigans
Live Albums/ Live EPs: Live Tracks | Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking | Foot in Mouth | Tune in Tokyo | Bullet in a Bible
DVDs: International Supervideos! | Riding in Vans with Boys | Bullet in a Bible
Singles: "Longview" | "Welcome to Paradise" | " Basket Case" | "She" | "When I Come Around" | "J.A.R." | "Geek Stink Breath" | "Stuck With Me" | "Brain Stew"/"Jaded" | "Walking Contradiction" | "Hitchin' a Ride" | "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" | "Redundant" | "Nice Guys Finish Last" | "Minority" | "Warning" | "Waiting" | "Macy's Day Parade" | "Poprocks & Coke" | "I Fought the Law" | "American Idiot" | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | "Holiday" | "Wake Me Up When September Ends" | "Jesus of Suburbia" | "The Saints Are Coming"
Related articles
Bands: The Network | Pinhead Gunpowder | The Frustrators | The Lookouts | Screeching Weasel

Other: Pop Disaster Tour | Cigarettes and Valentines | Pop punk | American Edit | Live Freaky! Die Freaky! | Adeline Records | Other projects

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