Jakob Danger, the teen musician son of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, has spoken about the biggest influences on his music – and it’s not his dad’s band.
The 16-year-old, real name Jakob Armstrong, has signed to California label Burger Records (home of Fidlar, Thee Oh Sees and more) to release his debut EP.
Speaking to NME, Armstrong said: “My two favourite bands are The Strokes and Beach Fossils – those are my two biggest influences. When it comes to the music and the guitar parts and bass, I like that style of music. I love the way The Strokes and Beach Fossils sound, so I wanted to see if I could write songs like that.”
Despite following in the footsteps of his father, Armstrong insists that he sounds nothing like the pop-punk band. “My music is not at all related to my father,” he claims. “It’s my own personal thing. I don’t really worry too much about that. I just think: this is my music, it’s different from my father’s, and if people want to listen to it, they can.”
“If people say I sound like my dad, then it’s probably just because I’m his son. That’s just how it works, I guess. It’s my voice. It’s how I sing. I’ve never taken singing lessons before or anything – it’s natural!”
Explaining his moniker, Armstrong also revealed that Danger is his actual middle name. “That’s why I chose to go by that – I think it sounds pretty cool.”
Read NME‘s interview with Jakob Danger in full here.
Jakob’s older brother Joey is also a musician and plays drums in the band Swmrs, also signed to Burger Records.
Listen to music from Jakob Danger below.