Mike
Dirnt
FULL
NAME : Michael Ryan Pritchard (Dirnt)
BIRTHDATE
: born May 4, 1972
HOMETOWN
: Berkeley, California, USA
EYE
COLOR : Blue
NATURAL
HAIR COLOR : Brown
HEIGHT
: 5'10
MARTIAL
STATUS : Divorced.
CHILDREN
: Estelle Desiree (Stella); born April 1997, to ex-wife, Anastasia
FAMILY
: Mike was adopted. His adoptive parents divorced when he was 7, and both
are now remarried. I know Mike has at least one step sister, named Myla, but I
don't know of anymore.
RESTAURANT
:
Rudy's Can't Fail Caf�, in Emeryville, CA.
INSTRUMENTS
: Bass, farfisa, guitar, drums, and a baseball bat.
OTHER
BANDS : Mike still plays with
The Frustrators. He has
also played with the Screeching Weasel, Crummy Musicians, and Squirtgun.
Michael Ryan Pritchard, now known as Mike Dirnt, was born on May 4, 1972.
Mike's mother was a heroin addict. He was given up for adoption when he was a
baby, to a Native american mother and a white father. When he was 7, his
adoptive parents got a divorce. Mike lived with his father for awhile, but
confrontations sent him back to his mother. He lived there on the borderline of
proverty, while his sister left home at the age of 13. "There were all sorts of
things happening," says Mike. "When I was in fourth or fifth grade, my mom
stayed out all night, came home the next day with a guy, and he moved in. I'd
never met the guy before, and all of a sudden he's my stepdad. We didn't get
along for years. Later on, when I hit high school, my mom moved away from us,
and me and my stepdad got real close. He instilled a lot in me. The one thing my
family did give me is blue-collar morals. But then he died when I was 17."
By that point, Mike had already moved out, leaving home when he was 15 to live
out of his truck. He then rented a room in Billie's house, and later he lived in
a punk squatter building. Billie and Mike began living for their weekends at the
Gilman Street Project. Mike still continued to go to school, play in Sweet
Children (which later became Green Day of course), and live on his own. He
supported himself by working as a cook. Mike almost didn't graduate from high
school, because his mother refused to sign one of his mandatory-attendance
forms. "I took my mom aside," Mike says. "I said, 'This is how it is. You have
so much shit going on in your life, so if once every semester you ask me if I've
done my homework and jump all over my case, that's not right. Have I failed yet?
No. And I'm going to graduate if you stay off my back. The one time in your life
you chose to have morals, and it's going to fuck me up. Don't play mom once a
year. It doens't fucking cut it.'" In the end, Mike did graduate from high
school, and he even took more than a year's worth of courses at a community
college. Then Billie and Mike moved into a squat in Oakland, California (the
inspiration for "Welcome to Paradise").
Mike married his long time girlfriend Anastasia in 1996 and their daughter,
Estella-Desiree was born in April 1997. Mike loves his daughter very much, and
his nickname for her is "Hero". Today, Mike and Anastasia are separated, but
still remain very good friends. He recently was remarried in 2004, however his
wife left him because he spending too much time in the studio recording American
Idiot. Mike is currently dating, and he resides in Oakland, California. He also
owns a caf�/resturant named
Rudy's Can't Fail Caf�, after a song by the Clash. The caf� is located in
Emeryville, CA. -Courtney Smith |