10 Band Members That Are Way More Important Than You Think

Quick public service announcement: always pay attention to the bass player. Even though they might look like they’re not doing much onstage, the bassist is usually the one anchoring everything down every song you make, making sure everything holds together firmly and driving the band the same way the drummer’s kick drum does. In the world of Green Day though, Mike Dirnt is a lead guitar player trapped in a bassist’s body.

While Billie Joe Armstrong might write all the songs for Green Day, Mike is the one that turns them into fully fleshed out material. It might be fairly easy to play most of Dookie on guitar for an amateur guitarist, but Dirnt’s bass lines are where the real challenge comes in, like the nimble bass line that drives Longview or the middle section of Welcome to Paradise where everything stops and the bass groove drives the song until the final verse.

Looking past their blockbuster album, Dirnt was always laying down something a lot less straightforward than what Armstrong was doing, from the massive bass solo that kicks off Panic Song to their folk album Warning, where Mike drives the entire song with his bass line while Billie takes the major rhythm section role. While Mike’s playing has mellowed out in the post American Idiot period of the band, he’s not afraid to step up a little bit here and there on songs like Peacemaker or to lay back in the groove while the guitars take over. Mike might play circles around the rest of the band, but it’s sometimes better to hang in the back and be the engine than just grandstand.