Tré Cool

Frank Edwin Wright III, also known as Tré Cool, is the drummer of Green Day, a Pop Punk/alternative rock band. He replaced former drummer John Kiffmeyer (aka Al Sobrante).

Biography

Frank Edwin Wright III was born December 9, 1972 in Frankfurt, Germany, making him the youngest member of Green Day. He was raised in the rural northern California town of Willits, California with his father and two older siblings. Tré's closest neighbor was none other than Lookout! Records founder, Lawrence Livermore, who also played in the punk band, The Lookouts. At age 12, Livermore recruited Tré to join The Lookouts, and gave him the name of Tré Cool, ("très" translates as "very" from French, thus creating the name "very cool"). After Green Day's first tour, the original drummer, John Kiffmeyer decided to leave Green Day in order to attend college. Billie and Mike asked Tré, who was already a 5-year veteran of the Gilman Street scene, to be their drummer. Tré decided to drop out of high school his sophomore year. However, he did pass an equivalency test, earned his GED, and even began taking classes at a nearby community college. When the demands of Green Day's touring intensified, he had to drop out of college. Tré's father served as a driver for three of their tours. Frank Wright II, Tré's father says, "I watched them go from a bunch of kids to a group of musicians with work ethic. On their first tour or two, it was more of a party than anything else. I still scratch my head and say, 'How in the hell did they make it?' They used to practice in my living room here -- a lot of the songs they did on Dookie. You hear it coming together, and you don't expect people are going to go out and buy it. But when it does, you just say, 'Wow, that's so cool.'" (Rolling Stone, January 26, 1995)

Tré was filmed being Punk'd for Season 5 of said show, but denied the broadcasting rights to the show. As a result, MTV was not allowed to air the episode.

Tré once milked a dog because he wanted milk for his coffee (as stated on VH1's Behind the Music episode about Green Day).

In one incident, while performing, Tre fell off a unicycle, the seat of which drove right between his legs, causing one of his testicles to be pushed into him. The testicle was removed from Tré and left him with only one.

Marriages and children

Tré fathered a daughter, Ramona, in January 1995, and married Lisea Lyons, (Ramona's mother,) two months later. They later divorced, but remain good friends. Cool remarried in 2000 to a girl named Claudia, who soon gave birth to their son Frankito, which means "Little Frank", born 2001. They later divorced in 2003, and lived together for a time afterwards for their son in Oakland, California.

The Drum Kit

In the earlier years (Kerplunk! and Dookie), Tré used a DW drum kit. Since Warning, Tré has got his own signature Slingerland drum kit, called the "Spitfire". However, at the recent American Idiot tour, according to an interview published in the December issue of Drum Magazine, Tré has parted ways with his Slingerland kit, and now uses a Ludwig Classic Maple kit with a Shadow Purple paintjob. He says: "It sounds like an instrument." He uses Zildjian cymbals and Danmar products. He has also told Drum Magazine that his favorite, most prized and "still go-to" snare is a Noble & Cooley which he purchased for $600 before making Dookie. "My snare sound is that... I don't take it live because it's got a nice little spot[http://greendayauthority.com/TheBand/articles/drummerdec2004/pg5.jpg."

His current drum kit is as follows:

Drums:

22 x 18" bass drum
14 x 6.5" Ludwig Black Beauty Brass Super Sensitive snare
14 x 11" rack tom
16 x 16" floor tom
16 x 18" floor tom
A tambourine

Cymbals:

Zildjian K/Z 14" Special Hi-hat (K Hi-hat on top, Z Dyno Beat on the bottom)
Zildjian K 19" Dark Medium Thin Crash (left)
Zildjian A 19" Medium Thin Crash (top right)
Zildjian A 22" Ping Ride (top right, below crash)
Zildjian K 20" Crash/Ride (centre right)
Zildjian FX 20" Oriental Classic China (bottom right)

Drumheads:

Snare: REMO Coated Emperor X (Batter), REMO Ambassador Snare Side Hazy (Resonant)
Toms: REMO Coated Emperors (Batter), REMO Clear Ambassadors (Resonant)
Bass drum: REMO Powerstroke 3 with a REMO Falam Slam Pad (back), Ebony Powerstroke 3 drum head with the American Idiot logo (front)

Drumsticks: Zildjian Tré Cool Artist Series

Hardware: DW

Role in Green Day

Tré, similarly to bass player Mike Dirnt, plays a minor role in songwriting. He rarely writes for any instrument other than drums on officially released Green Day material.

Tré does, however, have some songwriting credits and vocals on the band's albums. He wrote/sang the bonus track "All by Myself" on Dookie (which is hidden in the song F.O.D.), a song about masturbation, and the subtrack "Rock and Roll Girlfriend" from the medley, "Homecoming," featured on the American Idiot album. He also wrote the humuros "Dominated Love Slave", (the song is self-explanitory) on Green Day's 1992 album Kerplunk!, a track on which he also sings and plays both drums and guitar, and he sings Like a Rat Does Cheese, which does not appear on an album due to its explicit sexual content. On some rare performances of the song, Tré and Billie switch instruments. He also sang and composed the track "DUI" ("Driving Under the Influence"), which was recorded during the Nimrod sessions, and was due to be released on Shenanigans (a compilation of B-sides), but was inexplicably omitted. It has been rumored that Tré plays the guitar line in the "Rock and Roll Girlfriend" where he says "I play the shit out of the drums, and I can play the guitar," followed by a short guitar lick. It has also been rumored that on the album Dookie, he composed the guitar riff for the track "When I Come Around" for which Billie wrote the drum part. Tré also appears on the Fat Wreck Chords compilation Short Music for Short People with Samiam, and wrote and sang several songs with the Lookouts.

During a radio interview at Washington DC's alternative station, DC 101, Tré sang and played the guitar to a short song titled "Like a Rat does Cheese", which is about the pleasure of fellatio.

Tré has influenced many Rock drummers; Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan and Eric Westhaver of little-known hardrock band A3 both cite him as a major influence. Other percussionists such as Dan Duggins from Hot Rod Circuit and Todd Hennig are also influenced by his frenzied drumming style, as well as JP from Knights of KnowWhere combining fast and powerful strokes. Travis Barker of Blink-182, who is his rival in the fan circles for best Pop Punk drummer, has also said that he is a fan of Tré's drumming.

About his influences, Tré confesses that he is mostly influenced by the legendary Keith Moon, whom he idolizes and who is a clear inspiration over his own drumming duties. He also says that as well as admiring his other favourite drummers like Charlie Watts and Ginger Baker, he also endeavours to stand on his own and be an original and stand-out drummer.

Trivia

Tré is the only person to ever climb the Universal Studios ball (their trademark) in Orlando, Florida. He climbed the ball at the 1998 MTV Music Awards. It landed him in the top 100 red carpet acts.
Tré is the godfather of both of Billie's kids.
Tré Cool comes from french word, très, which means "very." So, Tré's name means "Very cool."
Tré Cool did not actually write the song All by Myself. Billie Joe did.
Tré Cool has two children.
Tré Cool has been married (and divorced) twice.
Tré Cool's father drove a bookmobile with which Green Day first toured.
His daughter is called Ramona because he says the world is a better place because of The Ramones.
Tré Cool only has one testicle.
Tré Cool is the youngest of Green Day.
He can play the violin.
He lives with his ex-girlfriend so they can raise their child properly.