{"id":5718,"date":"2017-09-28T12:49:39","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T17:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/?p=5718"},"modified":"2018-08-20T16:41:33","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T21:41:33","slug":"atom-willard-timeline-against-me-drummer-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/atom-willard-timeline-against-me-drummer-career\/","title":{"rendered":"The Atom Willard timeline: A look at the Against Me! drummer’s career"},"content":{"rendered":"

Atom Willard is a musical nomad. The 44-year-old drummer has lent his talents to myriad bands, from punk cult icons like Rocket from the Crypt to household names like The Offspring. His current gig finds him behind the kit for Against Me!, the anarcho-punk legends who on Friday night will headline a Live on King Street season finale that also doubles as a celebration of the \u201cnew\u201d Majestic\u2019s 10th anniversary.<\/p>\n

And though the stage will be aimed directly toward the office of a political polar opposite, Gov. Scott Walker, Willard jokes that the Florida four-piece won\u2019t have any trouble expressing their distaste.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe band is so outspoken and so overt in their political leanings and feelings anyway that it\u2019s like, are you going to play this<\/em> song about the color yellow or that<\/em> song about the color yellow? They\u2019re all kind of aimed in the same direction of oppression and bullshit from the powers that be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Sept. 29 show<\/a>, Willard walked The Bozho<\/em> through some of the highlights of his colorful, eclectic career.<\/p>\n

Atom is born Adam David Willard on Aug. 15, 1973 in San Diego, California.<\/h4>\n

My parents got me a drum set when I was 4. I guess I had been knocking around on stuff at home, just doing whatever with pots and pans. I would take a few weeks of lessons here or there but I never really stuck with it, so mostly I learned by playing along with records.<\/p>\n

At 16, Willard joins seminal soul-punks and San Diego natives Rocket from the Crypt.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

My first job that I ever had was at a shop. The guys there were like, \u201cWe should get together and jam\u201d and we kinda ended up with a band that we would play around San Diego with. The guys in Rocket saw me and were like, \u201cHey, do you want to come play with us?\u201d I ended up with Rocket for about 10 years.<\/p>\n[By the end] I was like 26 and trying to figure out what I was doing because we would go on tours and come home with very little or no money. And I\u2019m like, \u201cMan, this is not a way to buy the hot rod that I want to buy. I can\u2019t do any of the things I want to do. I want to have a little bit of a life here and not just be on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

I thought we were doing a pretty good job. It\u2019s just the way that we were dividing up the money and the way that we were organizing things. I thought we could do it differently and better.<\/p>\n