Tre's dad, Frank, was talking about refurbishing an old bookmobile and using it to drive the band around, which he would eventually do, right on through their major label breakthrough in 1994.

Even by late 1991, the band was the biggest thing Mendocino County had ever contributed to musically, and there was much talk about what their next step should be. Frank maintained, as he'd been doing ever since Tre joined the Lookouts, that they needed to get "on a big label." As usual he cited Warner Brothers as an example."

Between record sales and touring, Green Day had become practically self-sufficient, something that in those days was almost unheard of for a homegrown punk rock band.

His high opinion of Warner Brothers possibly stemmed from the fact that it was home to his beloved ZZ Topp, who, he never failed to make clear, represented his ideal of what a rock and roll band should be. But he was far from the only one suggesting that Green Day move on to a "real" label, a concept that never failed to irritate me, since as far as I was concerned, Lookout was not only real, but also doing a pretty good job of representing Green Day.

Their records were selling in the tens of thousands and, as I always had to point out, they were getting paid, at a higher rate than they were likely to receive from any major label, for every single one. Between record sales and touring, Green Day had become practically self-sufficient, something that in those days was almost unheard of for a homegrown punk rock band.