Since 1991, NoCal trio Green Day has released six albums of raucous, irreverent pop punk that's just tart enough to make you smirk. After a four-year absence, singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, 32, has led drummer Tre Cool, 31, and bassist Mike Dirnt, 32, into uncharted territory. Prepare yourself for Green Day's punk-rock opera, American Idiot.

So the next logical step for Green Day was a rock opera?
It started out as a joke. Mike was alone in the studio and called me and said, "What am I going to do here?" I said, "Why don't you write a 30-second song?" So he did, and it was really good. I connected another 30-second song, then Tre did, and all of a sudden it started taking on the characteristics of a rock opera. You have to keep your sense of humor when you do something like this, because you don't want it to sound pretentious. I like [the Who's] Tommy, but it's so literal. I didn't want to write, [sings] "Here I am, walking down the stairs, preparing some food."

The band has been together for 15 years. How has your relationship with Tre and Mike changed?
Before we started this record, we had to sit down and really talk about why we should be doing this. I love those guys, but it was like, "How come everybody treats me like a decent human being except these two guys, who treat me like I'm 17?" We had to say, "Hey, we're grown-ups now, it'd be nice if we treated each other with a bit more respect." Then we made love.

Do you look back at the early days and have any regrets?
I'm pretty proud of everything we've done. Even something like Woodstock '94 [where the band started a massive mud fight with the audience] we looked at as kind of a joke--like, this isn't real, right? It's, like, free love and Pepsi. And it ended up turning into something that really launched our career.

Do you think that emo bands like Taking Back Sunday and Saves the Day are just watered-down versions of Green Day?
Well, they both have "day" in their names. They took one bad name and actually made it worse.

Your name's not bad! Oh, come now, that's a bad name. You're puffing on a joint and going "Dude, you know what would be a good name for a band?"
I was, like, 16 years old! Now I'm stuck with it.

Considering the title of your new album, is it safe to say you are concerned about young-voter apathy?
No, because I can understand why someone wouldn't want to vote. The last election, voting didn't count. How can you send a message to people that every vote counts, when obviously people voted and [the loser] got elected?

For many fans, Green Day has always been about personal angst. Did you hesitate before inserting politics into your music?
We've always been active in different political things, like doing benefits for Food Not Bombs. When someone was looking at the [new album's] lyrics, they were like, "You're probably going to catch some shit." I was like, "I hope I get assassinated for it." [Laughs.]

You've been in the public eye for a good chunk of your life. How have we seen you change over the years?
I think I've changed in size. There was this fat Elvis period I went through, and there's a skinnier version of a fat Elvis period that I'm in right now.

Was the "fat Elvis" period an enjoyable time?
I kind of became everybody's weird uncle. I was just drunk all the time and wearing a fucking leopard G-string. What's not to love about that? So I cut back on drinking beer. I had no balance in my life--I had to start taking better care of myself. Just going for long walks and listening to Tony Robbins.

You have two kids now. Do you miss the days of decadence?
No, I still do it. I have healthy habits, not just bad ones. I think I'm doing okay. As soon as this Ativan kicks in.