Graffiti Controversy Plus Updates

Howdy ho peeps! How's it going with you all so far? Hoping the summer is treating you well!

Guess who's on the cover of EQ Magazine for the month of July? Yes indeed, it is none other than Green Day! Check it out here!

Also, the band answered fan questions for the recent issue of Kerrang. That hit stores on June 24th, 2009, so be sure to pick it up!

There may be some more controversy following these punk rockin' trio. The Sydney council in Australia is a bit pissed off due to the graffiti on public property advertising their latest album, "21st Century Breakdown".

Not only are they losing their cool, but the city also wants to question the Green triplets record company, Warner Music Group about whether or not they had any permission to use graffiti as a way to promote the record.

Some critics say that the designs which appear across skate parks, and inner-city suburbs such as: Newtown and Surry Hills, serve a purpose because it showcases cover art for an album.

A spokesman for the city said the doodles are still being looked at, "murals and public artworks require development approval including consent from the property owner. The council is investigating the graffiti. Graffiti on building hoardings is required to be removed by the developer. The council's general approached is to remove graffiti quickly and consistently to help maintain the appearance of our city while discouraging repeat incidents."

WMG has stated that they paid the independent company in Surry Hills, Mr Perso & Detch, for the graffiti campaign. To make matters worse, local artists have done some vandalism of their own by spray painting "cash cow", followed by money signs, on top of the displayed artwork.

Warner has also said that they thought the campaign in Melbourne and Sydney was solidified because of the done deal with Mr Perso & Detch, "they are a legal spray-painting, a legal graffiti company, so they have designated spots," said vice-president of marketing and promotions at WMG, Mark Ashbridge. They were also asked if a sum of money was given to the council, or whether an application had to be done for a thumbs up, he simply said, "I don't know."

Adding onto this, "as a record company and a marketer, we contracted the company and we're thinking that basically they've got the rights to do that. We didn't really check in terms of whether or not the company had the approval, we would assume such, considering they are a viable company that we're using for a marketing campaign."

Ashbridge says that the deal included six sites all across Sydney, "there were six mega-sites-two in Newtown, one in Drummoyne, one in Bondi, one in Paddo and one in Surry Hills. And then there were standard sites-a third one in Newtown, another one in Bondi and another one in Surry Hills. We did 80 spray stencils around Sydney's skate parks. It was a more interesting way of making something a bit more arty."

On top of it all, no staff at Mr Perso & Detch could be reached for further comment! Read all about these shenanigans at stuff.co.nz!

Moving onto better news, Green Day are nominated for three Teen Choice Awards, and will take place August 10th at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles, California. Make sure to vote often, show everyone we are the best fans on earth!

As you may have noticed already, the video for the new single, "21 Guns" premiered on the guys official Myspace this past Sunday. Just in case you couldn't tune in, here it is for your enjoyment!