Random Punk Rockers Who Turned Into Total Dads (14 items)

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  (#8) Lars Frederiksen

  • 47

  Lars Frederiksen has always written self-described angry music, no matter his age. When he was younger and Rancid was at its peak, they struggled with staying true to their punk roots and selling out to a larger record label, but managed to do so without losing fans. 

  Fatherhood changed some things for Frederiksen. "I get up a lot earlier now," he joked in the documentary The Other F Word. He also said he questions some of the decisions he made in his youth and how they affect his parenting, saying: 

  Sometimes you think, "Oh, shi*t. Should I have tattooed my forehead?" You know. But that lasts about two seconds. Because, to be honest, I am who I am. And hopefully I will instill in my son that you respect people based on their merit, not on the way that they look.
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  (#12) Gerald Caiafa

  • 59

  The Misfits have never been ones to shy away from overly theatrical antics and shenanigans. The band, including singer Jerry Only, have even been taken in by authorities for the likes of grave robbing. The band is still touring with full makeup, but that doesn't mean Only hasn't made time for his kids. 

  In fact, in 2014, he was named "Dad of the Year" at his daughter's school. He threw a pizza party for the then-second-grader's class, and he has moved her around schools in order to help her with her academic success.
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  (#9) Art Alexakis

  • 56

  Everclear singer Art Alexakis has been candid about the lack of support he had from his father growing up, saying that it influenced both his music and his parenting tactics. 

  "I didn't have a male role model. Male role models in my life were my dad, who left, right? Didn't pay child support, didn't own up to his responsibilities," he laments in the documentary The Other F Word.  Fatherhood initially freaked Alexakis out. He said: 

  When my daughter Anna was born, she was born in the early afternoon, I remember sitting down on the couch in our apartment, and feeling this weight, this physical presence like I had never felt. It just felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I had no idea how to do this. I could barely take care of myself.

  But it seems he has a solid handle on fatherhood. He sings songs like "The Wheels on the Bus" with his daughter in the car, and he has turned into that parent that, "If a kid's running loose at an airport, I'll pick 'em up."
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  (#1) Jim Lindberg

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  Singer Jim Lindberg formed the band Pennywise in 1988 at the height of the SoCal punk revival. Pennywise performed at small, grungy punk venues, including Black Flag's famous church, before hitting it big. In the band's heyday, police officers stopped nearly every show, and Lindberg said he wrote shorter songs so he could "get at least a dozen in" before the authorities ultimately broke up the party. 

  Lindberg continued to tour with the band in the '90s, but he briefly left after he got married, claiming the scene was getting too volatile. He has three daughters, and even though he still keeps his punk rock ethos intact, he has softened somewhat. In the documentary The Other F Word, he said, "I think a lot of guys on the scene are feeling the same thing. Before, I think, when we were younger, we were all very nihilistic and didn't care. Live for today, live fast.You know uh, do whatever you want. I don't think any of these guys expected to be around this long."

  "It's tough to be a punk rock hero and still be a good authority figure for your kids. It's almost impossible," Lindberg further laments. Still, he seems to be doing a good job of it. He tours to help support his family, and he takes along special Barbie dolls from his daughters while he's on the road. He also has all three of his daughters' names tattooed on his arms. 
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  (#2) Ron Reyes

  • 58

  Black Flag formed the mecca for SoCal punk music with The Church in Hermosa Beach. Ron Reyes rented a closet for $16 in the abandoned church, and he described the rehearsal space as "living in punk squalor." Reyes was all about the punk ethos until 1980, when he quit the scene in the middle of a set at the Fleetwood, claiming punk had become too volatile for his taste. 

  After getting married and having a child, Reyes tried to keep some of his punk mentality alive. "We tried to hang onto some of that [punk rock way of life]. Going out, going to gigs, getting a little bit wasted, and coming back and, like, you know, trying to breast-feed and change diapers. And it just doesn't work... for us, it was like, this isn't gonna work," he says in the documentary The Other F Word.

  He also noted that he's "a little bit more" like his dad than he ever thought. 
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  (#3) Tim McIlrath

  • 40

  Rise Against didn't form until the tail-end of the punk revival in 1999. Still, McIlrath and his bandmates weren't ones to shy away from the wild antics of the '80s punk scene. Many of their songs are politically charged, and their shows had a tendency to become aggressive. 

  McIlrath had children earlier on in his career than other punk rockers, and some of his songs are even about parenting, like "House on Fire." In the documentary The Other F Word, McIlrath spends time playing Rise Against songs with his daughter (who isn't familiar with all of the lyrics) and supports her musical endeavors. 

  He does admit, however, that parenting while in an active touring band was a difficult choice to make. "There are moments that you miss, that you sacrifice," he said in the documentary. 

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