Originally published on CultureMagazine.com

Bassist legend and Green Day co-founder Mike Dirnt announced on Jan. 9 his partnership with Goldenseed—a lifestyle cannabis and hemp brand based out of Santa Cruz, California, and the investment opportunities with the brand.

Using sustainable farming practices, Goldenseed produces flowers, clones and extracts that are 100 percent naturally grown. According to a press release, Goldenseed is the first private U.S. cannabis cultivator to be qualified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell stock to the general public. Goldenseed is selling up to $10 million of common stock with a price of $10 per share. Interested parties can invest online now to get a piece of the action.

“We’re thrilled that Mike is part of the Goldenseed community. It’s an exciting time for us and the industry overall,” said Scott Goldie, CEO and founder of Goldenseed. “Our brand has developed a strong affinity among consumers, while also assembling a diverse group of advisors over the last few years. Mike’s creative vision has already proven invaluable to our brand and we look forward to continuing this work as we celebrate his role as a key member of our family.”

Green Day’s name—to no one’s surprise—was “absolutely” about cannabis. In 1990, the band added Tré Cool as drummer and changed its name from Sweet Children to Green Day. The group was named after the fortunate days that the band members were stocked with cannabis.

Dirnt recently attended a Goldenseed investor event and toured the company’s climate-controlled storage facility. Dirnt (pictured) was surrounded by tens of thousands of pounds of hemp hung from 30-foot walls. Dirnt took the time to discuss about his role as ambassador and investor with Goldenseed and where it may take him.

Goldenseed took home awards at High Times Cannabis Cup and Hempcon. What sets Goldenseed’s flower apart?

We start with the dirt. We have a one-acre worm farm that is growing rapidly. The smell, the flavor and the entourage effect all come from growing in the dirt under the sun. The flavor is amazing when nature does what it does naturally. And that’s how Goldenseed grows their plants, naturally—the way nature intended. I really love what we’re doing farming-wise; we’re not wasting millions of dollars a year on electricity, we’re using what nature intended us to use, which are soil, water, sun and worms. The proof is in the plant, and we really are making damn good weed.

What kind of Goldenseed products should we look out for?

We have eighth jars of flower and our award-winning pre-rolls with a terpene-infused tip on shelves right now. Soon we’re launching a great CBD balm along with tinctures. We have a “joint” venture with hemp cigarettes coming also.

Tell us about the potential at the 20-acre farm in Santa Cruz.

We have a massive amount of greenhouse space where we can grow things the right way, and tap the potential of what this amazing Northern California climate is allowing us to grow!

What led you to invest in the cannabis industry?

I got involved with Goldenseed on an invitation to look at the farm with a friend of mine, and after having made a few trips to check out their incredible facilities, I asked my wife if she was okay with us investing. She was absolutely all for it, because when she was battling breast cancer, cannabis was a tremendous help during her chemotherapy treatments. To this day, it helps with her body aches and pains and the residual effects of a lot of drugs that went into her system.

Do you use cannabis for any medical purposes such as stress or insomnia?

I use CBD for stress and to help me relax for sleep. I use balm with CBD and THC in it for joint pains from playing bass for years. I can be rather high strung, and it’s got a real calming effect on me.

Was the name Green Day ever about smoking cannabis? We’ve heard rumors.

Yeah, the name Green Day comes from the title of a song on our first full length album about smoking pot in our friend’s room and basically having a stoney psychedelic experience while listening to records.

You co-wrote some of the classics including “Emenius Sleepus.” Do you get sick of performing those songs after all these years?

Being a musician, writing songs is only half of it. Performing songs is the other half. In order to get the full effect of a song, you perform it, and you feel the energy come back to you from the crowd, and it makes the song go full circle. On stage, I get teared up all the time, because I see the looks on people’s faces and what these songs mean to them.

You launched your career performing with bands like Operation Ivy and The Offspring. Was cannabis ever a constant presence in the early days at 924 Gilman?

When we turned in our first album on Lookout Records, our bonus was an ounce of weed. What’s really funny is you can tell on some of our second record that we were really, really stoned. In fact, the beginning of the song “Green Day” on our first album, you can hear us taking a bong hit recorded in the intro of the song.

Tell us about your involvement with The Frustrators.

The Frustrators has been a side band of mine for about 20 years. When I’m not playing with the biggest band in the world, I like to play with the smallest.

Green Day broke records in terms of underground record sales with albums like Kerplunk. Did you suspect early on that the band couldn’t be contained or limited to the independent record world?

I’ve always felt like these songs were the most important thing I would ever do. We’ve always tried to create timeless songs, but it wasn’t until after our second album that I realized how special and rare what we had created was!