I think Rancid is my favorite band. They formed in Berkeley, California in 1991.
Don't know much about them. They're a punk band, yes?
Yeah Tim Armstrong, and Matt Freeman are probably the most well known members of it.
Hmm. Berkeley is a really cool town. Are the band members from there?
I think Tim is, Rancid remained signed to an independent record label and retained much of its original fan-base. So they never moved on to a big label.
That's great. Most bands ditch the independents once they become successful. How many members are in the band?
. Their current lineup consists of Tim Armstrong on guitar and vocals, Matt Freeman on bass and vocals, Lars Frederiksen on guitar and vocals, and Branden Steineckert on drums. The band was formed by Armstrong, Freeman, and former drummer Brett Reed, who left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Steineckert. Frederiksen joined Rancid in 1993 when the band was searching for a second guitar player.
To date, Rancid has released nine studio albums, one split album, one compilation, two extended plays, and a
played numerous shows with Los Angeles bands Fishbone and The Untouchables.
History Influence.
Jesse Michaels of Operation Ivy has cited the Uptones as a key influence. His bandmates Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman were also influenced by the Uptones, having opened for them in their earlier band, Basic Radio. Michaels describes the Uptones' place in the underground Berkeley ska scene in an interview: 
There was a ska scene in Berkeley that most people don't know about, in the mid-80s, and it was like high school, really