Atom Willard

Atom Willard
Willard performing with Social Distortion in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Adam David Willard
Born	(1973-08-15) August 15, 1973 (age 43) San Diego, California, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, punk rock
Occupation(s)	Drummer
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1990–present
Associated acts	Rocket from the Crypt, The Special Goodness, The Offspring, Angels & Airwaves, Social Distortion, Danko Jones, Against Me!

Adam David Willard, best known by his stage name Atom Willard (born August 15, 1973), is an American drummer who has been a member of several notable musical acts. Willard's drumming career began in 1990 when he joined Rocket from the Crypt, whom he remained with until 2000. Subsequently, he joined The Special Goodness, The Offspring, and in 2005 became a founding member of Angels & Airwaves. In 2007 his departure from The Offspring was announced Willard could focus on his work with Angels & Airwaves, and in April 2009 he also joined Social Distortion, but left the following March. In June 2011, he joined the band Danko Jones and in October 2011 he announced his amicable departure from Angels & Airwaves. He is currently the drummer for Against Me!.

Willard joined the San Diego, California rock band Rocket from the Crypt in 1990, after their original drummer Sean had moved away from San Diego. In a 2006 interview Willard recalled of the experience:

It was crazy, man. I was just 16, I would drive down to this kind of sketchy, strange rehearsal space in this part of town I'd never been, and there were people living in some of the spaces. It was just weird, and everybody was older than me. But the sound was rad. It was a lot of soul, a lot of Otis Redding, James Brown–but it was up against a serious punk-rock influence, and just regular rock 'n' roll. Every song had four personalities!

Willard performed on Rocket from the Crypt's second album Circa: Now! (1992) and subsequent albums Hot Charity (1995), Scream, Dracula, Scream! (1995), and RFTC (1998), as well as numerous EPs and singles. During his years with the band he toured the United States and Europe. Willard recalls several wild tour experiences with the group such as touring in a box truck and an airport shuttle, both at his suggestion. In 2000, however, he decided to leave the group due to disagreements with the other members over the band's direction: