The band first popped up in the fall of '03. With rumors surrounding them immediately about the three members of Green Day being involved, the band seemed to gain some attention (mostly online) from the media.

They released their first CD, Money Money 2020 in the fall of 2003 on Billie Joe's label, Adeline Records. Being on that label only added to the suspicion about who the members were. We didn't hear very much from the band, why they were playing or where they were from till the launch of their site thenetworkband.com. With their social agenda intact, they launched their site in mid September 2003 to clear up their purpose. Below is their mission as posted on their site.

The Network has been sent here to rid us of the mediocre music that has inhabited our planet for too long. Their quest is to dominate the airwaves thus getting rid if the mindless shit that has been dominating the radio and television for the last 20 years. Tired of music cross breeding (i.e. rap merging with metal, and American Idol faux singing style etc), the boys knew they had a job to do.

Music needs to be dangerous again. Music needs to think. The band has painstakingly set up a factory in Oakland that will produce music, art and film. To educate the people that the moral majority is neither moral nor the majority anymore. The mediocre masses have had their day, now the day finally belongs to us.

Fink Vocals & Guitar He might be considered the leader, being as he finances the group using money he made on a "TOP SECRET" nuclear invention he created shortly before dropping out of M.I.T. He's an Aquarius.   Van Gough Vocals & Bass A macrobiotic/vegan, from Belgium, Van Gough was forced to work entrail duty at his uncle's slaughterhouse in Fresno from the age of 10 until 18 where he moved to Tibet to conquer Mount Everest. After 12 attempts and suffering frostbite on over 80 percent of his body and losing his nose he returned to his favorite city, Oakland where he raises animals for experimental laboratory purposes.   The Snoo Drums Formally a Mexican Wrestler from Argentina, The Snoo grew up poor on the busted streets of Buenos Aires and refuses to let the success of THE NETWORK affect him or his wardrobe IN ANY WAY. Jailed twice in Texas for messing with Texas, he does not claim to be reformed. Likes to eat hot peppers.   Z Keyboards This Icelandic sculptors name is so hard to pronounce, they call him Z. Likes to hitchhike. He plays keyboards with one finger. Uses Capt. Underpants' home made keyboards exclusively.   Captain Underpants Keytar Although we do not know which sport or event, we do know he has two Olympic medals that he won for the Swedish national team. He made his first synthesizer when he was only six years old. He speaks seven languages and all with a slight stutter.   Balducci Guitar Balducci loves to skip in his free time and has a passion for cheap, barely running devices of transportation. Missing In Action for a strenuous amount of time caused the rumors that he was inducted by NASA for near-future space travel. However, his lack of presence in the media caused several shocked fans when he was found on stage with The Network. Balducci also plays guitar and is notorious for his head and upper body movements.

While Green Day, The Network, their record labels, nor management have ever confirmed that Green Day is in the band, we know without a doubt that they are. First of all, if you can't tell by the pictures alone that Fink is Billie Joe, Van Gough is Mike, and The Snoo is Tré, then I don't know how you can call yourself a Green Day fan. It's unmistakably them.

The fact that the lead members name is Fink is no mistake. Billie Joe writes music for Pinhead Gunpowder under the pseudonym Wilhelm Fink sometimes. The same name that Billie Joe wrote a 30 second ballad for a compilation album called "Short Music For Short People". The song was called “Ballad Of Wilhelm Fink” (check out the extra media section to download the song - #20 ). On top of that it's no coincidence that the band ended up on Billie Joe's label, Adeline Records (which also released work for Pinhead Gunpowder).

What about the other members in the band? Again none of this has been confirmed but here's what we've heard. "Z" looks a whole lot like Chris Dugan, a sound engineer with Studio 880 (where Green Day recorded) and who has been on tour with Green Day throughout American Idiot recording all their performances. Captain Underpants is rumored to be Reto Peter, another sound engineer who worked on American Idiot (photo). Balducci is the newest addition. Though he wasn't on the album, he was added to the Network when they played their first live show. He looks a whole lot like Jason White, the man who has been playing live with Green Day since Warning. And lastly we have Dr.Svengali. Svengali can be seen in the faux press conference the Network held with the release of their CD (see the video below). The man playing Svengali is none other than Green Day's close friend John Roecker. Roecker directed the film Live Freaky Die Freaky where Billie Joe played the main character, while Tré and Mike had some smaller roles. John is also the director of Heart Like  Hand Grenade , the documentary outlining the making of American Idiot (that film will be released in late 2006).While we are certain about John, Jason, Billie, Mike, and Tré we aren't about the other two members. So we ask that you take that information with some caution since we can't confirm it.