In the years between the downfall of Operation Ivy and the start of Rancid, Tim Armstrong was struggling to find reasons to stay sober. “7 Years Down” is his statement about wanting to quit that lifestyle, the only “opposition” being himself.

Armstrong was an MDC roadie until his own drinking prevented him from maintaining even the most basic work schedule. “When I drink, I’m worse than my dad,” says Armstrong, who once overdosed on a combination of bourbon and Valium.

After five trips to a detox facility in nearby Richmond, Calif., a routine later documented in Let’s Go’s “7 Years Down,” Armstrong was forced to take a job with the Salvation Army collecting clothing and furniture (see the same album’s “Salvation”). Sober only two weeks, Armstrong alerted Freeman that he wanted to regroup. “Whether we played together or not, he was still my friend,” says Freeman, who by then worked at a truck-rental company. “Then, as fate sort of handed it, me and Tim got Rancid together.”