Atom Willard
Willard performing with Social Distortion in 2009
Background information
Born	Adam David Willard (1973-08-15)August 15, 1973 (age 52) San Diego,California, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock punk rock hardcore punk metalcore
Occupation	Drummer
Years active	1990–present
Member of	Lektron Plosivs Worriers
Formerly of	Rocket from the Crypt Custom Floor the Special Goodness the Offspring Angels & Airwaves Social Distortion Danko Jones Against Me! Alkaline Trio
Website	alkalinetrio.com

Adam David "Atom"Willard (August 15, 1973) is an American drummer who has been a member of several notable musical acts. His career began in 1990 when he joinedRocket from the Crypt, with whom he remained until 2000. Subsequently, he joinedthe Special Goodness,the Offspring, and in 2005 became a founding member ofAngels & Airwaves. In 2007 Willard departed from the Offspring to focus on his work with Angels & Airwaves, and in April 2009 he also joinedSocial Distortion, but left the following March. In June 2011, he joined the bandDanko Jones and in October 2011 amicably left Angels & Airwaves. From 2013 to 2020, he was the drummer forAgainst Me! until their indefinite hiatus. He was part ofAlkaline Trio from 2023 to 2026. Currently he is playing in the bands Worriers, Plosivs, and Lektron.

Willard joined theSan Diego,California rock bandRocket from the Crypt in 1990, after their original drummer Sean had moved away from San Diego.^[1] 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 justweird, and everybody was older than me. But the sound was rad. It was a lot ofsoul, a lot ofOtis Redding,James Brown–but it was up against a seriouspunk-rock influence, and just regularrock 'n' roll. Every song had four personalities!^[1]

Willard performed on Rocket from the Crypt's second albumCirca: Now! (1992) and subsequent albumsHot Charity (1995),Scream, Dracula, Scream! (1995), andRFTC (1998), as well as numerousEPs 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 abox truck and anairport shuttle, both at his suggestion.^[1][2] In 2000, however, he decided to leave the group due to disagreements with the other members over the band's direction:

I was getting disillusioned with the way we were doing business. It was getting harder and harder to survive–those tours where you'd come home with no money, that was getting less cool. [Laughs.] I didn't just want to get some temp job to survive and go on tour anymore. I wanted to play the drums; I wanted to play music and make a living off of it. And I thought I could. Andwe all could. I wanted some changes andSpeedo and I were kind of at odds on that stuff; we disagreed on how we should go about it.^[3]

Willard was replaced in Rocket from the Crypt's lineup byMario Rubalcaba.

In October 2011, he reunited with Rocket From the Crypt to perform the song "He's a Chef" on the children's television show Yo Gabba Gabba.^[4] In September 2013 he played 3 shows with the band forRiot Fest.^{[citation needed]} In November 2014 he played with the band atFun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas.^{[citation needed]}

After leaving Rocket from the Crypt Willard served as a drum technician forWeezer. In 2000 he filled in as a touring drummer forAlkaline Trio and appeared with them in the music video for the single "Private Eye".^{[citation needed]} He soon joined Weezer drummerPatrick Wilson in his side projectthe Special Goodness, in which Willard drummed while Wilson sang and played guitar. Willard also filled in withMoth in 2002 for tours in support of their third albumProvisions, Fiction and Gear^[5] and appeared in their music video for "I See Sound". Willard's first recorded output with the Special Goodness was 2003'sLand Air Sea. The band have not released an album since then.^[6] Willard also recorded drum tracks for the songs "Head Unbound" and "Would If I Could" onMelissa Auf der Maur's debut solo albumAuf der Maur (2004).^[7]

In 2003 Willard became an official member ofthe Offspring, replacing long-time drummerRon Welty who had left the group earlier that year.^[8] During Willard's tenure with the group he performed on numerous tours but only performed on one song. Professional drummerJosh Freese had recorded the drum tracks for the band's 2003 albumSplinter after Welty left the group.^[9] Willard joined shortly before the album's release and appeared with them in the music video for the single "(Can't Get My) Head Around You". However, in 2005 he became a founding member ofAngels & Airwaves (see below), and his commitments to the new group began to draw him away from the Offspring. The Offspring released aGreatest Hits compilation in 2005 including two new songs, "Can't Repeat" and a cover ofThe Police's "Next to You".^[10] Willard appeared with the band in the "Can't Repeat" music video and recorded the drum tracks for "Next to You". In July 2007 it was officially announced he had left The Offspring to focus on Angels & Airwaves.^[11] Freese again recorded drum tracks for the Offspring forRise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008) before he was permanently replaced by formerFace to Face drummerPete Parada.^[12][13] Offspring singerDexter Holland later commented:

The simple truth is that Atom had been working on a few of his own projects during our down time, including Angels & Airwaves but other things too. We think that's great. Unfortunately, in order for him to see those things through he isn't left with enough time to devote to future Offspring stuff. It was a tough choice, but we understand. Atom's been a great drummer for us and we're sure Pete will be great too!^[13]

Willard later revealed also partly left because he wasn't happy in the band because he couldn't get creatively fulfilled.^[14]

While the Offspring took a "touring hiatus" in 2006, Willard joinedTom DeLonge in his new group Angels & Airwaves.^[15] In an interview withShave Magazine, he said that felt the collective experience of all the members of the band made joining very easy for him.

There's nobody trying to figure out what is and what isn't going to work, not just for themselves but for music and for a band, what life's going to be like on the road and all that kind of stuff. Everybody had enough experience to just buckle down and do the work. It really has made it easier than anything else."^[16]

DeLonge remarked that Willard "has always felt to me like the single largest score in music. He is a loyal, honest and humble friend, but an even better showman."^[17] The band, which also included formerBox Car Racer/Hazen Street guitarist David Kennedy and formerDistillers bassistRyan Sinn, released their debut albumWe Don't Need to Whisper in May 2006. It peaked at #4 on theBillboard 200^[18] and spawned several successful singles including "The Adventure", "It Hurts", "Do It for Me Now", and "The War", and Willard toured extensively with the group in support of the album.

In July 2007, during production of the band's second albumI-Empire, Willard left the Offspring to focus on his work with Angels & Airwaves. The album was released in November 2007 and went on to sell over 200,000 copies in the United States.^{[citation needed]} Singles fromI-Empire included "Everything's Magic", "Secret Crowds", and "Breathe". He also played on Angels & Airwaves third album,Love, released in February 2010. Willard toured with Angels & Airwaves in support of the album in May and July.

On October 4, 2011, Willard officially left from Angels & Airwaves. The split is said to have been "amicable" with the rest of the band.^[19] Prior to his split with Angels & Airwaves, Willard had completed recording all drum tracks for the group's fourth studio albumLove: Part Two released in November 2011.

In April 2009, Willard replacedCharlie Quintana inSocial Distortion.^[20][21] He toured Europe and the United States with Social Distortion in 2009, was scheduled to tour South America with them in April 2010, and had been in the studio recording their seventh studio album.^[22] On March 8, 2010, due to scheduling conflicts with Angels & Airwaves, Willard departed from Social Distortion.^[23] He was replaced byFu Manchu drummerScott Reeder for their South American tour.^[24]

In February 2011, Willard joinedMatt Skiba ofAlkaline Trio for a side project called theHELL.^[25] Their debut EP,Sauves les Requines, was released in January 2012. theHELL put out another EP titledSouthern Medicine in 2013.

In June 2011, he became the drummer for Canadian groupDanko Jones.^[26] As of July 2013, he is no longer in Danko Jones.

Willard filled in withAgainst Me! for the band's 2013 Australian tour dates.^[27] On July 31, 2013, Willard officially announced on his Twitter page that he was the full-time drummer for Against Me!, led byLaura Jane Grace.^[28] In 2018, he also became a member of Laura Jane Grace and the Devouring Mothers.^[29]

In early 2023, Willard reunited with Skiba to form a new band, Lektron, alongsideAFI bassistHunter Burgan, and SpiritWorld guitarist Randy Moore.^[30] In the coming weeks, he was also announced to be reuniting with Alkaline Trio, this time as their full-time drummer following the departure ofDerek Grant.^[31] On February 2, 2026, he announced onInstagram that he left Alkaline Trio.^[32][33]

When performing with Angels and Airwaves his drum kit consists of twosnare drums (6.5"x14" and 7"x12"), twotom-toms (6"x6" and 8"x12"), twofloor toms (14"x16" and 16"x18"), and abass drum (18"x26"). Forcymbals he usesZildjian K custom sessionhi-hats (14"), an A custom EFXcrash cymbal (20"), one A custom projection crash (20"), a K customride cymbal (22"), and a K custom medium ride cymbal (20"). Since 2010, Atom has been an official Drum Workshop endorser, both for hardware and drums.^[34][35]

This section lists albums andEPs on which Willard has performed. For complete listings of releases by each act, see their individual articles.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAtom Willard.

• Angels & Airwaves official website
• Atom Willard discography atDiscogs

• American punk rock drummers
• American male drummers
• Angels & Airwaves members
• Drummers from San Diego
• Rocket from the Crypt members
• The Offspring members
• Social Distortion members
• 1973 births
• Living people
• Against Me! members
• The Special Goodness members
• 20th-century American drummers
• 21st-century American drummers
• Danko Jones members
• Mt. Carmel High School (San Diego) alumni

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