[1][2] Armstrong was a member of several punk bands in Brunswick, Maine in the late eighties, including Officer Friendly, while studying for a BA in biology at Bowdoin College; he graduated with honors in 1990.
[2] He stated in an interview for Radio nan Gàidheal that he has thirteen tattoos, many of which were from this period of his life, expressing his rebellious punk values and pacifism.
[3] After spending some years living in Scotland and meeting other Gaelic-speaking punks such as Ruairidh of Oi Polloi, he started learning Gaelic.
[1] In April 2005, Mill a h-Uile Rud embarked on a European tour with Oi Polloi, another Scottish Gaelic punk band, which took them to Scotland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland.
[7] It was launched in Edinburgh with Mill a h-Uile Rud's contemporaries Oi Polloi at an illegal street gig on Leith Walk outside Elvis Shakespeare, and later at The Cruz boat on The Shore with Comann Ceilteach Oilthigh Dhun Eideann and CLÀR.