We (Jay, "that's me" and Carl) had just finished the HUSKER DU interview and there was no sense in Iet'n a perfectty good L.A. trip go to waste eh?, so since we were in the neighborhood, we called Chett up from WASTED YOUTH to see what's happen'n?, he said to cruz on over to their practice if we wanted and check em' out and he also said BAD RELIGION would be practicing. Yo, the bells rang in Jay and carl's head, "INTERVIEW! ! !" ........... "BAD RELIGION!!!". We grabbed a twelvy of Bud, headed to their practice and checked em' out. BAD RELIGION jammed! Their practice was kiII' and when they finished we cruised to the Burger King up the block to grab some fries and did the interview inside. (hence the pictures in the bathroom) I hung out with WASTED YOUTH at the practice room where we head'n back to after the interview so we could watch WASTED YOUTH kick ass at their practice. This was a pretty productive day for these 2 BLACK MARKET CREEPS and we had a fuck'n great time, only on the way back to S.D. the stereo in the car fucked up, and Carl's voice was so fucked-up from sing'n on the way up earlier that day he couldn't talk. That left me look'n at the stars, luckily there were a lot of shoot'n ones or I never would have made it. Interview and pictures done by CarI. 12/16/87


B.M.: O.K. ah...
G.G.: So anyway, who are your influences?
G.H.: Let him start. (laughter)
B.M.: Well how 'bout a brief history on BAD RELIGION.
JAY: Yeah a brief history, 'cause I want to hear it too.
G.G.: Well we started in September of 1980, and we put out an E.P. a year after that, me and Jay and another guy who doesn't deserve to be mentioned.
JAY: And another guy who doesn't deserve to be mentioned. (laughter)
G.G.: Their names are Brett and James.
JAY: And they don't deserve to be mentioned.
G.G.: He's just mad cause the drummer was a real dork, then a year after that, we put out an album, "HOW COULD HELL BE ANY WORSE".
JAY: Which year was that?
G.G.: '82
JAY: Fuck I don't know.
G.G.: Jay doesn't even know what year it is now. It was the same line up except for a drummer change. Part of it had Jay Ziscrowd on drums.
G.H.: And the other part had Peter Finestone on drums.
G.G.: And then it was a year and a half after that we started rehearsing on a new album.
LUCK: And Jay walked out on it.
JAY: Yeah. Musical differences. I didn't like the direction the band was going in. I was playing with both WASTED YOUTH and BAD RELIGION, and it had just gotten down to playing with T.S.O.L., and when somebody said, "Make a choice." I said, "Okay, I'll play with T.S.O.L." That got cancelled 'cause Mike wanted to be back in the band. He had quit, and I stepped in and played one show. And we - (BAD RELIGION) - were practicing and writing the songs for the new album, that I wasn't liking very much. I actually did go in the studio and recorded one song. But the thing was, I was kinda used to going in and recording the whole album within 2 days -- and we did 13 hours on one song. I mean, I just sat there drinking coffee going, "Fuck, get it over with, let's go to the next song". It's not a bad album, I listen to it now and I enjoy it - but it wasn't what I wanted to do.
G.G.: So then we did an album with 2 unheard of guys...
LUCK: Get us up to date already, I'm bored.
JAY: Yeah, it takes awhile.
G.H.: The album was total progressive rock with synthesizers -- and other punkers hated it.
G.G.: Although now we're getting more and more requests to play it. But then after that, BAD RELIGION dissolved. I went away to the University of Wisconsin in '84 and came back in '85.
G.H.: And I said, "why don't you get BAD RELIGION back together - I'll play guitar."
G.G.: Anyways, then we got together with Tim (on bass) and Peter (on drums), and did another album...
G.H.: "BACK TO THE UNKNOWN", which was more traditional punk stuff.
JAY: That was '85.
G.H.: Then, Tim had personal problems and sold all his equipment, so we got Jay back.
G.G.: This happened about a year ago. At the beginning of this Sept., we got Lucky in the band. (Peter left for England.) And that's we are now.
G.H.: Confused?
B.M.: A little. So what's going to happen to BAD RELIGION now?
JAY: I don't know.
G.G.: We want to put a record out.
B.M.: Everybody wants to put a record out, but  how are you going to do it?
G.H.: As soon as we get enough songs.
B.M.: Are you shopping for a label?
JAY: Yeah, we're shopping. We're tired of going to the 'Indies' (independent labels).
G.G.: Yeah, have you ever been to the Giant yet? The Giant has the lowest prices, best produce, and they got Mexican food too! They got everything.
LUCK: The best club in town is the Price Club.
G.H.: You can get envelopes for really cheap.
G.G.: Come Spring. We're doing a big tour come Spring 'cause I'll have a couple months off school.
G.H.: And I'll have time off my real job, the CIRCLE JERKS.
G.G.: And then BAD RELIGION is going to scatter next September, I'm going to Chicago to live, I'm going to school there.
B.M.: So you guys aren't going to stay together?
G.G.: Well yeah, but it's just a different kind of together.
B.M.: What kind of stuff do you like out here band-wise in L.A.?, or anything you hate around here?
JAY: Anything I hate? I hate punk rock.
G.H.: All these guys that are puttin' on make-up and thinking their in the 70's again.
LUCK: They're alot good bands around.
JAY: There really are, you just got to be "Lucky" to see them.
G.G.: You got to be "LUCKY"?  I don't get it.
B.M.: Are you still happy with the name BAD RELIGION?
G.G.: It doesn't really apply to our teenage aggression now.
B.M.: What's that name mean anyway?
G.G.: Oh jeez, that's what used to be in every interview when we were young. We always used to say, "Well there's good religions and there's bad religions".
JAY: No, it was just about how we were against people using religion as a crutch. It's like BRETT used to say, "Let's kick that crutch out from under those people and see if they can stand on their own two feet." But it's much broader now.
G.G.: Yeah, now it can be applied to broader social institutions, such as kinship and marriage. (laughter)
LUCK: But we're not here to judge which ones are good or bad.
JAY: No we're not, 'cause their bands' name is the CIRCLE JERKS and that's the worst name I've ever heard.
G.H.: Names will get you far.
JAY: Yeah, names will get you farther than anything in the world. We had a single and everybody said, "Yeah, that's the coolest thing" and we just did it because we were bored in school!
LUCK: But that's just for old times sake.
G.G.: This is a really offensive t-shirt! (points at Bad Religion shirt)
LUCK: I couldn't believe it, I didn't think it was offensive.
B.M.: Are you still printing them?
G.G.: Yeah we just printed these.
LUCK: (under his breath) Oh, God...
G.G.: You don't like it?
JAY: Face it Lucky we're in a punk rock band, we're punk rockers. (laughter)
G.G.: You don't like this shirt?
LUCK: It's not that I don't like it, I think it could be misinterpreted.
G.G.: Oh fuck yeah! Who cares?!!
LUCK: I know, that's the intent.
G.G.: No, the point is this is a universal sign. You know how you have to think of a universal symbol to convey some sort of meaning? What other symbol are you going to use as the universal sign for religion except for the cross. So it's not a direct attack. Christians are just unfortunate that they're so popular that they get attacked. (laughter) Actually, Hinduism is probably newer and larger now.
G.H.: Maybe on the new one we'll have a Crescent, or the Star of David.
JAY: It's not a personal attack on anyone.
LUCK: (Impatiently) Next subject.
G.H.: (In the background) I think a lot of people are going are going to hell. They'll be able to sing with Karen Carpenter.
LUCK: That's so simple a way of looking at it.
G.G.: I like it that way.
LUCK: You like it that way, I don't! O.K. bud, just leave it at that for now. Next subject.
B.M.: So ah.......
G.H.: Oh here comes Chett again.

(Well that concludes this interview. Thanks alot to Chett (Wasted Youth)  for set'n it up for us. Later.)