Bad Religion - A Religious Manifesto In Shades of Gray
by JoAnn Green

1996

Bad Religion's name recognition suddenly jumped in 1989.

Jay can pinpoint exactly precisely where the band became aware that had moved up the ladder. It was at the Country Club in Rosita, CA, where they played a show with the newly reformed Adolescents. In true punk style, each band assumed the other was headlining, and modestly offered to play for a mere $500. It was only afterwards that both groups realized exactly how much each had been paid; the promoter walked off with the rest.

"We did the math 1,000 people time $10 a head, and between us we made $1000. In 1989 we still all had jobs, this was just a hobby gone haywire. You have to learn things, but the only way is to go out and get ripped off for six years. You have to know a little bit about the economics."

The Circle Jerks had played with Minor Threat. Hetson and Brian have been friends since. However, it was only after Brian joined Dag Nasty, who released an album on Epitaph a few years back, that the rest of Religion made his acquaintance. Thus when Brett left, the first phone call was to Brian. Greg continues the story, "The very same week we called him, he was also asked to fill in for Peter Holsapple from R.E.M. So Brian was asked to join what he thought was one of the biggest bands in the world and one of the biggest punk bands in the world, and he joined the punk band. Or as he says, "That's me in the corner, choosing Bad Religion."

Greg : "Brian's a lot better, he can do anything. Brett self-acknowledges he wasn't very proficient, he had a style though, a very sloppy style.What really helps is that Brian can bring my ideas to surface a lot quicker. Brett I'd have to fight with to see if it was a possibility, or was I just going down a blind alley. Brain, with his ability to be very precise about the tone of his guitar and make different sounding chords can really facilitate my ideas and translate them from the sound in my head." Greg: "If you remove the drums and replace them with a mandolin, you'd have the same tempos, melodies and chords as many Bad Religion tunes, believe it or not. Listen to better bluegrass albums and you'll see the similarities, and you might even find yourself liking bluegrass!"

Greg: "My mom's side of the family is from rural Indiana, and they grew up with that music on the radio. So whenever there was family get together, it would be sung and played around the house, so that's the roots of my musical awareness."

In contrast, Greg's social awareness is much more overt, although he's very reluctant to discuss his solutions. However, it really boils down to this. "Most of the problems I sing about can be distilled down to close-mindness and unwillingness to see the shades of gray. So, we use the negatives for a positive outcome, that is to provoke people to think about some things for themselves, which ultimately makes them feel better about themselves. When you can figure something out on your own, it empowers you. What do you need solutions for? That shows the weakness of the human spirit, not the power. The weakness is that we rely too much on leaders; you can be a leader in your own right and not have a retinue, just be true to yourself. Take matters into your own haves and do whatever little you can do. Lead by example, instead of pondering "What if's" All you need to do is do what you can. And that's Bad Religion in a nutshell.