Over a month later, time for another issue of Minor League news: articles and interviews galore, covers, Greg featured in new UCLA spot, Brooks nominated for drummers award, and much more!
Interviews, interviews, interviews!
Jesse Skinner of TORO Magazine (from Toronto, Canada) got to talk to Jay on the eve of the North American tour and had some really good questions to ask him. Really worth checking out! A sample here:
"I can tell you the greatest philosophical question I ever heard: a guy in Germany came up and asked Brett, “What is the colour of touring?” Brett thought about it for 20 seconds, said “Couch,” and walked away.
What do you hope never to be asked again?
“How did you come up with the band name?” That is the most asked, most redundant question. I think people wish it had some deeper purpose, but we were teenagers who just threw those two words together.
Two words that form a provocative phrase. Have you ever regretted it?
Not in the sense of “Oh, we could’ve been more successful if we’d picked a name like ... Jelly.”
After your hiatus from the band (1983-86), when did you realize you’d be in Bad Religion for the long haul?
I think in 1993 ... we’d toured a lot, seen growth, everything seemed OK. Something was working and people seemed to like it. Greg, who'd been a student all his life, called Brett and I and said, “I’m not going back to school. I want to tour all year long.” I was working at the time for Epitaph and I had to make my own choice: did I want to stay behind a desk or keep touring? Brett had to make that choice, too — Epitaph was his label. He was already struggling being away for three months of touring. So he left the band (from 1994 - 2001), and that was the point where I thought “This better work out.”"
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Greg also talked to another newspaper from Toronto, The Toronto Star. Many good quotes from this interview as well!
“Now I really shoot for trying to make a better record than the one before,” said Graffin ahead of the band’s Kool Haus gig on Sunday.
“What’s most satisfying is still being able to put out an album that I consider good, one that I want to go out and play for the world, and that’s a rare thing for a band that’s 33 years old.”
“Luckily, the topical material that we chose — me and my co-songwriter Brett Gurewitz have always been nerdy, intellectual types who like philosophy and science — somehow we seized on those as metaphors in our early material.
“A lot of stuff that we did when we were 16 is embarrassing. But some of the real classic songs that we wrote back then, I still stand by. Because we chose those kinds of metaphors, we’re fortunate that we can still talk about some of those things.”
“We’re playing in places that the Sex Pistols never could have dreamed, or The Ramones,” asserts Graffin, 48. “Two years ago we were asked to play Jakarta, Indonesia and it was this huge outpouring of love for Bad Religion. I couldn’t believe it.”
“A lot of the songs on here I wrote from the perspective of a kid who’s running away,” Graffin explains. “The song ‘True North’ uses a map as a metaphor saying that when we’re young, your parents sort of provide you with this map, and there’s open-ended routes you can take, but you better damn well follow the map. And the song ‘True North” is saying, ‘What’s in this map for me? There’s nothing here for me. This is your template.’
“In order to find true happiness in life, I believe every one of us, no matter what age, has to find their own sense of direction.”
“I look at the band as a creative outlet, but none of the guys in the band ever wanted it to be our entire life,” concedes Graffin.
“We never wanted the band to consume us, but we were all sure about one thing: when we wrote our earlier material, even as kids, we wanted it to have some substance to it. We wanted it to be a way of distilling what we saw in the world into creative two-minute sound bytes."
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Look what Jay told the Oakland Press about the new album compared to The Dissent of Man and the inevitable future for Bad Religion
“If you stop questioning what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, why you’re doing it, I think you start to regurgitate the same thing over and over again,” says bassist and co-founder Jay Bentley. And that, he adds, is what led Bad Religion to start coming up with material for its latest release — “True North,” which came out in January — while its predecessor, 2010’s “The Dissent of Man,” was still fresh.
“It wasn’t that we weren’t happy with (‘Dissent.’), but it didn’t really reflect what the band wanted to reflect,” Bentley recalls. “We started talking about having songs that weren’t four minutes long. ‘Let’s have songs that are two minutes long and start cutting things that way — just short, concise blasts, two minutes of angst. That was the direction we started heading in a couple of years before we even got in the studio again.”
It certainly seems to have worked; “True North” debuted at No. 19 on the Billboard 200, a career high for Bad Religion. And, as far as Bentley is concerned, “if this is the last thing we do, I’m cool with it.” But is there really a chance of that?
“Well, it’s just an inevitability, nothing I worry about,” says Bentley, 48. “It’s something that’s going to happen. I’m not sure how prepared everyone else is for it. Greg (Graffin, Bad Religion’s frontman) and I talk a lot about it; eventually this is just gonna have to come to an end. We both seem to be OK with it."
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In case you were wondering, Brian doesn't consider himself punk anymore. This is what he said to The Washington Examiner
"I'm in a punk band and I play punk music, [but] I haven't been punk since I was 18," said Baker by phone from a tour stop in Atlanta. "It's a young man's game."
He added that his youthful angst has been distilled into that of an adult.
"What I can do is really, really, really love the music and continue to play it," said Baker, 48.
"Bad Religion topically is usually feeding off what's happening in the world, and there's nothing better than an election to get the pen scratching on paper," Baker said.
"I really have no idea," Baker said when asked why the new album has done so well. "I learned long ago that when I think a record won't do anything, it does well; and when I think it's fantastic, it sells a copy. In this case, the only thing I can say is I thought it's a really good record. Surprisingly, other people did too."
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Both Punknews and Dying Scene have some good lengthy interviews with Jay and Brian together discussing a variety of topics. Pay special attention to Brian talking about Against Me!'s abrupt cancellation. I don't know about you but that Dying Scene has to be one of the best Bad Religion interviews in a while!
Brian Baker: "Considering the potential problems, we turned out to be pretty lucky. Starting out that we found out that [Against Me!] weren’t going to go via social networking four days before the tour could be, you know, somewhat stressful. And then Brooks had to leave for a few dates. So I consider that to be a rocky start. But what was fantastic is that Steve [of Polar Bear Club] knew all the songs and is a fantastic drummer and totally pulled it off. If it weren’t for that, we would have had to go home. I’m not really sure the reason Against Me! didn’t come because I haven’t talked to anyone in that band, but what I read on the internet is that they just weren’t comfortable with their choice of drummer replacement. I’m sure they had replacements lined up, but maybe this one wasn’t wearing the right color shirt and that one’s birthday was not in the correct moon phase or whatever. But I think the idea for me that you’ve committed to a tour that’s pretty much sold out and has been booked for 6 months, the idea would be to go and fulfill your commitment rather than worry about what type of cologne the drummer replacement is wearing."
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And to cap off this round of interviews, in this one with TONEDEAF from Australia, Greg reveals a possible new tour there in early 2014, plans for a new solo album, and what book inspired him to write We're Only Gonna Die (From Our Own Arrogance), amongst many other things.
Greg in UCLA's new spot
He is included on a
list of famous UCLA alumni alongside the likes of Bill Walton, James Franco, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Russell Westbrook, Francis Ford Coppola, Rob Reiner, Greg Ginn, James Dean, etc...
Articles
Melissa Fossum wrote a very comprehensive article chronicling Bad Religion's discography for the Phoenix New Times.
Another Phoenix native, James Callahan aka Jaime' En Fuego aka The Automatic Man, also wrote in his own way a comprehensive article covering Bad Religion's output. Let's see how many references you are able to count!
"Come Join BAD RELIGION On The Changing Tide
Longevity validates legitimacy!
When a band of Wrong Way Kids' Supersonic creations can seriously stand the test of Time And Disregard in the planet's pantheon despite the best efforts of the 1,000 More Fools born every day, instead of dissolving into utter Mediocrity, that truly sends a resounding message In So Many Ways. And while it is What It Is that artists with No Substance in the Land Of Competition and Endless Greed like Katy Perry and Nickelback can manage to Get Off on All Fantastic Images of The Fast Life longer than many ever wanted or expected (but oh, What Can You Do?), there's others like the always Looking In melodic hardcore architects in BAD RELIGION, who worry the devoted Leaders And Followers of their Forbidden Beats during every calendar into their three decade career that Slumber will come soon as they finally give an Honest Goodbye and Walk Away leaving the World Without Melody of such a unique variety. Continuing may seem like Too Much To Ask from a group that turned 30 In 2010 to continue revealing Shades Of Truth Along The Way but the last thing BR are currently prepared for is to Cease turning over a New Leaf and maintaining Against The Grain during Operation Rescue..."
Hottest Live Photos of 2013
Brooks nominated for Drummies! award
Drum! Magazine nominated Bad Religion's now longest-running drummer in the punk drummer category. Online voting is now closed and winners will be announced in the August 2013 issue of the magazine. He also had his Zildjian Natural Finish signature sticks in the Gear ballot for this year.
Sloan to cover We're Only Gonna Die
Power-pop band from Canada Sloan is set to release a new 7-inch that will come with a downloadable 12-song covers album featuring Bad Religion's classic We're Only Gonna Die as the last song. Here's the full tracklist.
1. Gas Chamber (Angry Samoans)
2. Filler (Minor Threat)
3. Gimme Sopor (Angry Samoans)
4. Bully (7 Seconds)
5. Retrospect (Gray Matter)
6. Catalina (Descendents)
7. Fountains (The Nils)
8. This Is the Angry (7 Seconds)
9. Hot Cars (Angry Samoans)
10. Nervous Breakdown (Black Flag)
11. Wasted (Circle Jerks)
12. We're Only Gonna Die (Bad Religion)
Speaking about covers, you should check out this super medley of covers from the now extinct Your Mother. This song first appeared on their CD album One Big Inside Joke from 1995 and also made their 7'' Sometimes Scott Jones is Our Roadie from 1997.
Lyrics below in case you feel the urge to sing along:
Hello, my name is Greg, I teach at UCLA and I'm the singer for a punk-rock band. I write three-chord songs that sure aren't very long and use big words no one understands. And my bands' been around for days, that's why we have guarantees. "I've seen a lot of things in 5 years. I struggle just to hold back the tears, but every-fucking-where I go..." little brother, don't you know that I follow all emotion with a "fuck"? My hairlines receding rapidly, but I still go Against The Grain and screw society. Mr. Brett's a millionaire and icon for the businessman, and our generation will follow. We're no simpletons, not Bad Religion, but I hope you don't think we're lame 'cause all our songs sound the same. I always loved punk rock, now I got my Ph.D.; we'll never prevail with simplicity. Blender! 6, 9, 4, 12, 18, 7, hike! All harmony makes big money. Voice of God is Government; Fuck Armageddon. How Could Hell Be Any Worse? Just Suffer listening to my big words, I'm just a impulsive thesauratic entity. Go To Hell With Superman. And I'll count in all of our songs. Our words and music are interchangeable, before too long... major label, because by then we'll be the mainstream. Gang-bang, big-brunch, you know there's no free lunch. Sometimes I like Captain Crunch, but right now I feel like...
Fan-made Bad Religion timeline
One of our forum and shoutbox regulars Neil Davis aka ¿? recently took to breaking down the eras of Bad Religion's 33-year career. Here's the timeline he came up with. Agree, disagree? I think it's pretty much spot on!
Greg Hetson
By the way, It's not the first time this year that a band member has missed some shows. Due to personal reasons, Brooks missed a few dates as well in early March. Polar Bear Club's drummer and big Bad Religion fan Steve Port had childhood dream come true as he stepped up for the challenge to fill in for Brooks. Here's a good article about his experience with the band.