Jay: "The greatest musical love for me is still Elvis Costello. I think that the angry young man that he was - and now he's kind of a bitter middle-aged man - that's for me. It's fascinating to me because he sums up a lot of my feelings fairly quickly, so I've been pretty consistent with Elvis Costello through my life. Other things have come and gone, but he's certainly the one that fills the hole in my soul.
He also said that as a musical influence, Elvis Costello is the only one that all the band members do agree on.
Brett tried to model both Atomic Garden and Stranger Than Fiction after an Elvis Costello kind of song.[1]
Jay doesn't really have a favorite song because there are way too many, including the cover songs. However, a record he truly likes is "Spike" (1989). Jay: "I love this record and I love Elvis Costello because he is the angriest guy. Someone's anger doesn't need to be screaming, it just needs to be bitter."
Jay said that when he writes songs they sound too much like Elvis Costello, and so he feels that they don't belong to Bad Religion. Elvis Costello is also the one Jay would most like BR to collaborate with. About meeting him, Jay mentioned: "I wish I had been less of a fanboi... I just had a moment of time to say what a pleasure it was to meet him." He (and probably the rest of the band, too) would love to go on Elvis Costello's show on the Sundance Channel.
| 08/20 | added influence on Atomic Garden and Stranger Than Fiction - By wrong planet |