Category: | Interview - Internet | Publish date: | 7/13/2004 |
Source: | enoughfanzine.com | With: | Jay Bentley |
Synopsis: |
Interview with Jay
by Adam
enoughfanzine.com, July 13, 2004
I was able to sit down with Jay Bentley from Bad Religion at Warped Tour in Ventura California
Bad Religion Interview at Warped Tour July 7, 2004
The interview took place at the Press Tent around 7:15 p.m. I was accompanied with five or six other members of the press.
Q: Does Brian Baker still keep in contact with Ian McKay?
Jay: He talks to Ian everyday. He lives in D.C. He talks to everyone of Minor Threat at least once or twice a week.
Q: What field of work did Greg get his PhD in?
Jay: He got his PhD in biology at Cornell. He got his masters in Geology at UCLA.
Q: How do you feel about people accepting what the government tells us what is true and what is not true? What do you think about the current political situation in America?
Jay: If you don't admit what is going on, then you cannot be responsible. The government is telling people that everything is good; we are doing the right thing. It is also unfortunately a total media control in this country. It is a ruthlessly tireless administration that will do and say anything to keep its position. Some people may say that there is no difference between Bush and Kerry. But the thing is that Kerry will answer to a difference party once he gets into power. A Democratic President will listen to his party when they want a certain bill vetoed. People got pissed at Bill Clinton because he was sleeping with a woman in the White House so we put in a Republican. It sucks. Bush did not win the election and he just moved in. People don't want to learn or understand the reasoning behind policy making. Many people are just ignorant. The biggest population that supports George Bush is the biggest population that supported Ronald Reagan. These people are either at or below the poverty line. Reagan hated poor people. He thought that it was your own fault that you were poor. Well fuck you! George Bush is taking away anything that can help these people. Health care, benefits. Anything that these people can use the money for such as education he is spending a billion dollars a day in Iraq. For what? For him and five other guys. These people still support him because they don't know any better. They aren't educated due to his policies. He plays the God card which is gnarly. It makes it worse. If you are a born again Christian, you have to vote for him. Otherwise you are going to hell. My aunt calls me a terrorist. I tell her I actually hope you meet one. You think I'm bad and pissed off. Go over there and see how pissed off those people are. You are middle America learn nothing do nothing. Say nothing, and you're a monkey. I don't want to be thought of as that.
Q: Do you think there should be a third party? Do think the two parties have too much power to prevent a strong 3rd party?
Jay: Yes. The problem is though that everyone wants to election a 3rd party person with no administration. How the fuck is that going to work? Bring a Green Party President in there he will say something and the Democrats will say no and the Republicans will say no. Vote a Green Party governor into your office, vote a Green Party librarian, don't just sit there and go to the polls and vote for a Green Party person for President to change the world. That is a waste of a fucking vote. I don't care what anyone says. Get a party happening before you vote someone for President. Lets get Kerry in there and stop the bullshit Republican ownership of D.C. Then we have 4 years to build up an actual 3rd Party, Green Party. With actual people sitting in D.C. I think that people that my age are making the decisions (in the 40s). We're the MTV generation. Fat Mike and I agree that the most important thing to do right now is to get George Bush out of office. How do you that? Vote for Kerry. People in middle America are not going to vote for some Green Party nutcase. That's the way they see them. Or some 3rd party lunatic like Ross Perot. Even though he got 15% of the vote. People are out of their minds. You have to do the right thing and build a Green Party from the ground up. Or any 3rd party.
Q: Do you have regrets going to a major label?
Jay: We had to go somewhere with the dynamics with the band. One of us owns a label and it was going so fast we had to go somewhere. We had to do something. I learned a lot when I was there, which was good for me personally. Was it good for the band? Yeah probably. It was good for the band to learn that it's not the greatest thing since slice bread. You get kicked around now and then. It is humility. If you ride the wave of being the kings of the underground too long you start to think that your shit doesn't smell. So it's nice to get beat down a little bit. It gives you something to look forward to.
After that Warped Tour personnel insisted that other interviews were waiting and thus that was the end of the interview.