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Another Q & A w/ Jay
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Posted by: admin | 06/30/2007 at 11:23
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Here's another Q & A w/ Jay over at The Press Democrat...
Click [ here ] for the original page.
Question: The single "Honest Goodbye" is getting really good play on Live 105 out here in the Bay Area.
Answer: It's a real surprising song. When we did the Weenie Roast for KROQ down in L.A., we were just finishing up the record and we threw together four songs, rough mixes, and played them for Kevin Weatherly at KROQ. He just picked that one and said, "That's the song." None of us had any idea it would be as popular as it turned out to be. As of yesterday, it was the No. 1 added song on alternative radio.
Q: Here on, what, your 14th album?
A: We're just writing songs not really thinking about anything. Whatever -- this is what we do. And then this happens.
Q: It's gotta be the only song on radio that has the word "transubstantiation" in it.
A: It might be the only song ever with that word in it.
Q: Did you guys talk about that in the studio?
A: We all laughed about it because the concept of it is so rad when people don't know what that is. Maybe you can explain it to your readers.
Q: Something about the bread and wine and the transformation? For a band called Bad Religion, it's perfect.
A: It is sort of fitting. It's basically when you go "up," wherever it is you're going.
Q: Or down, maybe?
A: Or down -- it's all about how you live your life. But yeah, I think it was just kind of this little three-minute, not even three-minute song. It didn't have a guitar solo, really, and no bridge. We were writing it, saying, "It's kind of a cool groove," but that was the end of it. You don't think of it becoming anything. After 14 albums, you learn not to think anything of anything. Whatever happens, happens.
Q: What's the morale like in the band these days?
A: Extra super-duper high. Realistically, in 2000, that was about the lowest we'd ever been. We'd lost our drummer. Got dropped out of our record contracts with Warner and Sony and didn't have any idea of a future. It was just -- this is it.
Q: Time to go work in a record store?
A: I had no idea. The feeling that I had was I was so pissed off. When you're in a band, you're like "we're the best rock and roll band in the world." That's just what you always think. Here we are, nerds from the Valley who never knew nothing about nothing, but did exactly what they wanted to do and now we're just kind of whimpering away. I was so mad because we really could have done better with ourselves.
Q: At least go out with a bang.
A: Something. Anything. Then, it organically morphed into (guitarist) Brett (Gurewitz) coming back into the band and (drummer) Brooks Wackerman coming with him. So having been on that pendulum swing, now it's like -- this what we do as a band. We don't do bad records. We did, unintentionally.
Q: "Into the Unknown" (the much-reviled 1983 keyboard synth-rock crossover album) is selling well on eBay.
A: It's great. It's historically bad.
Q: Do you have any lying around? I think they're selling for like $100.
A: This is the story. Brett and I knew where some stockpiles were. I wound up putting them in my mom's garage. I had boxes of them and I thought, "I'm set for life." Her hot water blew up and ruined all of them.
Q: There goes your retirement.
A: I said, "That's it, I gotta go back out on tour."
Q: You guys have done Vans Warped how many times now?
A: This is our fourth.
Q: Any thoughts on the over-commercialization of punk rock?
A: That falls under these bands that are basically manufactured, that are not that far from Menudo. Here's this band that was an OK punk band, but two out of the four guys were pretty cute so let's dress them up and get them out there, give them a good logo, hire the best producer in the world to help them write their songs and that's what you get.
Q: Do you guys get a good chuckle out of that on the Warped Tour?
A: Sometimes.
Q: Without naming names?
A: To be honest, I think I get a bigger chuckle out of watching the bands not understand what's happening to them. Yelling and screaming gets you less than nothing. That's why I love the Warped Tour. Because bands who come out there -- maybe they're gaining in popularity and they're selling a ton of shirts at Hot Topic and they're selling tons of records, but maybe they're playing at like 2 p.m. on the mainstage -- they piss and bitch about how "we should be the headliner, we should be closing every show." And (founder) Kevin (Lyman) goes, "That's great, you're opening on the locals-only guitar stage at noon."
Q: Get your butt out there.
A: If you wanna be on this tour, you're either part of it or you're gone.
Thanks to Doug Spackman for this news!
Click [ here ] for the original page.
Question: The single "Honest Goodbye" is getting really good play on Live 105 out here in the Bay Area.
Answer: It's a real surprising song. When we did the Weenie Roast for KROQ down in L.A., we were just finishing up the record and we threw together four songs, rough mixes, and played them for Kevin Weatherly at KROQ. He just picked that one and said, "That's the song." None of us had any idea it would be as popular as it turned out to be. As of yesterday, it was the No. 1 added song on alternative radio.
Q: Here on, what, your 14th album?
A: We're just writing songs not really thinking about anything. Whatever -- this is what we do. And then this happens.
Q: It's gotta be the only song on radio that has the word "transubstantiation" in it.
A: It might be the only song ever with that word in it.
Q: Did you guys talk about that in the studio?
A: We all laughed about it because the concept of it is so rad when people don't know what that is. Maybe you can explain it to your readers.
Q: Something about the bread and wine and the transformation? For a band called Bad Religion, it's perfect.
A: It is sort of fitting. It's basically when you go "up," wherever it is you're going.
Q: Or down, maybe?
A: Or down -- it's all about how you live your life. But yeah, I think it was just kind of this little three-minute, not even three-minute song. It didn't have a guitar solo, really, and no bridge. We were writing it, saying, "It's kind of a cool groove," but that was the end of it. You don't think of it becoming anything. After 14 albums, you learn not to think anything of anything. Whatever happens, happens.
Q: What's the morale like in the band these days?
A: Extra super-duper high. Realistically, in 2000, that was about the lowest we'd ever been. We'd lost our drummer. Got dropped out of our record contracts with Warner and Sony and didn't have any idea of a future. It was just -- this is it.
Q: Time to go work in a record store?
A: I had no idea. The feeling that I had was I was so pissed off. When you're in a band, you're like "we're the best rock and roll band in the world." That's just what you always think. Here we are, nerds from the Valley who never knew nothing about nothing, but did exactly what they wanted to do and now we're just kind of whimpering away. I was so mad because we really could have done better with ourselves.
Q: At least go out with a bang.
A: Something. Anything. Then, it organically morphed into (guitarist) Brett (Gurewitz) coming back into the band and (drummer) Brooks Wackerman coming with him. So having been on that pendulum swing, now it's like -- this what we do as a band. We don't do bad records. We did, unintentionally.
Q: "Into the Unknown" (the much-reviled 1983 keyboard synth-rock crossover album) is selling well on eBay.
A: It's great. It's historically bad.
Q: Do you have any lying around? I think they're selling for like $100.
A: This is the story. Brett and I knew where some stockpiles were. I wound up putting them in my mom's garage. I had boxes of them and I thought, "I'm set for life." Her hot water blew up and ruined all of them.
Q: There goes your retirement.
A: I said, "That's it, I gotta go back out on tour."
Q: You guys have done Vans Warped how many times now?
A: This is our fourth.
Q: Any thoughts on the over-commercialization of punk rock?
A: That falls under these bands that are basically manufactured, that are not that far from Menudo. Here's this band that was an OK punk band, but two out of the four guys were pretty cute so let's dress them up and get them out there, give them a good logo, hire the best producer in the world to help them write their songs and that's what you get.
Q: Do you guys get a good chuckle out of that on the Warped Tour?
A: Sometimes.
Q: Without naming names?
A: To be honest, I think I get a bigger chuckle out of watching the bands not understand what's happening to them. Yelling and screaming gets you less than nothing. That's why I love the Warped Tour. Because bands who come out there -- maybe they're gaining in popularity and they're selling a ton of shirts at Hot Topic and they're selling tons of records, but maybe they're playing at like 2 p.m. on the mainstage -- they piss and bitch about how "we should be the headliner, we should be closing every show." And (founder) Kevin (Lyman) goes, "That's great, you're opening on the locals-only guitar stage at noon."
Q: Get your butt out there.
A: If you wanna be on this tour, you're either part of it or you're gone.
Thanks to Doug Spackman for this news!
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07/03/2007 at 03:01
racists at a bad religion show? what part of the country are you from branden, idaho?
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07/01/2007 at 20:38
You have a very valid point, Brandon. But I'm not going to begrudge them any album sales - anything that keeps them going longer is just fine with me. And hopefully the teeny-boppers may learn a thing or two.
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07/01/2007 at 04:39
Jay is such a great guy...he's so down the earth, honest and boldly hilarious. By far the coolest guy in the record biz.
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06/30/2007 at 17:40
It does seem more and more random sites/places are hopping on to the BR bandwagon. Don't get me wrong: not ALL of them are, but you can tell very easily which ones are by observing how many of the usual questions they ask, which pertain to: 1. their longevity as a band, 2. the departure and re-arrival of brett and 3. how does it feel to be granfather of punk, blah blah blah...
While those are valid questions, they have been covered extensively before, and it's just getting kind of boring to read them over and over again. Of course, I can't imagine how bored anyone in the band might be by the questions I'm referring to. That being said, interviews like the one from absolutepunk make it worthwhile to keep reading interviews :D. |
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06/30/2007 at 17:04
I agree 100% Brandon.
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06/30/2007 at 15:53
I love Bad Religion beyond compare, but I think they are getting to much attention from the wrong kind of people by doing Warped Tour. I mean, these days it seems like everybodies listening to Bad Religion.....and even worse many of those people are the same kind of people BR are preaching (at times) against. I call it the "Rage Against The Machine Syndrome"(when a band suddenly gains an audience that harshly contrasts the band's ideologies). At the same time, it does nothing to deter me from the music...I will always love BR regardless of how popular they become.....it's just that sometimes at shows I'd like to clock some of the teeny boppers and racist knuckleheads that show up. Hopefully that makes sense. Anyway, the new album is their best ever in my opinion.....up there with 'Suffer' and a couple others.
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06/30/2007 at 14:19
Jay apparently also doesn't know what transubstantiation is.
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06/30/2007 at 11:30
1st. LoL!
Actually, i gotta sleep for work instead of reading this now :[. |
