In 1994 Brian was asked to fill in for Peter Holsapple of R.E.M.. He was already preparing to join their Monster tour when he was offered to join BR. He considered R.E.M. to be one of the biggest bands in the world, but also considered BR one of the biggest punk bands in the world. So two days after Greg's call he phoned R.E.M. again to tell them he was joining BR, packed his bags, sold his car and began his new career. Or, as he put it, "That's me in the corner, choosing Bad Religion." "Touring for nineteen months with one of the biggest bands in the world isn't exactly a shitty offer, and I was absolutely blown away that these R.E.M. people even knew who I was. (...) My best friend Nathan [ex-Careless] got the gig. After the Monster tour ended, Nathan bought a house and built a home studio in the backyard. He's happy. I rent a one bedroom apartment and record my songs with an acoustic and a boom box, but I am in Bad Religion. I'm happy."
Greg: "I think Into The Unknown is like early R.E.M.; if it had come a couple of years later it probably would have been as popular as R.E.M.."