Blossoming
out of the same fertile Southern California punk scene as Social Distortion,
The Adolescents, and TSOL, Bad Religion really needs no introduction. They
elevated the once-juvenile genre to new heights, marrying a blitzkrieg
instrumental attack with soaring multi-part harmonies, intelligent, fiery
lyrics, and sophisticated political and social commentary. After 31 years and
15 full-length albums, they’re considered forefathers, innovators, and
protectors of the American punk rock flame. Their classic trinity of albums Suffer, No Control, and Against The
Grain sparked the second-wave punk revival in the early ‘90s, and even
after jumping from their original home at Epitaph to major label Atlantic, the
now-legendary six-piece persevered.
Eventually,
they survived acrimonious intra-band struggles and reformed with four-fifths of
their original lineup in 2001, returning back to
guitarist/co-songwriter/founding Bad Religion member Brett Gurewitz’s Epitaph
fold. And even as the seminal band’s members all near 50, they’re still as
relevant as ever, releasing their 15th album, The Dissent Of Man, in 2010. EasternSurf.com was lucky enough to connect with supremely friendly Bad Religion bassist Jay
Bentley, who talked 30 years of serious songwriting, the band’s slow march
toward success, opening for Rise Against on their upcoming tour, and the perils
of punk rock on personal lives.
ESM: You guys started out in a filthy
San Fernando Valley warehouse in 1979, and are now in your 31st year. Did you
ever think it would last this long?
Jay Bentley: No, I don’t think so, it
was just being 18 years old and not really have anything better to do. I think
we really took things slow and small and tried to have goals that we could reach.
There were a lot of people telling us what we couldn’t do, and we just kinda
decided that we would prove them wrong, whether it was labels telling us we
weren’t any good or our parents telling us [punk rock] was just a phase. As
things went on, we realized we were having a lot of fun with it. We made tons
of mistakes, but I don’t think we ever really thought it would go 31 years and
15 albums.
ESM: The particular lineup you guys
have now has been together for the last decade, releasing your last four albums
all on Epitaph. Is this the tightest version of Bad Religion ever?
JB: Yeah, we’re the best band we’ve
ever been in the sense of where we are technically and musically. I think we’re
also at a nice frontier in terms of how we feel about the ability to expand the
definition of Bad Religion — that freedom of musical creativity, and not
necessarily having to stay in the box of what’s expected.
ESM: Have you guys found it hard to
maintain the heady level of songwriting that Bad Religion is know for over such
a long period of time?
JB: I think it fluctuates with the
personalities. Greg [Graffin] and Brett obviously write 99.99% of everything we
do, and a lot of times what’s happening in their lives comes into the
songwriting. Lyrically, I don’t think it’s quite as challenging as musically
— we’re probably close to 300 songs right now, so it’s that concept of
how do you put something different on tape? How do you make a different sound,
a different tempo, a different chord change? There are a finite number of
things that you can do, so that’s probably a little more what you were
thinking. Greg and Brett are both amazing lyricists who really have a way with
words that very few other people have.
ESM: Bad Religion went through a lot
when the band switched to a major label — a few lineup changes, flak from
your fans. Does it feel better to be back at home on Epitaph these days?
JB: In the sense of corporate pressure,
that’s non-existent. There have been very few times in the band where the
ideology and the musicality of what we were doing came into question. In 31
years, we’ve pretty much always done whatever we wanted, even when it was
completely wrong [laughs]. The best
way to encapsulate that concept of the band right now on Epitaph is just complete
creative freedom.
ESM: Don’t take this the wrong way, but
shouldn’t Rise Against be opening for you guys on this upcoming tour?
JB: Well, they sell more tickets right
now, that’s for sure. Sometimes tenure has nothing to do with position [laughs]. Look, there haven’t been very
many bands that have gotten bigger than us that have asked us to go out. Pearl
Jam, Blink-182, now Rise Against. We’ve known these guys forever, and seeing
how they’ve handled what’s happening with them is nice. When it came down to
them asking us, “Hey do you guys want to go on tour with us?” it was pretty
simple. Four years ago we asked them to come on tour with us! So it was easy to
say yes to that. I look at it like back in the ‘80s, when it was Bad Religion,
Social Distortion, The Adolescents, TSOL… it never really mattered who was
headlining — we were all just excited to be playing.
ESM: Are you proud of a band like Rise
Against for achieving commercial success while staying true to their
intelligent roots?
JB: You’re absolutely right. Regardless
of the label that they’re on, the idea of bands taking things seriously has
been few and far between lately. It seems like the current musical climate is
sort of heading towards, “My girlfriend doesn’t like me, I’m going to cry in
the corner.” So I’m much more elated that a band can take things seriously and
be successful commercially and get across to people in a way that most
political bands haven’t.
ESM: You guys are playing a ton of big
stadiums and amphitheatres on your upcoming East Coast tour. Are you
comfortable playing those kinds of venues as opposed to the gritty clubs and
warehouses of your youth?
JB: In all honestly, we could walk on
stage and play in front of 120,000 people or 120 people, and it’s the exact
same intensity and feeling. I’ve been in a lot of bands goofing off, but I’ve
never been in a band like Bad Religion, where something happens when the amps
are turned on and we start playing music. Even when we’re just in our rehearsal
room, you get the magic that everybody talks about when you’re in a band. So
shit, we’ll play anywhere!
ESM: After 31 years, are there any
countries or continents you haven’t played that you still want to?
JB: This year we’re trying to get into
Indonesia and Thailand, hit those areas and see how that is. Other than that,
most of the places we haven’t been we probably have no reason to go to. It literally
took us 18 years to get into Ireland — they just said, “We don’t want you
here,” and we were like, “OK!” [laughs]
ESM: You must be used to playing for diehard
fans that were with you in the ‘80s and are now bringing their kids to Bad
Religion shows.
JB: I actually see that all the time. I
meet guys who say, “I saw you in 1983, and this is my kid, I’m bringing him to
a show now.” I understand that because I have a 19- and a 17-year-old son, and
I bring my kids to shows and say, “Okay, here’s the guy from TSOL.” So I guess
it would probably be weirder if I didn’t do the exact same thing. It’s pretty
awesome seeing people that have grown up with us and then seeing new kids that
are getting their first skateboard and a Suffer CD. It’s pretty awe-inspiring and definitely humbling.
ESM: Has it been tough juggling personal
lives with your role in one of the greatest punk rock bands in the land?
JB: In all honesty, none of us have had
successful marriages — the longest marriage working right now is Brian
[Baker’s], and he doesn’t have kids, so that may be helping him. But I don’t
want to put the blame on the band or touring; obviously personalities come into
effect, and we all gave it a good shot. I can only speak for myself —
I’ve been doing this my whole life since I was 15, and definitely been doing
this my kids’ whole life, so it’s what they grew up with, and they totally
understand it. The hardest part is spending three months out on tour when your
children are babies and you leave your wife or significant other at home to
fend for herself. That’s probably most of the damaging element; you’re out
gallivanting around the world having a good time and they’re home changing
shitty diapers.
ESM: Bad Religion reached a fevered political peak in the Reagan ‘80s and again
in the George W. Bush ‘00s. Do you guys ever feel like the band will be done
flogging the political horse?
JB: Are they still shooting bullets
over in the Middle East? Then we’ve got enough to talk about to last a
lifetime.
EFFI
BRIEST TOUR DATES:
4/19 Stubb’s
Waller Creek Amphitheatre……………………… Austin, TX
4/20 Concrete
St. Amphitheater……………………………….. Corpus Christi, TX
4/22 St.
Augustine Amphitheater………………………………… St. Augustine, FL
4/23 Sunset
Cove Amphitheater…………………………………. Boca Raton, FL
4/25 House
Of Blues…………………………………………….. Myrtle Beach, SC
4/26 9:30
Club…………………………………………………… Washington, DC
4/27 Ram’s
Head Live………………………………………….. Baltimore, MD
4/29 House
Of Blues……………………………………………. Boston, MA
4/30 House
Of Blues……………………………………………. Boston, MA
5/2 Electric
Factory…………………………………………….. Philadelphia, PA
5/3 Electric
Factory…………………………………………….. Philadelphia, PA
5/5 Terminal
5…………………………………………………… New York, NY
5/6 Terminal
5…………………………………………………… New York, NY
5/7 Nautica
Pavilion……………………………………………. Cleveland, OH
5/8 Assembly
Hall………………………………………………. Champaign, IL
5/10 Pop’s………………………………………………………….
Sauget, IL
5/11 Midland
Theatre…………………………………………….. Kansas City, KS
5/13 Aragon
Ballroom……………………………………………. Chicago, IL
For
all things Bad Religion, visit www.BadReligion.com
