Hey Guys, Watch This!

No, I’m not standing on the roof wearing a Superman cape ready to see if I can fly.  I can’t.  Damn you cartoons for putting unrealistic expectations in my head!  Anyway, I found a series of videos about Bad Religion on Pandora [via the Bad Religion Page].  They’re really interesting.  Greg Graffin gives a quick tour of his house, showing the rooms where he does songwriting and mixing and the like.  The walls of his studio are painted a magnificently seizure-inducing shade of fuschia, which he says is a tribute to one of his “favorite places in the world, In-n-Out Burger”.  He, Greg Hetson, Brett Gurewitz, Brooks Wackerman and Brian Baker take turns talking about the origin of the band and its longevity.  At one point Brett advises people who want to start a band to commit themselves to the project wholeheartedly.  I couldn’t resist saying to the screen, “Says you who fucking left!”  He redeemed himself in the next breath by admitting to doing just that.  He also mentioned that even when he wasn’t in Bad Religion, he never joined another band.  Caustic as my first reaction may have been, it easy to see that he really does care about his band.

The videos also talk about Brooks joining the band.  Greg Graffin says that when Bad Religion started in the ’80s, punk bands needed a fast drummer.  Not necessarily a good one, but a fast one.  From the ’90s to today the focus has been on a fast, technically skilled drummer.  Enter Brooks to “revitalize” their music.  Many of the reviews of New Maps of Hell call it a return to Bad Religion’s early aggressive, subtly melodic sound, and the guys think Brooks helped achieve it.  (I’ll take their word for it, I know less than nothing about playing drums).  It’s definitely an amazing album.

Still my favorite insight by far was Brett’s explanation of writing a song.  He said that even if you’re writing about a haircut, the song shouldn’t be about a haircut literally.  It should be about the universal feeling of transformation.  You have to find the “kernel of truth” in an experience and write about that.  Then the song becomes something that everyone can relate to.  Then you’ve got a message.  With that kind of brains behind them, is it any wonder Bad Religion is such a phenomenal band?

I’ve babbled enough.  Here’s the first video.  The second and third should load automatically.  Sorry about the obnoxious Nikon ad.  Otherwise, enjoy!

P.S.  I tried to embed the video, but WordPress doesn’t support whatever video format Pandora uses, so the link is the best I can do.  Very frustrating.