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Jealous?
Me? Well it was heading for 20-degrees in Bristol. Who would
want to be in the 32-degree smog heat of LA?
Who
am I kidding ... "Wish I was there," I said over
the transatlantic phone lines.
Which
was strange, because Jay wished he was here.
Ahead
of their UK tour, which will take in Bristol, he said: "I
always have a great time in England.
"There's
been issues between our singer, Greg, and the UK press. But
he just said 'screw them' and carried on.
"The
fans over there have always been great to us."
Bad
Religion might be the band that were the catalyst behind a
wave of west coast punk, but they have a sound grounding in
Brit music.
Ups
and downs
"The
first band I ever saw was the Clash in LA back in 1978. That
was a big deal for me.
"There
are tonnes of British bands who I've liked - Echo and the
Bunnymen, Oasis ..."
Over
the years, the Religion guys have had their ups and downs.
But
their 2002 release, The Process of Belief and upcoming album,
The Empire Strikes First, marked a more settled period for
the band.
Things
had been so bad that band member Brett Gurewitz served time
after a drug addiction problem. He eventually rejoined the
band several years ago.
"I
think now we're a better band in terms of talent. Brooks Wackerman
(drums) and Brian Baker (guitar) are brilliant.
"You
just tell them what you want played, and they can do it.
"There's
a great sense of ease in the band now at being able to do
what we think."
And
so they should - they own their own record label!
Bad
Religion are now embarking on a 24 date tour of Europe, which
takes in the Bristol Academy on 15 May.
"It's
a fairly extensive tour, but we still get letters from places
we 'ignore'. You can't do Europe in 32 days, though. You'd
get worn out."
Jay
promised the band will be back: "This tour is kinda pre-release.
I think when the album is out we'll be back again!"
In
the meantime, I think I might start planning a holiday to
LA ...
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