PinkPiIgrim Does Bad Religion have someone doing a zine on them? I do a Beck zine, but I was thinking of doing a Bad Religion zine. Bad Religion As of now there isn't one. There are a lot of web pages, but no official zine, although we put out our own newsletter periodically. iehg Is anyone else here? Bad Religion No. Just me. (Greg) MabuS69 What is the band's favorite song off any of their albums? Bad Religion Everyone has their own individual favorites. Mine is the last song we're doing on the concert tour called "Cease." MabuS69 What do you guys think of the Ramones? Bad Religion They were influential to us. And... I've lost touch with them in the last couple of years. UnivCynic Greg: I had heard you were at Cornell getting your masters. What made you decide to go back to school? Bad Religion Actually, I never stopped. But I got a Masters form UCLA in Geology in 1990. I was working on a Ph.D. at Cornell. UnivCynic How did you guys pick up Brian Baker? Bad Religion He was living in LA, and he had a job at a rehearsal studio where we rehearsed a lot and we just got to know him. UnivCynic Are you big on philosophy? Bad Religion Yes I am. I think if you don't have a personal philosophy of life you should try to find one. It is one of the gifts of evolution to mankind to form a perspective that is unique to us. Those who don't have a philosophy are those who feel lost and bewildered. Sonicman Except for nihilists, who feel good about feeling lost andbewildered. UnivCynic What typically inspires your lyrics? Bad Religion My lyrics are inspired by day to day events. Not particularly by books I read, or movies I see, but more often the daily events that go on. There's a lot of feeling in my lyrics. Most of them are about events that affect me, personally, and when I make observations about the human race or about individuals, it's because of that. I try not to disconnect myself from my observations. So in that way, you can learn quite a lot about me by reading my lyrics. mc900ft What if God was one of us? Bad Religion I think God is one of us. Because God is just an idea that floats around in the minds of one species on the earth, that's the human race. So if you can't divorce God from the human race, then God is distinctly human, and therefore one of us. karaoke girl What is your favorite song on Stranger than Fiction, andwhy? Bad Religion I like "Inner Logic". Because it foreshadowed a lot of new ideas on "The Gray Race" and the framework of corporate dominatedculture. iehg What's your favorite song on the album? Bad Religion "Cease." SNAPPY GUY How do you like touring with the Dance Hall Crashers? Bad Religion They are a lot of fun. It's nice to have a tour that's not all men. Even their roadies are women. mc900ft Why do hot dog buns come in packs of 10 when the hot dogs come in packs of 8? Bad Religion To bolster the profits of the hot dog industry. UnivCynic What's the best way to go about getting backstage passes? Bad Religion Come up with a really good reason and write to us in advance. Or, be really really cool to the roadies as they're setting up the stage (in the afternoon of the show). Sonicman And ply them with intelligent conversation. Fridge What made you choose The Gray Race for your album name? Bad Religion That song, The Gray Race, nicely summarizes the sentiment of the entire album because it speaks of the dilemma of mankind. Toolbar What to do you think of industrial music? Bad Religion I'm not into it. I hesitate to call it music at all. PinkPiIgrim In the song "Infected," when the third guitar comes in, the sound of it makes me really weak and light headed like I want to kiss someone, is that what you intended? Bad Religion Not exactly, but it has that effect on people. It shows that it touches their deepest emotions. That's what music should do. mc900ft Why do they put 9/10 on the price of gas? Bad Religion That is a tough one. To bolster the profits of the oil industry. UnivCynic Do you have an e-mail address? Bad Religion Yes. GregG@badreligion.com mc900ft What are your views on fat women? Bad Religion If they're happy, they're all right with me. If they're depressed, because they are fat, they should lose weight. REEFER1580 Is Bad Religion going to tour near Virginia? Bad Religion Probably in August and September. That's when we play smaller cities in America. However, we did play Wash, DC two weeksago. MabuS69 Who are you guys currently touring with?!? Bad Religion Unwritten Law. A band whose record I produced. And also Dancehall Crashers. mc900ft How often do you cut your toe nails? Bad Religion Once a month. UnivCynic Greg, you seemed sort of annoyed with the younger crowd in Cincinnati. If so why? Bad Religion Really? No, I thought the crowd was great in Cincinnati. Seems like I talked to every person at the show. Sometimes people aren't used to my sarcastic tone or my cynical outlook. But I assure you, it wasn't annoyance. UnivCynic How did you come up with the name Bad Religion? Bad Religion We were only 15 years old. But, it was a time when there were a lot of televangelists on TV, and we wanted to come up with a name that was controversial at the time. karaoke girl What do you think is your best album? Bad Religion The Gray Race. mc900ft Why dose Bob Dole have a cooked smile? Bad Religion It comes with the job description. WaKeOnE You met me at the Pennywise show in NYC on Nov. 11 at Irving Plaza. I got a question Greg Graffin, how come you treat the fans like dookie? Bad Religion Well, if I met you, I obviously said something. I try to extend myself to anyone who comes up to me. I think that given the number of people who come up to me and the amount of time I spent with them, it would be hard pressed to say I treat my fans poorly. But don't expect me to hide my true feelings because I am very provocative and very frank. Sometimes people rub me wrong. REEFER1580 Are they touring on the East Coast if they do? Bad Religion Already did it. Last week, and two weeks prior. Now we're heading West again. UnivCynic How do you guys feel about drugs? Bad Religion Different members feel differently. I never partook in any drugs. Maybe because when I was younger I was afraid of them. I don't smoke pot or even drink, but I have nothing against it. Fridge What was the reason for releasing "21st Century Digital Boy" on two different albums (not including All Ages)? Bad Religion That song was a classic when we released it. And on our first major label release we wanted to show the new people who would be listening to us a bit of our past history. But it was mostly Brett's idea to re-release it and we supported him on it. mc900ft How come when you buy nachos you don't get much cheese? Bad Religion To bolster the profits of the nacho industry. TheQuietBoy My favorite song by you guys is "Slumber," what made you think of it to write? Bad Religion It was a lullaby for my first child. But, the actual lullaby is slightly different in form, and has slightly different words. TheQuietBoy When is your next album coming out? Bad Religion Geez! This one just came out a month and a half ago. Probably not for another year or so. mc900ft What do you think about cable men? Bad Religion The are Soldiers of the 21st Century. TheQuietBoy Do you have a fan club I can join? Bad Religion No. We do have a huge database for our mailing list, though. And we send a free newsletter to anyone on the list. So email us w/ your snailmail address to get on the list: postmaster@badreligion.com mc900ft Do you sleep in the nude? Bad Religion Always. TheQuietBoy OJ? Guilty or innocent? Bad Religion Technically, innocent. I can not say... mc900ft Why is it when you get out of the bath you are cold? Bad Religion That's a good question. It's the same principal that when we sweat it is to keep us cool, and it takes advantage of a physical principle called evaporative cooling. When water evaporates, it takes energy in the form of heat, and that heat is taken from our body and put into breaking the bond between hydrogen and oxygen. So less heat in our body, means we feel cooler. And when we feel cooler, our blood vessels constrict and our nipples get hard. Sonicman Technically called adiabatic cooling. Just FYI. Fridge When, if ever, are you going to play at Madison Square Garden? Bad Religion I don't know. I kinda like the Roseland. MSG is so huge. The only way we would do it is if we have a multi, multi-platinum album and there were that many people who wanted to see us. TheQuietBoy I heard that one of you guys is a college professor! Is that true? Bad Religion Not exactly. For seven years, I taught undergraduate at UCLA and Cornell, but it was while I was working on my degrees. I taught laboratory courses. Primarily in comparative anatomy, physiology and paleontology. TheQuietBoy Are any of you guys married? Bad Religion Yes. Three of us. TheQuietBoy When are you starting your tour and are you playing in Boston and when? Club show or concert? Bad Religion The tour started April first. We played Boston a week and a half ago at the Avalon Ballroom. iehg Where was the best place you ever played? Bad Religion Probably, Maui, Hawaii, because we all took a ten day vacation after that. We end all of our tours in Hawaii. And all the other places we play, the people are equally enthusiastic. Gories What's with signing on a major label? Bad Religion That was done to get out music more widely distributed, because we feel we have something relevant to say. At the time of the signing, our label, Epitaph, did not have such good distribution. NOFX PENNY Will you tell me a secret that no one knows about you? Bad Religion I shot a sparrow with a BB gun when I was 11. And I cried afterwards. MabuS69 Some consider Green Day to be punk, I consider them to be annoying. What do you guys think? Bad Religion I don't think they're annoying. I think they made a helluva a great album, the first one. I think it's really inane to try to define punk. They certainly did come from the same genre that we came from, a little laterthough. PinkPiIgrim I just quit smoking, any tips for success? Bad Religion I never smoked, but I would say, take a lot of deep breaths and drink a lot of water, because you have a lot of dead cells that need to be replaced. The Blast Should I wear my Bad Religion T-shirt to school tomorrow? Bad Religion If you feel so compelled. It definitely will raise the eyebrows of people who are not familiar with it and I don't want to make life any harder on you then it already is. REEFER1580 How many years has the band been playing together? Bad Religion 16 years. NOFX PENNY What inspires you when you play? Bad Religion Seeing people sing the words. Sonicman We'll be wrapping things up after another couple of questions. xoRACHELxo What do you guys think of other punk bands like Rancid, Rich Kids on LSD? Bad Religion It's hard to be objective because they're friends of ours and because they are influenced by Bad Religion. But I think they're getting better at what they do, and for that, I applaud them. I don't applaud them for getting more wrapped up in the fashionability of punk, because I feel that trivializes what they do best. And THAT is write compelling music. REEFER1580 Could they send me a autographed picture of the band? Bad Religion Yes, if we have an address. MabuS69 What is punk (to you guys)? I think it's a way of life. Bad Religion It's a philosophy and I think I detailed that philosophy earlier. The Blast Aren't you playing tomorrow at First Avenue in Minneapolis? Bad Religion Yes. Why, yes! NOFX PENNY If you could meet anyone 'dead or alive' who would it be? Bad Religion Thomas Jefferson. Bush734 What does the song "A Walk" mean? Bad Religion It's about someone who is at the end of his wits due to the oppression he feels living in the modern world, and he's going on a psychological walk and forging a new way of thinking for himself. Independent and exempt. Sonicman Thanks for joining us for an evening with Greg Gaffin from Bad Religion. And now, Greg has a few parting words to share. Bad Religion Thanks to everyone. I hope people learn to question what seems obvious, because usually there is deeper meaning to it that is contrary to what appears on the surface. There is an inner logic... Ten billion people coming your way.