The last few years have been full of changes for one of punk rock's legends, "Mr." Brett Gurewitz. After a extended hiatus from Bad Religion, he rejoined the band last year to co-write the bands' latest release, "The Process of Belief" with longtime friend and bandmate Greg Graffin. He's also the Head-Man-In-Charge at Epitaph Records, and a self-admitted webgeek. We were quite stoked to find out that he's also a big fan of Surfstation. So, without further adieu, our interview ensues...

 

 

 

> Age: 39

> Location(s): Los Angeles, California

> Hobbies: Chess, Snowboarding, Backpacking, Reading

> Computer: PC and Mac

> Music Equipment: Marshalls, Fenders, Gibsons, Boogies, Westbeach Recorders (full service 48 track analog recording studio), Protools, V-Drums, Collection of vintage mics, mic pre's and compressors, I could geek out on recording gear forever so let's just say I've got a bunch of equipment.

> Favorite Programs: Protools

> Sources of Inspiration: Current events, other artists esp. musicians, writers and designers, adversity, love, life, joy and disappointment

> Favorite Sites: Yahoo! Games (Chess Room), K10K, Drudge Report (I'm a news junky), and of course Surfstation

> Books: Nabakov "The Defense", Anything by Phillip K Dick, Neil Stephenson "Snow Crash", Tom Delillo "White Noise", E.O. Wilson "Consillience" , John Krakauer "Into Thin Air", Thomas Wolfe "Look Homeward Angel", Anything by Vonnegut but especially "God Bless You Mr. Rosewater", Dostoyevsky "The Idiot"

> Music you're listening to (Epitaph and/or otherwise): Dillinger Escape Plan, Division Of Laura Lee, Tom Waits, Ikara Colt, Mclusky

> Fonts: Helvetica, 

> Colors: Blue and Orange 

> Drink: Diet Pepsi

> Food: Peanutbutter and banana shakes, Bacon, Nozawa, Chocolate

> Dislikes: L.A. Cops

> Habits Good / Bad: Yes, some of both

> Distinguishing Features: Numerous tattoos, big nose, amazing hair, attention deficit disorder

 

 

Not too many people from Surfstation are going to know your background, so could you tell us a little bit about your past? Where did you grow up? What was your childhood/adolescence like?

1. Born 1962

2. Grew up in a suburban wilderness known as Woodland Hills California

3. 1980, started a punk band called Bad Religion with three chums from High School

4. Dropped out of High School, started punk record label, named it Epitaph

5. Became addicted to drugs

6. 1987 Quit drugs and alcohol, recorded Bad Religion "Suffer" album

7. 1994 Epitaph becomes wildly successful thanks to The Offspring "Smash" (which went on to sell over nine million copies), Rancid "And Out Come The Wolves" not to mention BR, NOFX, Pennywise and many other great bands.

8. 1995 regrettably started getting high again. Lots of bad stuff happened, did not pass go, did not collect $200, went directly to jail. Developed a strong aversion to LAPD

9. 1998 Got clean again launched a new record label called Anti- inc., released Tom Waits "Mule Variations"

10. 2002, Surfstation invites me to do an interview.

 

 

 

I started playing guitar at age 16. Among my biggest influences were, The Beatles, The Stones, Bowie, Alice Cooper, T-Rex, Ramones.

 

 

How did Bad Religion come together? Was that your first band?

BR all met in High School. My first band was a cover band that never played anywhere and then I had this sort of new wave band called The Quarks who played once at my High School talent show. This was the first time Greg and Jay (later of Bad Religion) ever heard me play.

 

 

 

Epitaph started in order to put out the first Bad Religion 7" EP in 1981.

 

Question #4

 

I don't mind at all. To give the abbreviated version, it was a time of unprecedented growth for both Epitaph and Bad Religion and I could no longer manage to do both. I figured that Bad Religion could do with out me while Epitaph couldn't and I made a tough choice. After writing and recording "Stranger Than Fiction" with BR for Atlantic Records, I left the band to devote myself full time to Epitaph.

 

Question #5
 

I missed the guys, and the creative process. 

 

 

 

I don't know but don't blame me.

 

 

 

No, but an interesting analogy!

 

Question # 8
 

I really enjoy the warp catalogue as I feel they've almost exclusively cornered the market in progressive electronic music. Digital Hardcore are also doing interesting things. It really annoys me when people talk of electronic music in terms of one category. It would be utterly ridiculous if I were to talk of "live music" in similar terms thereby putting The Dillinger Escape Plan and Merle Haggard in the same category. I also want to say keep your ears peeled for a little project coming out on my label called Error.

 

Question # 9
 

I love all kinds of design. From the literal, to the extremely surreal to the cleanest minimalism. When it comes to music packaging I always look for the design to communicate the essence of the group. These days with ripping and burning it also has become important that the packaging itself become an integral part of the listeners experience thereby making ownership more worthwhile.

 

Question # 10
 

My girlfriend Gina's bum (which I only possess with consent).

 

Question # 11
 

1. Content that is, dense, dynamic, and of high quality. 

2. Ease of navigation

3. Sexy good looks

 

My favorite sites right now are k10k and surfstation.

 

Question # 12
 

Obsessive, riddled with self doubt, manic, I drift into the nether regions of the creative state, I get very weird, I freak myself out, sometimes when I'm deep into it, I sense a presence in the room, sometimes I'll work and work and work to come up with nothing, only to find that the following morning an entire song flows out at once. Sometimes I'll chip away at a particular song for months. Often my stuff will come to be through a series of accidental mutations and adaptations not unlike evolution.

 

Question # 13
 

None of the above, it's just that on Epitaph's current website we have a user review utility and it seems that the kids nowadays think donkey balls are the highest insult. I guess I just find it pretty amusing.

 

Viewer Questions #1

from: Kurt Krejny

URL: n/a

 

Mackie Osborne is an old friend of ours and we just asked her to see what she could come up with. We gave her a copy of the music and in general terms told her the kind of CD packaging we've been into lately. She then brought us some elaborately worked out mock ups and they blew us away. From that point it was a series of small revisions and aesthetic decisions until we ended up with the final version.

 

 

from: Vishal Khanna

URL: http://www.producecreative.com/

 

It has afforded me a great deal of creative freedom.

 

Viewer Questions #3

from: J

URL: n/a

 

I guess Greg and Thomas asked me to do this because creatives from different fields can benefit from cross pollination. In any case this is how I feel and why I agreed to the interview. As far as the current "sell-outness" or commercialization of punk bands, all I can say is there's something out there for everybody. 

 

Viewer Questions #4

from: Ian Millar

URL: n/a

 

Who ever said life was fair?

 

Viewer Questions #5

from: Wes

URL: n/a

 

I think a move toward the more progressive policies of some of the European countries is the way to go. A combination of decriminalization, coupled with rehabilitation. In Los Angeles' prop 36, which recently passed and guarantees treatment for 1st and 2nd time non-violent drug offenders, is a step in the right direction.

 

Viewer Questions #6

from: Yves

URL: n/a

 

The writing and relating has actually been quite easy. The toughest part was probably trying to live to up the fans expectations.

 

Viewer Questions #7

from: Nick Pritchard

URL: http://www.metrosea.com

 

I've always enjoyed kicking back with a new record, perusing the artwork and lyrics while listening to the music. When I was a kid I used to do this and imagine the artwork held a secret key that could unlock some hidden level of meaning in music. Sometimes it did. Surely sometimes I only imagined it did but then, that's just as good. Either way, the design contributed to my experience of the recording. On the "Process Of Belief" we wanted to get that kind of integration between the material and sonic aspects of the project, to make the experience of owning the record a little bit deeper.

 

 

from: Ignacio Di Ranni

URL: n/a

 

I think I still have my best song in me.

Seeing all this new wave of punk bands like Blink 182 or Sum 41 and the easy success they have acquired, don't you sometimes feel it's a little bit unfair for a band like Bad Religion which has been on the road for more than 20 years now and hasn't received as much recognition from the media? A big paradox because you are the ones who have influenced all these bands. Don't you feel you deserve more recognition?

Those bands have worked very hard for their success and it seems to me that Bad Religion has received quite a fair share of recognition. But thanks for looking out!

 

 

from: Brandon

URL: n/a

 

The most fun part of writing for me is experimentation and discovery. Often new sounds and ideas come out of happy accidents in the course of my creative process.