FONTE : Gibson.com" In a time when much of American radio was dominated by highly produced, cookie-cutter, pop artists, four young musicians in Southern California were drawing their inspiration from underground cult bands like The Ramones, The Clash and the Sex Pistols. But in 1980, members of the newly formed Bad Religion had no way of knowing that their raw energy would lead to the revival of the entire "punk rock" scene. 14 albums later, the band continues to create great music, tour extensively and inspire generations of musicians.
Epiphone's Don Mitchell recently caught up with founding member and bassist Jay Bentley just as the band was wrapping up rehearsals for the 2009 Vans Warped Tour.
EPI: A lot of us were in bands during our high school years but few of those moved out of the garage. You on the other hand were part of something that was far greater. As a high school student did you have any idea that Bad Religion would become such an iconic punk band?
JAY: Not really. That's not to say that we didn't believe in what we were doing, but punk rock had no model for success. Other than the Ramones, the Clash and the Sex Pistols, the idea of attaining success was simply playing the Starwood in Los Angeles, a relatively small venue. We were watching Black Flag and the Adolescents, the Circle Jerks and Fear playing to between 200 and 500 people, and that's all we wanted to do.
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