AGAINST THE GRAIN: THE HISTORY OF BAD RELIGION - NEW SPIN ARTICLE!

The day I graduated from high school, I threw my cap in the air and before it even hit the ground I was in the backseat of my friend Pat's car on my way to see punk band Bad Religion on the Against the Grain tour. I still have the T-shirt. Years later, Pat passed away. I named the main character in BLACK DOGS after him.

This year is Bad Religion's 30th anniversary. Next year is the 30th anniversary of Epitaph Records, the label started by their guitarist Brett Gurewitz. For the November issue of SPIN magazine, I assembled the complete oral history of Epitaph and conducted somewhere around 25 interviews including members of Bad Religion, NOFX, Rancid, Pennywise and Offspring. I talked to old friends, tracked down a few old scenesters, and chatted with Gore Verbenski, the director of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, who once played in a punk band on Epitaph Records and directed the first music videos for the label. The issue includes a Bad Religion tribute compilation featuring a lot of great bands (Polar Bear Club!) that you can check out here.

The assignment was a dream come true for this old punk. Epitaph put out so many albums that massively influenced my life, none more than Bad Religion. I'll try to post a few memories of them over the next few days. Until then, start with No Control and listen to every record they ever put out.