Joanna: So what's your name?

Greg: My name is Greg Hetson.

Joanna: What do you do for Bad Religion?

Greg: I play guitar.

Joanna: And how long has Bad Religion been a band for?

Greg: We've been a band for... 20... no... 22... no... 24 years? Yeah that's it. We�ve been a band for 24 years.

Joanna: God damn! You�ve been a band for longer than I�ve been alive.

Greg: (laughs) That's pretty scary.

Joanna: I started listening to you guys� wow; well, ten years ago when Recipe for Hate came out. Back then, your lyrics were mostly socio-political commentaries, and they continue to reiterate the same themes today. Do you genuinely still have the same politics as you did 10 years ago?

Greg: I think that when we first started we were very like, 'fuck the president, fuck the government,' without much explanation. We have the same beliefs now, but they're just a lot more mature than when we were 16.

Joanna: Did you start playing in this band when you were 16?

Greg: Yup.

Joanna: And how old are you now?

Greg: I'm 42.

Joanna: People tend to get angry at bands when they change their views over time, but when you're a band for so long, it's like, that's what people do. People grow up and learn things and change� sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, but people aren't robots. They can't just stay the same.

Greg: Yeah, well unlike most bands, we really haven�t changed our sound much at all. We�ve just gotten better at what we do, both lyrically and musically. Unlike a lot of these �political� bands, we never shoved anything down people's throats. We were kinda like, this is what we think, take it or leave it.

Joanna: We went to Vegas for the porn convention in January. I met an older punk kid there, who was a distributor for one of the mainstream porno companies. Sometime over the weekend we got into a conversation about punk and porn, and I specifically remember him saying that he purposefully kept his �porn� life and his 'punk' life separate. When I asked why, he said, 'Well, I grew up listening to bands like Bad Religion and Minor Threat, and I know they wouldn�t approve of it.� How do you feel about that?

Greg: Are you asking how we [the band] personally feel about porn?

Joanna: I think so.

Greg: I would say there are some band members who don�t really care, but�. Yeah, uh� OK, I would say we definitely have an overall acceptance and enjoyment of porn.

Joanna: So just because you�re politically aware, it would be wrong to simply assume you�re �anti-porn� as well?

Greg: Yeah, I mean we're human beings. Being political has nothing to do with wanting to watch people fuck.

Joanna: Yeah, I actually tried to interview Ian MacKaye a while back. We talked on the phone for like 2 hours, and he basically told me that he didn't want his interview appearing on a �punk� website where people had to pay for something. He wasn't really against the idea of �punk-porn,� but he wasn�t really all for it either. I think he had more of an issue with the fact that we charge people for the porn than the content of porn itself.

Greg: I mean, if people are enjoying what they�re doing, then they should keep doing it. I think that�s what life is all about.

Joanna: So being in a band for 24 years, you must have been to like a thousand strip clubs.

Greg: I don't go to strip clubs because they�re degrading to men.

Joanna: (laughs) You know, I�ve asked that same strip club question to over 50 bands and that�s the best answer I�ve gotten.

Greg: Shit. I've spent like $800 at a time at strip clubs, and they're always just such a tease. It's like you go home, your cock is all hard, and you�re broke. It�s completely degrading, and it�s also a waste of money.

Joanna: I'm sure you have a ton of tour stories. Do you think you could share just one?

Greg: God. (silence) Well, every once in a while we get a crazy girl who runs up to the stage and dances around naked.

Joanna: (laughs) That happens to Bad Religion?

Greg: Yeah, it�s actually happened a few times.

Joanna: I would have never guessed. What do you guys do when that happens?

Greg: You know, we don't encourage or discourage it. I mean, we�re all here together, and we just want everyone to have fun.

Joanna: That's very generous.

Greg: Yeah well, we do what we can. I remember one time this girl came to our hotel room wearing nothing but a raincoat. That was pretty funny.

Joanna: Did she take it off?

Greg: Well� yeah. She was pretty wasted.

Joanna: Was it raining outside?

Greg: (laughs) I really don't remember.

Joanna: How do you feel about all the newer �punk� bands that play with you guys on the Warped Tour, like Sum 41 or New Found Glory?

Greg: My biggest problem with those bands is that there�s no diversity amongst them. It's like, you don't have to all do the same exact thing. You don't all have to jump up and down, you don't all have to wear sideways baseball hats, you don't all have to wear stupid chains� no no� not chains� god I'm old� what are those things called? Oh yeah, �studded belts.�.

(right at that moment, a girl walked by wearing a studded belt)

Joanna: Shhhh.

Greg: (yells to girl wearing studded belt) Whoops! Sorry!

Joanna: (laughs)

Greg: I mean, it's like everyone wears this uniform, and it defeats every reason I got into punk rock in the first place.

Joanna: Why did you get into punk rock?

Greg: To be myself! I mean, listen to any of the bands from the late 70�s or early 80�s, like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Black Flag, The Clash, or The Dead Kennedys. They were all great bands, and none of them sounded alike at all. They really had the right punk attitude.

Joanna: So you think most bands today lack that punk attitude?

Greg: They may have been influenced by bands with the right attitude, but like I said before, there�s no individuality. I mean, even in the lyrics. There�s all this shit going on in the world and all these bands want to sing about is girls.

Joanna: Yeah� I guess someone figured out a quick and easy way to get played on the radio, and everybody followed it because it worked.

Greg: Yeah. On the plus side though, because punk�s �cool� now, we get to expose ourselves to people who have never heard of us before. For example, we did a tour with Blink 182. People thought we were crazy for doing it, but it was a good way to get our name out to a lot of different kinds of people.

Joanna: I actually really love Blink 182.

Greg: Yeah. They're extremely talented musicians and also very nice people.

Joanna: They're definitely a lot better than the newer pop-punk bands coming out today. They kinda started that whole radio-punk genre, and granted, it�s a pretty crappy genre, but at least they started it.

Greg: Yeah, it�s total mindless stupid punk rock but I need that every once in a while.

Joanna: What are you guys working on now? You just came out with a new record, right?

Greg: Yeah, it's called the Empire Strikes First. We�ll be on the Warped Tour again this summer and then we'll continue to tour throughout the fall.

Joanna: Are you gonna keep playing until you just can't do it anymore?

Greg: I guess so. I mean, we'll keep going until we start embarrassing ourselves. We don't want to be like Aerosmith (again) or anything.

Joanna: (laughs) OK, well I'll let you know if that happens.

Joanna: Do you have anything else to say?

Greg: (silence) I can't think of anything. I always hate that question, it makes me really nervous.

Joanna: Do you think you would like Burning Angel?

Greg: I've never seen it before but this definitely sounds like something I'd like. I'm gonna check it out as soon as I get home�.