“We have 17 studio albums and every year there’s an anniversary, birthday, something and it all kind of seems just like a blur, like it was yesterday.”
Jay Bentley, bassist and founding member of Bad Religion, hung out with Chuck Armstrong on Tuesday night’s edition of Loudwire Nights (April 2). Bentley admitted that it’s hard to believe all the band has accomplished since they formed in 1980.
“It doesn’t seem to me like we’ve done all the things that we’ve done until I really sit down and start thinking about how long it’s really been,” he explained.
Bentley said he doesn’t sit back and reflect often, but when he does, he enjoys it.
“I’ll go back and relive the Suffer tour or the first time we went to Europe or even the first show we played with Social Distortion,” Bentley said.
“That was our first-ever live show. I can remember the feeling, I remember throwing up because I was so nervous.”
As Chuck dug into Bentley’s memory to find out more about Bad Religion’s debut live performance, the bassist was happy to continue reliving it.
“We were a four-piece and it was a warehouse,” he recalled. “There was no stage. Everything was just on the ground. There may have been 50-100 people there, but in my mind, it was 1,000. I think we had seven or eight songs and we played them all.”
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Bentley said the crowd loved it. In fact, they loved it so much that they screamed, “Do it again!”
So, Bad Religion did it again.
“We just played the songs once again and it was great,” he said. “Everybody liked it … I remember the second time through was much better. I played better. I wasn’t as nervous anymore.”
What Else Did Bad Religion’s Jay Bentley Discuss on Loudwire Nights?
- Why it took so long for Bad Religion and Social Distortion to finally tour together in the states
- How he and the band learned to stand up for themselves — and their worth — in the music industry
- Why fans can expect to hear new music from Bad Religion relatively soon: “There are songs being written … Things are happening.”
Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below
Jay Bentley joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, April 2; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.
10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994
The year 1994 was one of the best for rock music, offering a variety of options for those who liked it loud and upbeat. It was the year that punk re-entered the mainstream, grunge continued its dominance and Woodstock proved to be a tipping point for several bands on the verge of massive popularity.
With that in mind, we flash back to glimpse this landmark year in rock music at its peak and provide you with the 10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994.
Gallery Credit: Chad Childers