2020 has proven to be an interesting year for Bad Religion and Dr. Graffin. Jim Ruland‘s recently published biography, Do What You Want, is a well-rounded history of the band. Graffin recalls his dismay at forgetting certain events, complimenting bassist Jay Bentley on his ability to remember things with laser-pointed accuracy. On the music side, he discusses the prescience of the recent “Faith Alone 2020” track and what that song means to him today.

Read more: Watch Bad Religion’s Brian Baker stir the pot making “Seeing Red” sauce

Sure, strolls down Memory Lane are almost expected from bands of a certain age. But Graffin has some thoughts and perceptions regarding the future now. Specifically, the fate of gatherings and live entertainment events. Graffin’s time in the rock trenches is well-documented, although he claims he’s only focused on the business aspects in the last 15 years. His PhD doctorate is in zoology and has included research on pandemics. (Wouldn’t Animal Reservoirs be a great band name?) He addresses the pathology of both business and biology for us in terms we may both understand and consider.

Dr. Greg Graffin is essentially a totem. The thought and consideration he puts in his art and interviews is paramount. Liberty spikes, Mohawks, leather jackets, skateboarding and the like are all cool. But if you’re really going to mark yourself outside of mainstream culture, you need to properly articulate the deep problems you have with it in the first place. It’s how we keep moving forward. Thanks, Dr. Graffin.

In a new interview, vocalist Greg Graffin reveals that Bad Religion plan to release various new singles during the pandemic.

Read more: It only took Bella Thorne 24 hours to break this huge OnlyFans record

Since their 2020 tour plans are canceled, Bad Religion have been spending a lot of time in the studio. As a result, they have a lot of new music they are itching to share with listeners.

Earlier this month, Bad Religion unveiled “Faith Alone 2020” which follows up 2019’s Age of Unreason. The song is an alternative version of “Faith Alone,” off of 1990’s Against The Grain, and was produced by guitarist Brett Gurewitz.

In an exclusive interview with Alternative Press, Graffin opened up about the song and why Bad Religion decided to revisit it so many years later.

“If you can write it for some universal human experience that isn’t just what’s happening today but might actually become more relevant in the future,” he says. “One of the great things about Bad Religion is that it’s always given us a place to write about topical things that are timeless. And, of course, faith. The tension between faith and science and reason and unreason are almost universal. They’re human experiences that go on and on. What we resolve today will hopefully get us a little closer to that apex of enlightenment. But there’ll be more hurdles to cross, I’m sure.”

Now, Graffin shares that this song won’t be the only new material released during the pandemic.

Read more: ‘Stranger Things’ star Noah Schnapp responds to racial slur accusations

In an interview with New York’s Q104.3 radio station, Graffin shares that the band are keeping themselves busy by working on new music. In fact, they plan to release “a string of other singles” during the pandemic.

“A band is a lot more than just playing live, so we’ve tried to maintain our sanity and offer something to the fans,” he says. “We just put out a single called ‘Faith Alone 2020,’ you can find it on streaming services. And we’ve got a string of other singles that are gonna be coming out during this time. Because when we’re not on tour, we spend a lot of time in the studio.”

Each member of Bad Religion have their own music rooms and access to Pro Tools. This allows them to write and record music in a way that is socially-distant, but still collaborative.

“And now we all have music rooms and we all have Pro Tools studios at our houses,” Graffin continues. “And we’re trying to fill in the time by doing creative, collaborative works like that.”

In the radio interview, Graffin further opens up about the future of live music. He believes that booking future tours and shows may be difficult since so many artists will be doing the same. Especially as venues continue to close amid the pandemic, there many fewer places for musicians to play in the future.

Read more: Watch MGK and blackbear’s action-packed video for “my ex’s best friend”

“As far as getting out there and playing, there’s only a certain number of venues, and everyone’s gonna be wanting to get out into those venues,” he says. “So it remains to be seen how we’re going to partition the tours in the next year. But bands like Bad Religion, certainly, we have committed ourselves — we’ve already sold tickets, and I think those will be honored in the normal way.”

Earlier this month, author Jim Ruland’s Do What You Want, the official Bad Religion biography, was released. The book gives insight into Bad Religion, one of SoCal punk’s long-running groups, over the past few decades.

You can order Jim Ruland’s book Do What You Want here. Check out Greg Graffin’s interview with New York’s Q104.3 radio station and “Faith Alone 2020” below.

Are you ready to hear new music from Bad Religion? Let us know in the comments below.

This month, author Jim Ruland’s Do What You Want, the official Bad Religion biography, was released, giving insight to one of SoCal punk’s longest-running and vital units. In addition, guitarist Brett Gurewitz produced an alternate version of “Faith Alone” (from 1990’s Against The Grain) with a string arrangement that heightens the song’s poignancy. There’s more music in the pipeline, as well.

Read more: Bad Religion and Alkaline Trio are cancelling their tour so fans can get refunds

Alternative Press got an audience with founding BR member Dr. Greg Graffin to discuss Bad Religion’s role in a pandemic world. Here’s a man who, 30 years ago, wrote a song about the great debate of science versus faith, which resonates harder than it did on its original release. He also reflects on the book and how he’s feeling about humanity and the upcoming election. The good news is that he’s optimistic. That’s probably because he’s saving the unbridled rage for the next song he writes.

You wrote “Faith Alone” many decades ago. Today it’s remarkably prescient.

That’s the sign of a good song, in my opinion. If you can write it for some universal human experience that isn’t just what’s happening today but might actually become more relevant in the future. I appreciate the observation that it was written many years ago. 

One of the great things about Bad Religion is that it’s always given us a place to write about topical things that are timeless. And, of course, faith. The tension between faith and science and reason and unreason are almost universal. They’re human experiences that go on and on. What we resolve today will hopefully get us a little closer to that apex of enlightenment. But there’ll be more hurdles to cross, I’m sure. 

The new version with the string arrangements is really powerful. Not grandiose or saccharine. The message is still on point: It’s beautiful, and it’s sad, but it’s a call to action. Did this version come off the way you had intended it to?

As a songwriter, you try and stimulate multiple areas of the brain in the listener who’s going to be hearing it. I’ve always focused a lot on meaning and the expression, the human qualities of the songs I write. How do you express this? How do you create the impression in the listener that this is a serious topic? 

I think that’s one of the things in good singers that I’ve always admired. That’s always something they’ve been able to do. It makes you realize this is a serious song. It can be a love song about a personal emotion. But good singers make you believe that it’s something worth listening to. And the sentiment in the song. So if there’s too much orchestration, it gets lost. 

“Faith Alone” is just a piano and a sentiment. So Brett [Gurewitz, producer/guitarist] took my stripped-down version and did the orchestration with one of his favorite string players. He thought it would accentuate it. I remained open-minded because I didn’t know what it was going to do when it came back. [The arrangement] really helps accentuate the sentiment in the song. But it doesn’t get in the way.

It definitely conveys the gravitas and the weight of it. All I could think of was Dr. Anthony Fauci. It feels like a tribute. 

It’s been 30 years since that song was written. But it still has the same power that it had back then. So to me, that’s a really good indication that there’s something worth hanging onto and that sentiment. Dr. Fauci is a fellow Cornellian, by the way.

The title of the new Bad Religion bio, Do What You Want, is taken from the title of a song on Suffer. I’m wondering if that is a band motto or the only page that should be rendered in the mythical “punk-rock rulebook.”

That’s a very good question. The title is obviously taken from not only one of the band’s favorite songs to play, but it’s one of the fan favorites, too. I think that played heavily with the author, Jim Ruland. But it also characterizes the book. Because this story is one that shows a lot of persistence. 

Bad Religion have a lot of persistence. But we never set out to restrict anyone’s activities, beliefs or willingness to participate in the band. We’ve never had a rulebook. We all really just did what we wanted. Brett was motivated to run Epitaph Records from a very young age. I was motivated to get an academic education. We weren’t going to hold each other accountable for “How is that going to help the band?” Jay [Bentley] and Greg Hetson [former guitarist] and everyone had their own endeavors. Brian [Baker, guitarist] is still in many side projects today. If you look at it from that perspective, it looks like we’re a bunch of guys doing what we want. But there’s something that comes together when we decide to make Bad Religion music, and it’s informed by all those outside activities. And I think that’s part of the strength of the band. 

Are you familiar with the NOFX book, The Hepatitis Bathtub?

Yes. It’s quite popular.

The story goes that none of the band members would discuss what was being written. If there was anything sordid, the band found out about it when the rest of the world did. Did Bad Religion have any kind of moments that maybe you weren’t ready to share with the world at large?

There were no rules or ground rules. Jim did a great job of interviewing people far and wide. We didn’t know what information he was getting, and we didn’t act as editors. But that’s not to say we didn’t learn some things. [Laughs.] I guess a lot of it we forgot, and then one of the other guys tells a story and [we go], “Oh, yeah, that’s right.” 

Jay has this great memory for details in the band. And Brett and I just laughed so hard when we learned the reason why Jay Ziskrout, our first drummer, left the band. And [Bentley] remembered it to the detail. Then it was corroborated by the original drummer! He left the band because we looked at photographs and chose a picture for the album, and we didn’t include him in that meeting. So apparently that’s why he quit the band. So, yeah, you learn little things like that. But you know, there is nothing that shocking.

The November election. Do you think humanity is going to suit up or dress down?

I assume you mean are [people] going to show up at the polls? Yeah, if they make it easy for them. But I don’t know whether Wisconsin was a good test case, right? If you recall, they closed more than half of the polling places. And during the pandemic, when it started really taking off in Wisconsin, they said they weren’t going to make it easier, and people still showed up and risked getting sick so they could vote against the Republican legislature. If that’s an indication of people’s discontent, then, I think we can have some hope that the Democrats will show up en masse. But who knows? I honestly just expect a lot of meddling and a lot of obstruction. I live in a place in upstate New York where it’s never very crowded, and it’s very convenient. I’ve always had great experience voting in New York. California, I’ve had various experiences, but it’s a lot more crowded. I have friends who have to devote half of their day to voting. It shouldn’t be like that.

May I describe you as cautiously optimistic? 

Yeah. It’s beyond me how anyone could, just as a protest vote, not vote for Joe Biden. You know, even if you’re not very behind the guy, the antipathy toward the current administration has never been stronger. You can’t always have the best candidate as a president. So we may have to settle for one this time. But you can certainly do something to eliminate the unfit, speaking evolutionarily here. And what more evidence do you need to eliminate the unfit from the office that’s currently occupied? So it’s beyond me how this could even be close.

You can order Jim Ruland’s book Do What You Want here. Check out the new version of “Faith Alone 2020” below.