Brett Gurewitz is back

In 2001, their major label stint over, Bad Religion returned to Epitaph -- and Epitaph founder Brett Gurewitz returned to Bad Religion. LA Weekly devoted a cover story to the news.

[Gurewitz is] disarmingly candid when talking about Bad Religion's remarkable career and becoming the owner of the largest indie-rock record label in the world in '94 -- then nearly losing it all to drug addiction. He's elated that the band has come back home to Epitaph after a three-album affair with a major. Mostly, after seven years away from Bad Religion, he's excited about rejoining the band he co-founded with high school buds in 1980.

"It was terrifying at first. I was real stiff and inhibited, and it took a few shows to let loose. Playing in the band is that schizoid part of me, being a committed record person and a serious punk rock musician at heart. But I love the business side as much as the creative side. They're both part of how I think."

Still, "There's no love lost between me and the majors," he says, "I don't think their business practices are ethical, and that's why the old plantation-style system is on its way out. I like to think that punk rock, Bad Religion and Epitaph helped to contribute to this change. What's going on currently is comparable to the end of the studio system in the old Hollywood, where stars were no longer tied to these long-term exclusive contracts to one studio. Musicians will no longer be seen as a part of a record company's 'stable.' Record companies will become service providers for artists to manufacture, market and sell records, and the artist will pay the label a fair fee for these services."

Today: Bad Religion visits That Damn Show, talks evolutionary psychology.