Brett Gurewitz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brett Gurewitz | |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Mr. Brett |
| Born | May 12, 1962 |
| Origin | United States |
| Genre(s) | Punk rock, Hardcore punk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Producer, Record label owner |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1980–Present |
| Label(s) | Epitaph Atlantic |
| Associated acts | Bad Religion (1980–1994, 2001–) Daredevils (1995–1996) Error (2003–Present) Rancid |
Brett Gurewitz (born May 12, 1962[1], Los Angeles, California), nicknamed Mr. Brett, is the guitarist and a songwriter of Bad Religion. He is also the owner of the music label Epitaph Records. Brett grew up in the town of Woodland Hills, California, a suburb of L.A.'s San Fernando Valley.
He has produced albums for Bad Religion as well as Epitaph Records labelmates NOFX, Rancid, and Pennywise, among others. Gurewitz left Bad Religion after the 1983 release of the unpopular Into the Unknown album, but returned in 1986. He left again after the 1994 release of their highly acclaimed album Stranger Than Fiction and was replaced by Brian Baker. Gurewitz started a new band, Daredevils, but rejoined Bad Religion in 2001 before they recorded their 2002 comeback album The Process of Belief.
During 2003, Gurewitz started a new band called Error together with Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, and Greg Puciato, but has remained with Bad Religion for two more albums The Empire Strikes First (2004) and New Maps of Hell (2007).
In the past, Brett has engineered several albums using the pseudonym "The Legendary Starbolt"[2].
Contents |
[edit] Career with Bad Religion
Then-18 year old Brett Gurewitz formed Bad Religion in Woodland Hills in 1980 with Greg Graffin (vocals), Jay Ziskrout (drums) and Jay Bentley (bass). All four attended El Camino Real High School. Soon after, they began writing songs and played their first ever concert, as warm-up for Social Distortion. In 1981, Bad Religion recorded a six-song self-titled EP, which was initially released in a 7" format, and soon afterward re-issued as a 12". Compact cassettes were also produced, but they are rare.
Bad Religion's first full-length album, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, was released in 1982. When recording sessions commenced, Ziskrout soon left the band and was replaced by Pete Finestone. Cited as one of Bad Religion's most important works, How Could Hell Be Any Worse? was financed by a $1,000 loan from Gurewitz's father. Its success surprised the band when it sold 10,000 copies in under a year. The sound of the record was vastly improved from the self-titled EP. Although not yet credited as a member of the band, Greg Hetson (of Circle Jerks fame) did a guitar solo on "Part III".
Bad Religion released their second full-length, Into the Unknown, in 1983, but were less successful, due to the album's poor production. It was a major change from their previous style, delving into progressive rock heavy in keyboards. While recording one song, Bentley and Finestone left the band and were replaced by Paul Dedona on bass and Davy Goldman on drums. To date, Into the Unknown remains out of print, after almost all of the 10,000 copies were surreptitiously sold out of the warehouse they were being stored in by Suzy Shaw, an ex-girlfriend of Gurewitz.[3] After the release of Into the Unknown, Bad Religion broke up, but reformed (without Gurewitz) to produce the 1984 EP Back to the Known. The EP features the return of the band's punk rock roots, although also reflecting influences of then current acts such as Hüsker Dü and The Descendents. Soon after, Bad Religion went on hiatus again.
After the How Could Hell Be Any Worse? line-up (also including Hetson) reunited in 1986, Bad Religion released their highly acclaimed album Suffer in 1988. The album was a comeback for Bad Religion as well as a watershed for the Southern California punk sound popularized by their label Epitaph Records, owned by Gurewitz. The reunion line-up recorded two more highly acclaimed albums, No Control (1989) and Against the Grain (1990), before Finestone left the group in early 1991.
Bad Religion replaced Finestone with Bobby Schayer, then recorded their next album, Generator, which was already in completed in the spring of 1991, but was forced to delay its release until a year later. For the album, Bad Religion also filmed their first music video "Atomic Garden", which was also their first song to be released as a single. In 1993, the band left their original label Epitaph Records and signed to Atlantic Records, who released their next album Recipe for Hate. While moderately successful, this was the first Bad Religion album to reach any Billboard charts and two videos for the album, "American Jesus" and "Struck a Nerve", were made.
Bad Religion rose to fame with their next album, 1994's Stranger Than Fiction, including their well-known hits "Infected" and "21st Century (Digital Boy)", which are also often considered concert staples. After the album was completed, Gurewitz soon left Bad Religion to concentrate on the future of Epitaph, citing the increasing amount of time he was spending at Epitaph's offices as The Offspring became one of the biggest bands of the mid-1990s, but it was well known that his departure was not on good terms. Gurewitz was replaced by Brian Baker during the Stranger Than Fiction tour and Bad Religion recorded two albums without him.
In 1999, after a five year hiatus from the band, Gurewitz reunited with Graffin and co-wrote the song "Believe It", which appeared on Bad Religion's 11th album The New America (2000). Two years later, after parting ways with Atlantic Records, Gurewitz was officially back in the band and Bad Religion resigned to Epitaph. Schayer also left the band during the time and was replaced by current drummer Brooks Wackerman. Now as a six piece, Bad Religion recorded and released the albums The Process of Belief (2002) and The Empire Strikes First (2004). Their most recent release is New Maps of Hell (2007).
[edit] Marriages and Children
- Maggie, married in 1989, divorced in 1995 who is now living alone with Brett's two children, Max and Frida, in Hollywood California[4]
- 1 son, Max, born 1991
- 1 daughter, Frida, born 1994
- Gina Davis, who had worked at Epitaph, married in 1996.[4] They currently live in Hollywood Hills, California[citation needed]
[edit] Selected discography
| Year | Artist/Band | Album | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Bad Religion | Bad Religion | Producer and guitars |
| 1982 | Bad Religion | How Could Hell Be Any Worse? | Producer and guitars |
| 1983 | Bad Religion | Into the Unknown | Producer and guitars |
| 1984 | Bad Religion | Back to the Known | Producer |
| 1985 | The Seeing Eye Gods | The Seeing Eye Gods | Vocals, all instruments, producer, engineer (credited as "Billy Pilgrim") |
| 1988 | Bad Religion | Suffer | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1988 | L7 | L7 | Producer |
| 1988 | NOFX | Liberal Animation | Producer |
| 1989 | Bad Religion | No Control | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1989 | NOFX | S&M Airlines | Producer |
| 1990 | Bad Religion | Against the Grain | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1990 | No Use for a Name | Incognito | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1991 | Bad Religion | 80-85 | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1991 | Down by Law | Down by Law | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1991 | NOFX | Ribbed | Producer |
| 1991 | Samiam | Soar | Producer |
| 1992 | Bad Religion | Generator | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1992 | Chemical People | Chemical People | Background vocals |
| 1992 | Down by Law | Blue | Producer and engineer |
| 1993 | Bad Religion | Recipe for Hate | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1993 | Rancid | Rancid | Background vocals |
| 1994 | Bad Religion | Stranger Than Fiction | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1994 | Rancid | Let's Go | Producer and engineer |
| 1995 | Bad Religion | All Ages | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 1995 | Pennywise | About Time | Producer |
| 1995 | Rancid | ...And Out Come the Wolves | Engineer |
| 1996 | Daredevils | Hate You | Guitars and vocals |
| 1997 | Pennywise | Full Circle | Mixer |
| 1997 | The Pietasters | Willis | Producer and engineer |
| 1999 | H2O | F.T.T.W. | Producer |
| 1999 | The Pietasters | Awesome Mix Tape vol. 6 | Backing vocals, additional percussion, producer and engineer |
| 2000 | Bad Religion | The New America | Co-wrote and played guitar on the song "Believe It". |
| 2000 | Millencolin | Pennybridge Pioneers | Producer and Acoustic Guitar on "The Ballad". |
| 2000 | Rancid | Rancid | Producer |
| 2001 | Pennywise | Land of the Free? | Co-wrote "Who's on Your Side" |
| 2002 | Bad Religion | The Process of Belief | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 2002 | The Distillers | Sing Sing Death House | Engineer and mixing |
| 2003 | Matchbook Romance | West For Wishing | Producer, engineer and mixer |
| 2003 | Rancid | Indestructible | Vocals, producer, engineer and mixing |
| 2004 | Bad Religion | The Empire Strikes First | Producer, guitars and background vocals |
| 2005 | The Unseen | State of Discontent | Mixer |
| 2006 | The Matches | Decomposer | Producer |
| 2006 | Greg Graffin | Cold as the Clay | Producer and background vocals |
| 2007 | Bad Religion | New Maps of Hell | Guitars and background vocals |
| 2008 | Rancid | TBA | Producer |
[edit] References
- ^ A number of sources mistakenly list 1964 as his year of birth. See the article on age disputes and discrepancies for details.
- ^ http://www.thebrpage.net/answer.asp?heading=Nicknames&search=The_Legendary_Starbolt
- ^ Jo-Anne Greene. "Addicted to the Opiate of the Masses", May 23, 1997.
- ^ a b Brett Gurewitz at IMDB.com
[edit] External links
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