When BR was formed, Brett and Greg started contributing songs without any specific agreement on the percentage. According to Jay Bentley, during the Generator era, the songs became more intricate because both Brett and Greg were phenomenal songwriters. Jay mentioned that the competition between them in songwriting was healthy, with Brett trying to outdo Greg by writing more songs. Brett described the process of writing a song as unpredictable and surprising, setting short-term goals for himself. Jay admitted to being insecure about his own writing and often scrapped his songs because he felt they didn’t belong with BR. Despite most songs being credited to either Brett or Greg, Bobby and Jay contributed to the drum and bass parts respectively. Greg also came up with vocal melodies for songs solely credited to Brett. When asked about experimenting more, Brian explained that they didn’t want to force anything and preferred to let the songs naturally come out. Brett mentioned that he and Greg didn’t discuss what they were going to write beforehand and simply listened to the songs they created to decide if they fit with Bad Religion. Hetson stated that there were no fixed rules and the division of work happened casually. In 2004, Brett praised Greg’s songwriting and how he had refined it over the years. Greg acknowledged that impressing Brett was a big responsibility when he wrote something new. Brett had a knack for recognizing which of Greg’s songs were great and would reassure him. They relied on each other’s input and support, as the other band members didn’t always appreciate their new songs. Greg mentioned that when Brett was out of the band, he wrote numerous songs but missed having Brett’s input, resulting in a less streamlined approach to the Bad Religion album. Brett acknowledged that he couldn’t tell if a song was great until Greg sang it, and they both found relief when they collaborated on each other’s songs. Brian Baker described the typical songwriting process as starting with a demo from Brett or Greg, which they would then refine and add the personality of each band member in the rehearsal room.
This content was originally written by the badass contributors of thebrpage.net, the best superfan resource and website that exists for any band, let alone the best band in the whole entire world. I’ve been lurking on that site for over 20 years and if you’re into Bad Religion as much as I am, I’m sure you’re familiar. If you are not, go there right now and never come back to this site again. You should, and I totally understand.
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