# Brett Gurewitz: Bad Religion, Founding Epitaph Records, Early Punk/Hardcore & The Shift to Spotify

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/hardlore-5426633/brett-gurewitz-bad-religion-founding-epitaph-records-early-punk-hardcore-the-shift-to-spotify
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/hardlore-5426633/brett-gurewitz-bad-religion-founding-epitaph-records-early-punk-hardcore-the-shift-to-spotify.md
Podcast: [HardLore](https://stenobird.com/podcast/hardlore-5426633)
Published: 2026-02-26T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/knotfest/episodes/Brett-Gurewitz-Bad-Religion--Founding-Epitaph-Records--Early-PunkHardcore--The-Shift-to-Spotify-e3k8i21
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/1134a4098/podcast/play/120915457/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-2%2F425388638-44100-2-fbf03fc3ff7b6.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/hardlore-5426633/episodes/brett-gurewitz-bad-religion-founding-epitaph-records-early-punk-hardcore-the-shift-to-spotify
Duration seconds: 9241

## Resource

We're joined by Bad Religion co-founder and Epitaph Records founder Brett Gurewitz at Brain Dead Studios in Hollywood, CA. We discuss growing up in the West San Fernando Valley, discovering the Ramones in the late 70s, meeting Greg Graffin and Jay Bentley at El Camino Real High School and starting Bad Religion in the quad, founding Epitaph to put out the Bad Religion 7", the entire BR discography, leaving the band right before the overnight success of Offspring's Smash, rejoining for Process of Belief, his thoughts on streaming as it dominates the music landscape today, and his favorite hardcore records ever. A genuine honor with a genuine legend and one of the best punk songwriters to ever live. Check out Colin's hand picked Bad Religion playlist of hits and deep cuts and enjoy: Spotify & Apple Music. _______________ Cool links: • Get 15% off DUNABLE GUITARS with code HARDLORE: https://dunableguitars.com • Get 15% off TIMELESS COFEE site-wide, including coffee subscriptions, cookies and cakes with code HARDLORE. _______________ 00:00:00 - Start 00:00:48 - Brett Gurewitz, Epitaph Records in 2025/2026 00:02:26 - Growing Up in the San Fernando Valley, Finding Music, CCR 00:06:44 - From Elton John to the Ramones: Discovering Punk 00:08:40 - Meeting Greg Graffin & Jay Bentley, Starting Bad Religion 00:16:29 - When Does It Become "Bad Religion"? 00:19:40 - What is Punk, and What is Hardcore? 00:23:28 - The "Crossbuster" & The Bad Religion Logo (Fritz Quadrata Pro Bold) 00:27:32 - Starting Epitaph Records For the BAD RELIGION S/T 7" 00:36:41 - HOW COULD HELL BE ANY WORSE? 00:50:02 - INTO THE UNKNOWN... Selling 10,000 Records (and getting them all back) 00:53:13 - Going to Rehab/Leaving Bad Religion 00:55:17 - Pardon This Interruption... 00:58:32 - Epitaph During 1983-1987, R…

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