Bad Religion singer Greg Graffin finds connection between punk and Charles Darwin
Bad Religion has been a going concern for 31 years – a remarkable achievement for any band, let alone one that remains devoted to the punk ideals of the late ‘70s.
At the same time, the band’s singer and cofounder, Greg Graffin, has devoted himself to academics, collecting a doctorate from Cornell University and teaching evolutionary biology at UCLA.
One would think the worlds of punk rock and science are mutually opposed, “which makes me schizophrenic,” Graffin says with a laugh. But he just published his first book, “Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God” (Harper Collins), that argues otherwise. A simultaneously released Bad Religion album, “The Dissent of Man” (Epitaph), serves as an aural companion piece; its title riffs on Charles Darwin’s book on evolutionary theory “The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex.”
“I wanted to resolve that seeming schizophrenia in my own mind, to see if I could bring the two together,” Graffin says of diving into a project that bridges the gap between being a self-described “naturalist” and a punk rocker.