Brett was super excited when he chose Atlantic as the band’s label because he thought the president was a really cool guy who genuinely believed in their music, lyrics, and politics. Jay explained that when they were looking for a label, some people from other labels were basically saying that Epitaph and BR weren’t credible, so they needed to gain credibility. The contract negotiations were simple: BR showed interested labels their contracts from Generator and Recipe and demanded an advance equal to what Recipe had already sold. When they signed with Atlantic, they had already sold 180,000 records in the US alone. Brett didn’t just license BR to Atlantic, he sold them outright. At first, Jay couldn’t believe it, but Brett made him realize that Epitaph couldn’t do what Atlantic and WEA could do. Atlantic promised BR complete creative freedom. Danny Goldberg, the Atlantic manager, told them he didn’t want to know, he just wanted to hear the final album. Brian explained that he’s amazed at how Atlantic understands the value of not interfering with the band’s creative process. Jay said that if Atlantic wants to act like an indie label, they better let the band do what they want. Brian said that both Epitaph and Bad Religion had become too big for just five guys to handle, so they had to make a choice. Sub Pop wasn’t interested in signing them. Greg thought they could show people that it was possible to transition to a major label and still make great music, but Brett leaving made him realize that Brett had his own agenda. Brett also wanted to leave Epitaph, but he didn’t want to be accused of holding the band back for selfish reasons since he owned the label. He also had conflicts of interest with running the label and being in the band. Greg thought Brett’s goal was to show how much BR needed Epitaph, while their goal was to show how much they supported Epitaph. In 1996, Hetson said they never regretted leaving Epitaph. In 1997, Jay said that moving to Atlantic may not have been the right move, but leaving Epitaph was. It became difficult for Brett and Jay to be on the road because they had to have business meetings instead of just focusing on the music. Success also caused conflicts within the band. Jay and Brett thought that if they got BR off Epitaph, the other bands on the label could thrive. Brett said he would have made more money if
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