How Bad Religion guitarist Brian Baker's iPhone photos became a visual punk rock diary

As a guitarist, Brian Baker has punk stone and hardcore credentials that are unparalleled. From efficaciously launching “hardcore” arsenic a genre with Minor Threat erstwhile helium was a teen to bringing successful the much melodic broadside of the country with Dag Nasty and past joining Bad Religion successful the mid ’90s, it’s hard to reason that immoderate guitarist has been much influential to their country than Baker.

“I deliberation I conscionable person a knack for being astatine the close spot astatine the close time,” Baker says erstwhile asked astir his contributions to the aforementioned legendary bands. “The cardinal is to respect that bequest and not f— it up. I recognize it’s a large woody to a batch of radical — overmuch much than it is to me. I’m conscionable the feline who’s playing guitar, but I’ve been fortunate capable to beryllium successful bands that person been foundational for a batch of people. I deliberation astir that erstwhile I get connected signifier each day. I privation to bash a large occupation each time. As agelong arsenic I’m capable to inactive present a show that I person respect for, hopefully different radical volition too.”

Standing astatine a high-top array nether a achromatic awning backstage astatine Riot Fest (Chicago’s monolithic punk stone festival wherever astir of the acts are either friends of Baker oregon inspired by 1 oregon much of his bands) aft astir a half-century of allegedly conscionable happening upon 1 iconic set aft another, Baker precocious released a caller task — 1 that he’s worked connected for astir 20 years during his ongoing tally with Bad Religion.

A changeable of Baker’s guitars connected a wood pallet.

(Brian Baker)

Every clip the legendary Los Angeles punk set goes connected the road, Baker (like astir touring musicians) finds himself with wholly excessively overmuch clip to termination earlier and aft their nightly performances. To capable those agelong hours successful unusual cities, the 60-year-old D.C. autochthonal often turns to the portion of exertion that truthful galore usage to inhabit their escaped time, his smartphone. But alternatively than mindlessly scrolling societal media oregon watching YouTube videos, Baker discovered a caller passionateness for photography, perpetually utilizing each and each camera lens connected the iPhones that person been successful his pouch since the archetypal released successful the precocious 2000s.

Until recently, the fruits of Baker’s photography hobby had efficaciously lone existed connected his idiosyncratic Instagram. That was until things started falling into spot (“Like galore things successful my career,” Baker says, accordant successful his refusal to instrumentality recognition for the bulk of his successes) for him to merchandise immoderate of his favourite photos arsenic a book, appropriately titled “The Road” (released Nov. 4 via Akashic Books).

A mug changeable of Baker’s archetypal band, D.C. hardcore pioneers Minor Threat.

(Brian Baker)

“My woman suggested for a agelong clip that radical mightiness privation to look astatine my photographs, and I was similar ‘OK, that’s great,’ but ne'er truly thought astir it,” Baker says, his bandmates and different longtime friends circulating done Chicago’s Douglass Park. “Eventually, a bully person of ours named Jennifer Sakai — who’s a large lensman and has made books successful the past — made a mock-up from my Instagram of what a publication could look like. I wasn’t looking to marque a book, but she fundamentally presented a finished merchandise to me, truthful I contacted a feline I went to simple schoolhouse with, Johnny Temple — who plays [bass] successful Girls Against Boys and Soulside and has a publishing company. Much similar my much palmy stone bands, I walked successful aft everyone did each the work, and present I’m conscionable going to coattail it.”

With oregon without the caller book, Baker says his time-killing emotion of photography was calved retired of the seasoned guitarist feeling arsenic though helium was forgetting excessively overmuch and missing immoderate of his cardinal memories from his clip connected tour. Once helium gave up drinking, Baker realized that helium needed a mode to clasp the 20+ hours each time helium wasn’t spending connected the signifier oregon getting ready. He started filling his days with agelong walks and visits to his favourite locales — aged churches, absorbing buildings, graveyards (“That’s not the goth successful maine saying this,” Baker jokes) and anyplace other wherever helium entertain himself distant from people. And alternatively than trying to archer the communicative of the past 18 years done his iPhone camera, he’s blessed conscionable documenting those definite moments and “a batch of antithetic ways to walk your time” successful “The Road.”

“I utilized to instrumentality a movie camera connected tour, and I’d sprout a mates rolls and past hide astir the camera and permission it astatine the edifice oregon something,” Baker says. “I didn’t truly bash a bully occupation of being a photographer, due to the fact that I’m not a photographer. I’m conscionable a feline with a cellphone, but having the telephone ever connected me, I conscionable kept taking pictures of worldly for nary existent reason. It was similar ‘Hey, look astatine this weird thing’ oregon “Look what we ate tonight” oregon “That religion is f— up” with nary volition of it being a postulation oregon anyone truly seeing it beyond my friends and family. Eventually, I got an Instagram relationship and immoderate of the worldly would spell there, but I’m not truly a societal media maven either.”

Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley playing a bass.

(Brian Baker)

Aside from his photography skills, the merchandise of “The Road” has besides allowed Baker to flex his storytelling muscles astatine the assorted bookstores, grounds shops and much that he’s hitting this autumn (including aboriginal October dates astatine West Hollywood’s Book Soup and Fullerton’s Programme Skate & Sound). Although it’s a much intimate mounting than he’s utilized to and he’s lacking his signature guitar, Baker jokes that it’s not truthful antithetic from performing music, due to the fact that he’s inactive “on a signifier with a microphone and wearing achromatic pants.”

The publication circuit has besides been an accidental for Baker to link with fans and bespeak connected Bad Religion and his anterior bands (along with assorted broadside projects similar supergroup Fake Names and Beach Rats). While helium maintains that his engagement successful punk past mostly comes down to happenstance, helium believes that Bad Religion’s multi-generational staying powerfulness stems from ever being “uniquely unfashionable” and having intelligent lyrics astir topics that are inactive relevant. Add successful the information that they’re ever improving arsenic musicians and conscionable bask getting unneurotic without looking astatine the bigger picture, and “not having a program has proven to beryllium effective” for the stalwarts.

Photo of Baker’s archetypal amp and guitar

(Brian Baker)

But much than anything, Baker’s deficiency of readying oregon absorption astir his photography brings him backmost to the DIY quality of his aboriginal days creating albums that are present viewed arsenic the precise instauration of a four-decade-old planetary hardcore movement.

“Anybody tin bash this, truthful it does punctual maine of making records erstwhile I was precise young,” Baker says. “We were conscionable making our ain records ourselves and selling them successful precocious school, and that was Minor Threat. You deliberation astir however important that is now, 45 years later, it’s the aforesaid happening with taking pictures. I conscionable took a clump of pictures, and present someone’s made a publication retired of them. It’s thing you tin bash yourself, and I emotion that astir it.”