Greg Hetson

Greg Hetson (born June 29, 1961 in Brooklyn , New York City ) is an American hardcore punk and punk rock guitarist.

Greg Hetson with the band Bad Religion at the 2010 Rocco del Schlacko Festival

Greg Hetson (2007)

He is a member and lead guitarist of the long-established punk band Circle Jerks and was rhythm guitarist with Bad Religion until 2013 . He also played in the band Red Cross (later Redd Kross ) until 1979 and participates in a few other projects such as punk rock karaoke and Black President .

Career

Circle jerks

In the late 1970s he was a member of Redd Kross (Red Cross), where he played with bassist Steve McDonald and drummer Ron Reyers, among others. In 1980 he left Redd Kross to the former Black Flag singer Keith Morris , the band Circle Jerks to establish where it the role of the lead guitarist took over. Shortly after their debut album Group Sex was released in 1981, the Circle Jerks were featured in the documentary The Decline of Western Civilization with some well-known Los Angeles punk bands.

In 1982 the band released their second album entitled Wild in the Streets . That album didn't sell as well as the third release, Golden Shower of Hits, from 1983.

At the end of the 80s the band split up. In 1994 Greg Hetson reunited the Circle Jerks and has since been active in both the Circle Jerks and Bad Religion at the same time.

Bad religion

Greg Hetson was first featured on Bad Religions debut album How Could Hell Be Any Worse? mentioned, but only for the guitar solo in the song Part III . The first album on which Greg Hetson acted as a permanent member of Bad Religion was Back to the Known from 1984. With this album Bad Religion made a return to their punk rock roots after their album Into the Unknown had dared a rather unsuccessful foray into the world of progressive rock .

In 1988 the highly acclaimed album Suffer was produced, which from then on determined the sound of Bad Religion, not least thanks to the riffs and solos of Greg Hetson.

In 2013 Bad Religion surprised their fans at some festivals by abstaining from Hetson (since Brett Gurewitz is usually only a studio member, Brian Baker was the only guitarist on). The band was initially covered to speculation about Hetson's exit and only gave the record that Hetson was currently paused for private reasons. Hetson himself finally confirmed his departure in April 2014 after 29 years as a member of Bad Religion. His replacement in the person of Mike Dimkich is now a permanent member of the band.

Other Projects

Punk rock karaoke

Hetson also plays in a supergroup called "Punk Rock Karaoke", where guitarist Eric Melvin from NOFX and Steve Soto from The Adolescents also play.

Black President

Greg Hetson formed another band with veterans of the punk rock scene under the name Black President . The following musicians are involved: Charlie Paulson from Goldfinger , Jason Christopher and Ty Smith from Guttermouth and Christian Black, who once played with Dee Dee Ramone . In 2008 the band released their debut album.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Guitarist Greg Hetson Confirms Departure From Bad Religion. Retrieved December 22, 2017 . 
2. ^ Greg Hetson: As some people noticed I have left @badreligion. Thanks to everyone for 29 plus years of support. Stay tuned here and Instagram for updates. In: @greghetson. April 29, 2014, accessed December 22, 2017 .