SEE THE ROAD THROUGH PUNK LEGEND'S LENS

BAD RELIGION GUITARIST BRIAN BAKER HAS BEEN TAKING PHOTOS ALL THESE YEARS. HIS NEW BOOK TAKES YOU ALONG WITH HIM.

- JOSH CHESLER

BAKER, below, says he started taking pictures as a way to kill time on the road. "I'm not a photographer," he says. "I'm just a guy with a cellphone."

AS A GUITARIST, Brian Baker has punk rock and hardcore credentials that are unparalleled. From effectively launching “hardcore” as a genre with Minor Threat when he was a teenager to bringing in the more melodic side of the scene with Dag Nasty and then joining Bad Religion in the mid-'90s, it’s hard to argue that any guitarist has been more influential to their scene than Baker.

"I think I just have a knack for being at the right place at the right time," Baker says when asked about his contributions to those legendary bands. "The key is to respect that legacy and not f**k it up. I understand it’s a big deal to a lot of people — much more than it is to me. I am just the guy who's playing guitar, but I've been fortunate enough to be in bands that have been foundational for a lot of people. I think about that when I get on stage every day. I want to do a great job every time. As long as I'm able to still deliver a performance that I have respect for, hopefully other people will too."

Standing at a high-top table under a white awning backstage at Riot Fest (Chicago's massive punk rock festival where most of the acts are either friends of Baker or inspired by one or more of his bands) after nearly a half-century of allegedly just happening upon one iconic band after another, Baker recently released a new project — one that he’s worked on for almost 20 years during his ongoing run with Bad Religion.