Jealous? Me? Well it was heading for 20-degrees in Bristol. Who would want to be in the 32-degree smog heat of LA?

Who am I kidding ... "Wish I was there," I said over the transatlantic phone lines.

Which was strange, because Jay wished he was here.

Ahead of their UK tour, which will take in Bristol, he said: "I always have a great time in England.

"There's been issues between our singer, Greg, and the UK press. But he just said 'screw them' and carried on.

"The fans over there have always been great to us."

Bad Religion might be the band that were the catalyst behind a wave of west coast punk, but they have a sound grounding in Brit music.

Ups and downs

"The first band I ever saw was the Clash in LA back in 1978. That was a big deal for me.

"There are tonnes of British bands who I've liked - Echo and the Bunnymen, Oasis ..."

Over the years, the Religion guys have had their ups and downs.

But their 2002 release, The Process of Belief and upcoming album, The Empire Strikes First, marked a more settled period for the band.

Things had been so bad that band member Brett Gurewitz served time after a drug addiction problem. He eventually rejoined the band several years ago.

"I think now we're a better band in terms of talent. Brooks Wackerman (drums) and Brian Baker (guitar) are brilliant.

"You just tell them what you want played, and they can do it.

"There's a great sense of ease in the band now at being able to do what we think."

And so they should - they own their own record label!

Bad Religion are now embarking on a 24 date tour of Europe, which takes in the Bristol Academy on 15 May.

"It's a fairly extensive tour, but we still get letters from places we 'ignore'. You can't do Europe in 32 days, though. You'd get worn out."

Jay promised the band will be back: "This tour is kinda pre-release. I think when the album is out we'll be back again!"

In the meantime, I think I might start planning a holiday to LA ...