2 January 2024 – Q&A by Joe Harbour
With a reasonably new album, Free LSD under their belts, an imminent tour commencing in Australia and New Zealand, Joe Harbour had an email Q&A with singer Keith Morris about all things Keith Morris and OFF!
For those that don’t know, Keith Morris’ resume reads pretty darn well in punk music. The original singer for Black Flag (before Henry), singer for the Circle Jerks, Flag and a few other projects, he is currently touring (go to end of article for tour info and tickets) with hardcore punk band OFF! a band that exists due to “a major Circle Jerks fuck up” (and we are grateful for these ‘fuck ups’). A band whose first rehearsal sounded like “Led Zeppelin covering Black Flag or vice-versa…”.
Tell all your friends – OFF! is on for Australia and New Zealand.
JH – Ok so you’re coming back to Australia again after what I’d call a successful Circle Jerks tour with Pennywise, how have you found coming all the way down here? How did you find the tour?
KM – I will always be TOTALLY psyched to play music on your giant rock! It’s the birthplace to some of my favorite sounds and musical organizations………Masters Apprentices, the Bee Gees, Lime Spiders, Scientists, Psycho Surgeons/Lipstick Killers, Rose Tattoo, Beasts of Bourbon, The Angels, Saints, Easybeats, Magic Dirt just to touch on the tip of the iceberg. That Pennywise/CJs tour was a BLAST! As the CJs have never toured Australia that experience was so great being able to play those shows. Now most importantly I’ll say OFF! has toured over there twice and this tour that starts in about a week is incredibly important to us as we have a not so new album and a movie that will be out sometime in 2024 to promote!!! Tell all your friends!
JH – The last time OFF! came out was 10 years ago, apart from Covid restrictions why have you guys taken so long to get back down here?
KM – We’ve had numerous stops and starts, personnel shakeups, walls to climb, hurdles to leap, fiery hoops to jump through and an insane amount of schedules to deal with. This includes girlfriends, Rocket From The Crypt, kids, wives, Thundercat, Earthless, dogs, Circle Jerks and all sorts of other excuses including that none of your promoters over there were beating each other to a pulp to acquire our talent. Oh well what the hell!
JH – how did OFF! Come to be? Who was the person to suggest the idea?
KM – OFF! exists due to a major CJs fuckup. We were in the process of writing a new record and they didn’t have any riffs or creative ideas and decided not to participate. So Dimitri and I took it upon ourselves to write some songs that would’ve hopefully jump started their imaginations and lit a fire in their brains. When this didn’t happen I was contacted by one of the members whose name shall remain Mr. Invisible who took it upon himself to not only fire Dimitri but to force me out of the band. While Dimitri and I were writing songs we had a couple of important conversations. I told him that the CJs had always made decisions that would halt any forward progress and that we should have a plan B and C. This meant creating a list of bass players and drummers we’d love to play with. This list only consisted of maybe a half dozen musicians. The first guys we contacted joined almost immediately! Our first practice had me disappointed as it sounded as if Led Zeppelin was covering Black Flag or vice versa. When I left our rehearsal space I was not into what had taken place. About an hour later I had an epiphany and realized when you’re playing with musicians of this calibre you don’t tell them what to play! I let this sink in and we hit the ground running!!!
JH – What can you tell us about the Free LSD movie? When will we be able to watch it?
KM – FREE LSD is finished and ready for whatever comes next in the life of a movie. We’re waiting on the guys who’re shopping it to find a home for our flick. Once this happens we wait for these people to figure out when and where it’s going to be shown. I think this means a possible release in the middle of 2024……….
JH – Last year you guys filmed a new video for the Circle Jerks song ‘Wild in the Streets’, directed by Atiba Jefferson it featured skating from Tony Hawk , Lance Mountain among others, How did that come about?
KM – I didn’t really pay too much attention to the details concerning the CJs ‘Wild In The Streets’ video but we also had Christian Hosoi, Steve Olson and Anaiah Lei who is the lead vocalist in a newish band, Zulu appear in the vid. Anaiah’s rock group accompanied OFF! on a run of dates over here in the U.S. They’re an incredibly fun band with some great musicians! We shot this in two locations, in the warehouse district downtown Los Angeles and on Hollywood Blvd. in front of the Henry Fonda Theatre. The CJs have played here a couple of times and OFF! opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing a fan appreciation show. I’ve seen so many great shows in this room including the Jesus And Mary Chain, A Place To Bury Strangers, Ryan Adams, Mudhoney, Deerhunter, GBH and a few dozen others.
JH – As someone who observes America from the outside, it seems like these days, more than ever, there’s a lot more hate and negativity going on over there, and one thing in particular I noticed was the rise of anti semitism, what’s going on? Why is there all this hate and foolish ideology being preached these days?
Do you think people like Donald Trump among others allowed morons and assholes to look at the constitution and find a way to be heard? The rest of the world is watching and unfortunately following all the awful trends the USA exports.
KM – What’s even worse than the anti-semitism, even though it’s terrible, is the fact that our government is dumping billions of taxpayer’s dollars into Israel for them to continue their elimination of the Palestinians. I’m pro Palestine and anti Hamas, and also opposed to both the Israeli and U.S. governments as our government has been purchased by big business. I’m a Jew and if by me making a statement of being for the Palestinians owning their fair share of the land and having someone call me an anti semite because of this then so be it!
We as a nation have always fought amongst ourselves and with other countries and it’s never going to stop due to the fact that part of our existence is to make people’s lives as miserable as possible. To lift some OFF! lyrics from ‘Suck The Bones Dry’, “Malice beats a path from their door, A life that hates life”. The U.S. Constitution being talked about is meaningless to Trump as he’s probably never read it and thinks it does not apply to him. His die hard followers are embarrassingly ignorant and the rest of the world should look to other countries of the world such as Sweden, Switzerland or Norway where things are better and not dwell upon how America was once a standard-bearer and has turned into what it’s turned into, shame on us……….
JH – Is punk music relevant these days? Or is it more relevant than ever? I remember when I was 12 or 13 I was given a cassette with Group Sex and Minor Threat’s EPs and some Black Flag. I was also listening to the Dead Kennedy’s and I was able to get an early lesson in harsh music but the lyrics also opened my eye up to things confirmed by maturity as I got older, do you think that these days there’s a certain lack in meaningful socially aware music or has it all gone back underground again? I feel like the internet has ruined the notion of sub cultures and so punk and skateboarding are no longer this best kept secret.
KM – Punk music is always going to be relevant as it will constantly align itself with “us versus them” and equates to the kid jumping up and down on their bed and screaming because of being “Grounded”. Having just been told they can’t go out and play with their friends due to getting bad grades on their report card in school or not having done their chores at home. Revolting against the powers that be as this goes all the way back to the kid wearing the animal skin banging sticks or throwing rocks against the walls of the cave. Living in a cave would be the start of the underground.
As long as someone’s on stage singing meaningful lyrics punk is not going back to the basement even though there’s always going to be the new bands playing in the backyards, basements, warehouses, garages, abandoned storefronts, parking lots and living rooms across the world. To the music critic people that think they know the pulse of what’s going on and have proclaimed that “punk’s dead!”, STAY HOME! Also this music has reached a larger audience because it hits the right chords and is real. There’s a good amount of people who know the difference between what is heartfelt and what’s fake. All the internet has done is provided access to those who for whatever reason can’t be there. And why the fuck should punk rock and skateboarding be kept a secret? Music is for anyone who wants to listen just as skateboarding to some is a form of transportation.
JH – Will we get another circle jerks album?
KM – Right now I’m promoting OFF! coming to Australia starting on Wednesday, January 10th in Perth. If you’re not aware of our tour dates go to our facebook page! I’m also posting OFF!’s Australia tour schedule at the bottom of this page. And the CJs are planning on releasing some upcoming recordings. But that’s for a later time!
JH – When you’re not touring with bands what’s the average day like for Keith Morris?
KM – Well I pretty much live my life just like anybody else except I’ve had a couple of weeks off to try and catch up on some apartment cleaning such as taking a sponge to all the crevices along the floorboards, rearranging my 12 inch vinyl collection, washing the dishes that had piled up, going grocery shopping that includes strawberries, blueberries, oranges, plant based cheddar cheese, corn tortillas, granola, eggs, chicken sausage, purple leaf lettuce, red bell peppers, pistachios, vanilla oat milk, popcorn, a couple of avocados and a few other goodies. I have to pay attention to what I consume being a 68 year old Diabetic.
As for my average day it starts with some typical personal hygiene, getting dressed, answering a few emails, eating breakfast, reading the L.A. Times newspaper and going for a walk to hang out with my pal over at the Silverlake Music Conservatory. When I get back to my place I sadly get back on the computer and take care of whatever business it allows me to and listen to music while doing so. That’s about 2/3rds of my day! All sorts of fun things happen and as boring as this sounds I could get into some of the details such as other places I go and the people I encounter over the course of a day but I’ve already written a short story so I’ll skip that!
JH – Any words of wisdom you’d like to share for readers?
KM – My advice is to not allow yourselves to be placed in a box! Treat the people around you the same way you’d expect them to treat you. This world’s brimming with terrible people so why would you want to be like them? Surround yourselves with good people who have a sense of humour and can speak in full sentences. Read books, watch movies and laugh with your friends! CHEERS!
Check this out!
OFF! is on. Australia 2024 plus special guests TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY!
WED 10 JAN – perth ROSEMOUNT Doors 7.00pm. Tickets at rosemounthotel.oztix.com.au
FRI 12 JAN – adelaide GOV Doors 7.30pm. Tickets at thegovfb.oztix.com.au
SAT 13 JAN – hobart REPUBLIC Doors 9.00pm. Tickets at moshtix.com.au
SUN 14 JAN – melbourne CORNER Doors 7.30pm. Tickets at tickets.cornerhotel.com
WED 17 JAN – canberra BASEMENT Doors 7.00pm. Tickets at tickets.oztix.com.au
FRI 19 JAN – sydney METRO Doors 7.30pm. Tickets at premier.ticketek.com.au
SAT 20 JAN – brisbane PRINCESS Doors 7.30pm. Tickets at www.ticketmaster.com.au
SUN 21 JAN – gold coast VINNIE’S DIVE BAR Doors 7.30pm. Tickets at vinniesdive.oztix.com.au
