{"id":7782,"date":"2011-12-01T00:00:52","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T00:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=7782"},"modified":"2022-06-07T19:48:05","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T02:48:05","slug":"keith-morris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/keith-morris\/","title":{"rendered":"KEITH MORRIS"},"content":{"rendered":"

INTERVIEW BY JAY ADAMS<\/strong>
INTRODUCTION BY DAN LEVY<\/strong>
PHOTOS BY JERRY MARTINEZ<\/strong><\/p>\n

From Black Flag to the Circle Jerks to his new band Off!, Keith Morris has always been one hell of a musician, and social and political motivator! Jay Adams talked to Keith about why so many people are influenced by Morris\u2019 vision and DIY philosophy. When you get Keith and Jay together to talk about life and the punk rock ethos, it\u2019s just nothing short of epic. \u2013\u2002DAN LEVY<\/p>\n

\n

“WE ALL HAVE THAT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA KID GROWING UP AT THE BEACH KIND OF MENTALITY. AT TIMES, YOU\u2019RE LAID BACK. AT TIMES, YOU\u2019RE JUMPING OFF THE END OF THE PIER.”<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What\u2019s up, Keith? Last time that I saw you was at the Alva party.<\/strong>
That\u2019s right. The last time we crossed paths was at TA\u2019s place over there on Fairfax. He has a really good little space over there. I\u2019ve attended some events over there and DJ\u2019d some parties for him that have been really amazing. Olson showed up at one of them and didn\u2019t even bother to say hello, the stuck-up prick. He just walked in and took a look around and said his hellos and goodbyes and didn\u2019t even hang for the party.<\/p>\n

Yeah, well, he is the party.<\/strong>
He\u2019s the party meister. I heard you were the party meister.<\/p>\n

No, I avoid parties. I almost missed my own birthday party.<\/strong>
Well, for many, many years, you were trying your hardest to run yourself into the ground.<\/p>\n

Yeah. I did that with a needle and a spoon. I\u2019m guilty. Okay, I wanted to tell you my Steve Jones story. He came to Hawaii for one of those movies that they were making, and I got to drive with him like an hour to a meeting on the other side of the island. I got to interview him without interviewing him, so I asked him every question I wanted to know about the history of punk rock. He was telling me how he, Johnny Rotten and a few others were the first crew of punk rock guys.<\/strong>
Yes, but didn\u2019t the Damned record an album before the Sex Pistols? The Damned were the first band of that wave of limey bands to play over here. As for punk rock, who really created punk rock? Do you think Elvis might have been a punk in a way? Do you think Chuck Berry? Do you think all those rock n\u2019 roll guys were punk? We\u2019ve been listening to music that bummed our parents out just like our parents listened to music that bummed their parents out. It\u2019s part of the odyssey. It\u2019s part of the adventure.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one thing I never got. Why did punk rockers decide to hate the hippies? I never hated them. I just hated the long hair guys that didn\u2019t like us, but I liked the hippies. They were actually really cool. My mom was a hippie. I grew up in a hippie household in Venice Beach, but the whole punk rock thing was, \u201cKill hippies.\u201d<\/strong>
It\u2019s like we have to have somebody to fight with. It\u2019s like our government. We chased this guy around in the hills, and blamed all of our troubles on somebody they could have captured a long time ago. They had to go and ruin beautiful cities to find him. We\u2019ve got these companies that thrive on this because it\u2019s their economy. It\u2019s this continual \u2018knock it down, so we can build it back up\u2019 deal. These big corporate jerk-offs are fucking ripping everybody off. Getting back to what we were talking about with the punk rock thing and the hating the hippies…<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, nothing has changed since Cain and Abel started hating on each other, except people grow out of it.<\/strong>
Wait. Did you secretly record your conversation with Steve Jones so you could go, \u201cJonesy, I\u2019ve got something that I\u2019m going to put in print if you don\u2019t pay me $10,000. I\u2019m going to print that you like Roxy Music.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Laughs] No, but I had photos of the back of his head. It was such a classic conversation. It was really cool to hear his story of how him and Johnny and all of them got together and did what they did. I felt really honored to get to hear it. I wish I had recorded it.<\/strong>
Let\u2019s go all the way back to where it started.<\/p>\n

Oh, yeah. I can\u2019t wait for this. My first introduction to punk rock was Mark Baker, the guy that Alva went and stayed with in England. I got a late start. I remember when Duane Peters came to Marina Skatepark and he had shaved his head and his eyebrows. I was like, \u201cWhat happened to you? You used to be normal! Now you\u2019re one of them punk rockers.\u201d I thought punk rock was Devo and Talking Heads. I had no idea about Black Flag or the Circle Jerks. My first real gig was Bace\u2019s Hall. There was the big riot outside. Remember that one?<\/strong>
Oh, that was Black Flag. I wasn\u2019t present for that. I was on tour with the Circle Jerks. At one point, we\u2019d get in the van and be gone for three or four months. We would just go out and play where we could.<\/p>\n

With Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, did you guys get along as friends or what?<\/strong>
There was quite a bit of animosity.<\/p>\n

I know that one song. What\u2019s it called? \u201cYou Stole Our Song. Give it Back.\u201d<\/strong>
That would be \u201cYou Bet We\u2019ve Got Something Against You.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was that regarding you guys?<\/strong>
Yes. I found out later that the only guy that really disliked me in Black Flag was Greg Ginn. All the other guys were cool. I\u2019ve heard from Robo and I talk with Chuck Dukowski all the time. They were really upset when I left.<\/p>\n

They should have been. [Laughs] Chavo was good. Dez was great, but your stuff is my favorite Black Flag.<\/strong>
Henry was pretty amazing too.<\/p>\n

Henry was good too.<\/strong>
He was no slouch.<\/p>\n

I personally liked his earlier stuff. What was his band before from Washington D.C.?<\/strong>
S.O.A.<\/p>\n

S.O.A. was rad. I loved that.<\/strong>
I would like to make something perfectly clear while we\u2019re on the subject of Henry Rollins. People can think whatever they want to think about the guy, but he\u2019s a really great character. He\u2019s very stand up and non-bullshit. Everyone can say whatever they want about him, or think whatever they want to think, but I\u2019ll back Henry anytime.<\/p>\n

I agree. He was in the band Black Flag that had a lot of amazing singers before him, but he filled in pretty good. I love Henry. He\u2019s a nice guy.<\/strong>
I hung out with Ian MacKaye at Coachella. He\u2019s Henry\u2019s best friend from Washington, D.C. It is always a blast to see your friends and see that they\u2019re still alive and flourishing and great things are happening for them.<\/p>\n

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, ORDER ISSUE #69 BY CLICKING HERE…<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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