Keith Morris Goes OFF!

Veteran punk rockers don't die or fade away. They just keep doing what they do best. Keith Morris is known as the legendary frontman for both Black Flag and The Circle Jerks. At 55 years of age Morris, instead of taking it easy, has started a new band known as OFF! The band features ex-members of Redd Kross, Rocket from the Crypt and Burning Brides and they are gearing up to release some hard and fast new music for the masses. As OFF! prepares to do some shows in LA, I had the chance to throw Keith Morris a few questions about his new band, his fight with diabetes, and his outlook on everything known as punk.

David Carr: So what was the impetus to start a new band?

Keith Morris: Well I was in a car accident and I was in a coma for a while and after I got out of the coma, I heard voices inside my head and the voices said I should start a new band. Ok seriously, Dimitri Coats came to my other band while we were rehearsing and said; "hey it's been a while since you guys have made a record so let's make a record." Everyone was excited and happy and ready to go and the whole thing went south due to some attitudes in the band. After that, Dimitri and I got together and we started writing songs on our own.

David Carr: the best way I can describe the songs I have heard so far, is to use the phrase, "hit it and quit!" I mean the tunes are so short and so fast I literally have to replay them to see what I missed.

Keith Morris: You have to understand my lineage. I grew up in Hermosa Beach. It was a very conservative town. I was surrounded by conservative minds and they were not into anything different. I was also surrounded by a lot of surfers and skaters. Their attitude was, let's go for it! Dimitri and I walked into my living room; he had a half plastic, half wood guitar coming out of a little practice amp. He would bang out a riff and it would sound like the type of music I used to make in a janitors closet. It would take me back to the tiny spaces we had to make music in. I would hear his riffs and think to myself, this is exactly where we need to be; now we are moving forward.

David Carr: Is the name OFF! paying homage to your old band Black Flag?

Keith Morris: A lot of people are saying we are mimicking Black Flag, that we are parodying Black Flag. In a lot of ways this band is asking the question, what would have happened if I had never left Black Flag? What would have happened if I was given a little more musical freedom? The majority of the material in that band was presented to me. It's the same energy as Black Flag. It's the same gritty energy and anger. We are tipping our hat to Black flag but we are also tipping our hat to The Damned. We are tipping our hat to The Clash, The Misfits, Bad Brains -- we are tipping our hat to the bands we find inspirational. We want to be like them without sounding like them.

David Carr: You have played some shows already. What has been the response?

Keith Morris: We played South by Southwest and I overheard this girl talking to this guy. He asked her what she thought of OFF! She said she saw four songs and then left because we sounded like a Black Flag cover band! It's the best compliment I have heard so far! People think we are paying "homage" because of our name. Black Flag was never about a bug spray! It was about anarchy and chaos and that's not OFF!

David Carr: Ok then what is OFF! about?

Keith Morris: Hmm -- when it's Friday at about 4:30pm and you are thinking about getting your party on, what you are going to have for dinner then shower and go out -- you are thinking about all of these things and then your boss comes by and says you have three more hours of work to do. You can't tell him to fuck off in this economic climate but we can! That's what this band is about!

David Carr: I hear your ep will be released only on mp3 and vinyl. Why is that? Will you eventually release it on cd?

Keith Morris: We are talking about a cd release. We didn't consider a cd release because the cd has gone the way of the 8-track, the cassette tape and the reel to reel. The cd format has been made obsolete and most folks are listening to their music on the internet. We have caught a lot of flak for this. It has been a shit storm! We will have it out on cassette and eventually on cd!

David Carr: You are also playing some shows in LA soon correct?

Keith Morris: We played the FYF and South by Southwest and we are playing a couple of shows with some friends of ours. We are playing with some cool bands and we are taking a lot of shit for that also!

David Carr: How so?

Keith Morris: You would be surprised at how selfish old school, hard-line punk rockers can be! "Why are you playing with those bands? Why are you doing those things?" Believe me I used to be one of those guys. I used to ask questions like why is Katy Perry playing the Warped Tour? I don't do that anymore.

David Carr: So I have to ask this question even though I know you are probably sick of it. You possibly have the coolest dreads on the planet! What's your secret?

Keith Morris: There is no secret. I never really thought about it. I rolled up my hair and then I didn't wash it for six months! It has gotten to the point where when I get into my car and close the door I get two, three or four of them stuck in the door. I will be trimming about three feet off soon. I also cut them a bit about twelve years ago when I was diagnosed with diabetes.

David Carr: How have you been coping with that?

Keith Morris: I have my good days and bad days. I was in a coma. I had hypoglycemia. I lost forty pounds so I had to be put on a diet where the goal was to gain weight so I had to eat stuff like pork, bacon and mashed potatoes! HA!

David Carr: What keeps you going? What keeps you inspired? Do you ever think of retiring?

Keith Morris: There is no retirement plan! When you sign up to do this for all these years there is no plan for retirement. The things that I was talking about thirty years ago are happening now! The things that I was singing about back then are still going on now! We need a third party in this country badly. There is a lot of negative energy out there. The idea is to channel that energy and do something positive with it. Plus I am an idiot and I don't know any better! People are angry, people are pissed. Someone has to say these things. Like I said in this economic climate you can't tell your boss to fuck off but we can!

David Carr: It sounds like you are having a lot of fun with OFF!

Keith Morris: We have something positive going on. Even though the lyrics are dealing with a lot of negative shit and the music is angry, this has been a positive experience. The last band I was in for thirty years; every time we had something positive about to happen, someone in the band would figure out a way to put the brakes on it. That ain't happening here. And by the way, not everything we talk about is negative. There is some positivity in our songs. I was able to write a eulogy for a friend of mine who passed away. Jeffery Lee Pierce of Gun Club was one of my best friends. I got a chance to write a song about him. All of the guys in this band understand there is something real and positive happening here.

You can find OFF! at these fine establishments this month:

December 11th - Pomona, CA - Glass House
December 17th - Los Angeles, CA- The Sex 816 S. Santa Fe Ave