Keith Morris is the lead singer and songwriter in the Los Angeles-based supergroup, OFF! An original member of influential punk bands Black Flag and Circle Jerks, Morris started OFF! with guitarist Dimitri Coats, bassist Steven Shane McDonald, and drummer Mario Rubalcaba and, beginning in 2010, they released the highly acclaimed First Four EPs followed by an excellent, self-titled full-length in 2012. Their new album is a powerful and outspoken one called Wasted Years, which is out April 8 via Vice Records and their current tour brings them to Canada for stops in Vancouver on April 12 and Toronto on May 10. Here, Keith and I discuss climate change and end-of-the-world narratives, the life of ‘Uncle Keith’ and how the responsibility of bringing children into existence helps focus adults, the welfare state, how Earth has become a garbage can, critiquing the United States and Dimitri Coats’ vision of Wasted Years as OFF!’s ‘black album,’ the sad saga of ignorant people, living in a depressingly violent Los Angeles neighbourhood full of negative energy but also with the odd ray of light, how the physical toll of OFF! has impacted Keith, plans for Keith to publish some kind of book, the story of FLAG and its conflict with Black Flag, the impact of the Black Flag dispute and Greg Ginn on the lyrical content of Wasted Years, whether FLAG will come back, David Yow, the song “Hypnotized” and more.
Related links: offofficial.com vicerecords.com vishkhanna.com
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