The Tim “Napalm” Stegall Substack Interview: Keith Morris, Part Seven (The Conclusion!)
Yeah, the interview tape was two hours long! In this final chapter, the Black Flag/Circle Jerks/OFF! legend discusses his bout with COVID.
Well since Keith’s baby left him, he found a new place to dwell….
But first: Last day for that “I beat COVID!” one-year subscription special!
Just a reminder that the 70% discounted year’s subscription offer ends today. Take advantage – you can’t find a better deal than 12 months behind the paywall for $27! So, click all this blue underlined mess above! Maybe you can read the rest of this interview?
Now back to our story!
“That was the National Policeman’s Association on the other line, wanting a donation.” You can practically hear the smirk through the telephone as Keith Morris gets back on the line this day late in August, days before he was to head back on the road with seminal Los Angeles hardcore originators the Circle Jerks.
“If only I could tell the nice man on the other line that I hate the police, and I was subjected to some police brutality,” he continues, chuckling. “Granted, I did something that warranted it. But I’m not going to donate to your cause.”
Keith laughs easily. He also possesses a significant amount of anger. Would you expect anything less of a first-wave punk, one who remains one of the genre’s most compelling frontmen and one of the few real singers hardcore’s seen. The man can carry a tune. And he takes his craft seriously. When the Circle Jerks played here in Austin a few weeks later, he walked around backstage doing actual vocal warmup exercises before the gig, drinking strong black coffee by the potful.
Though this was my fifth interview with Keith across a 20 year friendship, and I knew he was as verbose and articulate as they come (i.e. - the man can talk!), there was no way I could have predicted I’d still be serializing this interview six months later! But here we are, since the maximum article length an online reader can tolerate is 1500 words. This one is a little bit more than that, to accommodate this journey’s end. I almost wish it wasn’t over. But who knows? Keith insists he has more to say and wants to talk again soon. Maybe this will just be an ongoing series? “What Keith Morris Thinks This Month!”
But here we are. When we left off last time, Keith was talking about the two times he dropped acid. So it was only fitting that I tell my own LSD tales….