The Tim “Napalm” Stegall Substack Interview: Keith Morris, Part Two
The second installment of our Q-and-A with one of punk’s greatest frontmen finds him cynical about the January 6th hearings and explaining the economics of taking the reactivated Circle Jerks on tour.
Keith Morris and Greg Hetson onstage in the day. (Pic: Ed Colver)
Since beginning this magnum opus on Oct. 21, three recent developments have transpired in the life/career of Keith Morris, one of punk rock’s greatest natural resources. First came the announcement that the first leg of OFF!’s North American tour – Oct. 24 in Phoenix to Nov. 18 in Minneapolis – was canceled after drummer Justin Brown was hospitalized due to a “non-COVID-related emergency.” All December dates for the ferocious old-school punk powerhouse will be played as scheduled. Let’s all wish Justin a speedy recovery.
The second was the death last week of classic Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro, who appears as OFF!’s drummer in the upcoming Free LSD motion picture (but not on its attendant soundtrack album, out now on Fat Possum Records; review soon). Peligro completely elevated the DKs’ game when he joined after the groundbreaking Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables album, recently remixed (albeit not very well – review forthcoming) by Chris Lord-Alge for Cherry Red Records. Here’s Jello Biafra’s touching Peligro remembrance from Facebook.
Finally comes word that the beloved hardcore pioneers Morris will always be most associated with, the Circle Jerks, only have three more dates this year – December 29, Fresno, CA at Strummer’s; December 30, Ventura, CA at Majestic Ventura Theater with TSOL and Scowl; and December 31, Las Vegas, NV at Michelob Ultra Arena, with Misfits and Tiger Army. The Facebook announcement ends “P.S. – Where should we play next?” Which contrasts greatly with September’s admonishment that it may be another 15 years before we see the CJs again. Keith addresses this, among other topics from within the band, in Part Two of our 90 minute conversation from this past August, resuming from where we left off in Part One: His idea that the Super Bowl halftime show become a rather grisly “teachable moment,” a notion guitarist Greg Hetson found objectionable.