![Interview - Keith Morris: The Creator
One of the first punk rock vocalists I ever heard was Keith Morris. My brother gave me Circle Jerks’ Group Sex on vinyl when I was a teen, it was one of the records that was my gateway into punk rock. Later on I’d pick up Black Flag’s Nervous Breakdown EP and over the years amass quite a collection of Keith’s work with all of his bands – most recently I’ve added latest musical project Off! In the week just passed Off! Played two amazing shows in my hometown of Brisbane. Keith was kind enough to speak with me for my Conversations With Punx project. Here’s a little snippet (we talked for over an hour). The full conversation will feature in the next zine in the CWP series (which I’m putting together at the moment). This conversation means a lot to me, Keith is one of the loveliest people I’ve met in punk rock. I’m so stoked that at 56-years-old he’s creating even more than ever—it’s truly inspiring!
You’ve been working on a book and a film. Can you tell me about them?KEITH MORRIS: I’ve been working on the movie for about five to six years. I probably started working on the book about two years ago.
Is it fiction or non-fiction?KM: The book is: Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Off!, working for a record company, working at a restaurant, working for The Commodores – you know The Commodores?
Yes!KM: Slippery When Wet, (She’s A) Brick House. The movie is my take on the Wizard of Oz.
Wow! That’s like my favourite movie ever!KM: Well you know how the Wizard of Oz starts in black and white and when Dorothy and Toto get to Oz everything becomes beautiful and all of the colours are bright well my story is the Wizard of Oz upside down.
That will be amazing! I’ve heard that you’ve talked to Josh Homme from Queens of the Stoneage and Chris Goss [Masters of Reality] about working on the film score?
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![Interview - Artist Sonny Kay: Valuing Creativity, Psychedelics & Giving Voice To Ideas That Go Against The Grain
Sonny Kay is without a doubt one of my favourite visual artists. Words will not do when it comes to his work; it needs to be experienced for oneself. Every time I look at one of his works my understanding of it evolves a little bit more, I find myself coming back to the images time and time again as inspiration for my mind and food for my soul—they remind me of the pure potentiality of life. Sonny is the art director for Rodriguez Lopez Productions and has created tee designs and album covers that complement the musical dialogue of artists such as long-time friend Omar Rodriguez Lopez, one of my favourite bands Le Butcherettes, the kick ass Zechs Marquise and more.
Art-wise, what are you currently working on? And so far, how do you feel about it?
SONNY KAY: Right now I’m finishing laying-out new albums for Good Old War and The Mars Volta. The GOW project is more a matter of assembling parts that the band provided, whereas the Volta thing consists of original art I created for it, and now I’m in the process of adding lyrics, etc. So basically two different approaches. They’re both a good challenge, but of course the ones that utilize my own art feel more personal.
Previously, when asked about your artwork and the evolution of your album cover designs for Omar [Rodriguez Lopez] you have said, “I find my thoughts dwelling more and more on concepts of multi-dimensionality and what might be called the fabric of reality.” I wanted to ask you, what was your first introduction to these concepts? What first sparked your interest in these ideas? Have you ever personally experienced something that you perceived to be this?
SK: I suppose my earliest introduction to this kind of thing would be via people like George Harrison and Timothy Leary, all the sort of figureheads of 1960’s psychedelic awareness. I always had a kind of passing interest in psychedelic poster art, and that kind of thing, but more from an aesthetic point of view. I managed to completely avoid hallucinogens until well into my 20’s. Then about ten or eleven years ago I had my first bona fide “psychedelic” experience after taking a double dose of psilocybin mushrooms in Japan. I came away from that with the explicit understanding that there are dimensions of consciousness I could never have begun to imagine. And so from that point on I began reading everything I could get my hands on about hallucinogens, and more specifically, entheogens such as DMT. When I finally had the opportunity to try it myself, I was prepared for it in a way that I felt put me at an advantage over someone just happening upon it at a party or something. I felt like I’d primed myself intellectually. But nothing could have prepared me for the total sensory overload of it, nor the depths of astonishment possible that you just can’t imagine.
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Conversations with Bianca Interview: Le Butcherettes’ Teri Gender Bender
My interview with Le Butcherettes’ Teri Gender Bender…enjoy! :)
I’ve listened to Le Butcherettes practically every single day since I first discovered them last year. There are not many bands that have made my daily playlists, especially so quickly. I get the same feeling listening to Le Butcherettes’ Kiss & Kill and Sin Sin Sin records as I did when I first discovered Hole’s Pretty On The Inside and Live Through This as a 15-year-old. Le Butcherettes have become a really important, special band to me in the same way Hole (the real Hole with the Love/Erlandson combo) is. All the things that I love about Hole frontwoman Courtney Love – the intelligence, the love of literature and culture, the introspection and commentary of the female experience in the world, the strength, heartfelt soulful lyrics, musicianship, powerful live shows – I find again in Le Butcherettes’ frontwoman Teri Gender Bender. Le Butcherettes are a band that matter.
TERI GENDER BENDER: I’m nervous because my answers always suck!
No, they don’t! Every interview I’ve ever read with you is so incredibly thoughtful. You answer every question with such grace and no matter what is asked you always answer it really considerately.
TGB: That’s probably because the writer made it sound thoughtful.No way. You’re selling yourself short lady.
TGB: Thank you, you are very kind [laughs].I wanted to start by asking, what does music mean to you?
TGB: Honestly, it means [pauses] aw fuck, it just means so much to me. All these words want to come out but my throat stops them—the act of living and doing, that’s what music means to me. Being able to express oneself, even when you’re not playing it, the act of listening to it makes me feel so alive. It makes me feel like I can do anything, that I can conquer any man or any animal – that I could just go up to any bear and just hug him. Maybe that might not be the case but to me, music is just a big part of my life. Thanks to music, it prevented me from being depressed, or when I was depressed music helps lift my spirits up. I guess it has something to do with the vibes, the vibration, maybe some kind of molecules; I’ll go along with it. Its medicine, music is medicine.
