OFF! - Interview

So, whilst pottering around the house last Saturday morning, I receive a phone call from a nice lady informing me that I had secured an interview with the band OFF!. For those sadly unaware, OFF! are an American band, playing fast paced and intense punk music, in the vein of classic hardcore punk from the 80s. They're awesome. And they're also something of godfathers of the business, having music careers that are around thirty years old. It's like the band they always needed to be in.

When I got to it, I was mainly speaking with Keith Morris - most notable for fronting Circle Jerks and being the vocalist on Black Flag's 'Nervous Breakdown' EP. He was a very unique character, so much so that he lost me in a few places, it has to be said. Donned with a pair of very large, rounded spectacles and a hat. Occasionally guitarist Dimitri Coats (mostly known externally for being in Burning Brides) would answer a few questions, and bassist Steve McDonald and drummer Mario Rubalcaba popped up here and there. We spoke for about an hour or so in total, the last half an hour (I cut out) was a meandering conversation that resulted in them asking me if I liked certain bands, namely 70s rock icons and me appearing very boyish and having not properly listened to them. There definitely was a generational gap there. But they were awesome guys and I was really happy to have met them all.

As for the show itself, I have to say that, as usual, Trash Talk stole the show me for me. The stage presence of Lee Speilman and his audacity for getting into the crowd and interacting with the audience is always a treat to watch as he's so daring and unpredictable. At one point he pushed through to all the stand-back-arms-folded side of the room and had a chat with people, saying how they paid as much as the guys who were right at the front, they deserve as much attention as the others did.OFF! themselves were really good too. It was the second time I've seen them perform, and I wasn't as mosh-heavy was I was the first time round, but it was good to see them again. Also with the nice context that mere hours before, I was hanging out with them before, one of the raddest bands in the land - and that made me feel pretty darn awesome.

Eliot Humphreys