Back in 1980, the members of BLACK FLAG were interviewed by punk zine Skitzoid 7.
SS: OK, introduce yourselves.
Person in polyester: My name’s Gary…I play bass.
The tired looking one: Ron, is the singer.
Tall conservative guy: Greg(g?), I play guitar.
Man in hat: Rob.
Greg: Robo plays drums.
(for this interview Greg will be spelled with one “g”. Humblest appologies it’s wrong. Sorry.)
SS:How old is the band? How long have you been together in this configuration?
Gary: Bout two months.
Ron: Explain that.
SS: Were you around before that with different people?
Greg: Uh, yeah. The band’s been together almost three years. Our singer Ron has just been in the band a few months.
SS: How long has the band been called Black Flag?
Greg: We’ve been called Black Flag about a year and a half. Before that we were called Panic. We played a lot of the same songs. We changed the name because there was too many other Panics.
SS: Where’d you get the name Black Flag?
Greg: Well Black Flag is a symbol of anarchy, and that’s basically where the idea came from.
(ah, so not from the insect repellent!)
SS: On the whole, what are your songs about, lyrically? Love songs, or antisocial songs, or…
Greg: Most of ’em deal with frustration, we don’t have any specifically political songs. More general and personal type of songs.
You can read the rest of the interview here.
Photo by Davies = Black Flag l – r Greg Ginn, Chuck Dukowski, Robo, Dez Cadena (at front) – Aug 4, 1980 on Victoria Drive, Vancouver, B.C.
