The Incline Of Western Civilization: Keith Morris And Ned Russin JUST PRESS RECORD

Sometime in the mid 90s, I’m sitting in front of the TV with friends, and on VHS we have both a copy of “The Decline of Western Civilization” and some punk video sampler with Circle Jerks covering The Soft Boys “I Wanna Destroy You” featuring, apparently, Debbie Gibson(!) on back-up vocals.

Keep in mind, I’m maybe 15 years old, but one of my friends tells me - in the pre-internet wisdom sharing way, “You know Keith Morris from Black Flag? That's him freaking out in Decline, and that's him again with the dreads in the blue tux. Dude's crazy - can't believe he's still going!”

Circa 1996/1997, a bunch of suburban teens, connected the dots of their album covers and zines and agreed, “He’s wild, and yeah, he’s old - can’t believe he’s still going.”

Flash forward to about 30 years later, in 2025, and Keith hasn’t stopped. He’s gigging, he’s giving museum tours, he’s protesting. A video of him performing at Punk Rock Bowling in Vegas popped up on my YouTube page and, by the looks of him bouncing around that stage, I see it as proof that this wasn’t ever the decline of western civilization, it was always an incline. An uphill battle, sure, but one he’s never stopped fighting for.

So not only is Keith out there playing shows, but he’s as wild as ever, still has a head full of very long dreads, and somehow, my wife’s helped me convince him to come on Just Press Record, where I’m about to introduce him to the coolest punk-rock-kid-turned-35-year-old that I know, Ned Russin (of Title Fight, and more recently Glitterer, who’s from my home town of Wilkes-Barre, PA).

There’s a non-zero chance that Ned’s oldest brother, Alex, was in the room with me and that box of VHS tapes all those years ago. When I told Alex, “I think I have Keith Morris for an episode, can you convince Ned to do this and also keep it a secret if he says yes,” he made me pledge, “Only if you can get his reaction when Keith comes on camera.”

It takes a whole community to make this happen, and that community traces back to Keith himself.

Alex may or may not have been in that room with those VHS tapes, but he was definitely in that circle of friends swapping our dubbed copies and discovering new bands. My wife tracked Keith down on Facebook years ago over a Gun Club question and stayed in touch because - why wouldn't you?

The three of us are all products of the musical culture Keith helped create, and now we're the ones making sure it continues - in part, by introducing him to Ned, to carry the torch, to prove that the scene doesn't just survive, it regenerates.

Keith and Ned popped up on my video recording program, they share a moment of banter, and then we got straight into it.

30 years in the making, in a way.

The fact that Keith Morris is still going - his latest projects being Off! and FLAG - felt puzzling to me at 15, but now it feels like proof of something essential. He's turning 70 this year, and with Ned at 35 - half his age - I wanted to understand how someone doesn't just maintain their artistic integrity, but keeps creating, keeps pushing forward.

Everywhere I look, someone's declaring art dead - AI is taking over, nobody pays artists, the scene is finished. But Keith f****** Morris is turning 70 and out there touring. Ned f****** Russin is 35 and building something new. They're not apologizing or explaining - they're going.

We covered it all - from hair maintenance tips (looking at our collective locks, you know I had to ask) to legendary venues. We explored The Masque (the CBGB's of LA) and compared it to Café Metropolis (the CBGB's of our small city) and what underground all-ages clubs mean to young artists.

We talked memorable shows - like when Circle Jerks (featuring Flea on bass, ahem) played with Spinal Tap (yes, the movie cast, in full costume), Slayer, and The Blasters. Keith calls it one of the best performances he and that band ever had and you’ll hear it in his voice when he talks about it. We talked about Title Fight at Webster Hall in NYC too. Ned was mainly doing load-in work for other bands at that time, but then they sold the room out and it’s become a bit of a legendary post-hardcore moment.

We talked about friends. Keith talks about Jeffrey Lee Pierce and the trade that helped shape both of their careers (it’s too good a story, you have to hear it). Ned talks about his twin brother, Ben, and all the music they made together, and how they still collaborate today.

We talked about politics, or at least the social fabric response to political situations, as these small-scene adults see it. Keith gave us an on-the-ground perspective on the protests and military involvement in LA (as of early June, 2025). Ned talks about how DC feels in the moment, and how artists are maybe more important than ever.

And most of all, we talk about how artists have to keep going. The title of this post, and the flash I had while talking to them, was - forget the decline of western civilization, this is an uphill battle, and if Keith Morris hasn’t quit yet, why would any of us quit either?

This isn't a grind - it's an incline. And if Keith Morris hasn't quit after 50 years, why would any of us quit now?

This is the Incline of Western Civilization.

This was a dream conversation to capture, let alone be a (human) fly on the wall for (yes, that’s a Cramps reference, and yes, I wore my Cramps shirt just to make that joke).

Special thanks to Alex Russin and Val Zeigler for helping me orchestrate this. Without further ado, THE INCLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION is upon us, and it’s not on VHS, but it’s definitely on YouTube. Watch it now:

PS (yeah, there are a bunch)

Make sure you check out Keith’s book, My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor, subscribe to Ned’s band’s substack (this is so much cooler than band social media stuff), The Glitterer Gazette, and check out Ned’s first work of fiction, Horizontal Rust.

Here’s some classic Keith Morris performing with the Circle Jerks (from “Decline”):

I wish I still had this VHS tape (anybody remember what video comp this would have been on?)

Sometimes I think about how MTV was such a source of information - imagine you heard this but your friends didn’t and you had to pass this on?

You know I can’t give you some classic Keith without giving you a taste of Ned/Title Fight live (shoutout to Feet First Productions for doing so much archiving like this):

And, even better, here’s Ned with Glitterer from not too long ago in Wilkes-Barre (you can find me in the room if you look close)

I wrote a whole post about the last Glitterer album (Rationale) too, if you’re interested. This is the song I keep coming back to with them:

Let’s go out on this funny piece of trivia… Keith almost became a movie star. OK, but not really. Still, the story about having to do this scene a million times = hysterical. Get his book.