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Greg Ginn talks current Black Flag lineup in new interview.
After a thirteen-year silence that felt like a carefully curated fade-out on a classic album, Greg Ginn, the foundational guitarist and principal songwriter of the seminal hardcore band Black Flag, has finally dropped the needle back on his story. In a new interview that has sent shockwaves through the punk community, Ginn addressed the current state of Black Flag, a name that has become as much a battleground as a band in recent years.For those who have followed the discordant symphony of competing lineups, Ginn's re-emergence isn't just news; it's a long-awaited B-side to a very public and often messy dispute over the band's legacy. The current iteration of Black Flag, which Ginn leads, exists in a parallel universe to the version fronted by former vocalist Keith Morris in OFF! and, most notably, the version toured by another ex-vocalist, Ron Reyes, and former Flag guitarist Dez Cadena.This schism, a rift as raw as the feedback from a cranked amplifier, stems from a fundamental disagreement over who holds the spiritual and legal deed to the band's iconic four-bar logo. Ginn, who has always been the band's primary creative engine and the holder of its intellectual property, views these other acts as cover bands, unauthorized tributes trading on a legacy he built.His perspective is that of the architect, the one who penned the frantic, jazz-inflected chaos of 'Rise Above' and the sprawling, paranoid epic 'My War. ' From his vantage point, the music was never just a collection of songs; it was a philosophy, a relentless, DIY work ethic codified in the relentless touring documented in the film 'The Decline of Western Civilization.' To hear him talk about the current lineup is to hear a man defending not just a brand, but a body of work that redefined the boundaries of punk, pushing it from three-chord thrash into complex, dark, and artistically challenging territory. The other side, particularly vocalists like Reyes, often frame it as a matter of soul, arguing that Black Flag was a collective, a gang whose spirit lives in its members, not just in its legal paperwork.They were there in the sweat-box basements, getting arrested, living the 'Nervous Breakdown' ethos. This clash is the punk rock equivalent of a Shakespearean drama, a tale of founding fathers versus the foot soldiers, of intellectual property versus lived experience.It's a debate that touches on the very nature of art itself: does a song belong to its creator or to the community that breathes life into it night after night? For fans, this interview is a Rosetta Stone, offering a glimpse into the mind of a man who has chosen to remain an enigma. Ginn's reticence over the past decade only amplified the mystery, making his every utterance now feel weighted with significance.His comments on the current Black Flag lineup are less a set-list and more a statement of principle, a reaffirmation of his singular vision for a band that, for better or worse, will always be inextricably linked to his name. It’s a reminder that while the bars may have been black for decades, the story of Black Flag is painted in shades of grey, a complex, dissonant chord that continues to resonate, unresolved.
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