In a world that overuses the words “legend” and “legendary,” Keith Morris is a bona fide legendary legend in the world of punk rock.

This is, after all, a guy who co-founded both Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, two of the earliest and most influential American punk bands. And in 2009, he formed one of the best contemporary hardcore bands, OFF!, with whom he has made two blistering albums. (A third is on the way, he said.)

Next week, Morris will bring his longest-running gig, the Circle Jerks, to Bend as part of the band’s first North American tour in 15 years. It also may very well be their last tour ever, though the Jerks have been through multiple periods of existence and inactivity over their four decades together.

Either way, the tour doubles as a celebration of the 40th and 42nd anniversaries of the Circle Jerks’ first two albums, 1980’s “Group Sex” and 1982’s “Wild in the Streets.” (It was initially booked to happen in 2020, but was delayed because of the pandemic.

When you have a legend on the phone, you just get out of the way and let him talk. Here’s GO! Magazine’s conversation with Morris, edited for space and clarity.

GO!: After all these years, does hopping in the van with your band still get you excited?

Keith Morris: I’m having a great time. I’m trying to get my voice in shape, which is par for the course, you know. You’re dealing with muscles, and if you don’t use them all the time, they kind of need to be flexed. So I’m flexing them.

GO!: Off and on, at least, you’ve been doing the Circle Jerks for longer than anything else. What does this band give you that has motivated you to stick with it?

Morris: Well, it’s a love-hate relationship, right? And some really terrible things have happened, but I also have to thank them for making a decision that allowed me to start OFF! And I’ve had a great time with OFF! We’ve done more in 10 years than I did with the Circle Jerks in all those years before that.

GO!: From the outside looking in, you seem like a humble guy for someone who has done so much important work. How have you maintained that humility?

Morris: I just look at my scenario as being a very fortunate guy. When I look at what I’ve done, I know that I’ve played a role in creating a genre of music along with a handful of other bands like Bad Brains and D.O.A. and the Dead Kennedys. And I feel very fortunate about that and the people that I’ve worked with. I consider myself the lucky guy who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

GO!: This tour is celebrating 40ish years since the first two Circle Jerks albums. What goes through your mind when you hear that number?

Morris: I gotta take a step back and go, “Wow! It’s been that long?” I’m just gonna keep using this word: fortunate. We’re fortunate to be able to keep doing what we do, because it’s grueling. The athleticism and the energy that’s needed to do this … you don’t just step up on stage and do it. I gotta stretch and I gotta bend and I gotta do some vocal exercises.

GO!: Do you ever think about retiring?

Morris: I’ve thought about it. And then I started thinking about it a little bit more and it’s like this is one of the things that I’ve picked. This is one of the things that I’ve done for the majority of my life. What else am I going to do?

GO!: Is this the last Circle Jerks tour?

Morris: I’ve been telling everybody that it is. But I may have jumped the gun on that.

What: Circle Jerks, with The Adolescents and Negative Approach

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 2

Where: Midtown Ballroom, 51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend

Cost: $27.50

Contact: midtownballroom.com