were doing originals

[Vladv1]

"Overkill bassist D.D. Verni on the first Overkill originals: I graduated from high school in ‘79, and we were doing originals, but we were still a punk band then. Probably right around ‘81, I would say, we started writing originals. That’s when we had “The Beast Within” and “Raise the Dead” and “Overkill.” Somewhere in that range; I would say probably ‘81. But our first thrash song? That we wrote? We didn’t even know what we were doing, but looking back on it, what we were just trying to do was write heavier."

Caught In A Mosh, by Martin Popoff.

First he says they were doing originals in 1979, then he says around 1981 they started writing the originals. So is it 1979 or 1980 when they started writing the originals?

 

[Skrej]

It seems the speaker isn't sure of the exact date himself. However, it's possible that by 'doing' originals he meant they were merely playing original songs written by others (although that seems like those would be covers), and by '81 they were actually writing their own originals.

He's also discussing several different genres, so perhaps the different dates related to originals in different genres.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's possible that the "originals" in 1979 were written by someone else but had never been performed or recorded by anyone else, in which case they wouldn't be covers. I agree with Skrej that by 1981 they were writing their own songs.