This Canadian punk pioneer is set for Kelowna gig

They were the heavy political punk rockers from Vancouver who put the term ‘hardcore’ into the genre that took the world by storm in the 1980s.

Vocalist/guitar player Joe Keithley, who is now a city councillor with the City of Burnaby, is the only remaining member of the hugely influential band D.O.A.

They show up to Kelowna’s Upside Cidery outdoor orchard area on September 15 where they’ll let you head bang to your heart’s delight.

Keithley has spent a career advocating for and supporting numerous issues including women’s rights, the environment, and union rights, as well as events against war and racism.

He chatted with Ryan from 104.7 The LIZARD ahead of the show. Here’s an edited version of their conversation.

Ryan: You guys were so heavily political, is it a natural progression to get into municipal politics?

Joe: Yeah, there was a big magazine in England when we first started to travel over there in the 80s and they said D.O.A. are cultural politicians. So, I guess this is natural. I officially got elected five years ago. I take the same approach; you have ideals, stuff that you want to get done. The only difference is instead of a leather jacket and guitar I wear a suit when I’m on stage.

Ryan: You helped invent a whole new sub genre of punk. What’s that like?

Joe: You had bigger bands: The Ramones were pretty big, and The Clash were around, but we started travelling all around North America in 1978/79 and for many people the first punk band they saw was D.O.A. We’d get up there and be fast and furious with our political or funny or outrageous songs and they’d say ‘Whoa, you guys are from Canada, I thought there was only hockey and snow up there.’ I think people credit me for coming up with the term ‘hardcore.’

Ryan: D.O.A. were so influential. Have every heard from any bands who said you influenced their sound?

Joe: One that I don’t think was a great result was, at a [D.O.A.] show in Portland, that’s where Kurt Cobain met Courtenay Love. And that didn’t end up so well.

And I think the early stuff in the ‘Seattle scene’, you know they all had this ‘grunge’ look with the mac jackets and stuff like that. A friend of mine years later said, ‘no, all those guys were really young, and they went to see D.O.A.’ We always wanted to identify as Canadian. So, we got mac jackets with the sleeves cut off or hockey jerseys or hockey sticks on stage. So, with that mac jacket thing, all those people in Seattle saw that and said ‘oh, that’s a good look.’

Ryan: There was talk of animosity between punk and metal fans back then. Was it real?

Joe: That did happen. There was intolerance then ... as there is now. People thought ‘punk rock, what is this noise.’ People were afraid of it, they thought this came from Mars! Oh God, the English newspapers had articles about the Sex Pistols being part of a Soviet plan to infiltrate England with communism.

Ryan: So, what can people expect at the show at Upside Cidery September 15?

Joe: It’s great to get back to Kelowna, it should be a ripping show. We’ll be in fine form.