After almost 40 years and 4,000 shows, Joe Keithley is still fighting the good fight against injustice.
The lead singer, guitarist, and sole remaining founding member of Vancouver punk icons D.O.A. will lead "the godfathers of hardcore" into The Boathouse in Kitchener Oct. 11 on the group's "Fight Back Tour," which the band's Sudden Death Records website says is inspired by opposition to Donald Trump and "the forces of evil" who use racism as a political tool.
"Forces of evil are always a good thing to fight back against, and Donald Trump happens to be one of the personifications of that at the moment," said the 61-year-old Keithley on the line from B.C. "The reason why we're doing that is because you have various leaders around the world, or so-called leaders, like Trump and many other countries in Europe or in Turkey and a lot of other places around the world, they're using racism as a phobia to further their causes, and we think that it's time for people with common sense to fight back against that."
Formed in Vancouver in 1978 by Keithley, bassist Randy Rampage, and drummer Chuck Biscuits (Black Flag, Danzig), D.O.A. has since released 16 studio albums amid numerous lineup changes, and their substantial punk rock legacy includes coining the term "hardcore" on their second release, "Hardcore '81." The band — now featuring Mike Hodsall (bass) and Paddy Duddy (drums) alongside Keithley — are planning a new album to mark their 40th anniversary next year. Recent global events have given Keithley no shortage of material to write about.
"There's a lot of fodder for writing songs, it's happening week by week around our world. The world's getting obviously more complicated and a more turbulent place, so that's giving me lots of ideas about songs," he said.
The group is also planning an 18-month world tour to celebrate their anniversary, covering North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Keithley, who studied to become a civil rights lawyer before forming D.O.A., said the group's tours of countries with repressive regimes in Europe in the '80s and more recent tours like their shows in China this summer, have shown how music can be a vehicle for freedom of expression in countries where basic human rights are not a given.
"Artists will always find a way to put out what's going on. You have to be artistic; otherwise you end up being arrested, so it's kind of a skill like that. There are lots of bands in China that are like that — they don't love the system, it's obvious. They're freethinking people that want to live their lives, just like anybody else in the rest of the world. It's pretty fascinating that, as much as the world is dissimilar, it can be pretty similar in places. People want to have rights and they want to have their say."
One of the band's slogans is "Talk Minus Action Equals Zero," a phrase that is the title of both their 2010 studio album and a 1991 live album. Besides the countless benefit concerts the band has played, Keithley has also taken political action by running as a candidate for the Green Party in B.C. a number of times, most recently in this year's provincial election, where he placed third in the riding of Burnaby-Lougheed.
"I guess I've kind of been an informal politician in a sense my whole time in D.O.A. You know, D.O.A.'s given me a pretty good soapbox to get up and yell and scream and sing about what we think is wrong," he said. "But in trying to enter formal politics, I guess it'd be a way if I did get elected that I'd be trying to change things from the inside not the outside."
When asked what keeps him going after almost four decades of punk rock activism, Keithley points to the band's live show and relationship with their audience as primary factors.
After almost 40 years and 4,000 shows, Joe Keithley is still fighting the good fight against injustice.
After almost 40 years and 4,000 shows Joe Keithley is still fighting the good fight against injustice The lead singer guitarist and sole remaining founding member of Vancouver punk icons D.O.A. will lead the godfathers of hardcore into The Boathouse in Kitchener Oct. 11 on the group's Fight Back Tour which the band's Sudden Death Records website says is inspired by opposition to Donald Trump and the forces of evil who use racism as a political tool Forces of evil are always a good thing to fight back against and Donald Trump happens to be one of the personifications of that at the moment said the 61-year-old Keithley on the line from B.C. The reason why we're doing that is because you have various leaders around the world or so-called leaders like Trump and many other countries in Europe or in Turkey and a lot of other places around the world they're using racism as a phobia to further their causes and we think that it's time for people with common sense to fight back against that Formed in Vancouver in 1978 by Keithley bassist Randy Rampage and drummer Chuck Biscuits Black Flag Danzig D.O.A. has since released 16 studio albums amid numerous lineup changes and their substantial punk rock legacy includes coining the term hardcore on their second release Hardcore '81 The band now featuring Mike Hodsall bass and Paddy Duddy drums alongside Keithley are planning a new album to mark their 40th anniversary next year Recent global events have given Keithley no shortage of material to write about There's a lot of fodder for writing songs it's happening week by week around our world The world's getting obviously more complicated and a more turbulent place so that's giving me lots of ideas about songs he said The group is also planning an 18-month world tour to celebrate their anniversary covering North America Europe Southeast Asia and Japan Keithley who studied to become a civil rights lawyer before forming D.O.A. said the group's tours of countries with repressive regimes in Europe in the '80s and more recent tours like their shows in China this summer have shown how music can be a vehicle for freedom of expression in countries where basic human rights are not a given Artists will always find a way to put out what's going on You have to be artistic otherwise you end up being arrested so it's kind of a skill like that There are lots of bands in China that are like that they don't love the system it's obvious They're freethinking people that want to live their lives just like anybody else in the rest of the world It's pretty fascinating that as much as the world is dissimilar it can be pretty similar in places People want to have rights and they want to have their say One of the band's slogans is Talk Minus Action Equals Zero a phrase that is the title of both their 2010 studio album and a 1991 live album Besides the countless benefit concerts the band has played Keithley has also taken political action by running as a candidate for the Green Party in B.C. a number of times most recently in this year's provincial election where he placed third in the riding of Burnaby-Lougheed I guess I've kind of been an informal politician in a sense my whole time in D.O.A. You know D.O.A.'s given me a pretty good soapbox to get up and yell and scream and sing about what we think is wrong he said But in trying to enter formal politics I guess it'd be a way if I did get elected that I'd be trying to change things from the inside not the outside When asked what keeps him going after almost four decades of punk rock activism Keithley points to the band's live show and relationship with their audience as primary factors