The Godfather of Punk and celebrating Hardcore '81 - Joey Shithead of D.O.A

 Originally posted on Barrietoday.com as part of the Scene Setter series (#19 - June 4, 2022).

Many people know that sinking feeling that comes on every time an album you vividly remember buying on release day hits a major anniversary. Personally, I’m not a fan of that feeling. But at the very least, it’s a reminder to play it front to back, and to play it loud. 

Playing their landmark album Hardcore ‘81 in its entirety, with some greatest hits thrown in, Canadian punk legends DOA hit The Queens Nightclub on June 15th. Spanning over 40 years, DOA have released 18 studio albums, sold over 1 million copies, and performed over 4500 shows across 5 different continents. Fronted by “the Godfather of Punk” Joe Kiethley, more commonly known as Joey Shithead, DOA continues to play loud and call for change. 

High School-aged me wouldn’t believe it, but current-aged me had the opportunity to ask Joe a few questions about the band, the album, politics, and more. 

Richard: What is the D.O.A brand and what legacy do you want the band's work to leave behind?

 

Joey: The D.O.A brand has always been “Talk Minus Action Equals Zero”. We try and live by that. If you want something changed, take action. I can’t tell you what that action is but do it. 

 

I think the legacy of D.O.A is being pioneers of punk rock. We were the first band to get behind the iron curtain and play in Poland in 1984. How we got there started with a guy in Poland who wrote us a letter asking us to come and play. Another major tour stop took us to China in 2009. You have to be adventurous. Go play!

 

Richard: 40 years in the game, have there been any good changes that you’ve experienced, and any that aren’t so good? 

 

Joey: When I started out, we were fighting against racism, sexism, warmongers, and greed. 43 years later we’re still fighting against the same things. It doesn’t feel like a lot of progress. When D.O.A started, we thought we were maybe entering a grace period. The Vietnam War ended a few years earlier, people were talking about weapons control, Pierre Trudeau opened the doors to talk with China but now we’re here.

 

Nothing sticks out as a great improvement. Vinyl coming back is cool - it’s the best way to listen to music. 

 

Richard: Are there similarities in your approach to being a musician and being a politician? 

 

Joey: Yeah, basically I take the same approach to politics that I do with D.O.A. Stick to your guns and fight for what you believe in. When I’m at the council table, I have my hair combed and I’m wearing a suit, which some people don’t like, but the spirit is the same. Some people called me a cultural politician and now I’ve become an actual politician. 

 

Regardless of what I’m doing, there are three things I wanted to do with my life: 1) Change the world, 2) Play loud, obnoxious punk rock, and 3) Have a lot of fun doing it.   

 

I originally planned on being a civil rights lawyer. I lasted one semester at Simon Fraser University and then I joined a punk band. The civil rights movements of the 60s and 70s were very inspiring and I wanted to keep that feeling with me and put it into the music. 30 years after I started, I realized that the music my sister played all the time like Bob Dylan, The Weavers, and Pete Seeger - it was the spirit of their music that stuck with me. Especially Seeger.  

 

Richard: Released in 1981, Hardcore ‘81 was a landmark album for many reasons but why do you think it hit as hard as it did and eventually won the CBC Polaris Award for ‘One of Canada’s Greatest albums of all time’?

 

Joey: We wrote that record at the perfect time. It was fun, obnoxious, and honest. All the things we wanted to be. A friend of mine said that I used the term "hardcore" in an interview earlier and our manager suggested that we lean into the term and use it as an album title.

 

It pushed the term into the popular vernacular and gave bands some new space to be creative. The success of the album led to us putting on the first hardcore festival in Vancouver with Black Flag. 

 

Richard: You’re credited with coining the term ‘hardcore’ as a genre. What criteria is there to be considered hardcore? 

 

Joey: To me, it's the uncompromising attitude. It’s straightforward. Hardcore is about saying “This is what we believe in and this is what we are going to do to elicit change.” Now, the term has taken on a life of its own and means something different to everyone. 

 

Richard: Why is it important to play or listen to Hardcore ‘81 front to back?  

 

Joey: I think it's the energy that’s in it. The humour and the spontaneity are real. When it was being remastered, I would listen to it and still think “Hey, this is pretty good”. Sometimes, you get tired of listening to the same tracks during the recording process and it can be hard to go back and listen to them. But not with Hardcore ‘81.  It’s a peak, for sure.   

 

Richard: What other albums would you consider peak albums?

 

That whole era up to ‘84 was so much fun. Before things were too polished or overly produced. It was raw, spontaneous, and fun. A few albums that really capture that spirit are Group Sex by Circle Jerks, The First Four Years by Black Flag, and The Clash’s first album.  

 

Richard: Not to jinx it but D.O.A is the band that never seems to stop touring - do you still experience new things on the road? 

 

Joey: Yeah. We were coming back from Vegas and our GPS took us through a national park on a dirt road and had a very Donner family feel about it. We joked that our fate would be the same as theirs if our van broke down. 

The big thing with DOA is that we want to come out where you are, play, and drive people out of their minds. 

 

Richard: Is there anything, in particular, that would make you stop touring?

 

Joey: Probably not. Eventually, I won’t be able to physically get out and tour but I think that’s still a good 10 years away…I hope. If it's fun, I’ll do it. I’ll know it's over when I walk into a venue and no one is there. At that point, I’ll probably say “well, I had a good run” and that will be it.