Joe Keithley Burnaby City Councillor and Frontman of DOA

This week on One Step Beyond, we are joined by Joe Keithley, who is a Burnaby city councillor and the frontman of the trailblazing Canadian hardcore punk band D.O.A.

Joe grew up in North Burnaby and got interested in politics as a teen. He originally planned to become a civil rights lawyer, but after half a term of university he formed a punk band and discovered that it could be the vehicle for his activism and never looked back. That punk band became D.O.A – one of the founders of the hardcore punk genre alongside other bands like Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Bad Brains.

When in 1996, the Green Party reached out and asked Joe to run for provincial office, he reflexively said no. But after thinking about it, he decided to go for it. He lost that race and several more before winning his seat on the Burnaby City Council in 2018. During this conversation he and Aram dig into how perseverance and sticking to his principles took Joe from fronting a punk band to chairing the Environmental Committee for Burnaby. They also discuss how change takes time, how to effectively work with different types of people, not giving up on your ideals, punk rock, and more!

ON THIS EPISODE WE TALK ABOUT

• Not letting a loss stop you from continuing to pursue your goals.
• The intersection of punk and politics.
• Change through persistence over violence.
• The day to day of a city councillor.
• Working with people with different world views.

Connect with Joe:
Twitter
@joe.keithley
Sudden Death Records

Connect with Aram:
LinkedIn
@AramxArslanian