Joe Keithley

Joe Keithley is a Canadian singer, guitarist, songwriter, record-label founder, and political activist best known as the leader of the Vancouver punk band D.O.A. I, Shithead recounts his life in punk from the emergence of the West Coast scene through decades of recording, touring, organizing, and independent production. Arsenal Pulp Press published the memoir, whose subtitle is A Life in Punk, in 2004. Keithley formed D.O.A. in 1978 and helped connect hardcore music with direct political action, benefit performances, and a durable do-it-yourself ethic. He also founded Sudden Death Records and later served in municipal politics in Burnaby, British Columbia. The book situates encounters with bands such as the Clash, Ramones, Black Flag, and Dead Kennedys within the less glamorous realities of venues, travel, disputes, and keeping a group alive. I, Shithead is therefore both a personal history and a firsthand account of Canadian punk as a musical and activist network.