Here I am bestowing Yoko Ono with a birthday gift. Only on Facebook!<\/p>\n
I\u2019m going to try very hard to write more, to get out of my own way. I\u2019ve decided to put my novel, The Town Slut\u2019s Daughter<\/em>, back on the back burner for a while. I\u2019m frazzled enough with poetry and performance and need to focus on those projects, my book of verse, Window Seat<\/em>, and AURAL Heather, our first gig coming up in April. I can\u2019t do all of it well and the pressure is too much.<\/p>\n There is much activity on the domestic front as well, with my son\u2019s puberty and puberty fallout. His allergies have peaked it seems, gotten bad, manifesting in a chronic runny nose and cough. We are taking him to an allergist and now trying naturopathy.<\/p>\n Enjoyed a pleasant birthday celebration last Saturday with friends and family, went out for dinner at Blue Eyed Marys. Another Piscean in the restaurant was celebrating too and a local comedian came in on stilts and a fat suit to sing Happy Birthday<\/em>. Made for a memorable evening.<\/p>\n Had a power outage that Monday which threw me off kilter but then rehearsed with Roderick. We are arranging a new poem\/song and have a lot of work to do but it\u2019s exciting, gearing up for our first shows.<\/p>\n I finally managed to complete this questionnaire Vancouver punk rock chronicler Scott Beadle sent to me months ago. Scott is compiling interviews for his upcoming book.<\/p>\n Questionnaire for Ms Haley for Scott Beadle’s ongoing Vancouver Punk History Project: (See my Facebook page for more details.)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong> Matapedia, Quebec<\/p>\n Where were you raised?<\/em><\/p>\n Winnipeg and environs, then Salmo in the Kootenays and Cloverdale, BC.<\/p>\n What were your parents’ jobs, during this period?<\/em><\/p>\n My dad was a jack-of-all-trades, usually employed as a welder or carpenter. He was a very skilled artisan and used to sell wood carvings while in the RCAF, stationed in the Yukon. My mother always worked, usually as a waitress or a cook.<\/p>\n What was the highest level of your parents\u2019 education?<\/em><\/p>\n My father only reached Grade 11 and my mother was apparently forced to quit at age twelve. Her father had perished as a prisoner of war in Hong Kong and her mother was dying of cancer. She stayed home to take care of her four younger siblings and ailing mother.<\/p>\n Where did you attend high school, and did you graduate?<\/em><\/p>\n I graduated from Lord Tweedsmuir in Surrey.<\/p>\n Did you have any post-secondary education? Did you get a degree?<\/em><\/p>\n Two years post-secondary. I studied music at Grant McEwen in Edmonton, then moved to Victoria and attended Camosun College. I never did transfer to university. My family couldn\u2019t afford to send me and by that point I was wrapped up in the music scene, playing and touring.<\/p>\n When did you leave home?<\/em><\/p>\n I first left at age sixteen but moved back in about a year later, then permanently after high school.<\/p>\n Where did you live? <\/em><\/p>\n I lived in Alberta for a while with my boyfriend, then we moved to Victoria, then I came to Vancouver.<\/p>\n What were your major pre-punk musical influences\/interests?<\/em><\/p>\n I grew up listening to my mother\u2019s favourite country music; Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams. I didn\u2019t appreciate it then but now love it as much as she ever did. I sang folk songs, in school and in church, the choir it\u2019s only attraction. I would get very excited donning our robes and making our entrance, usually drifting of to sleep during mass.<\/p>\n I loved the Beatles when I was a kid. I used to hang out at my friend Nancy\u2019s house where we often snuck into her big brother\u2019s room to listen to his records. He always knew and always blew his stack at us. The two of us would covertly take the bus into Winnipeg whenever a new Beatles movie came out and would have been in dire need of Help<\/em> if we\u2019d ever been found out. The first album I purchased was Jimi Hendrix\u2019s Are You Experienced<\/em>? I remember running into the popular girls from school at K-Mart. They wanted to know what I had bought. I reluctantly showed them and their response was, \u201cJimi who?\u201d Then they thought I was really<\/em> weird.<\/p>\n Poetry affected me very much. In high school I started reading contemporary verse due a forward-thinking English teacher who deviated from the curriculum and had us reading bp nichol, ee cummings and Susan Musgrave. That\u2019s when I started writing in earnest.<\/p>\n When and how did you first hear punk rock or new wave music?<\/em><\/p>\n I had moved to Vancouver after breaking up with my boyfriend. My best friend Cathy Cleghorn took me to see\u2014and most definitely hear\u2014DOA at the Windmill. It was a shock though I assimilated it all very quickly. I was ripe for change. Many of our Surrey cohorts were in bands; Jim Cummins, Bill Scherk, John Armstrong, Gord Nicholl and Art Bergmann, whom I had gone to school with in Cloverdale. My boyfriend, Peter Draper, had played guitar in Art’s first real band, the Shmorgs and the three of us roomed together. <\/p>\n When & under what circumstances did you decide to become involved in punk rock?<\/em><\/p>\n These friends encouraged me, especially Cathy and Art. They must have sensed wannabe-ness because I don\u2019t recall discussing my aspirations with anyone. I must have confessed to Cathy though. Punk inspired me. The excitement was palpable, rubbed off. I\u2019m not sure how I met drummer Connie Nowe but through the scene certainly. We rented a house together, converted the basement to a rehearsal space, put an ad in the Buy & Sell and found Christine DeVeber and Jane Colligan. Voila! The Zellots. My first band! I sang and wrote songs. At last.<\/p>\n What did you like about being involved in punk rock?<\/em><\/p>\n The camaraderie. We shared everything; equipment, gigs, rehearsal space, beer and the afore-mentioned excitement, which was intoxicating.<\/p>\n What did you dislike about punk rock?<\/em><\/p>\n The violence. Things could get very hairy, even dangerous. We\u2019re lucky that more of us weren\u2019t maimed or killed. Then the coldness some people\u2014me included\u2014thought they had to evince in order to survive. And be cool. It was a tough time in many ways.<\/p>\n How did other people react to your involvement in punk rock, whether friends and family, or strangers?<\/em><\/p>\n As I said, most of my friends, old and new, were involved in the scene and inciting me to get involved. My family just ignored it though my mother was encouraging. I remember she and my sisters came down to the Buddha once. There was me mum, queen of the blarney, working her charm as usual, and my sisters mystified and overwhelmed though working hard to hide it. When I came offstage and asked what they thought, my mother was thrilled, one sister apparently didn\u2019t hear the question and ignored me. The other observed, \u201cIt\u2019s so loud!\u201d I didn’t bother explaining that the volume was deliberate.<\/p>\n Were you working during your participation in the punk scene?<\/em><\/p>\n Sporadically. I seemed to get a lot of temp jobs. I would show up at work in my clothes and makeup from the night before, always ate lunch by myself! I hated it. I remember moaning one morning about having to go to work and John Armstrong said, \u201cWell, that\u2019s what you get for having a job.\u201d Quite a few punks were on welfare but I think most of us still had a work ethic. We Zellots penned an funny song called \u201cOn The Dole.\u201d<\/p>\n Did the musicians and other punks live together in more-or-less communal situations?<\/em><\/p>\n Sure. There was the infamous Squat of course. Dave Gregg and many others lived there and had converted it into a rehearsal and performance space. The rent was cheap as were the two houses next door where Michael Raycevick and other punks lived, so many I can\u2019t recall off hand. As I said, Connie and I had a large house in East Van near 34th and Victoria that cost $400. a month! There were a row of houses at the other end of Victoria down near Hastings where Mary Mustard, April Porter, Robert Bruce, Cathy Cleghorn, John Armstrong, Mary Jo Kepechne, and many others rented on and off for years.<\/p>\n Who were the most important figures in the Vancouver scene?<\/em><\/p>\n I think we\u2019re all important! A rare breed. It takes courage, and vision to buck the mainstream, go underground but I would say that of course DOA, Dishrags, Subhumans, Art Bergmann, Pointed Sticks have been the most seminal.<\/p>\n The Devices were important to me too because we all got on well, shared billing and empathized with each other, being female.<\/p>\n Bev Davies is heroic I think. We\u2019re fortunate she was there and lent her lens and talents to documenting the scene so diligently.<\/p>\n What influence did Britain and New York have on Vancouver\u2019s scene? <\/em><\/p>\n I would have to say we were quite insulated though Britain was more real to me, at least in the beginning. As monolithic a neighbour as the US is, I was getting more music and news from London then. Lene Lovich, X-Ray Spex, Buzzcocks, Suzie and the Banshees, Gang of Four, the Jam, Elvis Costello, Sex Pistols and the Clash. Musically, London probably influenced us more. Fast. loud. I was exposed to ska and reggae because of the London scene. I loved the 2-Tone groups, the Selecter, Madness and the Specials. Of course, I was listening to Television, the Ramones, Blondie, Richard Hell, Patti Smith. I lived in NYC for a year and became very familiar with the scene. The London sound was raw, the New York bands were stylists, drawing heavily upon that city\u2019s edgy art, fashion, film. Literature. I never found community there, which is probably why I didn\u2019t last long. We couldn\u2019t find an apartment to rent, let alone rehearsal space.<\/p>\n What influence did San Francisco and LA have on Vancouver\u2019s scene? Did you notice any character differences between Vancouver\u2019s and other cities\u2019 scenes? San Francisco was more arty in general, with bands like Pink Section, Club Foot, Tuxedo Moon and the Residents and I think the artist known as Mark Paulene was as much punk as the Dead Kennedys and the Avengers. Target Video and Vale\u2019s Search and Destroy were very influential too. Because of LA\u2019s size though there was a real audience for punk rock. I was shocked to hear punk on the local radio stations, not all, but certainly on K-ROQ and the college stations. The other thing I loved about Los Angeles was all the roots music happening in the post-punk scene. I had almost moved to London but looking back I\u2019m glad I landed in LA. I got a real education. LA is one big roadhouse. There was cow punk like Rank and File and Blood on the Saddle but there was a lot of revivalism too\u2014rockabilly, western swing, bluegrass. I sang in a bluegrass band with Candye Kane called the Country Cousins and our audiences were young like us. I went to hear the Blasters and Los Lobos, listened to Howlin\u2019 Wolf, Joe McDowell, Carl Perkins, Bob Wills, Muddy Waters, Chet Akins, Robert Johnson and Rose Maddox. I loved psycho billy and the bent, twisted roots bands\u2014hybrids\u2014like X, the Unknowns, the Cramps and Gun Club.<\/p>\n If so, why do you think?<\/em> What influence did Vancouver\u2019s late 60s\/early 70s counterculture in have on the scene? Not much as I recall except to provide contrast. Like punks everywhere, we distanced ourselves from the hippies, found them tedious.<\/p>\n I must admit I was pretty confused though the first time I saw a punk. It was not onstage but in a coffee shop in Kits. Like a scene from a western, the Sub Humans\u2014I later discovered\u2014walked in with their leather jackets and spiked hair and the patrons dropped their forks and fell silent. Lately I find myself surrounded by young, neo-hippies. Irritating but amusing as well.<\/p>\n How were issues of class differences or identity issues expressed or dealt with in the scene?<\/em><\/p>\n There was talk of class certainly, and I recall discussing the British who have a more tangible class system. We discussed the insidiousness of poverty and Canada\u2019s old white man network and power hierarchy. As caught up in the social aspect of the scene as most of us were, there existed unrest, protest and frustration with the gap between the rich and poor, voiced not only by the politicized bands but many young punk rockers and musicians.<\/p>\n How were issues of race and ethnicity expressed or dealt with in the scene?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em> How were issues of gender and sexuality expressed or dealt with in the scene? I can recall only one or two gay punk rockers, a couple of lesbians I knew. They were accepted and acceptable of course but there was not much activism around gay rights. AIDS was becoming a huge concern right about that time I don\u2019t recall it being discussed or addressed very often.<\/p>\n Was there a punk community, in Vancouver?<\/em><\/p>\n Yes.<\/p>\n Could Vancouver punk rock be considered a counterculture?<\/em><\/p>\n Certainly.<\/p>\n What role did drugs play in the Vancouver scene?<\/em><\/p>\n Oh, I don\u2019t know. We drank a lot of beer! Certainly there was some acid dropping and pot smoking and heavier drug usage as well though I wouldn\u2019t say it was rampant. I remember doing mushrooms. We found some psilocybin growing in the front yard of the Zellots\u2019 house and Connie made some tea. Wow. I had only eaten them dried before, out in Cloverdale, where every September the farms and farmers were deluged with hippies from the city seeking magic mushrooms. I got too high! I remember hiding under a sleeping bag and watching the deer in the pattern breathing in and out. I was so freaked! Then Karla MadDog burst in and yelled, \u201cAre you STONED?\u201d Maybe she didn\u2019t yell. Maybe it just seemed that way but it was the most hilarious thing I had ever heard. I was laughing my guts out when she turned and left, shaking her head.<\/p>\n Do you identify yourself, in any way whatsover, as a punk rocker today? How would things be different today, if there had been no punk rock moment?<\/em><\/p>\n Very hard to imagine but music would probably be a lot less interesting and diverse.<\/p>\n How would you be different?<\/em><\/p>\n Maybe I would still be living in my comfort zone, a frustrated artist, unhappy, unfulfilled. Maybe. I like to think I would have found my way as an artist anyway but surely, punk rock provided a catalyst.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here I am bestowing Yoko Ono with a birthday gift. Only on Facebook! I\u2019m going to try very hard to write more, to get out of my own way. I\u2019ve decided to put my novel, The Town Slut\u2019s Daughter, back on the back burner for a while. I\u2019m frazzled enough with poetry and performance and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[278,342],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2023,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/2023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/heatherhaley.com\/hh2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWhere were you born?<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\nA lot! The Dils came up and played Vancouver often, hung out with us and were very comradely. Black Flag as well. I became friends with many Californians through Brad Kent who had done a stint as the Avengers guitarist. I moved there too, before NYC, so I knew Chuck Dukowski and Gregg Ginn and Darby Crash, Margo from the Go-Gos, Kid Spike and Karla MadDog from the Controllers. We interacted with the Californians more than with Canadians from back east. There was a west coast circuit. I got so weary of driving up and down the 1-5, pooling pennies to buy gas and arguing over which fast food drive-in to pull into. One time I begged to take PCH, just for a change of scene, and mentioned that it would be fun to go visit Henry Miller in Big Sur. They thought I was crazy. \u201cHenry Who?\u201d I have many fond memories of that time though.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\nSure. Vancouver was an outpost. The punk bands and music that evolved from that era constitute a kind of miraculous conception. There was not much culture for germination, no music scene back then. No clubs, no recording industry, no touring circuit. Not for independents. On the other hand, Vancouver is unique; geographically stunning and it must be some kind of vortex. It attracts people and there is always something happening despite a dearth of facilities, amenities, and audience. It\u2019s evolving, inevitably, and some day it will be a world class city.<\/p>\n
\nLA was wild. It\u2019s so spread out it\u2019s hard to find a core. There were contingents\u2014Hollywood punks, skate punks, Valley punks and beach punks from Hermosa, Redondo, San Pedro. Tough towns. Talk about hardcore. They wore Knuke the Knack<\/em> tee shirts and absolutely despised mod, new wave, and “power pop faggots.” Very menacing.<\/p>\n
\nGeography. History, plus the large populace of American cities provides more kinetic energy and diversity.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\nWe were homogenized, largely white which is not surprising considering our national make-up back then. I think we were unaware, isolated from race. I went to school with Chinese and East Indian kids but never thought about, or was taught anything, about their culture and history. The Canadian government forced the Chinese to pay a head tax, at various times interred Ukrainians and Japanese, shunted native people off to reservations, horribly abused them in residential schools\u2014pillaged their culture\u2014but we have almost always felt morally superior to the Americans with their segregation and race riots.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\nThere was a strong backlash against romantic love, people eschewed monogamy and marriage. This attitude was evident in all the punk rock scenes I engaged in. As I mentioned previously, many people were promiscuous and cold-hearted. I realize now it was posturing, a defensive posture really, a way to circumvent rejection and completely emotionally retarded.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>
\nSome days, yes, other times, no. More and more however, I find myself explaining that I\u2019m \u201cold school.\u201d<\/p>\n