While a lot of men define themselves by what they do for a living rather than who they are, Paul Gott, frontman of Montreal Canadian punk icons the Ripcordz , defines who he his by what he does. He has worked in journalism for almost as long as the three-and-a-half decades he has been fronting the band.
“A lot of people define themselves by what they do. I’m a punk rocker first, then a journalist. No, I’m a father first, then a punk rocker, then a cat lover, then a pizza eater, then a journalist,” observed Gott, picking up his 10-year-old son Xander from football practice.
“I’m lucky that at most of the places I’ve worked, I can dress pretty much like I do on stage,” he said.
Gott brings the Ripcordz, also including bassist Matty Fortyfive and drummer Alex Roy, to Inferno, Oct. 11. Gott, who has worked in print journalism and with a variety of television stations including Global, CBC and most recently, a new independent TV station Mat TV, a new web magazine and urban culture connection, is excited to take a break and spend the weekend partying in Alberta, playing music and drinking beer.
“To think we used to make fun of television. Life gets in the way, but we still play 25-30 shows a year. We never thought we’d be doing the rock star thing, flying in to play shows on the weekend, ” he said.
“Nobody’s making any money on this trip, but it’s going to be a great weekend,” he said.
“ I’ve been playing punk for three-and-a half decades because it’s fun and because of the girls,” he chuckled.
He noted it has been at least a decade since the band played Lethbridge, but over the years they have earned fans all over the place, who started out as fans in smaller centres, many of whom moved on to larger centres.
“In punk rock someone is always moving or going into rehab or something. A lot of people tend to move to bigger centres,” he said adding he first met a lot of the band’s western fans from cities like Winnipeg, Edmonton or Calgary in smaller cities like Lethbridge.
He has a lot of stories about Lethbridge shows from the tragic like the band’s drummer being beaten severely in the parking lot of one of their shows and the more amusing like a time before GPS when the band got lost looking for the venue in the old firehall, only to find out they were parked outside the building all along.
“Another time we were at a 7-11 asking for directions in a residential neighbourhood and suddenly we were surrounded by three cop cars who told us they had a report of suspicious looking characters, which was us. We just wanted directions out of town and they were happy to give them to us,” he said.
“I always have an anecdote from the Lethbridge shows,” he said.
He noted the band has had quite a few members over the years, but the current one has been consistent.
“Our bass player has been with us for close to four years and our drummer has been with us for about seven years,” he said.
He noted the new members add their different influences to the band.
“We’re still punk, but we play all kinds of different kinds of punk. Matty played in Dead Kennedy’s style hardcore bands before,” he said.
The Ripcordz have kept a very consistent schedule of touring and recording including releasing 15 albums including their 2014 full length tribute to their home town “ Made In Montreal. They have a split EP coming out with Edmonton punk band MSA who helped them get this western weekend together.
They are also working on a punk Christmas album.
He said because the band is always releasing new music, they never fell into the trap of being a punk rock cover band who only plays their old hits.
“We’re always touring with new music. I don’t know if anyone who comes to see us now even remembers songs from the first album,” he said.
He noted his son is a fan of the Ripcordz.
“He also listens to Lady Gaga, so I take the good with the bad. His friends know me as the cool dad, though,” he said.
“He’s only 10, so I’ve got a few more years before he thinks I’m an idiot ,” he said, adding being a father means he doesn’t get to many punk shows.
“I still see crusty punk and squeegee punks. There's a lot of illegal shows along the Sattall. There's an area along the river where like 600 punks live. There shows but there’s no rules.
They make a long awaited return to Lethbridge, Oct. 11 at Inferno with the Reckless Rebels, Royal Red Brigade and the Motherfuckers. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
