BeatRoute Magazine B.C. print e-edition - November 2016

A CONVERSATION WITH RANDY RAMPAGE
AND AUTHOR CHRIS WALTER
SUSANNE TABATA
With the closing of punk music venue
Funky’s on Hastings, Chris Walter moves
east to launch his latest book I Survived
DOA by Randy Rampage at Pat’s Pub.
Not driven by money, nor prestige, this
is a self-published writer and owner of
Go Fuck Yourself (GFY) Press, whose
works include music biographies for
SNFU, Dayglos, and Personality Crisis. Plus
such notable titles as Liquor and Whores,
Punch the Boss, Chasing the Dragon and
Beer. Walter is in collaboration with Randy
Rampage, the punk rock original and cofounding
member of DOA who has been
left for dead many times and can be seen
sporting a fluorescent safety vest in transit
to and from work on the docks. There is a
code of honour among men of that era.
That is why it is doubtful Rampage will tell
tales out-of-school to the extent that anyone
will go to prison.
Before talking about the book,
attention is focused on the unfunny business
of US politics. Is it the PC overdose causing
the rise of Trump as most comics will tell
you? “I really don’t know, but something
has gone horribly awry. People are sick
and tired of political administrations that
whip them like rented mules. But instead
of going with far left or moderate options,
voters swing farther to the right. I get that
they’re rebelling against the system, but
how can they possibly believe Trump will
ever help anyone but himself?” And
while Rampage surrounds himself with
progressives, the son of a Socred has
always been a bit lighter about serious
things. “Life is about survival in a fucked
up world. There was Fucked Up Ronnie,
Fucked Up Bush I, Fucked Up Bush II,
raising. His recall is almost frightening
at times. He remembered the name on
a birth certificate that Brad Kent had
brought along as backup ID to cross the
US border! Randy remembered the names
of promoters he hasn’t seen in more than
thirty years. How freaky is that?”
There is a CODE amongst
insiders that certain things don’t get
said. Rampage has taken a bullet on
more than one occasion to save the
reputation of the old guard. “People will
get some of the truth about what went
on with watered-down Jeff Waters and
Politico Joe. There is some crazy shit
that is no one’s business and I will not
tell anyone about it. I just gave a POV
Rampage-style. And I did protect Joe
and some others a bit. I don’t want to
fuck someone over to sell books when
it’s nobody’s business.”
If your name is Chuck or Joe you are
safe. If your name is Cheryl or Jeff, buy
the book. Walter figures it’s “guitarist
Jeff Waters of Annihilator who might
not be too happy with some of his
stories and comments. I have a feeling
Randy doesn’t give a shit what Jeff
thinks because he certainly didn’t pull
any punches, literally or figuratively. He
could have gone into more detail about
his drug use, but he went deep enough,
and I know he isn’t proud of that part
of his life. Overall, I was satisfied that he
told the full story.”
“I wasn’t protecting Joe, but I
wasn’t out to hurt him either. Randy
told the stories he wanted to tell, and
Joe might not like all of them, but there
isn’t anything in the book that will send
him to jail. I never allow subjects to
settle scores in print because I don’t think
readers find that interesting. It’s one thing
and now Fucked Up Donald. Did my
generation create Donald Trump? No,
he created himself. And we are due for
a shake up. That’s the appeal of Trump.”
Rampage continues, “We were
wanting to do something about the
world but not knowing how to put it
together. Our hearts were there but we
didn’t know how to go about getting
social change. We were all dreamers
like all outsiders are. Now I know if
you don’t do something about it, it can’t
change. So vote.” Walters interjects,
“Most of us lucky enough to still be
alive are starting to realize we’re not
bulletproof and that maybe we should
take it easy just a bit. Nowadays, we’re
losing the old crew to things like heart
attacks and other health-related issues.
Ultimately, I see us as idealists that
slowly acknowledged we couldn’t save
the world from people like Trump. Like the
hippies before us, we gradually assimilated
into society, gathering occasionally at
shows featuring musicians older than our
parents were when we first steered away
from the mainstream. Perhaps I’m being
too harsh. I know a lot of very talented
and creative people, and the punks
in my circle are fairly intelligent. I can
tolerate all manners of bullshit, but I
have a limited threshold for stupidity.”
Let’s change the subject.
Being a DOA fan, Chris Walter
would have done a book on DOA but
Joey Shithead wrote it himself. “I figured
Randy would be more forthcoming
anyway, because he doesn’t have to
worry about a political career and
doesn’t have family to offend. I’m glad
we did the book. Randy’s memory is
surprisingly good and his stories range
from extremely funny to absolutely hairto
acknowledge problems and difficulties,
but another entirely for subjects to behave
like US presidential candidates. Who
wants to read that shit?”
“I know about punks, drunks,
junkies, and whores, so it only makes
sense to write about that. However, I try
to keep it fresh by combining the novels
with music biographies and memoirs, as
well as my recent foray into ghostwriting.
My next book, Tales From the Tattoo
Shop, will also be non-fiction. I wish I
could stick entirely to fiction because it’s
so much fun to write, but non-fiction
keeps me off the welfare line.”
If the world ended tomorrow for
Chris Walter, “In the smoking rubble of
Vancouver, under the bloated, rotting corpse
of a corporate banker, search-and-rescue
robots will find a copy of Mosquitoes &
Whisky, the pages glued together with
putrefied body fluids. Steel fingers will
pull the paper apart and the robot will
send a photo to human controllers safe in
a bunker somewhere. The words will read:
‘The house was a thousand miles distant.
I set off in a staggering gait, drooling bile
and lurching badly. Somehow, I made it up
the steps without my head falling off. I’d
never been so brutally hungover.’” Not to
mince words, Rampage, whose partial
remains are to be dumped over the
30 foot pool in Lynn Canyon finishes
with, “I came, I saw, I died. If you want
a straight forward honest rock ‘n’ roll
story from the bottom…that’s what this
is. And I’m proud of Chris.”
Chris Walter and Randy Rampage will
be reading from the book in an intimate
evening at Pat’s Pub on Hastings Street
(at Dunlevy) November 11, Armistice
Day, 8 p.m. onwards.
November 2016 15