Transcript of a phone interview, conducted in November, 2001:
Michael Turner: What happened, Joe?
Joe: The gun jammed. Watch the tape, you see a little bit of blood, but that's just from fragments and powder. I spent six hours in surgery and I have some gnarly fucking scars that mean the mohawk is gone forever. The gun fucking jammed. Alright?
That's not what I meant.
Well I gotta tell you, it turns out that they don't just let you go out on tour when you just got out of brain surgery and you're several thousand dollars in the hole to a charity. I kind of had to do the dog for a while, okay? Lie low. Play dead. Hope they leave you alone. Settle some lawsuits.
Plus when you just shot yourself in the head and lived, every motherfucker wants to buy you a drink and ask you about it, right? So that took up a lot of my time, these last few years. That's where the motherfucking 1997 fucking acoustic fucking tour went.
That tour was all Ed's idea anyway. You have to let 'em know you're not dead, he said. Capitalize on the opportunity. I bet he was sorry I didn't die.
Then I had to stop drinking, 'cause I'm on some pretty heavy-duty medication these days. So I started getting the band together. A new band.
Right.
And if you want to know what happened to Hard Core Logo, why we never set the world on fire. Don't fucking ask me that. I never wanted that. It was you people - rock journalists, fucking Canadian nationalist rock journalists - who wanted Hard Core Logo to be the next coming of the Clash. You people, and a certain tow-headed muppet whose eyes were bigger than his stomach.
Me, I knew we were never gonna be in the big leagues. We're Canadian, for god's sakes. The last Canadian punk band to crack the American music market was Sum 41, and I'm surprised they didn't put up an electric fence along the border after that.
So you've got a new band.
Damn straight.
And you're touring North America.
45 dates between April and August.
Where's Billy?
Billy can go fuck himself. No, don't print that, I love Billy. I love Billy, he's great. What's he's doing now? Fucked if I know. Jenifur didn't last long, huh?
[sound of laughter]
He's probably still in El Lay. I guess old punks need to retire somewhere, and LA is a pretty good retirement village.
We're playing a date in LA - he's welcome to come down and watch. Hell, he can come down and play if he wants. All is forgiven. That's your title, okay.
The new band shits all over Hard Core Logo. The quote is: "You don't understand yet, but you will." That's your subheading.
Who are the new band?
These are the most shit-hot folk musicians I could round up. I searched every coffee bar, conservatoire and Irish pub in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. You have never heard of these people but they will fucking blow you away, okay? You don't understand yet, but you will.
So, Joe, folk music?
Hey, all my music is folk music. Music of the people.
This is the first time it's come with fiddles and washboards, though. What do your fans think?
What do my fans think? They think what I tell them to think. Come on, man. It's not difficult. I have been listening to this shit since before you were born. I was a little kid in the 60s and I remember the folk revival. Sexy girls with long, straight hair singing about mining disasters and shipwrecks. That shit is the real proto-punk. Isn't Greil Marcus required reading anymore? Mystery Train? The roots of North American rock are in blues, country and folk. This is the folk. Jesus Christ, it's been done before. The Clash got there in 1978. Joe Strummer got there in 1998, god bless him.
What's the lineup?
We've got a banjo, a fiddle, upright bass, washboard and guitar. If we play at a venue with a drum kit, we might get somebody in to play drums. We're free and easy, you know. We're flexible.
Why come back?
I don't understand the question.
Your band broke up, you tried to kill yourself and you nearly went to prison. Why tour again?
Why do I keep touring?
Look, I know, I fucking know I'm a freak, okay? I am perfectly aware of that. I know I should have a girlfriend and a real job and a long lease on an apartment, okay? So don't try to tell me. I know. It's not that I'm not capable. I could be you, doing your job. Shit, I know how to do your job better than you know how to do your job. But I like to tour, and I like to play, and if I can, I'm gonna. I have to. Everything else goes by the wayside.
This is who I am. This is what I've got. I'm going to die with my boots on.