Doug Donut- The Original Punk Legend

By Keir Nicoll

Douglas B. Proulx, also known as Doug “Donut”, is an Original Punk Rock Legend – from Vancouver, B.C, as many of the most seminal and important ones were, back in the seventies and eighties, when the genre was being invented and even up until now, in the modern-day, where more contemporary influences are offered. Most notably, perhaps, Proulx played in famous punk/hardcore/crossover pariahs and paragons, Death Sentence, who offered something of a darker side to the already notoriously bleak Punk idiom. Reading on a Death Sentence fan page, revealed a great deal of information, regarding the band, that Proulx confirmed, in a compelling interview, for Citrus Magazine. 

Proulx was born in North Vancouver to a mother who, at 17, was already a huge fan of music and surrounded Doug with it from his early days. He was getting Led Zeppelin albums the day they came out. They hit Ladysmith on Vancouver Island and then Doug moved to Nanaimo, where he was playing in a Top 40 band when he first heard Punk-Rock Music. He said “fuck this” to his modern rock band and moved to Vancouver, to be a part of the scene. He had heard about Death Sentence, who had formed in 1982. Proulx moved to Van in 83 and into a downtown punk bastion, whereby he then came to meet Death Sentence. He went out with a friend in a van, to a house in East Van, where they noticed someone pulling out in a car. When they arrived inside, they found out they had “literally punched the drummer, out of the band, because he was kind of a nerd,” says Proulx. So, he jumped on drums and did “Planet Claire” as he knew it and then he was instantly in the band. They played a show two days later locally and then they were touring in California, within a week. 

As for their debut album, Not A Pretty Sight – it was recorded and mixed in three-and-a-half days, in a basement in East Van. Its production is clear and powerful, with potently dark undertones. The album is fast-paced, high-energy music, clamouring drums and searing, searching vocals, and lyrics. Clashing cymbals and caustic guitars, with clear demarcations of sounds in their music, as they move from one part or structure in the song to another chorus, verse, or interlude. They are burning-hot, punk music. 

They infamously lost the Shindig competition in 84 to Nerve Tubes, who are The Odds – i.e. Steven Drake – at the Savoy Pub, and a riot ensued, wherein beer-steins, were being tossed and smashed against the walls. “Hutch” who was there doing sound, as he has been known to do for Queens of the Stone Age, said to Proulx that he'd never do punk sound again, after that. Nevertheless, Death Sentence won second place and with their winnings, recorded. 

“Henry Rollins was a bit of an asshole, an adorable one though. ”

They toured with Black Flag, Bad Brains, D.O.A. Proulx says, “The thing with punk rock is you had access to your heroes right away.” He was sharing a stage with the Dead Kennedys, Husker Du, G.B.H. He talked to Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins. He says Black Flag was “so good back then.” Of Rollins, who he toured with, he said, “He was a bit of an asshole,” as anyone who has watched one of his interviews, can attest. An adorable one, though. D.O.A. especially helped out the group, which was amazing. The scene supported during those golden days.

Death Sentence are known for powerful, enigmatic, explosive music,, and it's full of societal reaction to urban surroundings and shock value. D.O.A.'s “Let's Fuck,” is a good example of this kind of song. Proulx wore a shirt that said “Fuck Bus Nazis Who Charge Me For My Fake Bus Pass,” a great example of subversive 1980’s Vancouverite behaviour. 

They were political in the Regan era when skinheads were running around waving Nazi flags. Doug expresses his extreme anti-fascist posture and notes that they were targeted by them. He says, of course, he cannot tolerate anything like that. 

The band itself was a melodic punk group. Doug says that they got really good, as they really actually practised. Not thrashy but melodic like D.O.A. and their huge influences – The Stranglers and G.B.H. They're from that community, and you can hear it in the musicianship of their recordings.

Asked about what it's like to be a Lakota-Metis in a predominantly White Suburban Punk community, Proulx talks about how he started to get to know his own 'Metiness' when he became a host, cameraman, producer of his three TV series that were syndicated nationally (Beyond Words, MY-TV and Amy's Mythic Mornings) on the Indigenous channels in North-America. He says, of the community, that Mike Adolph, who plays in the Dayglows, is from Lillooet. There are some straight-out racist people, too and it's shocking when they're dark-skinned but that it's hard to say what the punk scene accomplished, in that regard. There are a lot of indigenous people who loved it and a lot of diversity was embraced in the punk scene. There were weird things like Black Skinheads, too. But, Proulx says, being Metis, you really know not to take shit and catch people on their bullshit. “It's a blessing, being Indigenous,” says Proulx. 

Now, Proulx reveals, there is a whole new Death Sentence album being written. There is some history here. Proulx left the band in 88, and the band folded soon thereafter. The original members were Pete “Cleaver, Puke, Nipplehead” Keller, Tim “The Doc” Challenger, Doug “Donut” Proulx, and Syd “Gimme Max” Savage, in early 1984. There were two shows in 1994, at an art bar, which were recorded, close to when Pete died. The remaining members reformed in 2001. They have continued working. Betty Bathory, who is now his female singer in the band and “Knows Pete better than Pete.” Proulx thinks a lot of musicians should be on the new 'compilation like album. Plus, he wants to keep the band name going, as everyone still gets royalty cheques. 

“It’s not cool to judge people for their addictions”

Asked about what it's like operating around the peripheries of drug use, Proulx describes how Dan Scum, from PowerClown, got arrested for trying to get speed in Japan and he got eleven years, which is brutal. He says, “It's not cool to judge people for their addictions.”

Proulx says he is still playing as a band member, despite Covid times. The Rubes is an All-Star local band he has been working on lately, for kick-ass, fun times. All of the members of the bands in the punk community have had “nick-names” as, for example, Joey “Shithead” Keithley of D.O.A., is infamously known. They made up their own nicknames and Doug's original one didn't stick so it became “Donut”, which isn't bad because if you called someone a genius, you knew they were as blunt as a bag of hammers. The guys in the bigger bands were his close friends and mentors, he says. It's a 'Punk-Rock Thing'. It's a close-knit scene. 

For a time, Proulx moved down to L.A., down where he says it was ultimately, fantastic. He was in San Fran first, and jammed with the amazing pre-Grunge scene, all over California, with members of Circle Jerks, Fishbone, and Tool, to name a few. “All the jams were so cool,” Proulx says. He joined a really talented band called the Pasties, who were gonna get big and huge but then it didn't work out, after having worked on it for five years. It was “Tear your face off almost metal,” says Proulx. At the time, he recalls wearing 'Grunge' shirts that said 'Fuck Seattle'. They almost signed to Geffen and their only CD is up on YouTube and “still stands up.”

Donut has founded and played for a slew of tribute bands in his 40-year career, including Blondie, The Damned, Cheap Trick, Bad Brains, Angel City and B52's (drums). He also founded Canada's only Stranglers tribute, “The Manglers”, which still plays. He says, “Singing and playing the guitar in that is great for my songwriting.” 

Now, he says he hasn't listened to Hardcore Punk other than Bad Brains in a while. People had said 'keep the politics out of punk music' and of course, Proulx says, “It's like, 'Fuck You'”. Obviously, Punk is a Proto-Political inchoate community. He notes, “The fucking Clash is political.” When people are like, “The politics are so tiring,” Proulx says, “Well, give up, then.”

The conversation ends with an admission of both Interviewer and Subject having listened to Metallica in the previous day. Master Of Puppets, for the former, Ride The Lightning, for the latter. We both agree that things became too produced, after 'Ride'.

Death Sentence has been described as variously, 'streetwise, raucous rock, no bullshit songs against authority.' They are often about the underground escapist drug/party world of the Vancouver set. They are known to have fast delivery and extremely loud live performance. Douglas B. Proulx, AKA, Doug “Donut”, is well-spoken in his delivery of the intricacies and nuances of the punk scene in the past fifty years. It was an informative and illuminating discussion. Check out Death Sentence on stage, off stage, or on YouTube. This content will fill the void you didn’t even know existed.