RIP Doug Donut

Shocked to hear about Doug Donut dying the other day (his mother posted about it today on social media and everyone on the scene has been commented). 

I have heard LOTS of things about Donut, and not all good, but he was kind of an inescapable part of the music scene in Vancouver, and was always all right with me (even that one time at LanaLou's when he kinda aggressively cadged a drink off me, he did it with a certain wit and flair. I asked him what he'd been working on and he held up the beer I bought him and said "You!" Or something to that effect -- I actually forget the exact exchange but I do remember that both of us laughed). Last time I crossed paths with him was a few weeks ago at the Princeton, where Tony Walker was playing in a band without him, and I asked Doug why he wasn't on the kit; he said he'd hurt himself, but he offered me a hug, which kinda surprised me (it's not like I knew him well). He seemed as positive and happy as I've seen him, had a very different vibe to him. Other people on social media have said similar things, that he'd told them that apparently he'd turned some sort of corner in his life, which I hope is true, because I don't think he exactly lived in happy places a lot of the time (Death Sentence were many things but the happiest punk band in Vancouver was not one of them). Apparently it was an aneurysm that took him out. Dead Spots (whom I interviewed here; it's basically the Liquor Kings 2.0, but swap Terry Russell for Randy Bowman) dedicated their opening song to him tonight at the Princeton, a cover of the Stranglers' "No More Heroes," because apparently Donut was a huge Stranglers fan. 

He also always kinda reminded me of Chris Mulkey in Patti Rocks. Which is neither here nor there, I guess, but I don't have a photo of Donut handy, so -- here's Mulkey, see what I mean?

RIP, Doug Donut. ...Now how does one avoid aneurysms, anyhow?