NEW - He Thought He Was Too Old to Start a Band in 1980. New It’s BeenForty-Six Years and 3,000 Shows Later

Shane Hewitt and The Nightshift · May 28, 2026 · 8m

Punk rock and its community are the subject, and the perspective comes from someone who has been in it for forty-six years. Paul Gott started the Montreal band the Ripcordz in 1980 thinking he was already too old for it.

Seventeen albums, three thousand shows, and a view of punk that starts with the crowd. In punk, the crowd is the show. They are also the promoters, the basement venue operators, and the sixteen-year-olds booking their first gig. Paul Gott recently published a full list of Canadian punk houses.

The genre found a new generation through COVID. Paul Gott says if the Ripcordz were…