Ottawa has been described as “the city that fun forgot,” but with new concert venues popping up alongside dozens of new bands, it seems that the growing punk scene in the nation’s capital is far from suffering.
Zex, a new act to emerge out of the tight-knit community, played their first show at Bank Street’s House of Targ on May 17.
Jo Capitalicide formed the band alongside singer Gretchen Steele, bassist Gab Sex, and drummer Tasha.
“There were fireworks outside, which I thought was really considerate of the city to do for us,” Sex said. “They say it was for the Queen’s birthday, but I don’t think she was even there.”
Despite having no recorded material at the time, the band booked a 10-day tour of the eastern United States. They’re currently working on booking other international dates but nothing is set in stone.
Zex’s next local show will be June 12 at the annual Ottawa Explosion event, a long-running festival that predominantly features underground Canadian punk groups, alongside some international acts.
“We’re playing on the inside stage and have some pretty elaborate plans for our stage show,” Sex said.
Sex said he fell into the local scene immediately after moving to Ottawa two years ago.
“I met Jo when he drove me to a party that I don’t think he even went to and gave me a handful of records from his bands,” said Sex. After directing Iron Dogs’ “Firebird” music video in 2013, he was asked to join Capitalicide’s latest musical exploit.
Capitalicide said Zex is heavily-punk influenced. He recounted a story about how his 12-years-old self discovered punk rock.
“I saw some graffiti on the back of my old school that said ‘punks not dead’,” Capitalicide said. “A few months later, I was looking at dubbed tapes my sister’s boyfriend at the time had. I saw The Exploited’s Punks Not Dead and mentioned to him the graffiti. He claimed to have done it back in the late 80s.”
Capitalicide was then gifted cassettes by D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, Sex Pistols and numerous others. These influences can be heard on their debut single “Savage City,” which the band also shot a video for.
The group’s 10-track debut record, recorded in late May at Yogi’s Meatlocker, is slated for a late summer release. The band has already booked a show in Ottawa in September, opening for influential L.A. punk outfit The Angry Samoans.
Capitalicide said it isn’t difficult to get local gigs.
“It’s a small town. We’re all friends,” he said.
