mindyourmind.ca caught up with singer Joey Cape of punk band Lagwagon and talked about the loss of the band’s late drummer and friend, Derrick Plourde. Derrick, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and battling a drug addiction, tragically committed suicide on March 30, 2005. His friend Joey tells us a bit about who he was and about some of his struggles, as he knew them. With 8 albums to date, Lagwagon’s latest, entitled Resolve, is all about the life of Derrick, with every single song being about or for him. Written almost entirely by Joey in 2-3 weeks, the album “was therapy”, he notes, and provided him with an outlet for his grief.

Joey Cape is now also in three other punk rock bands, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, the Playing Favorites, and Bad Astronaut. He is also busy working on his first solo album.