Damian: Farewell to the ultimate punk rock fan

June 15th, 2011

Imants Krumins was simply a punk music fan from Toronto. He was a guy that went to shows and bought records. There are literally hundreds of people like this but Imants did have a few things that set him apart. First was the fact that Imants had been going to punk shows since before punk had even coalesced into a genre. But unlike many others that have seen the various “glory days” of the genre pass them by, Imants never became bitter or jaded. If anything Imants relished meeting new people and finding out about new bands.

I first met him in Rotate This as a young man of 15. I was flipping through the 7″ bin and he recommended that I pick up the Neo’s reissue 7″. Some 16 years later he was still a person I looked forward seeing at shows and catching up with. I can’t think of many bank managers whose idea of an ideal vacation would be going off to Poland, Brazil or Japan to crash on people’s floors and spend their days scouring record stores for new punk bands or music. And it wasn’t like he was a record collector scum type (i.e. ME) because he didn’t care what format it was just as long as it was good.

He was the person I aspire to be: someone who loves music just for the pure love of it. Here is a person who saw the Velvet Underground and bought the Negative Approach 7″ out of the box that still would go out see new bands in sweaty basements. We make a big deal about when people in bands die but the fact is it’s only because of people like Imants who have taken time to support these bands that we get a chance to hear of said artists. Imants was someone who supported my band since the begining and I will never forget that. But Imants had been doing that for young bands for decades.

R.I.P. Imants, the #1 Canadian punk (imo).

On The Wedge this week we will be enjoying a summer night in Trinity Bellwoods with members of Trust, Little Scream and Tokyo Police Club, as well as some dogs, some music, maybe a Slurpee and hopefully have some fun.

@leftfordamian

The Wedge airs every Wednesday night at 10:00 PM EST.

Tags: Damian Abraham, Imants Krumin, The Wedge