PRESS

Doug Hell
Point Me to the Afterlife
Hard Love Records
2019

Doug Hell wears his pain like a badge of honour. Having (barely) survived an extremely dysfunctional childhood, and despite being diagnosed as a schizophrenic with major depression disorders, he somehow pulled himself together and found music. As one might imagine, Point Me To The Afterlife does not bubble over with saccharine joy or banal observations. Rather, his lyrics reflect the things he’s seen and done, and they are rarely pretty. This is life in the dark and dirty shadows.

That being said, Point Me To The Afterlife is more of a celebration than a funeral dirge. Mostly acoustic with only light backing instrumentation, Doug’s songs are full of elation and victory. This is a man who knows exactly how bad life can be but has decided not to let sorrow dictate his happiness. Like Tom Waits or Paul Westerburg, Doug has obviously lost a few battles in the game of love, yet his hopes and dreams are still very much alive. This is music of courage—songs that fly in the face of anger and rage. That grief still lurks below the surface, but that’s the beauty of it. Nothing worth having is easy in this world, and no one knows that better than Doug Hell.

Chris Walter
2019

Doug Hell
 Point Me To The Afterlife

The Legend Of Canada’s Daniel Johnston

It’s been a trend in these post-Hot Water Music days where after a band dissolves, a wounded member slinks off to do a quieter, more stripped down (see acoustic) and dare I say, intimate solo project. The lone sensitive singer/songwriter with a guitar strapped to his back has been teenage-crush fodder for years. Let it be known, that this singer/songwriter in question is no broken-hearted-plaid-wearing Brian Fallon. It’s not “great cheekbones-devil-may-care” bad boy Paul Westerberg. This is Doug Hell.

I am not breaking any silence when I say that Doug Hell has lived his own personal rendition of Hell. Clinically diagnosed with schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, Hell bounced around from institution to institution since a young age. Manic episodes. allegations of murder, alcohol and drug dependencies, the Canadian psycho once took a shit in a bag to upset innocent bystanders for fun.

Doug writes songs that are painfully and disturbingly beautiful. Songs that strike a nerve you never knew you had. This is not someone singing about a broken heart. This is someone singing about being broken.

When I first met Doug he sat dazed on a curb in Toronto’s thriving art district, Kensington Market. He had a giant, fresh bloody gash on his forehead that badly needed stitches. Typically, I started the conversation by asking him what happened. He looked up at me with absent, but earnest eyes, and said he didn’t know. You could tell he genuinely didn’t know. He took a sip of a beer he snuck outside from the bar and strolled inside dragging an ugly blue tortoise shell guitar inside to the stage to play. That is Doug to a T. That is his therapy. Not the shock treatment. Not the years of lithium. Not the possibly self-induced wound on his head. The vulnerability of being on stage and airing out his demons.

The Doug Hell we hear on Point Me To The Afterlife  is poetry from a man who is accepting of the cards he was dealt. He’s no longer resentful about them. It’s a love letter to imperfection. It’s a salute to the ones who didn’t win the battle. It’s a Twelve Step Program set to open minor chords. It’s a tip of the hat to those dark, intrusive thoughts we all get but never mention. The man has no fear. He’s not afraid to die and, thankfully, he’s not afraid to live. He’s seen, done, drank, and fucked more than most people can fathom. Besides Daniel Johnston, I can’t think of anyone else who’s been dosed by the Butthole Surfers to such acclaim.

But that’s not Doug Hell anymore. This is Doug Hell.  He’s on the reform. He’s finally been granted his wings and he’s finally flying to the place he’s been dying to be his whole life. He’s found his peace with what the world has dragged him through. It’s all here in songs like “Lonely Suicides” and “I Don’t Think I Love You Anymore” which drip with reluctant but necessary acceptance. On “While I Stand Alone” he challenges the religion, treatments and friends forced upon him during his formative years and mumbles a subtle “fuck you” as if its second nature whenever his oppressors are mentioned.

This is probably some of the most disturbingly honest music I’ve heard, and maybe it’s because I know Doug. He’s not some GG Allin. He’s not posing. He’s doing something so fucking brave that it literally laughs at your insecurities. He believes in the devil. He’s close with the motherfucker. They go way back. In “Illusions” he states “I’m not selfish, you’re just blind. It happens all the time. You’re what I hate about myself. And I don’t need this Hell”.

Point me to the Afterlife is proof that Doug has already conquered Hell. He’s looking for what’s next in store for him. Something positive. Something fulfilling. He’s almost there. Let’s hope he enjoys this new journey because he fucking deserves it.

Brad Manners
School Damage


In a world of diminished expectations, Doug Hell defies disappointment.

Born Douglas David Hill, this unforgiving, unapologetic artist shares his soul with whoever will spare the time.

Carved out of years of mental anguish, Hell’s work exposes the virtues of atrocity encountered during the course of the human experience. His extreme apathy for sensitivity shows us the faces of misogyny, narcissism, violence, addiction, love, dementia, and even pedophilia that hide behind the closed doors of the human mind. This focus has created the foundation of legendary notoriety.

From humble beginnings rambling punk for a variety of outfits, including Radar Hate, and several brushes with quasi-success, including a Lo-fi release of 10 songs on a compilation “I Wish I Had Eyebrows” (2006), our poet brings us the breadth of his reflection in two luscious follow up offerings.

“We Were The First To Bleed With The Poets, And The Psychopaths”(2007)

A lyrically empathic volume comparable in vintage to Cohen. Inspired by self and other abuse, a sonic construct of the spectre between bloody despair (Uh oh) and mythical elation (Messenger). A beautifully brutal expression of utter failing, in gory pseudo-psychopathic detail.

Spotty production values, crafty hooks, and simple metaphors imbue listeners with a haunting sense of their own spiritual weight, and the price of contempt.

“When A Madman Loves A Woman”(2009)

In Contrast to “Psychopaths”, “Madman” is inspired by the gambit between self and other love. His vocal prowess now fully expressed in styles varying between classical(Bloom) and comical(Madman), Hell now takes his every dream come true and finds its waking nightmare.

Borrowing heavily from tradition, comforting sounds and imagery take on the perfume of perversion, melancholy chords pulling vivid images of lust and larceny from your very own brain. He pulls at your every heart string with obvious lies, and frank self affirmations.

Another classic application of Hell’s primitive production ethos, improvised orchestration, and a testament to his mastery of not only the hook, but the grab, and run.

Promising on “Madman” to die by 37, Douglas David Hill is now a man on a mission….

– Anterockstar

 

When Hell freezes over, he grabs a shovel.

Local musician, Doug Hell stopped by The Riot recently to hang out and play live on The Rock Block.

Neither snow nor cold could keep Hell from The Riot. A couple of hours after digging his car out of a ditch full of snow, he was sitting inside the campus studio, talking music and treating listeners to a live rendition of I Don’t Walk the Line from his newest album Going Home to Die.

The album is Hell’s fourth, following When a Madman Loves a Woman. After he broke his wrist last year, the album’s release was pushed back from October, finally being unveiled during a November release party at The Atria Bar & Grill.

“The CD Release, it was great,” Hell reminisced. “The Outbred Inlaws played, The Creeps played. It’s funny, because that show itself, I was more excited about those bands coming than I was that it was my album release.”

Hell said he’s uncomfortable with the digital format of his latest release, available at www.GetBentRecords.com. “It’s strange because this newest album, it’s only being released digitally, and for some reason, I find it very strange to try and sell somebody a card, as opposed to a CD,” he said. “I would feel weird about buying a card to download something, as opposed to just getting the album for it.”

Although not fond of the digital format Get Bent Records chose for his last album, he enjoyed working with the label.
“I worked with some pretty talented people on this album,” he said. “I liked working in a studio, it was kind of nice having somebody else behind the board doing everything, as opposed to me doing it. Everything else, I’ve recorded myself, and I’m rolling around in this chair, you know usually in somebody’s bathroom, or something like that, where there’s good acoustics. It was just nice to go to a studio and have somebody else doing everything.

“It was a little different for me because I’ve always been like a low-fi minimalist type,” he continued. “But this album, it’s a little better produced. I’m pretty proud of the album. It was fun making it, and I think it comes through in the recording, you can really tell.”

Although he enjoyed the experience, he said he doesn’t plan on a repeat performance any time soon.
“I think I’m going to do all my own releases myself from now on,” he declared. “It’s just faster, it’s easier, it gets done the way you want it. Not to sound unappreciative of my last album, it’s just weird not having control. At the same time it was nice too, like I was saying, it was nice to have to not worry about anything, but I’m such a control freak.
“I’m OK with a little bit of hiss and pops in my recording,” he continued. “I think it’s because if they’re in the recordings, you can expect the same thing from me in real life. It’s just more honest. It’s more pure… I like rough, raw production.”

Hell’s website www.DougHell.com describes his music as “aggressive folk for aggressive folk.”

Aside from making music, Hell is also busy bringing music to Oshawa with his promotions company Doug Hell Entertainment. He puts on a steady stream of shows downtown Oshawa at The Atria Bar & Grill and attached bar The Diezel Room.

He recently started throwing regular Friday and Saturday night concerts at The Diezel Room and is always looking for new bands to add to the bills. He encourages interested bands to send him a message at doughell@rocketmail.com.

On top of all this, he’s also agreed to start playing bass for Toronto punk rock band Rehab For Quitters. Next up for Hell are some solo shows in Montreal, Ottawa and Burlington and maybe an American tour with Rehab for Quitters this summer. He plans to record his next album Point Me To My Grave as soon as possible.
Come down to The Atria Bar & Grill and The Diezel Room this weekend, and check out a couple of Doug Hell Entertainment shows.

Maybe if you’re lucky, the man himself will take the stage.

– The Chronicle

 

Oshawa’s adopted son Doug Hill, known as Doug Hell to those that know him best, isn’t just another resident of the city – he’s also its biggest fan.

“I made so many friends in Oshawa so fast. It’s a good place to be.” Said Hill about why he stayed in the city.

Hill’s newest album When A Madman Loves A Woman pays tribute to Oshawa as well as the friends and the woman Hill found there.

Durham college mechanical engineering student and long time local area musician Jason Osborne worked with Hill supplying the fiddle for when a madman loves a woman. “The good thing about playing with him is he sticks to technique. He understands the craft that is song-writing which makes picking up and playing with him really easy,” said Osborne about Hill’s music.

Although the majority of the album revolves around Hill and his guitar, Hill did what he could to involve other local talent. The liner notes feature the names eight other artists including Osborne for their “invaluable contribution.”

“There’s a lot of fucking talent in this city.” Said Hill about his reason for working with so many other people on what is essentially a solo album.

The theme of madness reoccurs throughout this album, in fact the word crazy appears prominently during the first half of the recording on the disc. Hearing Hill play live leaves audiences with the feeling that Hill has battled a demon or two in his life –in fact Hill refers to the song Ajax 3 West as a “trying time in my life,” but if there’s a theme to Hill’s work it’s that through great effort and thanks to great friends a man can beat even the greatest of demons.
The woman to Hill’s madman, Jacyntha Morahan, could be the biggest reason Hill’s songs although raspy and regretful leave listeners with a sense of hope. “We give each other support,” said Morahan. “I know it’s gushy but it’s like we make one person.”

Morahan calls her and Hill’s relationship a “entertaining and head scratching seven months” with a laugh and Hill says that with Morahan he’s been “lucky enough to find love” and he’d be the first to thank Morahan for the effect she’ has had on his song writing . The track Bloom is a slow and borderline morbid love song that explores the depths of Hill’s feelings for Morahan.

Hill will be kicking off an Ontario Tour with fellow one-man acoustic act Mr. Plow at Annies in Toronto on April 25. Hill and Mr. Plow will be making a Durham region stop on April 28 at Johnny B’s in Whitby.

– Dance Of Fools

 

Doug Hill’s local infamy was perhaps confirmed, for better or for worse, with his band Radar Hate.

The band lay on the periphery of the local punk scene with Hill adopting the Doug Hell moniker alongside band mates with names like Negator, Badge and Smiley. Over four years, with one collection of songs – The Stress That Gives Men Wings – Radar Hate probably made their biggest splash at a show they weren’t even playing.

Hell’s band were vehement about joining Amp Records but at the label’s Christmas benefit show for a women’s shelter, negotiations broke down amid what Hell admits was too much alcohol. Allegations of drunkenness, wanton mistletoe kissing and a pulled fire alarm in the local club meant Radar Hate’s reputation as trouble would ripple far beyond that night and getting gigs in Hamilton was a little harder. It wasn’t long before the band simply packed it in and Hell would realize that issues in the band were perhaps more serious with his move to Oshawa to follow a girlfriend.

“I still get a lot of questions about that night,” grimaces Hell. “It led toward a lot of drama and had us pegged as being women-haters because of the nature of the benefit show.

“The Mental Health program out here is better than any of the other place I’ve lived,” reasons Hell. “When I was living in Hamilton, I was shunned because of my mental illness. People never really understood it but out here people seem to have a better grasp of me. I don’t blame Hamilton for not understanding me. The truth is I am just more honest about my disability.”

With the move, a new perspective and some more understanding, Hell struck up a solo career channeling his energies into two CDs worth of acoustic music that bridges folk and punk – coming off as a strange crossing between Mike Ness, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen but with one serious edge. This week, Doug Hell returns to his old stomping grounds with a live showcase for his most recent CD, When A Madman Loves A Woman.

“I have found my voice on this CD,” offers Hell. “I happen to think my sound, although acoustic, is still pretty raw and punky. I think it’s the honesty and purity of acoustic music. It’s just you and your guitar. There is no one else to hide behind.”

These days, Hell is very forthcoming and perhaps easier to get along with. Although new fans might find his 6-foot 4-inch, 240-pound frame a tad intimidating at first he’s more like a larger, perhaps gruffer, Canadian version of Daniel Johnson. Dealing with his own demons, Hell is now reaching out to new audiences and while Hamilton area performances remain a rarity, Hell is working on things to make many things change for the better.

“It’s been tough getting shows in the Hamilton area since the Radar Hate incident but Burlington is a city I have always been quite fond of,” continues Hell. “I love the Red Rooster but most importantly, my parents are going to come out to the show because they live in Hamilton. That will be nice.
“I live with mental illness,” he adds. “It’s something I tried to hide most of my life by being reclusive for the most part. Any interaction I had with people was usually pretty negative. I was not an easy person to get along with. I guess you could say I am offering some apologies on this album, or at least trying to offer an explanation as to why I am the way I am. I don’t hide behind my mental illness, but sometimes people are caught in the cross fire.”

Doug Hell plays The Red Rooster on Thursday May 7 (tonight) with Faded Blue and Mr. Plow.

– View Magazine

What I like about local agitfolk artist Doug Hell is his passion, his honesty.

Hell is a big punk. He’s probably the closest thing we have now to Shwarock personified. This track is a hoot, like a duet between Tom Waits and Oscar The Grouch. Yet, among the items listed, the cemeteries, mental scars, nicotine and zombie movies, there is children’s laughter and true romance. It’s The Sound Of Music redone by Tim Burton. So, Hell is just a scuffed-up softie after all, skipping over the Alps hand in hand with his Maria.

– Oshawa This Week