DYS (band)

DYS
Origin	Boston, United States
Genres	Straight edge hardcore, heavy metal, punk rock
Years active	1980s, 2010 to present
Labels	Bridge9
Associated acts	Dag Nasty, ALL, Down By Law, Slapshot, Scream
Website	www.facebook/com/dysboston
Members
Dave Smalley Jonathan Anastas Franz Stahl Al Pahanish Jr. Adam Porris
Past members
Andy Strachan Ross Luongo Dave Collins Chris Foley Bobby Frankenheim Jack Clark

DYS is an American straight edge hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts who were part of the notorious "Boston Crew" in the 1980s, along with contemporaries such as SSD and Negative FX. The group later expanded their sound, becoming one of the first hardcore bands to veer into heavy metal.

Band history

The band released two albums: Brotherhood, produced by legendary punk producer Lou Giordano – a record still held in high regard by fans of hardcore music, which sells for more than $150 a copy on ebay, and DYS, an album that took more of a metal direction than their debut. DYS is considered by many to be one of the first crossover thrash albums released. During their later rock/metal period, live sound was handled by noted hard rock producer Andrew Murdock, who works under the professional name "Mudrock."

Both albums have been re-issued together on CD and in digital formats by Taang! Records (titled Fire and Ice), and Brotherhood has also been reissued on CD and on iTunes in early 2005 by Taang! Records in its original format – with the addition of the Wolfpack demo tape, featuring Hüsker Dü singing back-up vocals.

DYS took its name from the Department of Youth Services, a Massachusetts governmental organization where delinquent youth were housed as well as the Alice Cooper classic "Department of Youth."

Reunion

On August 29, 2010 DYS headlined a reunion show and movie shoot in front of over 1,000 fans along with fellow Boston hardcore punk pioneers Jerry's Kids, Gang Green and The F.U.'s, as well as New York City’s Antidote. The show was in support of xxx ALL AGES xxx, a documentary about the hardcore punk scene in Boston in the early 1980s, produced by Gallery East in association with Stone Films NYC.^[1]

The initial reunion line-up of DYS featured additional guitar player Bobby Frankenheim (ex-Death Wish) and new drummer Jack Clark of Jerry's Kids, Unnatural Axe and Cheetah Chrome's solo band.

Since that first show, DYS co-founders Dave Smalley and Jonathan Anastas have recruited ex-Foo Fighters and current Scream_(band) guitar player Franz Stahl, ex-Powerman 5000 drummer Al Pahanish Jr. and guitar player Adam Porris (ex-Far From Finished).

DYS has played 2010/2011 shows at the House of Blues, Boston, MA, in support of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' 13th annual Hometown Throwdown and in NYC at Webster Hall (formally the Ritz, where they had played in their previous incarnation), Baltimore, Phili, Sound and Fury Festival in Santa Barbara, Rumble Fest in Chicago and the legendary Gilman in Berkley CA. The band has also announced several shows in Norway and Sweden, LA, Toronto, Denver, Atlanta, Seattle, and plan to spend much of December 2011 touring Europe.

On June 23, 2011, the band and their new label - Bridge 9 - announced the August 9th release of "More than Fashion: LIVE from the Gallery East Reunion" on vinyl and Digital formats.

The band has also completed summer 2011 recording sessions with their old sound man (and now producer of note) Andrew "Mudrock" Murdock in Los Angeles. Recordings from these sessions will be released as Digital singles in Fall/Winter 2011. The first being "Wild Card" - coming 11.8.2011.

Post-DYS activities

Guitarist Andy Strachan later co-founded the more rock-focused band Slaughter Shack. Slaughter Shack went on to win the Boston musical contest the "Rumble." After leaving music, Strachan has since converted to Sikhism. His new name is Mahan Atma Singh Khalsa, and he is active as an influential Kundalini yoga teacher in Amritsar, India.

Added lead guitarist Ross Luongo played in the re-formed line-up of Jerry's Kids and started his musical career in Impact Unit, Mighty Mighty Bosstones' front man Dicky Barrett's first band.

Co-founder and singer Dave Smalley went on to sing for Dag Nasty, ALL and Down By Law before founding the Jam-influenced band The Sharpshooters. Dave is a noted newspaper editor and "Conservative Punk" columnist.

Co-founder and bassist Jonathan Anastas became a founding member of Slapshot, writing, recording and touring behind their debut album "Back on the Map." Prior to starting DYS, he also founded the short-lived band Decadence. Their song "Slam" was documented on the legendary "This Is Boston, Not LA" compilation, and later adopted for a long-running MTV advertising campaign titled "Santa, the Man, the Myth, the Slam Dancer." Anastas initially left the music business for college, followed by a career in advertising and marketing.

Discography

• 1983 – DYS "Brotherhood"
• 1984 – DYS "DYS"
• 1993 – Various Artists "Faster and Louder, Volume Two" (Contributed the track "Wolfpack" which was the band's unreleased first demo tape and a live favorite)
• 1993 – DYS "Fire and Ice" (first two albums combined on CD)
• 2005 – DYS "Wolfpack" – "Brotherhood" re-released with the addition of the band's original Wolfpack radio demo featuring Hüsker Dü on back-up vocals
• 2011 – DYS "More than Fashion: LIVE from the Gallery East Reunion" – live tracks from the "Gallery East Reunion" festival and "xxx All Ages xxx" movie shoot, on Bridge 9 Records
• 2011 - DYS "Wild Card" - Single on Bridge 9 Records

References

1. ^ Thomas, Tuesday (3 June 2010). "Gallery East Reunion Press Release". Cambridge Marketing Group. http://galleryeastboston.com/Gallery_East_Reunion_Press_Release.pdf. 

Bibliography

• Blush, Steve (2001). American Hardcore, a Tribal History. Feral House. ISBN 1932595899.

External links

• PMAKid Interview – Interview with Dave Smalley on PMAKid.com
• Suburban Voice Interview – DYS interview from 1993
• Taang Records site, DYS page
• DYS Page on MySpace
• DYS video of "City to City" live on YouTube
• Jonathan Anastas Interview