D.I.

Infobox musical artist
Name = D.I.


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = United States
Genre = Hardcore punk Punk rock Skate punk
Years_active = 1982-1995 1997-present
Label = Suburban Noize Records
Associated_acts = The Adolescents Social Distortion
URL = [http://www.diunderground.com/ Official Website]
Current_members = Casey Royer Chckn Clinton Eddie Tater Joey Tater
Past_members = Tim Maag Rikk Agnew Alfie Agnew John "Bosco" Calabro Mark "The Kid" Cerneka Sean Elliot Michael Calabro Fredric Taccone Hedge Dan Colburn Derek O'Brien John Knight Stevie DRT

D.I. (frequently written as xDxIxwho) is a Southern California punk band featuring ex-Adolescents and Social Distortion drummer Casey Royer on vocals. Royer formed the group after he and former Social Distortion original member Rikk Agnew, left the original Mike Ness crew.

Since forming in 1982, D.I. has had many line-up changes and Royer has been the only constant member of the band. The band once broke up and reformed, sometimes with former members of The Adolescents and Social Distortion (including the Angew brothers Rikk and Alfie). During their years of touring and recording albums, D.I. never gained a large mainstream success, but they have influenced many of today's later punk groups, including F.T.E.cite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.myspace.com/ftesk8rock | title = F.T.E. at Myspace | format = HTML| work = MySpace.com | publisher = | accessdate = February 19 | accessyear = 2008] , Face to Face, Guttermouth, Jughead's Revengecite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.myspace.com/jugheadsrevenge | title = Jughead's Revenge at Myspace | format = HTML| work = MySpace.com | publisher = | accessdate = February 19 | accessyear = 2008] , The Offspring and Pennywisecite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.punkrockers.com/Pennywise | title = Pennywise's Profile at Punkrockers.com | format = HTML| work = Punkrockers.com | publisher = | accessdate = March 18 | accessyear = 2008] .

History

D.I. was formed in 1982 and combined the Orange County punk sound with a decidedly gothic style on their debut self-titled EP. The EP featured five songs including "Richard Hung Himself" (originally written by Casey Royer while he played for the Adolescents, recorded it with the Adolescents to later re-record it in D.I. ), "Venus De Milo," "Reagan Der Fuhrer," "Purgatory," and "Guns". This EP was later reissued as Team Goon with extra tracks including versions of Gary Glitter's "Rock & Roll Part II" and Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge". Their first proper album "Ancient Artifacts" was a more straight ahead Orange County sounding album that included new versions of "Guns" and "Purgatory" from the EP.

D.I. released two more albums "Horse Bites Dog Cries" (1985) and "What Good Is Grief to a God?" (1988). Before recording sessions for "What Good Is Grief to a God?" commenced, guitarist Rikk Agnew left D.I. in 1987 to pursue his career with the Adolescents and released two more albums ("Brats in Battalions" and "Balboa Fun Zone") before splitting up. Rikk was replaced by Stevie DRT. D.I. released their next album "Tragedy Again" in 1989. After that, the band remained silent.

Generally considered their best studio album, "Horse Bites, Dog Cries" is seen as a continuance of The Adolescents famed Blue Album, with fast punk guitar riffs and vocals that suggest the hopelessness of a punk in Orange County, like the Agnews and of course Casey Royer. Tracks like "Johnny's Got a Problem", "Youth in Asia", "Imminent War" and "Hang Ten in East Berlin" demonstrate the band's real motives on this classic record.

A live album, "Live at a Dive", was released in 1993. After Stevie DRT left the band, original drummer John Knight rejoined and their fifth album "State of Shock" was released in the following year. Following the release of that album, D.I. went on an extended hiatus from 1995 to 1997. The loss of their record label soon followed by members of the "State of Shock" line-up involved with their various other activities, leaving the group unsure of whether or not they would continue recording and performing. After two years on hiatus, D.I. headed back into the studio around 1997 to record what would be their follow-up to "State of Shock" and shopped them around to labels but nobody was interested.

Numerous line-up changes went on before they had their current line-up, consiting of Royer, Chckn (guitars), Clinton (guitars), Eddie Tater (bass) and Joey Tater (drums). As of this moment, Royer would become the only constant member of the band. D.I. had continued touring since then and "On the Western Front", their long-awaited sixth studio album, was finally released on August 14, 2007.

Line-ups

Trivia

*The initials D.I. have no meaning. Casey Royer (singer / founder) is actually humored by all of the "what it stands for" thing. Many popular guesses include "Drug Ideology", "Dick Insertion" and "Doggy Intercourse" (the popular D.I. logo actually shows a dog in a mounting position). It is noteworthy, however, that D.I.'s publishing name is Damned Immature.
*D.I. should not be confused with the Thrasher Magazine skate-rock band Drunk Injuns or The D.I.s.
*The American thrash metal band Slayer covered "Spiritual Law" and "Richard Hung Himself" on their 1996 album "Undisputed Attitude".
*D.I. played "Richard Hung Himself" live in Suburbia, a film by Penelope Spheeris
*D.I. played a few songs in the adult film Little Runaways, released by Punx Productions.
*The band also recently appeared on Discovery Channel's Monster Garage, and that D.I. is the host of the show's favorite band.

References

External links

* [http://diunderground.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/diunderground D.I.] at MySpace
* [http://deviantnation.com/magazine/article/Band/D.I./ 2007 Interview with Casey Royer on Deviant Nation]