D.I. | |
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| Origin | Fullerton,California |
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| Years active | 1981–present |
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| Spinoffs | X-Pistols |
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D.I. is an Americanpunk rock band formed in 1981 inFullerton, California. It was founded by vocalist and primary songwriterCasey Royer, after previously playing drums in the bandsAdolescents andSocial Distortion.
Since its formation, D.I. has had many line-up changes over the years with Royer being the only constant member of the band. The line-up began stabilizing in the 2000s, and as of 2024, the band consists of Royer, Trevor Lucca (guitar), Josiah Darden (drums) and longtime members Clinton Calton (guitar) and Eddie Tatar (bass). The band has continued to work, although they have had inactive periods, which include the band going on hiatus between albums. During their years of touring and recording albums, D.I. have never gained a huge mainstream success, but they have influenced many of the 1990s eramelodic hardcore punk andpunk rock revival bands, includingFace to Face,Guttermouth,Jughead's Revenge,[1]The Offspring, andPennywise.[2] Members of the band also joined up withDaddy X andthe Dirtball of theKottonmouth Kings, to create the punk rock band theX-Pistols, in 2010.
D.I. was formed in 1981 after the Adolescents' first break-up. The band's name initially stood for "Drug Ideology", but now, the initials no longer have any meaning.[3] Their original line-up consisted of Casey Royer on vocals, Tim Maag on guitar, Fredric Taccone on bass guitar, and Derek O'Brien on drums. The band combined theOrange County hardcore punk sound with a decidedlysurf andnew wave style on their debutself-titled EP. The EP featured five songs, including "Richard Hung Himself" (originally written by Casey Royer while he played for the Adolescents, recorded with the Adolescents and later re-recorded with D.I.), "Venus De Milo", "Reagan der Führer", "Purgatory", and "Guns". This EP was later reissued asTeam Goon with extra tracks including versions ofGary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part II", The Saint and Nuclear Funeral.[4] The album was later released as a CD which added a cover of DEVO's Uncontrollable Urge which itself was originally released by XXX Records as the B-side on the 7-inch e.p. along with Surfing Anarchy.
Live footage of a D.I. performance of "Richard Hung Himself" was integrated into scenes from the 1983 coming-of-age feature filmSuburbia, directed byPenelope Spheeris.[5] A longer set was later released on a DVD calledDI - The Suburbia Sessions 1983.[6]
The band's first studio albumAncient Artifacts was a more straight ahead Orange County-sounding album that included a new version of "Purgatory" from the EP. Not long after the release ofAncient Artifacts, D.I. returned to the studio to record their second albumHorse Bites Dog Cries, which was not released until 1986 (although the album itself has copyright date of 1985). This is generally considered their best studio album.[7][8]
Before recording sessions for their next album commenced, guitaristRikk Agnew left D.I. in 1987 to pursue his career with the Adolescents. Agnew was replaced in D.I. by Hedge on bass guitar.Alfie Agnew played guitar, and Bosco was switched from bass to second guitar. Eventually Mark "The Kid" Cerneka from Brea Olinda High School replaced Alfie. The resulting album,What Good Is Grief to a God? (1988), was a commercial failure. After the 1988 US tour, "The Kid" left and was replaced by Sean Elliot. The 7-inch Single. "Don't Do It" b/w "Johnny's Got a Problem" was released that year on Triple X, blue vinyl in partnership with Circle A Skateboards. This was given away as a promo with a skateboard. Some released with picture sleeves. In 1989, D.I. released their next albumTragedy Again.[9] That year another 7-inch Single was released on red vinyl again on Triple X records. "Surfin' Anarchy" (Beach Boys cover) b/w "Uncontrollable Urge" (Devo cover)
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 albumState of Shock was released the following year.[10] Chris Roboson and Steve Lyen joined and continued playing from 1995 to 1997. The band lost their record label soon afterwards. After two years of strictly playing live shows, and original guitarist Tim Maag replacing Roboson, D.I. headed back into the studio around 1997 to record what would be their follow-up toState of Shock and shopped the tracks around to labels without finding a taker.
Numerous line-up changes went on before they solidified their line-up, consisting of Royer, Chckn (guitars), Clinton Calton (guitars), Eddie Tatar (bass) and Joey Tatar (drums). Royer remained the only constant member of the band. D.I. continued touring for years and released their first original album in eight years, titledCaseyology, in 2002.Caseyology was followed up five years later byOn the Western Front (2007) released on theSuburban Noize label,[11] with all music and lyrics written by Royer and Tatar. In 2009, the band released the tracks "Potbelly", "D.I.", "The Dehumanizers", and "Embrace The Kill – Shut the Fuck Up and Listen!!!" through PB Records.[12]
In March 2011, Casey Royer was arrested for child abuse, child endangerment and overdosing onheroin in the presence of his 12-year-old son.[13] The child abuse and child endangerment charges were dropped, but he was sentenced to a 90-day jail term and placed on probation for three years for the substance abuse misdemeanor.[14] After this, Royer got clean and sober, and D.I. returned to touring and playing live shows.
In 2012, the band released a new 7-inch EP,United We Slam through Hand Grenade Records.[12]
| Dates | Members & prominent instruments | Releases |
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| (1981–1983) |
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| (1983) |
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| (1983–1984) |
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| (1984–1986) |
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| (1986–1987) |
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| (1987–1988) |
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| (1988–1990) |
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| (1990–1992) |
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| (1992–1995) |
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| (1995–1997) |
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| (1997–1998) |
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| (1998–1999) |
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| (2000–2001) |
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| (2001–2003) |
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| (2003–2008) |
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| (2008–April 2018) |
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| (April 2018 – present) |
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| (April 2018 – late 2023) |
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| (late 2023) |
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| (early 2024 – present) |
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| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1985 | Ancient Artifacts | Debut album. |
| 1986 | Horse Bites Dog Cries | Contains material fromAncient Artifacts. |
| 1988 | What Good Is Grief to a God? | Contains a re-recording of "Johnny's Got a Problem". |
| 1989 | Tragedy Again | First D.I. album not featuring re-recordings of any song from their previous albums. |
| 1994 | State of Shock | Also re-released with Demo EP Bonus Tracks recorded 1996–97. |
| 2002 | Caseyology | First studio album since 1994; also features re-recordings of original songs and features live tracks on some versions. |
| 2007 | On the Western Front | Second D.I. album featuring only one re-recording of a song from their previous albums. |
| 2020 | Flashback Favorites | Covers album |
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1983 | D.I. | EP; re-released in 1987 asTeam Goon with four bonus tracks. |
| 1987 | Rat Music for Rat People, Vol. 3 | Compilation (CD Presents, 1987) |
| 1988 | "Don't Do It" 7-inch | Promotional release given out with skateboard. Not all had sleeves. |
| 1989 | "Surfin' Anarchy" 7-inch | Single |
| 1991 | Gabba Gabba Hey: A Tribute to the Ramones | Covered "she's a sensation" onTriple X Records tribute album. |
| 1993 | Live at a Dive | Live |
| 1996 | "Zwei Frau Und Eins Stein" 7-inch | Single |
| 1999 | Short Music for Short People | Compilation including various other bands. |
| 2003 | Best of D.I. | Compilation |
| 2004 | Redefining Scenes 2 | Compilation including various other bands. |
| 2012 | United We Slam | EP containing 4 new original songs, the first to be released on the band's own label Hand Grenade Records. |
| 2021 | Greatest Hits A-Z | Re-recordings of the band's "biggest and best hits"[15] |
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