Down By Law (band)
| Down by Law | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Years active | 1989–present (hiatus: 2003-2008) |
| Labels | DC-Jam Records, Union Label Group, Epitaph |
| Members |
Dave Smalley Sam Williams Hunter Oswald John DiMambro |
| Past members | Jaime Pina Dave Naz Ed Urlik Chris Bagarozzi Mark Phillips Pat Hoed Jack Criswell Kevin Coss Danny Westman Chris Lagerborg Milo Todesco Keith Davies Randall Helmstutler |
Down by Law is a punk rock band formed in 1989 by former All frontman Dave Smalley, who is the only original member. The band has recorded 7 studio albums. They stayed on Epitaph Records until 1998 and have since switched to other labels. Down by Law has never achieved substantial commercial success, but a number of largely popular acts cite them as influential, and they have an underground following. After several lineup changes, the band went on hiatus from touring and recording in 2003, but resurfaced in 2008 before beginning work on new material and embarking on their first tour in six years in 2009. In 2017 the band reunited their acclaimed punkrockacademyfightsong lineup and are currently active and touring.
After Dave Smalley left All in 1989, he formed Down by Law with Chris Bagarozzi on guitar, Ed Urlik on bass and Dave Naz on drums. The band considers their first show to be held on March 10, 1990 at the Anti-Club in Hollywood. After signing to Epitaph Records, they released their debut album, which is self-titled, in 1991. It was produced by Brett Gurewitz, guitarist of punk rock band Bad Religion and the founder of Epitaph.
Down by Law entered the studio to record their second album, Blue, in 1992 (again produced by Gurewitz). After the touring to promote the album, they parted ways with their original lineup in 1993, leaving Smalley as the band's only original member. Bagarozzi, Urlik and Naz were replaced by Sam Williams III, Angry John Di Mambro and Hunter Oswald on guitar, bass and drums respectively. The new lineup recorded their third album Punkrockacademyfightsong, which was released in 1994 and is generally cited as their best selling release. Video clips for the songs "Hit or Miss" and the cover of The Proclaimers' "500 Miles" were made and they received some airplay on MTV and radio stations. To support the album, Down by Law embarked on a year-long tour and on some shows they supported bands like Burning Heads and The Vandals as well as their now-former labelmates NOFX, The Offspring, Pennywise and Bad Religion. Down by Law recorded and released two more albums, All Scratched Up (1996) and Last of the Sharpshooters (1997) before they left Epitaph in 1998. More lineup changes had happened as well. A brief stint on Go-Kart Records saw the release of Fly the Flag (1999), which was followed up four years later by Windwardtidesandwaywardsails (2003), released on Union 2112 Records. Neither album was as successful as their Epitaph releases.
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