Dag Nasty

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Dag Nasty
Origin Washington D.C., USA
Genres Melodic hardcore, punk rock[1][1][2]
Years active 1985–1988, 1992, 2002,[3] 2012[4]
Labels Revelation, Epitaph, Giant, Dischord
Associated acts Minor Threat, Bad Religion, All, Down By Law, Bloody Mannequin Orchestra, DYS
Website daghouse.com
Members Shawn Brown
Brian Baker
Roger Marbury
Colin Sears
Past members Peter Cortner
Dave Smalley
Doug Carrion
Scott Garrett
London May

Dag Nasty was a Washington D.C. melodic hardcore band formed in 1985 by guitarist Brian Baker of Minor Threat, drummer Colin Sears and bassist Roger Marbury, both of Bloody Mannequin Orchestra, and vocalist Shawn Brown (later of Swiz and Jesuseater[3]). Their style of less aggressive, melodic hardcore was influential to emocore, as well as post-hardcore;[5] they being influenced by The Faith and their 1983 EP Subject to Change.[6]

Shawn Brown was the first vocalist with whom the band recorded unreleased versions of most of the material that later made up their first release Can I Say, which featured former roadie and new singer Dave Smalley of DYS.[3][5] Dave left the band to attend grad school at New York University before a summer tour with The Descendents. A new singer, Peter Cortner, was found after the band placed an ad in a local paper and the tour was kept.[5] After touring half the US opening for The Descendents, the band went home and recorded new material that wasn't released until years later. After a few more local shows, the band broke up in the fall of 1986. Brian went to L.A. to start a new band with Doug Carrion and half of Doggie Style called Doggie Rock. After releasing one album under the Doggie Style name, Doggie Rock broke up and Brian reformed Dag Nasty in early 1987 with Peter, Colin and Doug replacing Roger Marbury, who declined to rejoin. Months later, the band recorded and released Wig Out at Denko's, including rerecorded versions of the late 86' tape and new material.

1988 saw the release of their album Field Day on Giant Records which was distributed by Dutch East India. It was an ambitious album, often generating sharply polarised appraisals from fans: many hated it and many loved it. Field Day attempted to blend pop melodies with hardcore and metal riffs even further than previously attempted on Wig Out. The result was, at times, uneven but helped to usher in a new style of hardcore with more controlled playing, guitar effects, acoustic elements and slower tempos. The band split up shortly after touring for Field Day ended.

In 1992, Dag Nasty reformed with Smalley on vocals and released the album Four on the Floor. In 1991, Selfless Records had released 85-86, a collection of early, pre-Can I Say recordings.

In 2002 the band got back together, again with Smalley on the mic, returning the band to a hardcore sound. The result of this reunion was the album Minority of One. To this day they still release records, though Dag Nasty remains more of a side project for its members than a full-time active band. Cortner, who has not been involved with the band directly for years, completed his education as a lawyer, practiced law and recently became a schoolteacher. While strictly as a personal hobby now, Cortner has continued to make music under the names GPFA and, more recently, in a collaboration with Philadelphia area musicians entitled The Gerunds. Sears went on to play in The Marshes and later after moving to Portland, Oregon for Handgun Bravado and The Valley Floor. He also works as a city planner for the Portland Development Commission. The other members of the band have remained involved in music.

Baker joined Bad Religion after Brett Gurewitz left to focus on his own record label (Epitaph Records) and continued to play in the band when Gurewitz rejoined.

In 2009 Brian Baker said he wanted to make a new Dag Nasty record with Peter Cortner. "We want to do another record with Peter singing at some point and that will be the next one we do. I've spoken with Colin and Roger and they want to do it with Peter next time. Maybe a year from now, who knows? Whenever people are available. The one thing about Peter is that he's a really good lyricist. That's always been his strong point"[7]

In October 2012 Dag Nasty announced a reunion show in Washington DC with their original singer, Shawn Brown. On December 28, 2012 the original Dag Nasty line up played the Black Cat in support of the upcoming documentary "Salad Days: The DC Punk Revolution". The bill also featured Government Issue, another Washington DC punk reunion. As of now, the present line up of Dag Nasty only has the one show planned on December 28, 2012.[4]

Members

Vocals

  • Shawn Brown (August 1985-February 1986/December 2012)
  • Dave Smalley (February 1986-June 1986/1991/2002)
  • Peter Cortner (July 1986-July 1988)

Guitar

Bass

  • Roger Marbury (August 1985-March 1987/1991/2002/December 2012)
  • Doug Carrion (March 1987-July 1988)

Drums

Discography

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Blush, Steven (2001). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. New York: Feral House. p. 157. ISBN 0-922915-71-7. "During the 'Revolution Summer' of '85 many harDCore types reinvented themselves. 'Emo,' for emotional post-Hardcore, described the move to softer, more emotive music, embodied in Ian [MacKaye]'s project Embrace, Brian Baker's Dag Nasty, Thomas Squip's Beefeater, Kingface with Mark Sullivan, Bobby Sullivan's Lunchmeat, and Rites of Spring with Guy Picciotto and Eddie Janney." 
  2. ↑ Greenwald, p. 14. "Ian Mackaye was such a huge Rites of Spring fan that he not only recorded what was to be the band's only album in 1985 and served as a roadie for them while on tour, but his own new band, Embrace, explored similar themes of self-searching and emotional release. Other peers followed suit, including Grey Matter, the archly political and arty Beefeater, and Fire Party, whom Jenny [Toomey] termed 'the world's first female-fronted emo band.'"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Erlewine, Thomas. "Dag Nasty". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 December 2010. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Daghouse: The Official Dag Nasty Website". Daghouse. Retrieved 6 November 2012. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cogan, Brian (2008). The Encyclopedia of Punk. Sterling. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-1-4027-5960-4. 
  6. ↑ "Subject to Change 12" EP". Kill from the Heart. Retrieved 2012-08-11. 
  7. ↑ Lynch, Mikey. "Brian Baker (Bad Religion) interviewed". Olympus Audio Blog. Retrieved 30 September 2011. 

External links

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