The PROJECT X Longsleeve

Possibly the most coveted shirt of straight edge hardcore, the Schism Project X longsleeve. Just a couple of weeks ago, GB's Lukey Luke had his up for auction on eBay and it ended up getting pulled early. Who won it, remains a mystery to most, but one thing that is known is that the winner holds in his hands one hell of a rare shirt. We here at DCXX decided to pull a couple of excerpts out of Impact Fanzine's article on The Anthrax, that happend to shed a little bit of light on this notorious shirt. -DCXX



Gus Pena: There were only 10 of those Project X shirts, the longsleeves. There were 12 but one got botched, so there were only 11 good ones. I actually took them all home and washed them when they were done, that was my job. That was the worst printing job I had ever seen on a t-shirt. I remember when the cover for The Way It Is came out and Jordan telling me, Gus, you're gonna be real happy with the cover. I was like, "Wow, that's cool!" Walter was like, "Dude, you did such a good job. Your arm is straight, it says NYC Straight Edge on there perfectly."


Gus singing along to GB at The Anthrax in the PX longsleeve, Photo: Boiling Point

Porcell: I would have to say the Project X seven inch was my favorite thing we did on Schism. It came with the fanzine and everything, just an awesome package. We made those longsleeve PX shirts. We made those in our apartment, me and Al Brown, there's like fifteen, but we didn't sell them, we just gave them to all the cool people in the scene, and we all wore them at that first show that we sold the PX records at. So it was just like this army of kids that came walking in, wearing these longsleeve PX shirts on. Everybody was like, "WHOA!" People were begging us to buy them, but it was like, "Sorry, you can't buy them. You just have to be a cool guy in the scene to have one!" I wish I still had mine. I had that shirt when YOT played in Europe. This one kid was like, so cool to us, he let us stay at his house for days, we had no money, he had his Mom feed us three meals a day, and at the end I just gave him that shirt.


GB at The Anthrax, Porcell in left corner, Gus in right corner and Civ on stage, all wearing the PX longsleeve, Photo: Boiling Point

Past Two Poll Results

Insted sing along, Photo: Dave Sine

What's your favorite show pastime?

Singing along - 124
Stage diving - 88
Moshing - 37
Watching safely from a distance - 27
Hanging out outside the club - 9
Shooting photos - 6

Ressurection, Photo: Dave Sine

What era did you get into hardcore?

1990's - 165
1980's - 147
2000's - 100

Smalley Stories from Taylor Steele and Jon Roa

Classic photo of Dave Smalley with DYS

I've known Taylor Steele for a long time as his band 4 Walls Falling played quite a few shows with my band Mouthpiece. Every time we'd see each other we'd always hang out and have great conversations. Being a serious hardcore vet, Taylor would tell stories of seeing everybody from Minor Threat to Youth Of Today from their first tour.

One particular band I remember Taylor telling me he saw was DYS, and I gotta tell you, every time I saw Taylor, I would think to myself... "Shit, this guy saw MINOR THREAT AND DYS!" For Taylor to have seen those bands back in the early 80's and still be doing a hardcore band in the 90's - and on top of that, still be straight edge - I was impressed.

We've been planning on getting Taylor up here on DCXX for a while, so what better time to kick it off than with his DYS story? Expect more from Taylor Steele in the near future. -Tim DCXX

The year was 1983. The month was December. The day was...the 27th I think, I've never been good with that type of shit. Straight Edge Hardcore gods DYS were coming to town and I was giddy with excitement. You have to understand, I had gone to my first show in April of that year, had only been straight edge for a little over a year, had only ever seen one other SXE band (Minor Threat) and was still riding off of a hardcore high from the last show in Richmond (Crucifix). Another thing you have to understand is that SXE hardcore was in its initial stages, there were not many of us around...like any where on the entire planet, much less Richmond Va. There were only 2-5 of us at best here. I could also count the number of SXE bands that existed on the planet on my two hands. It was all fresh and new. The baby was still cute, really cute.

So, there it is, I was going to see Bigfoot, Jesus, Machu Pichu, whatever you want to call it and it was only 15 minutes from where I lived. I get to the show, 100 to 150 people...maybe. The club was called Rockitz, it was small, so it was easy to fill up. There were many great shows there over the years...MDC, Iron Cross, Discharge, BL'AST!, COC, Crucifix etc., but fuck all that for now, because on that night it was going to be DYS.

Fast forward through the opening acts and DYS hits the stage, never before had I seen a hardcore band with a wall of FULL stacks, but thats what served as the background and wall of death for DYS. They explode into their set, LOUD, URGENT, ANGRY, POWERFUL, you know, all that good shit. I was like a cross between a bull in a china shop and a kid in a candy store. The energy, power and message of DYS was off the hook and this teenage hardcore SXE punk rock kid was eating up every bit of it. It was truly incredible. I don't remember the specifics, it was a blinding haze of adreniline for me. Years later, a friend would say, "remember the airplane pilot coming thru Jon's amp?" Man, I sort of remember that but its all fuzzy now. The only other thing I remember was talking to Dave for a couple of minutes, cool as hell dude, which meant even that much more to a young new school SXE kid like myself. That would be the last time I would talk to him for about 20 years, when I would give him directions to a club he was playing at.

Anyway, great guy, great band, a band that still makes this old fucker feel young again when ever I hear that first note on Brotherhood...and all the way through the whole damn thing.


Dag Nasty circa Smalley, as good as it gets.


Long time Smalley enthusiast, California Hardcore O.G., and DCXX contributor, ROA, provides us with a couple Smalley snippets from years gone by. Thanks ROA! - Gordo DCXX

This is not the best story but it means a lot to me, as DYS were one of the best and I hope it exemplifies how much they meant to members of the Chain Crew.

Bratton, Ryan and myself went to go see ALL with Smalley on vocals. It was great. I not necessarily a huge ALL fan but Dave on vocals was a treat. I mean, we grew up studying the cover of Brotherhood (and if any of you know how meticulous Bratton is, well, you know we STUDIED that record). I often remark that DYS were so great, they did not even have to list the song titles on the back of Brotherhood. Upon release one usually forewent the risk of it being only two crappy songs and bought it for the back pictures alone.


Smalley with Down By Law at the Continental, NYC

So we watch ALL play. And, at least for me, this was the first time seeing Dave other than sporadic photographs. I was pretty much in awe. In earnest, we keep shouting for ALL to play "Wolfpack." After the show, we informally interview Dave with these fanboy questions, which he answered. Here's how the stupidest ones went:

Us: Can you show us the Boston punch style dance?
Dave: Um, no.
Us: Can we see the X tattoo?
Dave: Yes.
Bratton: How could you make that second record?
Dave: I liked it, it was good rock.

Fast forward to the last show of Chain of Strength (I still love that it was in Hollywood). Dave and Down By Law were, from the initial booking of the show, hesitant about opening for Chain for a lot of reasons, but mainly due to Dave's pride. Ryan and Bratton never said one word about it. They were more interested in playing hard and, in a healthy way, blowing the other bands off the stage with pure energy. The also had respect for the old guard.

Well, Chain plays and Down by Law goes on after them to….well, maybe 15 people? It was a disaster. They seemed so deflated as the atmosphere was all for Chain. The energy left with Chain's audience. Everyone gathered around the band and congratulated them for they spectacular existence. Some people were making fun of Down By Law's dubious decision not to "volunteer to play first", "ego trip", blah, blah, blah…saying how it kind of sucked that Chain's last show was opening for a not-so-great band.

Bratton, wet with sweat, just shrugged and said, "Hey, he's Dave Smalley from DYS."

Perfect.


Dave puts down the guitar for Down By Law to feed the crowd

Gail Rush - DYS Photo Showcase

For our fourth entry of Smalley Week here at DCXX, Boston photographer, Gail Rush, brings us a DYS photo showcase. True Till Death... -Tim DCXX


DYS at The Paradise in Boston, Photo: Gail Rush


Dave Smalley and Jon Anastas, Photo: Gail Rush


Dave Smalley with DYS, Photo: Gail Rush


DYS at The Paradise in Boston, Photo: Gail Rush


SSD and DYS...The Boston Crew, Photo: Gail Rush


DYS at The Paradise in Boston, Photo: Gail Rush

Dag Nasty - "Minority Of One" Photo Shoot

Colin, Brian and Dave, Photo: Traci McMahon

Back in January of 2002 my wife Traci and I received a call from our friend Larry Ransom, who at the time was working over at Revelation Records. Larry was the main cog in the machine responsible for bringing the Dag Nasty "Minority Of One" LP to the surface and needed some photography done for the band. Larry knowing that Traci and I were huge Dag Nasty fans and Traci being a photographer, asked if we would be interested in driving from New Jersey down to D.C. to do a photo shoot of Dag for the new record. Although on very short notice and smack dab in the middle of a work week, of course our answer was yes and the plans were quickly set in motion.

We were to meet the entire band at Brian Bakers' house. Directions to Brian's house in D.C, were secured and we were on our way down I95. From our area in central New Jersey to D.C., the drive is about 3 hours. For some reason, that 3 hour drive seemed more like 15 minutes and before we knew it we were looking for a parking space in Brian's neighborhood. Brian lived in a pretty nice area, pretty much center city, but the street was lined with classic brownstone type houses and nice cars. His house was in fact a brownstone. We walked up to his door, rang the door bell and were greeted by Mr. Baker himself. He let us in and as we walked down his hall and towards his living room, a freshly bleached hair Dave Smalley popped out of the bathroom. Dave looked at us and said, "Hey, how's it going, my name is Dave", then quickly realized that he actually knew both Traci and me from years back. Within minutes we were catching up and us knowing each other really helped break the awkwardness of walking into a house of someone we had never met and meeting 2 of the other Dag guys that we had never met. We sat down on Brian's sofa and were introduced to both Roger Marbury (bass) and Colin Sears (drums). Both Roger and Colin were super cool and treated us like they had known us for as long as Dave had. Brian was on the phone coordinating a Dag interview for Thrasher Magazine, so up until now we really hadn't had a chance to talk with him much. I remember Coca Cola memorabilia decorations all over the house as well has guitars hung on the walls. It was obvious that Brian's love for Coca Cola had not lessened since his days in Minor Threat.


Brian Baker getting his flaming head tattoo, Photo: Traci McMahon

Once Brian was done with his interview and off the phone, the first thing he said to us was, "So you wana hear one of the new tracks?" It was clear that he and the rest of the band were genuinely excited about this new Dag Nasty record that they had just completed that day. We of course were excited as well and eagerly said yes. Off hand I don't recall what track it was, but we were played one full track. I remember the track being pretty fast and sounding fairly similar to something that could have come off "Can I Say". I believe what we heard was not completely mixed and definitely not mastered, so it almost had a raw sound. We dug it, but as quickly as it was played, it was over and we were packing up to leave.

The bands plan for the photo shoot was to take place at a tattoo shop in Virginia. Dave, Brian and Colin all decided they were going to get the classic "Can I Say" flaming head logo tattooed on them and Traci was going to shoot it all as it went down. When we pulled up at the shop, Brian was the first one in the chair. He was going to get the logo tattooed on his ankle. While Brain was getting tattooed and Traci was shooting it on film, I was sitting in the waiting area with Dave, Roger and Colin and all these guys could talk about was Dag Nasty. They were so fired up and excited about the band and this new record, you would think they were an active band and had never broken up. It was really cool to be sitting there with these three guys who were responsible for writing one of my top 10 favorite hardcore records of all time, "Can I Say". What was cool as well was the fact that I had just met all of these guys, with the exception of Dave and they honestly treated me like I was a long lost roadie for the band.


Roger Marbury sketches up a Dag logo, Photo: Traci McMahon

Once Brian was finished getting tattooed, Colin was the next up. He was getting his on his ankle as well. Brian and Dave were hungry and decided to take a walk down the street to get a sandwich at Subway. Dave asked if I wanted anything or if I wanted to take a walk with them and I decided to tag along. We walked down the steps, out of the shop and straight up the street. Within minutes Brian and Dave started talking and conversation instantly went to old friends. "How's Jon Anastas from DYS doing these days, how's Ian doing, have you talked to Al Barile in awhile, how about Choke, what's up with John Stabb?" At that point everything just seemed so surreal. There I was, a kid from New Jersey, in my late 20s who grew up listening die hard to both of these guys' bands. I have the bass player from Minor Threat to my right and the singer of DYS to my left, they're talking about Ian MacKaye and they just got finished recording a Dag Nasty record... damn it's crazy where you end up sometimes. Eventually we got our sandwiches and headed back to the shop.

Colin was finishing up by the time we got back and Smalley was up next. Dave decided he was going to get his flaming head on the inside of his arm, surrounded by Fred Perry like laurle art. Dave sized up and placed the art on his arm and was quickly in the seat himself. As Dave is getting tattooed, I start dabbling with the idea of getting the flaming head logo tattooed on myself. What better time and what better place, but I was torn. This was clearly the band's day and their experience and in my head it just didn't feel like the right thing to do, for their sake. Maybe if I really was that old roadie that the guys made me feel like, but the truth of the matter was that I had never even seen Dag when they were fronted by Dave. Peter Cortner fronted the Dag I saw and were great, but a Smalley fronted Dag just wasn't in my cards. I restrained myself, but do think back from time to time... damn, that could have been cool.


Dave Smalley and Colin Sears talk Dag while waiting to get tattooed, Photo: Traci McMahon

Once everyone was done and freshly inked, we gathered directions, shook hands and made our way out of the shop. Was a Smalley fronted Dag Nasty live show reunion in the future? That was a question that was in the air between the members and of course in our heads. Maybe in between Bad Religion tours, but there was no guarentee. In a way I felt like I already witnessed a reunion, a reunion of old friends that got together to write and play the music that they loved and still love. Thanks Dave, Brian, Colin and Roger... thanks for recording one of the greatest records ever, "Can I Say" and thanks for letting Traci and I sit in on a very cool and special time. Traci was happy to document it with the photos and I was happy to just be there. An extra thanks is also due to Larry for coordianting the whole thing from the start."I'm loooking at pictures and I'm thinking of those times". -Tim DCXX


The Dag Nasty "Minority Of One" promo photo that Rev used, Photo: Traci McMahon

ALL with Dave Smalley at the Silver Dollar, Canada 1988

With yesterdays DCXX entry on Dave Smalley and his "True Till Death" tattoo, we decided Dave is actually worthy of a full weeks worth of entries. Consider this week here at DCXX, "Dave Smalley Week". We've got a few more entries planned out and will be working on others, so if you're a fan of Dave's music, this should prove to be an interesting week.

For our second entry, I found this footage of ALL with Smalley on vocals. It's from a club called The Silver Dollar in Canada and is from 1988. As a huge fan of the Descendents, when they were breaking up, I was pretty damn bummed. Then to find out Dave Smalley was taking over vocal duties for ALL, the new version of the Descendents, I was psyched to say the least. Because of Dave's rather short stint on vocals for ALL, I never got around to seeing them when he was fronting the band. Actually when I found this video, I believe it was the first time I'd ever even seen footage of him with the band. Hope you dig this, but if ALL is not your thing, stay tuned because there's pretty much guaranteed DYS and Dag Nasty content coming soon. -Tim DCXX

Dave Smalley on the "True Till Death" tattoo

Dave Smalley circa DYS, Photo: Gail Rush

If I had a dollar for every hideous straight edge tattoo I've seen during my relatively short tenure in hardcore, I'd be able to quit my job and work on Double Cross full time. At the same time, there is also some great stuff out there, and perhaps my personal favorite is Dave Smalley's iconic piece of straight edge shoulder ink. The inspiration for who-knows-how-many other tattoos and pieces of art, Dave's is where it all began. Read and learn...

-Gordo DCXX

This is another one of those entries that really hits home for me. Dag Nasty has been a long time favorite band of mine and "Can I Say" is most definitely one of my top ten favorite records ever. From the moment I first heard "Can I Say", there was something special about Smalley's voice, it seemed to bleed sincerity and came off very genuine and heartfelt. Reading interviews with Dave only reinforced what I thought I was hearing in the music. Then digging deeper and discovering DYS only furthered my respect and admiration. Even on to his early involvement with ALL, I was a fan.

Fast forward some years down the line and my band Mouthpiece is opening for Dave's then current band, Down By Law, at Trenton, New Jersey's City Gardens. I was psyched to say the least to meet Dave and made it a point to bring a copy of the first Mouthpiece 7", which had a drawn depiction of of Dave's "True Till Death" X'ed fist tattoo, on our lyric sheet. I also gave Dave a copy of the Mouthpiece "What Was Said" record which had a cover of DYS's "Open Up" as a bonus track on the CD. Upon meeting Dave, he couldn't have been friendlier and more welcoming. He gave off a genuine sense of appreciation for what I was showing and giving him with the Mouthpiece records. We spent a good chunk of the show talking and hanging out. Then when Down By Law hit the stage, they tore through a great set and finished with two Dag Nasty songs. The club erupted and I found myself spending the majority of those two songs on top of the crowd.

After years and years of wanting my own version of Smalley's "True Till Death" tattoo, late summer 2000 I actually got my own. With Mouthpiece, we sort of adopted a re-drawn version of the tattoo as a logo. We went on to use the fist on a number of different t shirt designs. With the combination of the Mouthpiece connection, the Smalley connection and of course the meaning behind the design, it was an image I was happy to place on my body for life. -Tim DCXX


Dave Smalley and Tim DCXX comparing tattoos, Photo: Traci McMahon

One of the D.Y.S. songs is called "Brotherhood," and the chorus has the lyrics "brotherhood -- true till death" in there. I can't remember whether I came up with the lyric first or the tattoo line itself. But all I do know is that once it hit me, it was emblazoned into my soul. You know, the thing about that period of time, and I think like this still, is that loyalty is extremely important. I probably value loyalty to and from friends more than anything else. I expect a good friend to take a bullet for me and I'd likewise take one for them, you know? The Boston Crew was very loyal to one another – disagreements sometimes, to be sure, but it was unity once the fights with the jocks or in other cities started, or once we were out spraypainting or hanging out in Kenmore Square.

And even today, I value each one of those guys, and what that time frame meant to me as a person, and to music and hardcore especially. True Till Death. And straight edge was such a vital component of all of that – it was really the glue that helped make the crew unbreakable. And when you're living that kind of lifestyle, where ideals really do matter, then it's not done in half-measures – it was till death.


Tony, Choke, Dave and Steve, Photo: Gail Rush

The X on a fist originally came from early show days, when clubs would put a huge X with a thick black marker on your hands to show you were underage, you couldn't get a drink at the bar. Of course, we didn't want to get a drink anyway – so we started to put Xs on our hands voluntarily. From there it became the symbol of straight edge, and as part of that, esp. in D.C. and Boston, a symbol of independence from all the expectations to conform and get wasted that were so prevalent then. So it wasn't like I invented the X for SE, it's just that I was the first one, or one of the first, I don't know, to do it as a tattoo. It just seemed to me that the way I wanted to put the ideals of all of that on my body for the rest of my life was to put it just like we did it everyday. I mean, sometimes I would put the X on my fists for so many days in a row, I'd get dizzy and sick from all the ink seeping into my skin, and the smell of those huge, thick markers was intense.

A girl who was part of the early Boston scene, named Julie, who was an excellent artist, drew it for me – a fist with a big X behind it. She did a great job. I think it pretty much came out the way I envisioned it.

I believe it was done at a place called Jim's Tattoo in New Hampshire. We had to drive out of state in those days to get inked, because tattoo studios were not legal in Massachusetts. Which is odd since the Combat Zone area of Boston had intense porno clubs, but yet you couldn't get inked.


Dave, Pat, Tony and Jonathan, Photo: Gail Rush

I think I got this the same time Choke and Jon and the other guys all got theirs done. We all went together to those places, one was Ruby's in Rhode Island, the other was Jim's in NH, and Jonathan and I got inked together in NYC the day we picked up the release of "Brotherhood." We all went together because there was this unspoken, maybe even unrealized bond that existed – whether it was subconscious or not, we knew we were in a tiny minority of kids, of punk/skater/hardcore kids who were SE – not many of us back then at all. Punk rock alone was a rebellion then, and being SE was even a rebellion inside a rebellion. So we ended up doing a lot of stuff together.

My story I remember about getting the fist was that, it was my first tattoo and I was really nervous. The tattooist, Jim, clearly knew that. I wouldn't even look at my arm when it first started. The other guys were all watching. Jim then said "Ooops…" like he'd made a huge mistake, and it was like, the color must've drained from my face, because everyone, including Jim, burst out laughing at my horrified expression. There was no real oops, thank God. He did a really good job.

I had no idea that the artwork would end up being the inspiration for other artwork. I'm totally honored to have seen it in so many places – albums, other people's tattoos, art on the walls, everything. It's a powerful symbol, and it stands for good things, so I'm psyched. It means a lot to me. The joy of that whole period is that there was no talk of what the future would hold – it was about burning bright, burning the candle at both ends every day – the good and the bad, the shows, the fights, it all just happened, and not a lot of concern about the future at all, you know?

I think if anyone had said to any of us – to any of the kids in different scenes across the country -- "your tattoo/band/crew/scene/whatever will still be remembered in 2008" no one would have believed it. It was very in the moment, and very sincere and honest. And that honesty is why it is still remembered fondly, I think.

The tattoo itself has held up pretty darned well considering it's been roughly 26 years on. Damn I'm old. But even though some of my tattoos aren't sparkly and shiny, I guess that's sort of a picture of where I've been and all the chaos, and good times too, I've been through. I was thinking of getting some of them touched up, and Brian Baker, actually, said "no way, just leave them like that – it's who you are, shows where you've been. If some are fading, messed up and old, that just shows you've earned 'em" or something to that effect – in other words, the fade tells as much as the picture. And I agree with that.

The term "True Till Death" meant the world to me then for all the ideals of loyalty – not just to the edge, but to friends and the crew. And I still think it's a damn good ideal to have in life.


Dave with DYS in Boston, Photo: Gail Rush