Some of you might know Dave Smalley as the punk pioneer from DYS, ALL, or Dag Nasty. Others might recognize him as being the singer and guitar player for Down by Law, his current band with Epitaph Records. Being a big fan of Down by Law, I was excited when Epitaph asked me if I wanted to do an interview with Dave. As I began chatting with Dave, I noticed that besides being a very talented and gifted musician, he is an overall nice guy. After a couple days of playing phone tag, I finally got a chance to interview him.

Andrew Berenson: Are you guys on tour now?

Dave Smalley: I would call it "Tour Lite," for we are not on a full-length tour. We are doing 10 dates on the west coast, playing states near California such as Arizona, and we are heading up to northern California. We are also playing shows as far north as Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. It varies a lot. We are a medium-size punk band and are not as big as Bad Religion, so the places we are playing are not that huge. The clubs we are playing at range from 300-700 people capacity. We have very loyal fans, and I would not trade them for anything. By playing smaller-size clubs, this gives us a chance to get up close and personal with them.

AB: I didn't kow that you guys had a new drummer until I saw you guys at the Warped Tour this summer. Has he blended in well, and what happened with Hunter Oswald, your old drummer?

DS: Hunter had a serious girlfriend in Florida, and it was hard for him to leave her for a long time to tour and record. So basically it was a mutual decision that he quit the band so he could be with her all of the time. Besides this, Hunter was beginning to write songs that were more rock-and-roll-type punk songs, and that wasn't the direction the band was going in. Danny, our new drummer, has been with us for one year and has been very important to the band. The chemistry has been great ever since he joined the band.

AB: What do you think of people who call you and Down by Law "sell outs" for being on Epitaph?

DS: I would call them misinformed and maybe ignorant. Epitaph started out with one person (Brett Guerewitz) who borrowed money from his dad to start his label. From what he made he slowly built up the label. Through his own sweat and toil he had succeeded on his own terms. Here is someone who is living the punk rock spirit. He was offered millions of dollars to sell Epitaph to a major but he turned them down because he wanted to stay independent.

AB: What is your personal favorite Down by Law album?

DS: I would have to say that All Scratched Up is my favorite. There are such a broad range of songs on it that it never gets boring to listen to. On All Scratched Up we go from hard-core, to Oi, and then to a punk song, while still holding on to our trademark sound. Also, I really like the artwork for the cover.

AB: Who were some of your influences growing up as a kid?

DS: One of the first bands that I got into was The Dead Kennedy's, and since I grew up in Virginia, I was also into many of the Dischord bands. I also liked The Adolescents a lot. From England there were many bands such as the Jam, The Buzzcocks, Generation X, who were a big influence on me growing up. I was also into an Irish punk band called Thunderstorm. What I loved about these European punk bands was that their songs were well structured and well written.

AB: When did you know you wanted to play music in a band?

DS: In 1994 I realized that I wanted to play music full time as I was writing songs for our Punkrockacademyfightsong album. Throughout my college years I alternated between being in a band and going to college. Many times I stopped playing in a band so that I could finish school. I have a BA from Boston College and an MA from Cal State. I have no regrets and wouldn't change anything about my education. I put everything I learned in to my lyrics, and I feel this helped me develop my lyrics and my song writing.

AB: Are you guys working on any new material?

DS: Yeah, we are working on material for a release of a possible EP on vinyl only in February. Don't put it in stone because we are not certain yet that we will release an EP, but I do know that we are shooting for a full-length release in May.

AB: I 've read lots of articles where you put down the punk magazine Maximum Rock and Roll.

DS: I put them down whenever possible! I feel that they are left- wing Fascists and have nothing interesting to say. I focused the song "1944" from Punkrockacademyfightsong on them when I sing "If this was 1944 they would be pointing their guns at you, cause every fascist, left or right, has a fucked up set of rules."

Note: Down by Law play the Nile in Mesa on October 13th. I definitely recommend this show to anyone who is a fan of punk rock or live music in general, because Down by Law puts on an intense and exciting live show that is not to be missed.

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