History & Biography The band was born in Houston, Texas around 1982. DRI was the quintessential hardcore band that went (and invented) crossover and ended up becoming a thrash metal band.
The band's name was taken from a label given to them by Brechts' father who was upset at the racket upstairs in the bedroom! Early drummer Eric Brecht is Kurdt's father. While the DRI EP of 1983 (Dirty Rotten EP), Dealing With It! and 1984's Violent Pacification EP were worshiped by hardcore punks and showed a band influenced by Discharge, God and others, Crossover and Four Of A Kind, while retaining the sharp political sense, introduced a palatable feast for metal fans. The band was receiving much flak from older fans during this period.
The following albums seemed increasingly tired and the band lost much of its popularity. DRI's logo (a slamming fan) remained the best-known underground emblem anywhere.
The ‘90s were a period of calm for the band with much of it spent on hiatus. Members instead concentrated on publishing, poetry, the Rotten label, etc. In 2002, D.R.I. signed with Beer City Records. The deal also included the re-release of the band's catalogue. A new album was expected for 2003. D.R.I. cancelled its U.S. tour following the diagnosis of guitarist Spike Cassidy with colon cancer in early 2006. Kurt Brecht and one-time Deadhorse members Scott Sevall, Greg Martin and Ronny Guyote had a new band in Texas called Pasadena Napalm Division in late 2008. Reactivated California crossover artists D.R.I. were touring the USA beginning November, 2009 and well into March, 2010. The band had been dormant for five years. Former roadie and bassist Chumly Porter Committed suicide in 2011. Drummer Rob Rampy was taking a hiatus from the band in late 2011. The other members would continue touring with Walter "Monsta" Ryan of Possessed and Merauder. Rampy was hospitalized before D.R.I.'s Portland, Oregon show on Friday, September 23th. According to M.A.D. Tours guitarist Spike Cassidy (guitar) of D.R.I. had finger and hand problems thus forcing the cancellation of the band's 2013 European tour. Rob Rampy left in 2014, returned in 2018 and would depart again in 2024. In the meantime, a poster of DRI shows up in episode 1 of the Silicon Valley series.
D.R.I. would enter a studio in October 2014 to begin recording a new EP with producer Bill Metoyer. It was due in early 2015. D.R.I. would release a new EP, called But Wait… There's More!, on June 10th 2016 through Beer City Records. Brandon Karns was on drums. Bassist Harald Oimoen, who had played in the band for no less than 18 years, left in 2017. Greg Orr of Attitude Adjustment replaced him. Bassist Josh Pappé, who had played on Crossover and Four Of A Kind, died of a heart attack in 2020.
The group's fortieth anniversary tour took it to Europe in the summer of 2023. The band played a concert with Defiance (DRI and label-mates Deathwish of the US were touring) in late 2023 and was booked for Alcatraz festival for 2024. The 40th anniversary tour was taking the band to Australia as well. This was set for February 2023 initially before being postponed for a year. D.R.I. had to cancel a gig in London, Canada on August 29th 2024 at the start of its tour as new drummer Danny Walker (Phobia, Exhumed, etc.) was denied entry into the country due to a prior DUI arrest in the United States. The band was touring the USA next. The band was booked for Tolminator over in Europe in 2025
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