Washington D.C. punk rocker Ian MacKaye started his own record label Discord in 1980, an outlet for his music and that of his friends’ bands; Shudder To Think, Jawbox and Nation of Ulysses among others. The label is also responsible for offerings from MacKaye’s own groups Teen Idles, Minor Threat and his current venture Fugazi, which he formed in 1987 with a straight-edged message of self-determination.

Interview by Steve Tauschke | steve@staff.truepunk.com | with Ian Mackaye from Fugazi in September 1991 “Discord is a very regional thing,”

MacKaye insists on the phone from DC. “I mean Fugazi are inspired by a lot of Washington bands, they drive us, you know. We may go along and see one of them and they’ll play and kick our ass so we feel like we want to return the favour. And that’s a big part of being in a musical community. It’s nice to know that when you’re playing, half the audience is in a band themselves. It gives you a charge and makes you think about what you’re doing.”

Since it inception, Fugazi - MacKaye, co-singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty - have managed a 7″ single 3 Songs, two EPs Fugazi and Margin Walker plus two full length LPs Repeater and the recent Steady Diet of Nothing. The quartet produce their own songs, release their own records (on Discord), handle all administrative affairs in-house, book their own shows and encourage low door prices - all a result of their DIY approach.

Fugazi also book ads only in publications who do not sell advertising space to cigarette and alcohol companies. Their straight-edge approach is an egalitarian one that also supports all-age shows.

“It’s obvious to me that adult shows are a form of discrimination,” contends MacKaye. “We’re not interested in playing to only one section of the human race. Everybody should be allowed to come and see us no matter how old they are, what race they are or what gender they are.

“We are doing things that are most comfortable with us. Low door prices, you know, we go see a lot of shows and I think they’re a lot more enjoyable when you pay less - that’s obvious. The same with records, it’s common sense.”

MacKaye says Fugazi never want to be seen as preachers but feel performing at various benefits, whether it’s for the homeless or for abortion rights or rape victims - is their calling. Self-aggrandizing promotion is not for them, says MacKaye.

“We just tour to play, we never tour albums,” he says, “we don’t really mix those two mediums. The records come out when they do and we play when we do. We seem to be constantly playing and Fugazi to me to be more about playing live than doing records but I guess for people who only get the records, it’s sort of the other way around.”

While MacKaye is hesitant to discuss album sales, it is estimated that last year’s Repeater has so far sold in excess of 200,000 copies, thanks largely to Fugazi’s relentless touring regime. Already, the band has traversed the US three times (incorporating Canada), performing 100 shows so far this year. Their chaotic live shows - Fugazi was a slang term used by US marines in Vietnam to describe a “fucked-up situation” - are becoming legendary but amidst the carnage MacKaye encourages everyone to listen to the songs and hopefully draw inspiration.

“The thing about music and words is that we’ve all listened to music and listened to a set of words and thought ‘my god, these words are really speaking to me’ and then somewhere down the line you might read an interview with that band about that song and the person says ‘yeah, well I wrote that song, you know, whatever’. The person claims the song is about a petty, nothing subject and all the time you thought there was a great meaning to it. You kind of feel like you have been corrected or something and for me that was discouraging.

“So I guess as a band we shy away from telling people what our songs are all about because then we’d just be in the business of explaining each song. We don’t want to just hand out the answers, we want people to draw their own conclusions because ultimately that is what is more powerful. The interpretation is up to them. I think it’s fun to hear what people think the songs are about, not because I think they’re wrong, I think it’s cool. And I’m struck by what people get out of the songs and how they read them.”