Straight edge punk rock was founded as a response to the over reaching of American Empire and the excesses of drug addiction. In the late 80’s a small group of DC based punk rockers decided they’d had enough of the current politics. They decided the best way to express their protest was to turn up their amps and write fast paced simple songs. Ian MacKaye was one of the visionaries that led the charge. First with a thrash band called Minor Threat and then later with Fugazi.
For those of us that came of age in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Fugazi was a staple. Ascetic, poetic, sublime, and angry, Fugazi was a lighting rod. They took the futility of the Bush years, and its crowning jewel, the Iraq War, and addressed it directly in song. They took the perpetual class inequality American society fosters and gave it voice. Their songs were both anthem and meditation.
As a generation Xer, I was expected to register for service, if I expected to get Pell Grants for college. I remember the months of handwringing and debate with my family. In hindsight, I doubt my father wanted me to go to war, but as a civil servant and an engineer for the Defense Department, his culture was service to the nation. If I was to suggest I doubted Saddam really had weapons of mass destruction, or that I wasn’t constitutionally capable of murder, his face would turn red. Of course, as a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy (and in 1990 a 21 year veteran employee of the Defense Department), his long haired weed smoking first son needed some discipline. In hindsight, he was probably right. That said, what he often missed (and I would argue less so today), is the fact that not every man is cut out to kill.
I’ve tried to discipline my writing here to steer clear of politics. My intention was always to discuss the hurdles of starting a record label. Honestly, as I run a construction company to afford to live in paradise lost (AKA California), survival and money limit my time to dream of a career in arts. In other words, Substack is my hour or two a week to meditate and “feed the dreamer beast.”
Long story short, the current insane politic climate in America has reminded me that music is one of the great liberators. Think of Joe Strummer or Bob Marley or Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie. Our greatest songwriters embody the spirit of the time they are living through. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons Ian MacKaye and Dischord Records never ceases to inspire. Iconoclastic, fearless, outspoken and unflinchingly political, Ian represents the best of independent thinking. In a time when we watch the daily assault on free speech in America, it is important to remember it hasn’t always been like this on our home turf. As more and more of our discourse gets fragmented by the diversity of the media available, the importance of pulling back and looking at the larger issues becomes more important. And I can’t think of a better way to ponder politics, than a Fugazi record listening party!
I remember being a 40 year finishing his undergraduate degree. There was a natural disconnect between my generation and the generation I was taking classes with. They were in their late teens and their early 20s and I was in my fourth decade. As I saw it, I had two choices. I either sat at the front of the class or I sat at the back of the class. To assimilate seemed contrived to me, and honestly, in public places I can be shy until I understand the nature of the group. Sitting at the front of the class seemed like too much of a “teacher’s pet,” so back of the class it was.
I clearly remember sitting in a Civics class (some inane pre requisite I needed for whatever reason). It was the kind of class that had a dynamic Berkeley raised liberal professor attempting to cajole the class into thinking about how film and video can be a vehicle to express a particular political opinion. The teacher had just screened a documentary on the bias’ of Fox News. Weird to think that was only 14 years ago. Weird to think there was a time in the recent past where Americans had only a handful of national news channels, Fox, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS. Let that sit with you for a minute.
As the older dude in the class, literally the age of most of my student peers’ parents, I rarely spoke publicly, and when I did I tried to be concise. A weird thing happens when you finally realize generational gaps are deep. Maybe a form of some new unnamed phobia?
I remember the discussion was hitting all the typical comments, “like Fox is completely Republican,” or “MSNBC is too liberal,” or “I can’t stand corporate media…,” blah blah blah. 20 year olds with laptops open to Facebook can’t be expected to have deep thoughts. For whatever reason, the topic turned to the consensus of the group that it was a waste of time to watch corporate tv, as it was vapid. It was on that last point that I felt compelled to raise my hand and speak. My response was simple, “Class, your assumptions aren’t truthful, as never before has the variety of news opinions been as varied as it is now. We are in the age of the internet!” There was a long pause in the room. I continued, “My suggestion is perhaps you aren’t searching far enough for alternative opinions?”
How weird that America is so quickly on the other side of my classroom observation from 14 years ago? Now our government is openly suggesting it needs to protect us from “mal-information, misinformation, and conspiratorial thinking, forcing digital media organizations to battle legally for the rights to open, unregulated discussion, and outlawing the ability of college students to protest in public. Colleges! WTF, America!
In other words, what would Ian Mackaye do?
I was lucky to see Fugazi twice in my life. The first time at Scottish Rite Temple in Oakland, CA and the second at the Edge in San Francisco. As a man that took his early lessons from Brecht, Guthrie, Kundera, Steinbeck, Mamet and Albee, I’ve always admired art that embodies the politics of the era. It’s a difficult lift to make art that is both emotionally charged and politically astute. It’s a delicate balance. If the artist leans too heavily in one direction, he risks becoming dogmatic and if he crafts too lightly, the creation becomes campy.
The late 80’s and the 90’s were a time of flourishing creativity in American music. Especially in the US, we saw the birth of grunge music, the rebirth of jazz, a reemerging appreciation of the blues, and the evolution of hip hop into the mainstream. We still had radio, but it morphed from Classic Rock stations into Alternative Rock stations. We were the last generation of kids that grew up in a quieter, simpler America. Our formative years were without the influence of the internet, so when it eventually took control we were already in our 20s. Consequently, we exploited file sharing and enjoyed its fruits until eventually iTunes was invented (and then we felt guilty and started paying for music again).
Fugazi was different. They weren’t interested in being rock stars. They were interested in playing the music they liked and creating the sounds most aligned with their personal ethics. They were pure punk, as much monks as they were musicians. They charged five dollars for a ticket and tried their best to perform only “all ages” shows. They refused to sign with a major record label and instead created their own record label, Dischord Records. They wrote songs about rape and the importance of sexual consent. They wrote songs about the military industrial complex. They wrote songs that combined the angst of loud guitars with the dynamics of jazz. Part Can, part Tortoise, part Black Flag, part Circle Jerks. Polyrhythmic, textural, meditative and poetic.
Fugazi curated their shows around the ethic of inclusion. They didn’t allow fighting or demeaning behavior at their shows. If the crowd acted out, they would simple stop playing until the bad actors either changed their behavior, or security escorted them out. They made a point of not hiring roadies, so they loaded and unloaded their own gear. Fugazi’s disciplined practice of performing frugally meant they could ensure their personal ethics weren’t tainted by the corrupt business practices of the music industry. If you don’t have to hire roadies, the cost of promoting a show is less. If the cost of a show is less, that means more people from different classes can attend. It also means Ticketmaster doesn’t get their vig.
Ian MacKaye Library of Congress Speech
I came across this video a few years back. It’s a speech that Ian MacKaye did for the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Remember this is before long format podcasts were the rave. Like his life long friend and fellow punk rocker, Henry Rollins, Ian just talks from the heart for an hour and a half. In his speech, I hear the musings of an American artist. He talks about his early influences. He talks about the purpose of live music in culture and its ability to bring people together. He talks about why he became interested in hard core and why Fugazi resonated with straight edge ideologies.
Punk rock has always been the medium of the outsider. Like jazz or avant-garde music, punk isn’t about a particular formula. Punk is about ideas and a particular way of living life. I’d argue it is one of the truest forms of musical communication as it is often uncoupled from the mechanisms of commerce. It’s a DIY form.
Obviously, I relate to Fugazi. It is in their shadow I dream of a National Music Sanctuary. Like Frank Sinatra did with “My Way,” Fugazi did with “Reclamation.” Both were artists that took pains to create the means to create the art they wanted with little interference from the suits.
At this critical time in America, I find it important to remind my fellow patriots that freedom is only as free as we make it. The suits aren’t in control. They only think they are. At the end of the day, we cut their checks and we grant them another term.
So regardless of our personal beliefs (and their varied iterations), we have a constitution in America that guarantees free speech. It is at our own peril that we start putting guardrails up to control speech and grant the suits the power to regulate discourse. Most importantly, how boring will our bands be once we take away their ability to express themselves as they envision. I suggest you start listening to the music of North Korea for a hint. No Fugazi equivalent in dictatorships. True story.