Ian MacKaye
Interviewed by Kyle Ryan
February 20th, 2007
Of the members of punk rock's second generation—Bob Mould, Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, etc.—Ian MacKaye has had the greatest influence on music and commerce: The DIY ethos he and his peers established in early-'80s Washington D.C. affected the genre as profoundly as his music. When his high-school punk band, The Teen Idles, decided to release a single, he and bandmate Jeff Nelson created Dischord Records, which remains one of independent music's most respected labels. Musically, MacKaye made his first big impact in legendary hardcore group Minor Threat, which helped establish D.C. as a punk hub in the early '80s. The Minor Threat song "Straight Edge," about MacKaye's choice to eschew drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex, fomented a youth movement that has since warped into a cottage industry. After Minor Threat, MacKaye briefly led Embrace, whose deeply personal style gave birth to emocore—and the bands selling a lot of records today. In the late '80s, MacKaye formed Fugazi, which became one of the most important bands of the era, and easily the most influential post-punk group of its generation, before going on hiatus in 2002. Now in his 40s, MacKaye remains contrary with his latest group, The Evens. The duo—guitarist-vocalist MacKaye and drummer-vocalist Amy Farina—plays understated, quiet songs through their own small PA, which makes virtually anywhere a performance space. This quiet M.O. may be MacKaye's most revolutionary idea yet. Just as The Evens' sophomore album, The Get Evens, came out, MacKaye spoke to The A.V. Club about his new approach, his past, and the porn director who took his name.
To read the full interview visit the A.V. Club site here
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