Ian MacKaye
Ian MacKaye was born April 16, 1962, in Glover Park, the son of a Washington Post religion writer who had ridden in JFK's motorcade the day the president was assassinated. He found punk in November 1978 through a stack of borrowed British records and caught his first live show three months later, when the Cramps played Georgetown. He and Jeff Nelson formed the Teen Idles, then Minor Threat in December 1980. "Straight Edge" started as a private choice about sobriety — MacKaye has said he never meant to start anything — but it became the name of a movement he spent years fielding questions about. He went on to co-found Dischord Records, front Embrace and Fugazi, and remain, by his own account, still doing what he started doing as a teenager: putting out records for people he trusts.
At a glance
- Active
- 1979–present
- From
- Washington, D.C., USA
In the issues
- DC HardcorePrincipal · 1979-1986
DC Hardcore is a music scene from Washington, D.C., USA, 1979–1986. Its principal artists include Minor Threat, Fugazi, Ian MacKaye and Bad Brains. This issue covers 10 essential albums and 18 dated events.
Places
- Dischord HouseArlington, Virginia · 1980-present · DC Hardcore
Ian MacKaye's home in Arlington where Dischord Records operated and many bands rehearsed, functioning as the scene's spiritual and operational headquarters throughout the 1980s and beyond.
Voices
Quotations from the issues, each matched word for word against the source it links to.
“We just drank a lot of Coke and ate a lot of Twinkies and were a fun kind of band. That’s what the Teen Idles were about. Because of this we found we couldn’t play anywhere. None of our friends could get into any of the clubs either.”
“No amount of money is worth losing control of our music.”