“I think sometimes my humor is extremely dry, and a lot of times I would say things that I thought were very funny but... I have a reputation of - people think of me as a very fundamentalist, humorless fellow.” PeopleThinkingSometimesFellowsReputationDryThink Of MeFundamentalist Author:Ian MacKaye
“My point of view is, I'm just a person, and there are times when I look at other people and think, 'My God, they spend so much time thinking about things that seem so absurd.' But I'm sure people must think the same thing about me.” PeopleThinkingLooksPersonsSeemsViewsPoint Of ViewAbsurd Author:Ian MacKaye
“I work so I don't need to make rent through my songs, and I think if more people engaged with music without needing it to provide for their welfare, you're not beholden to anyone.” PeopleIfsThinkingNeedsSongWelfareEngaged Author:Ian MacKaye
“I've done thousands of interviews in my life, and it's a format that I quite enjoy, because I think of questions in interviews as an opportunity to sort of gauge my growth in a way. It gives me an idea of how I'm navigating this world that I'm in.” ThinkingWorldWayGivingIdeasDoneOpportunityEnjoyGrowthThis WorldGive MeInterviewsFormatGauges Author:Ian MacKaye
“Minor Threat was an important band, believe me that it was important it in my life, but it belongs to an era that no longer exists. I'm not nostalgic. I think music today is much more important, because something can be done about it.” ThinkingBelieveImportantDoneTodayBandThreatErasBelieve In MeMinorsNostalgic Author:Ian MacKaye
“I think it's my nature to engage in things that are more difficult.” ThinkingDifficult Author:Ian MacKaye
“I think what we took away from first hearing about the punk stuff in England and then the early American punk stuff was a sense of self-definition and also sort of playing music for music's sake and being part of a family for family's sake.” ThinkingFirstsSelfStuffEnglandSakeDefinitionsHearingPunkSense Of SelfPlaying Music Author:Ian MacKaye
“What does bother me is that I have to spend time and energy dealing with the ramifications of what people do think about me.” PeopleThinkingDoeEnergyBotherEnd TimesSpend TimeTime And EnergyRamifications Author:Ian MacKaye
“Let's say for instance people say, "He's a really totalitarian, strict guy, he's hard to work with or whatever." I don't think it's true, but people's perception of me leads that direction, like I'm a fundamentalist person. I end up having to spend extra time saying, "I'm not a fundamentalist." I have other stuff to do.” PeopleThinkingPersonsEndsHardGuyStuffPerceptionInstanceExtrasStrictFundamentalistExtra Time Author:Ian MacKaye
“When someone writes a really nasty piece about me. I think they're generally untrue because I think I'm a nice person.” ThinkingWritingPersonsPiecesNiceNastyUntrueNice Person Author:Ian MacKaye
“I think about Dischord. There's been a pretty consistent notion that Dischord have been some sort of "overlords" of the scene. Some people have felt 'they are too cool for us,' or 'they won't put this out,' etc. All we're doing is our own work, our own thing. That's all we've ever done. Our work.” PeopleThinkingHas BeensDoneFeltSceneNotionConsistentEtcToo Cool Author:Ian MacKaye
“I work at a record label where I have archives. These things [memorabilia] occurred and are important to somebody, and they're important to me. I find the record industry largely repellent. This music, the Teen Idles, all of that stuff, is important to me. I don't have lawyers, an agent or a manager. However I find the music industry largely repellent. I just make records because that's what I love to do. So I think that era, those pieces of media, I keep in my collection.” ThinkingImportantStuffRecordsPiecesMediaIndustryLawyerAgentsManagersLabelsErasCollectionsMusic IndustryArchivesRecord Labels Author:Ian MacKaye
“I jump from one thing to the next but try and strike a balance. But it's not nostalgic in the sense of 'those were the good old days and now we're not there'. I don't think like that. Not my way.” ThinkingWayTryingNextOne ThingBalanceStrikesMy WayOld DaysNostalgicGood Old Days Author:Ian MacKaye
“Getting your letters or pictures digitized. I don't think it's that important. The more you spend on your materials, you're given the sense that those things are more important due to the total amount spent. You'd probably be better off giving that money to a soup kitchen.” ThinkingGivingImportantGivenMaterialsAmountLettersDuesKitchenSoupBetter OffSoup Kitchens Author:Ian MacKaye
“I remember when Martin Luther King was assassinated and riots broke out in the city. We celebrated Palm Sunday on 14th Street. I have a memory of walking down the street with buildings smoldering, and soldiers and cops everywhere. Anyways, it [St. Stephen’s] was a church that really taught me the things I needed to learn to not go to church. But I think it is a church that does great work, I went to a wedding there three days ago.” ThinkingDoeRememberThreeChurchMemoriesCitiesStreetsBuildingTaughtKingsNeededWalkingSoldierBrokeSundayCopPalmsRemember WhenGreat WorkLutherRiotPalm Sunday Author:Ian MacKaye
“I don't need any more avenues of communication, and frankly I think people are still working out to realize that it's just a tool[social media] rather than something that you have to do or participate in.” PeopleThinkingNeedsStillsSocialRealizingMediaCommunicationToolsWork OutSocial MediaAvenues Author:Ian MacKaye
“The Fugazi Live Series site, when we realized the Internet, the way it works - the speeds and its development - made it possible to have one source of infinite copies, was incredible for us. Using tapes or CD's to make copies would have been so unwieldy. We have shows that have zero downloads, which makes me sad, but they're all freely available at any time. The most downloaded show was the one with the best audio quality, but I didn't think it was a very interesting show.” ThinkingWayHas BeensMadeShowsInterestingQualitySourceDevelopmentInternetInfiniteSeriesIncrediblesAvailableSpeedMade ItCopiesZeroTapeSiteVery InterestingCdsDownloadsAudio Author:Ian MacKaye
“That's a Roman concept where the government can do anything, as long as you give the people "bread and circuses." And I'd say this culture right now is similar, as long as people have money, fun, and food, our government can do heinous, heinous things.” PeopleThinkingGivingLongGovernmentCultureFunCan DoRight NowConceptsBreadCircusBread And Circuses Author:Ian MacKaye
“The food thing is crazy to me. In this town the beer thing is also crazy to me. Frankly even with Brightest Young Things, it's such a celebration of [beer and food], all this stuff. I don't think it's bad or evil, but there's something out of bounds. It's like, "A bar opened!" Who cares? Think about that.” ThinkingCareYoungEvilStuffCrazyTownsBoundsBarsBeerCelebrationWho Cares Author:Ian MacKaye
“I had a bartender friend once tell me about a $14.00 shot of vodka, this was years ago it's probably more now. I thought that was crazy. From what I understand, vodka has no taste. I think people like the taste of their money.” PeopleThinkingYearsCrazyTasteShotsYears AgoVodkaBartender Author:Ian MacKaye
“I don't think it's an ethical or moral issue, or even that people are stupid, but I do feel like as a culture things are out of balance, perverted, and inverted. Things that are ridiculous are worshipped, and things that are important are ridiculed. I think that's something worth thinking about.” PeopleThinkingFeelsImportantCultureMoralIssuesStupidBalanceRidiculousEthicalMoral IssuesInverted Author:Ian MacKaye
“Guy Picciotto had a really sound point: Live albums basically have bands playing songs that are available on studio records, and what example can you think of where the live album is better? What are the great live albums? I have live albums of bands, but I wouldn't listen to them for the most part. So we thought, instead of spending energy trying to puzzle out how to create a live record, let's just write another studio record.” ThinkingWritingTryingGuySongEnergyPuzzles Author:Ian MacKaye
“I actually looked up in my journal trying to figure out some dates and, in January 1991, America is about to go back into its first sort of actual war since Vietnam, with the Gulf War. It just seemed unbelievable at the time that this country would do that - which is funny to think about now.” ThinkingTryingWarCountryUnbelievableJanuaryGulf War Author:Ian MacKaye
“Skateboarding is not a hobby. And it is not a sport. Skateboarding is a way of learning how to redefine the world around you. For most people, when they saw a swimming pool, they thought, ‘Let's take a swim.' But I thought, ‘Let's ride it.' When they saw the curb or a street, they would think about driving on it. I would think about the texture. I slowly developed the ability to look at the world through totally different means.” PeopleThinkingWorldWayLooksMeanDifferentSportsAbilitySawsStreetsDrivingSwimSwimmingPoolHobbiesTextureCurbSwimming PoolSkateboardingDriving On Author:Ian MacKaye
“I think that people are constantly thinking about capturing things that they're not actually present for the moment they're trying to capture. I'm quite sure of this. I think it's insane how many pictures have to be taken these days. We have to realize there's a level of documentation that's just chatter, it's noise, and beyond that, people who are truly documenting are going to have to find a way to puncture that.” PeopleThinkingWayTryingMomentsRealizingLevelsTakenNoiseInsaneThese DaysCaptureChatterDocumentationPunctureConstantly Thinking Author:Ian MacKaye
“I think that the idea of straight edge, the song that I wrote, and the way people have related it it, there's some people who have abused it, they've allowed their fundamentalism to interfere with the real message, which in my mind, was that people should be allowed to live their lives the way they want to.” PeopleThinkingWayWantShouldMindIdeasRealSongMessagesEdgesRelatedInterfereFundamentalismStraight Edge Author:Ian MacKaye
