SLOWLY CHURNED in a sweaty
W dance as the words "Yes I know this
is politically correct..." rang out over layers
of simple melody and beat. Then, melody
turned to maelstrom, rhythm to rapture,
and singing to impassioned screaming.
Each song gave birth to another. Guitars
were crashing, and the bass was thumping
at something deeper than bone. The drums
were twisting and torqueing us to release
something that might soon explode. Then
all of this turned back on itself, returning
to a quiet intensity, reminding us that the
storm was more about issues than dance
orgies. I left that night without the feeling
of political correctness, or having
seen God on stage, but I did feel
like my mind had been
set on fire."
-Mark Madeo
MONEY IS no object to Fugazi. Integrity and
standing up for what they believe are the
top priorities. "We do benefits for Planned
Parenthood, rupe crisis centers and the
homeless, because these are things that
we are concerned about," says gui
tarist/vocalist lan MacKaye. "In D.C.,
we haven't done a paying show for
over two and a half years. On the road,
some of the proceeds go for our ex
T
penses, it just depends. We play
church halls because any club in
D.C. is now too small for us to play.
We believe by playing a church
hall, the rent goes directly back into
the neighborhood, as opposed to a
regular venue or club.
HE DOOR PRICE at a Fugazi show is
always five dollars, he explains, "It's
a lot more fun to see a band for five
bucks than it is for ten bucks. And, let's
face it, for five bucks, we don't have
to be the greatest band on
Earth. We can suck and it's
still going to be cheap-
er than a movie."
FUGAZI is made:
up of members
from such hard-
A
core archtypes as Rites of Spring,
Insurrection and Minor Threat.
Mackaye is seen by some as a guru
due to his lead vocalist past with
Minor Threat, yet he maintains a
very down-to-Earth demeanor.
"WE GOT THE NAME from a book
about Vietnam." he says. "The mili
tary terminology for a fuck-up is a
fugazi." Besides MacKaye, the band
is comprised of Joe Lally on bass,
Brenden Canty on drums, and Guy
Picciotto on guitar and vocals.
THE GROUP'S LYRICS are astute
and brutally honest. The Fugazi ap-
proach is to deliver a song that will
make a difference, without insulting
your intelligence with a contrived
story line. Says MacKaye, "Either it
happens or it doesn't. There are no
formulas, it just happens. We feel we
can make our music work for things
we are concerned about, therefore
killing two birds with one stone."
ONE THING Fugazi cares about is
people's well-being, both at shows
and on the streets. "If I'm walking
down the street and I see somebody
getting the fuck beat out of them,
N
STORY: JON STAIN PHOTOS: MARK MADEO
Mackay says, "I'm going to say some-
thing. And if the same thing happens
at a show and it just happens to be a
dancing ritual, that doesn't mean I'm
not going to say something. We don't
want to tell people what to do, but we
can't stand by and watch people get-
ting hurt over stupid reasons.
FUGAZI'S AGAINST-THE-GRAIN
approach has left concert-goers in
lines at sold out venues nationwide
and in Europe. The latest installation.
in the Fugazi litany is the album
Steady Diet Of Nothing, which rings
strong with power and a message.
ACKAYE BUNS Dischord
records, the band's label, and
M
is driven to remain free from
corporate restraints. "We do the
whole thing ourselves," he says. "We
book our own shows. We don't have a
manager because we take control of
what we are responsible for. Who
could know better what the band
wants to do than somebody in the
band? It makes more sense for us, it's
easier. By rejecting the formal style of
business, we have freed ourselves
from the constraints that come with
the manager/agent/label stuff you
get. We just want to play
music. All that glossy, big
money press photos, bios
and merchandise stuff is
bullshit and everybody
knows it. We're not part
of the business, so we
don't do it.
PEOPLE MAKE UP
Fugazi shirts and sell
them without our
permission in record
stores and magazines
across the U.S. and
Canada and profiting
from it," says MacKaye.
"People who think they are support-
ing the band by buying these shirts
should know there is no T-shirt,
sticker or poster that is authorized by
the band. The only people making
money off it are the record stores that
are selling it, and the person who
made it. If people really want to sup-
port the band, they should design
and make their own Fugazi T-shirts
and not buy the inventions of greedy
pigs. People have always been out to
make a buck at someone else's ex-
pense. I don't feel nearly as bad
about T-shirt bootleggers as I do
about people getting murdered every-
day or that we live in a country that
has the propensity to go to war over
complete business interests. So selling
T-shirts compared to that is petty."
IN THE MIDST of the music, the
touring and the muck, Mackaye
still has time to skate. "I skated from
1976 to 1982 really heavily" he says.
"I still skate now, just by myself at
night when it's quiet. Skateboarding
totally redefined concrete for me. I
skate and I play music all the time.
If there was a feeling I get from them
that I could describe in words, then I
wouldn't do them...I'd probably
become a writer."