I never, ever had it in my mind that I wanted to be in the record industry, because I still contend that the record industry is an insidious affair. It's this terrible collision between art and commerce, and it will always be that way.
Ian MacKayeIt makes me sad, the way human beings talk smack. It's why I don't like irony. People are too gleeful to put some teeth into something.
Ian MacKayeI 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.
Ian MacKayeStructures can be manipulated for ill as well, especially when people are dealing with issues of power, or control, or violence.
Ian MacKayeThe first time I ever recorded, which was into my boom-box, I was like, 'Wow, check that out.' It sounded great. The narcotic of it was so intense - it was pleasurable. I was like, 'You sound like a band.' Then I ended up spending the rest of my life trying to chase that initial high again.
Ian MacKayeThe 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.
Ian MacKaye