Ian Mackaye

1. Since everyone is familiar with Minor Threat and
Fugazi already, I was curious if you'd be willing to
tell us about your new project The Evens?

i generally don't try to describe the music that i'm making, but i can
say this about the evens. we are a two-piece. i play baritone guitar
and amy farina plays drums. we both sing. we are interested in playing
in non-traditional venues and have tried to fashion an approach to our
music that will make us more flexible in terms of presentation. we
intend to tour quite a bit and our first record is due out in march, so
hopefully people will get to hear and/or see us. that way they will be
able to come to their own conclusions about the band.

2. Being in DC it has to be hard not to be some what more aware of the political situation in this country than the average person. What do you feel is the general attitude towards this countries current political climate and how do you feel the political climate of this country yourself?

i think living in washington may actually result in being less-aware of what is happening politically in the rest of the country. having such an intimate view of the business of government gives us a perspective on the situation that most don't have. it's hard to understand what's happening outside when one is so close to the fire.

i think this country is deeply sick and is engaging in criminal warfare while allowing corporations to run amuck. how on earth can anyone justify the tens of thousands of iraqis that have been killed in this mess? so i guess if this situation is the result of the 'political climate' of america, i'm very much looking forward to a change in seasons.

3. Having been around for a number of years and watching not only punk music but alternative music as a whole change into what it is today, do you feel the genre(s) are now working against what their original point was?

i don't exactly understand this question. if you are asking me if i think there are still people out there making music that challenges conventional thinking and provides soundtrack to a community, the answer is yes. allegiance to genres can at times be extremely restricting, so it's hard to discuss things like punk and alternative music without a more concise agreement of the definition of those
terms. in my mind 'punk' usually refers to the free-space that allows for new ideas, and in that sense i think punk can never die.

4. In fifty years when people look back on the DC music scene and talk about you would you like to be thought of just as a musician or as someone who established a solid label and scene within in this city, or would you like to be remembered as just a really big fan?

i don't really spend time thinking about the future or my legacy. if people remember me at all, i hope they remember me fondly.

5. If you could do a tour with any 3 bands who would you pick and why?

i don't think in terms of lists and favorites, so i guess i'd like to tour with three bands full of people who were pleasant to spend time with and musically uplifting. there is something really transcendent about being able to see a band play night after night for weeks at a time when they are engaging with their music as opposed to presenting it. i guess one band that i wouldn't mind being on tour with is lungfish. they are dear friends, people that i've known for years and years, and their music is celestial in my opinion.

6. Finally, and I apologize for asking since I am sure you're sick of being asked about straight edge. As one of the original members of the straight edge movement, do you feel the culture has become something completely different than when people like Kevin Seconds and yourself were laying it's roots, and if so
do you feel what it has become is still true to what you saw the nature of what you helped start in the early eighties?

i was the person that coined the phrase 'straight edge', but i've never identified as a member of the straight edge movement. in my mind it was and is a personal decision. i was never interested in compelling other people to 'join' something, i was encouraging them to resist peer pressure and to live their lives the way they felt was natural. i don't think that straight edge or the straight edge movement is something defined clearly enough to pass judgment on at this point. there are and have been elements of that culture that have struck me a fundamental and at times violent over the years, and that's something that i am not interested in. on the other hand, i suspect that the vast majority of people who identify as or with 'straight edge' are just trying to do the right thing in their lives and i reckon that's a good thing.