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Interview by Jim Saah

When I sat down to do this interview with Ian I wanted to show a side of this hard- working, entrepreneurial, community- minded rock 'n' roller that rarely gets play in the press. When I talk to people about their impressions of the man, the word "serious" always comes up. It's my contention that, yeah, he's serious, serious about a lot of things: his work, his friends and family, but not about himself. He's got a great sense of humor. He loves to laugh, pulling practical jokes on co-workers at Dischord, making sarcastic remarks, and most importantly, making fun of himself and his unlikely position as a rock star.
It's easy to make fun of that bygone punk rock idealism, now that hardcore/punk is just the latest trend with which major record companies can turn a quick buck. But Ian embodies all the positive aspects of that idealism without being holier than thou. He's a living testament to the inherent value of D.I.Y. Sure, it takes hard work, but he makes a damn good living on his own terms.
Ian keeps himself incredibly busy. When he talks about his work load he sounds as if he didn't create the hectic schedule he finds himself in; that it's just the way it is. But the truth is, because of his love for music and his raging work ethic; he wouldn't have it any other way. He's not only co-creator of Dischord Records and founding member of the band Fugazi; he also manages the band and books their tours, which keep him on the road for up to five months a year. But Ian never left D.C. and coming back to his friends and family seems as important to him as touring and making records.
The interview was conducted by Jim Saah on March 5, 1996 at Ian's home in Arlington, Virginia.

Q: How has the writing process changed within Fugazi?

Ian: It's changed dramatically because at the beginning of the band, it was really just me and Joe playing together and then we had Colin from Dag Nasty play with us for about 6 months, and then he left to go back to Dag Nasty and we asked Brendan to sit in with us but at the time they were just songs I had written on my own and Joe was just learning his instrument. He'd played bass kinda before so for the most part the songs were just my songs, my arrangements, everything. When Brendan started to play with us, of course Brendan has a lot of input and Joe started to write more. The first record is primarily songs that I wrote myself, both lyrics and music-not all of it, obviously-like Guy wrote the lyrics for the songs he sang. The beginning of the band before we were playing live was just stuff I wrote. Then all of us, more and more input from everybody, until eventually Guy started playing guitar. Before I used to have an idea and bring it into practice, now we just go to practice and hash it out. Man, it is rough going. It's hard, really hard. You don't really know when you go in, you just sort of depend on everybody's mood lining up and feeling productive and creative. It's hard to line all that stuff up. On the other hand, everyone's going to have so much input that we might as well just wait until we get to the basement. We go in with themes, "here's an idea I had" and then we try it. Once you try it, like with a song like "Instrument" I had a vision on how I wanted the song to sound and I brought it into practice and then "okay that's kinda cool, but.." From that point on it was completely torn apart and rearranged and messed with until we had this really different version of it. What was ironic was that when we recorded it, we recorded a really cacophonous version and there was so much noise and guitar stuff. It was so frustrating. Finally Guy just sort of took out the guitars "Let's take 'em out of here" That actually totally rearranged the song, again. So all this stuff we had written, all this dirgy guitar stuff, just went out the window. And it became the version that it is today. Things are constantly changing. We're ceaseless in our rearrangements. Some songs we been fooling around with for 5 or 6 years, one version or another. They're never right; they never made it out of the basement.

Q: So are egos ever a problem or not?

Ian: We've known each other for so many years and been a band for so long that obviously we do clash a lot but that's part of the creative process, that's a partnership. Anyone who does anything with more than one person has to deal with other human beings. That's not a problem, but if it is a problem, that's part of it. "I feel that every one of our records in every sort of era of the band was really pushing ourselves and moving forward...."

Q: How about the problem of repeating yourself? Or when you've been in a band so long and you know the people so well, the feeling that you're not really doing anything new?

Ian: I think that we run from that. I think that really propels us from staying away from redoing stuff. People always say, "typical Fugazi," whatever the hell that is. I feel that every one of our records in every sort of era of the band was really pushing ourselves and moving forward. Obviously there's trademark stuff that we can't help. This is the way we play, our aesthetic. We obviously are really interested in pushing ourselves and challenging ourselves. We always agreed that the band would be a band until we found it disinteresting.

Q: You've been in bands since you were a teenager. You must find it interesting and rewarding on many levels.

Ian: I don't really have a choice in the matter. That's how satisfying it is on whatever level you want to talk about it. To me it's what I do.

Q: How has the thrill and excitement changed over the years since you were 17. Is it the same high or how is it different?

Ian: It's impossible to answer the question. Certain elements are obviously less exciting, but on the other hand I have a much different, deeper understanding of things and that's much more satisfying. I still love playing; don't get me wrong. Completely.

Q: Recording or playing live or both?

Ian: Well, a good show is the best. I like to perform; I like practicing but not always. I get frustrated because it's really hard. I love it when we're writing. I love writing songs when it's happening. I love the process of music. It's not always fun. Generally speaking I love the process of music, it doesn't mean I always love being in the process of it. Sometimes it's a drag.

Q: Is the business aspect the worse aspect?

Ian: That's a different thing altogether.

Q: So by the process of music you mean....

Ian: Writing, creating, touring. Sometimes it's not so fun. I've been in situations with studios, not necessarily Fugazi because I've produced a lot of bands too, where it's totally unpleasant. It's completely frustrating. It's like this is the thing you love to do the most, this is an incredible thing the creative process, making a record-and then there's this incredibly unpleasant atmosphere. And it's such a clash, it's depressing. I hate that. I mean what are we here for? I didn't want to come argue.

Q: So performing is your favorite part of being in a band?

Ian: I think so. Performance, for me at least.. performing and playing, it doesn't happen all the time, but it's one of the only avenues that I've ever come across that allows you to feel pretty close to free. You know just completely able to do whatever and so tied in to the moment and the energy and the adrenaline-the aggression, there's so much stuff going on, so many emotions involved, I find it incredible. And also there's a lot of potential when you have a band and a bunch of people in one room. A lot of good stuff can happen- in my mind. I don't think people realize that so much anymore. God man, people should get off, what are we here for?!

Q: Do you think people are trying to be too cool?

Ian: I don't know if that's the case. There's always been the thing where you say " that guy's a snob" but the guy might be shy too. It's an aesthetic for whatever reason at the moment this particular community seems to be kinda stuck in, but it'll change. It has to.

Q: Are you still touring as much as you used to?

Ian: We still tour a lot. We toured 5 months last year. '94 we didn't do much touring; we only went to Brazil. This year we'll probably do 3 months or something. We toured so much; it's sort of absurd how much time we missed in our own home. We could play everyday of the fucking year if we wanted.

Q: Is being home becoming more important to you? You recently bought a house.

Ian: That didn't have anything to do with wanting to buy a home. I had to make a decision about either moving or buying so I bought it. I've heard people say, "oh he's nesting." It's possible that part of me is more settled, but at the same time I've totally enjoyed traveling. I'm very happy out on the road. I think that I've almost developed two lives, it's a pretty maddening pair of lives because the one that's home always wants to be on the road and the one that's on the road always wants to be home.

Q: They're never together at the same time.

Ian: No. The thing is if I'm home, I'm busier than I am on the road. I work harder when I'm on the road, but it's more satisfying because the tasks are so clear. One mission: the gig. Some static from business stuff, but that's the mission-get to the gig and play. Here it's like a million things. We operate the band here, so I do a lot of administrative work for the band, I have a label, I have all the interaction with people on the label, I produce bands, I manage the house, and I have family stuff. I have so much stuff going on. And I have friends. I got to tell you, there's not a whole lot of time when I can't think of anything to do. I'm pretty perpetually busy out of my fucking mind. It's good because it keeps me from having to think about a lot of junk.

Q: You've created all this work for yourself.

Ian: I've created some of the work. I've created a situation where work could develop. People have sort of invested in me so I have a responsibility. Whether it's the band or the label I have to work. I can't just say "fuck it, I'm not going to work anymore" When I do that's gonna be it. It's not "you guys figure it out for your damn selves." I have a responsibility.

Q: As far as your nesting goes, do you think marriage or children would fit into your busyness?

Ian: I don't know.

Q: You never think about it?

Ian: I think about it but I don't have an answer. And if I did I wouldn't talk about it in an interview. I am 33, but I'm working harder now than I did when I was 18. Whatever. I don't know how to answer that question. I obviously have thought about it, but I don't have a clue.

Q: Whether you want it, whether you know if you want it.

Ian: Whether it's possible. Whether I want it or not. I don't know. It's like it is what it is.

Q: I don't know what you mean by possible. Anything you want is possible. It depends on what you want. I'm asking if you think that's something you want.

Ian: Yeah, I've certainly thought about it. It's not just my decision, frankly. I think that we just started working here, and I woke up and it's 15 years later. I don't really think about the future. I don't think the future is something I have very much control over. And I don't think that much about the past because I definitely don't have control over the past. It is what it is. So the only thing I think about it is what I'm going to do today for the most part. I'll schedule what's happening next month or something. I don't have a long range plan. I do thinks it's achievable but if I wanna have fucking kids I better do it before I'm 50. If I even want to have a conversation with them. What can I say. These are things that I figure if it's gonna happen it will happen in its own time.

Q: In preparing for this interview I asked several people what they would ask you if they had the chance. And several said they thought your personal life is sort of an enigma. For instance, your relationship with Cynthia, even though you've been dating for so long, no one ever even sees you hold hands. Is this an aspect of being personal and keeping your private business private or was this part of your upbringing?

Ian: I'll just say that I don't discuss my personal life in interviews. It is interesting to me that people think of my personal life as an enigma, because I don't really think that other people are particularly florid about their personal lives. Just because I'm a public figure doesn't really mean that I should be trumpeting everything about my personal life. That's my business. It's interesting... I could tell them or not tell them.

Q: As far as your public persona, you seem to be really scrutinized in the public eye...

Ian: By some people. I'm a pretty minor player. "I don't think that my work should have that much more weight than anyone else's....(but) you should be aware of what you say and take full responsibility."

Q: You seem to attract a lot of interest in the press. As far as a minor player, yeah, there are people in rock music who get more attention and more press and sell more records than you, but what you say and what you do seems to be scrutinized to a disproportionate degree. I'm not sure why that is, but does that even have any affect on the way you conduct your affairs.

Ian: Yes!

Q: In what way?

Ian: Because I find that sometimes things I might do off-handedly, could be perceived in an incorrect fashion. And when I found out the things that they misperceive, not that it should matter, but I end up having to spend an enormous amount of energy answering or deflecting criticism for questions about said misperceived action. So, I'm quite careful about the things I do in public, as far as I'm conscious - not careful - and definitely conscious about the things I say in public. I don't think that my work should have that much more weight than anyone else's. But obviously it does, to some degree, to some people. And with that knowledge, it has reminded me in an even stronger fashion, and it's true for everybody, that you should be aware of what you say and take full responsibility for what you say and your actions. Humor does not fucking translate.

Q: The way you are perceived and the way you are are very different. People seem to have the idea that you are very serious and that you just sit home and brood all day. But what I see is you cracking jokes and having a lot of fun. Are you able to be yourself...

Ian: I am able to be myself.

Q: In public?

Ian: Depending on the public. Like if I'm at a show and there's a bunch of people I don't know, and I get a sense that people are watching me, then I'm obviously going to worry about the things I do. But I certainly don't hesitate to laugh or have a good time. Just because I am aware that people are watching me and I am aware of my actions, I don't curtail them necessarily. Sometimes you do things just jokingly, that lead to just totally confusing people.

Q: You may not take responsibility for the "Straight Edge" movement, but you are credited with it. How do you feel about that?

Ian: I'm credited because I coined a phrase and wrote a song about it. I'm not going to spend any more energy than I already have explaining that. From the very beginning I've tried to say that this is not my opinion. That whole thing just makes me realize I don't have any control over what people think of me. And I don't really give a fuck. When I do interviews I'm not going to talk shit about people. Because then people read it and their feelings get hurt. I'm not real interested in just hurting people's feelings all the damn time. I don't think it's that important, what I think about other people. So, I don't use proper nouns in my interviews, and I feel much better. We were talking about my actions. I know who I am. And I'm just aware of the fact that some people have endowed me more strength; that my actions have more of an effect on them than actions of other people. I don't know how it affects me but I'm aware of it.
I'm much more comfortable when I'm sitting around with friends than when I'm out. And I'm more comfortable doing an interview with you than I would be with someone I don't know. But the same way you are more comfortable doing an interview with me than with someone you don't know. I try not to be an irresponsible person. I guess some people that I know who are more well known are just fucking jerks to people. Either they aren't aware of their power or they're just irresponsible with it.

Q: You've been a public figure, most of your adult life...

Ian: To some degree. It's a limited sphere we're talking about here. I'm certainly not in the mainstream public eye.

Q: But you seem to deal well with the amount of notoriety you have. How do you think you would deal with the level of fame some of your peers have achieved?

Ian: You have to keep in mind, that a lot of decisions I've made in my life, were made so I wouldn't end up in that position. Because for me it's just about playing in the band and being part of the community. Sometimes I've met people who have such a splashy existence and have done quite well for themselves and they're living in a whole different kind of community or society. And I think, well, you know, I guess I could have had something like this if I'd wanted it. And I think it would be pretty fun to do, but after a day or two I'd start thinking, "Man, I gotta get home and ... clean some windows or something."
I start to feel like it's deceptive. Its just not really where I want to be. I really think it's much more interesting down here. I just want to be a part of RIGHT HERE. I'm not at all interested in the stratosphere. To me, I feel good, I can interact on different levels if I'm approachable, to some degree.

Q: You seem to be real down-to-earth and have a strong sense of family and community. This is a bit unusual in the current climate of disfunctionality and I wanted to know if you credit this to your upbringing or to something else.

Ian: Yeah. I don't have much family, but the family I have is pretty tight. I just feel really committed to my community, my friends and my family. I'm just into it. It gives me a sense of structure and understanding I can work with. It helps me understand what I'm doing. I like the interaction. I like the support I feel from it. The reason community is so important to me is that the community is so supportive of me. So I feel like okay, cool, reinvest. I've always been a believer in that. That's why I find these stupid little punk bands, let me rephrase, some of these bands that are signing up and stuff for me it's a shame because I feel that some of them at least or a lot of them got to where they are through support of the punk thing and even though it might be frustrating I feel like they should have reinvested that. They should continue to be underground or something. They need to be outside the industry because being outside the industry got them to where they are to some degree. And unfortunately I think a lot of people just think, "Well, we got something nice, let's polish it up and sell it." And it doesn't belong to them. From my point of view the community is what's important to me.
The community is kind of weird for me now too. I'm 33 and most of my close friends, peers from the early days of punk rock for me; you don't see them around anymore. A lot of people who are a little bit younger than me who are still friends of mine, they're around, but not as much or as many. It's really spread out over a lot of different generations now. It's much more a general amorphous kind of community at this point. I'm seriously tight with a lot of people, a clique of friends or whatever you want to call it, a circle of people who are sort of my general hangs and then I feel like there are all these cells around Washington of people who have their friends and that kind of makes up the overall community, and it's a pretty nice varied community and I do feel personally that I can move fairly easily within it. I'm friends with most people. I find people interesting. It's funny because the other day I was talking to a friend of mine and we were talking about early hardcore. Basically we were talking about the fact that bands were all boys-that there were no girls in bands in the early eighties. In that way the girls didn't play that much of a role in the community and the boys did. And to me, that's absurd because when I think back to those shows, that time I should say, I don't think about the bands. I think about the hang, about the community and everyone was a part of that. The music was just a currency, just something people revolved around. The actual expression of all the bands was just part and parcel of the expression of everybody in one form or another. It took some people longer than others to get to where they're at and ultimately it led people to all kinds of vehicles and freed people from the constraints of orthodox manner that they were supposed to do things in. How to create-it broke all the rules if you want to do something, then fucking do it, it's not that hard. If it is hard then get to work. The bands were just one element of it. From my point of view the bands were just the currency at the time.