Biography
This page uses content from the Ian MacKaye biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Ian MacKaye (b. April 16 1962) is an American musician, probably best known as one of the founders and owners (with drummer and artist Jeff Nelson) of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based hardcore label, and as the singer for the highly influental bands: Minor Threat, Embrace and Fugazi. MacKaye also works as a recording engineer, and has produced releases by Nation of Ulysses, Bikini Kill, Rites of Spring, and Rollins Band.
His last name rhymes with "eye" not with "hay" as he says himself in the opening track of Beefeater's House Burning Down.
He is considered a hero within the hardcore scene, many dubbing him their saviour and is considered the most important person to ever be involved in hardcore music. He is also considered a legend in the indie rock scene through his work with Fugazi.
Biography
Early Years
McKaye grew up in the Grover Park neighborhood of Washington and listened to mainstream hard rock before discovering punk music in 1976 when he saw The Cramps perform at nearby Georgetown University. He was particularly influenced by the D.C. and Californian hardcore scene. MacKaye looked up to hardcore bands like Bad Brains and Black Flag and was childhood friends with Henry Garfield (who later changed his name to Henry Rollins).
Career
MacKaye played bass guitar/back up vocals in The Teen Idles (1979), was lead singer for Minor Threat (1980) and Embrace (1985), and presently plays guitar and sings with Fugazi (1987) and The Evens. MacKaye has also worked with a few smaller bands on the side over the years, including Egg Hunt, Skewbald/Grand Union, and Pailhead, a collaboration between MacKaye and Al Jourgensen of the industrial band Ministry in which MacKaye again assumed lead vocals. Additionally, MacKaye sang lead vocals on at least one Government Issue track featured on the 20 Years of Dischord collection. Backing vocals and collaborations -- as, for example, with brother Alec MacKaye's former band Ignition -- are numerous.
MacKaye currently sings and plays baritone guitar in the band The Evens with the drummer and vocalist Amy Farina of the Warmers. The Evans released their self-titled album in early 2005, breaking a four-year silence by MacKaye. MacKaye, along with guitarist Sonic Boom (formerly of Spacemen 3), co-wrote the music to the 2003 documentary The Weather Underground.
Straight Edge
The song "Straight Edge" was written by MacKaye for his band, Minor Threat, and was released in 1981 on Minor Threat's self-titled EP. The song, according to The Manchester Newspaper in 1997, was written as an obituary for a friend of MacKaye's who died from an overdose of heroin. Ian expressed his pain, anger, and his determination to be clean and pure of any type of drug or obsession. It was a song that described a life free of the "drugs" part of the "sex, drugs and rock'n roll" banner originating as a rebellion in the 1960s - smoking, drinking, and drug use - to what wasn't socially tolerated previously. It began to influence youth culture as Minor Threat gained popularity through numerous live shows and through sales of the song on their EP. Although to MacKaye the song did not represent a philosophy or a movement, over time however, people adopted the philosophy of the song and many bands began to label themselves straight edge, founding the straight edge movement.
External links
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