Yesterday afternoon I fell down a Dischord Records Youtube hole, flitting from video to video in an attempt to distract myself from the rather more boring transcription work I was supposed to be doing. It started when I read a review of the new Evens record, The Odds, and felt compelled to listen to some Minor Threat. It ended with a long video interview with Dischord linchpin, Ian MacKaye. In between there were songs from The Faith, Embrace, Rites Of Spring, Fire Party, Fugazi and lots more. I’ve been a huge fan of the label’s output for several years but as interesting and compelling as the Dischord bands are, I’ve always been just as impressed by the way the label operates. In many ways, they have delivered the template for what I believe to be a truly independent label and a truly punk way of life.
For those not familiar, Dischord was started in 1980 by Ian MacKaye and fellow Minor Threat member Jeff Nelson with the original aim of releasing their previous band’s work. The Teen Idles’ Minor Disturbance is Dischord Records #1. They saved up money, pressed 1000 copies on 7″, hand-folded and glued record sleeves together and distributed them themselves. They did this seven or eight times before moving onto a somewhat more professional, less-labour intensive way of putting records together. The label has served as a document of the Washington D.C. punk scene for over 30 years now, though these days most of the focus of the label is on keeping older work in print.
One inspiring thing about the label is the no-compromise approach they have towards their “business model”. They have an intense connection to a small community, a passion for the music created there and the will to document it. They do things their way and if that doesn’t work, they don’t do it at all. Dischord has never been a big label, even when Fugazi were at their peak and major labels were trying to buy them out at the peak of grunge-mania. It has the same postal address as always, MacKaye’s parents’ house in Washington, and the former centre of operations, Dischord House (in Arlington, Virginia), remains a practice space, recording space and general living space for many people associated with the label.
There’s more to the story than the business side of things though. What’s really important is that Dischord pointed a way towards a way of life that is outside of the concerns of the music and entertainment industries. It becomes about owning the art that you create, learning how to let other people hear it; how, where and when to perform it. It’s about living an honest life and making art for the right reason, the only reason; because you want to. It’s about respecting your audience and working with them, pricing records and shows fairly and not hiding how you do what you do behind the fake veil of industry. It’s the old punk adage of anyone can do it. Anyone can join in, and it’s a lot easier if someone points the way. All you have to do is figure out how to make it work for you. What can you document? What art do you feel totally connected to and how can you help to support that?
While old heads will continue to have their say about a dying music industry, it’s important to remember that as a musician or a fan, you can be your own industry. You don’t have to pay that massive failing behemoth of corruption, lies and fake gold any more heed than you would a passing fly. Bands are now in the position where all the relevant means of distribution are free and easily available to them. Recording costs as little as you want it to. Vinyl prices are lower than they’ve been in a long time and it’s easy to contact shops and distros to get them to stock your work. Bandcamp is a wonderful platform that can host your work digitally. If you want to go down the route of Spotify and other streaming services, you can do that. Don’t worry about press and stuff like that, just tell your friends, get them to join in, club together. Whether you reach dozens of people or millions of people, it genuinely won’t matter because you’re directly connected to your work and to your audience and you’re totally in control of what’s happening. You sell it or you give it away, you make your own decisions. You make your own reality. What could be more exciting than that?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jTjALyY8NM?rel=0]
