Dischord Records | |
---|---|
Founded | 1980 |
Founder | Ian MacKaye Jeff Nelson |
Genre | |
Country of origin | United States |
Location | Washington, D.C. |
Official website | dischord |
Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release Minor Disturbance by their band The Teen Idles. [1] [2] [3] With other independent American labels such as Twin/Tone, Touch and Go Records, and SST Records, Dischord helped to spearhead the nationwide network of underground bands that formed the 1980s indie rock scene. [4] These labels presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging. [5]
The label is most notable for employing the do it yourself ethic, producing all of its albums and selling them at discount prices without finance from major distributors. [6] Dischord continues to release records by bands from Washington D.C., and to document and support the Washington D.C. music scene. [7] As of October 2016, the label employs four people. [8]
Dischord was a local label in the early days of hardcore, and is one of the more famous independent labels, along with the likes of Alternative Tentacles, Epitaph Records, SST Records, and Touch and Go Records. [6]
The logo of the label was created by Nelson, who has an associate degree in advertising design. [9]
Influenced by existing labels like Dangerhouse Records, [10] MacKaye and Nelson took up residence in the now known "Dischord House" and ran the label out of its premises. [10]
Dischord's first release was Minor Disturbance by Teen Idles [11] released in 1980. [12] The band members cut, folded, and glued the record packaging themselves to keep costs down. [11] The label's first split 12" was Faith / Void Split by the bands The Faith and Void. [12]
Dischord limits itself to bands from the D.C. scene. The label offers the same basic deal to all artists: Dischord fronts a certain amount of money to record and manufacture [13] and once those costs are recouped, the label's distributor takes 30 percent of the profit [14] and the band and label split the remainder. [13] [14]
"We don't use contracts, lawyers, any of those kinds of things", MacKaye says. "We are partners – they make the music, and we make the records." [11]
Jeff Nelson has claimed the venture was never intended to be profit-making but was instead simply a way to get their friends albums in fans’ hands. [14]
In spite of criticism over the years about how the label is run, MacKaye claims everything works and will continue to operate in the same fashion of no contracts or lawyers. [15]
"From the beginning of this label, people have said that the way we do things is unsustainable, unrealistic, idealistic, and we were just dreaming", he said. "Well, the dream is now 35 years old, so they can go fuck themselves." [15]
In 2017, they put their catalog on Bandcamp for free streaming or purchase. [16]
In May 2021, it was announced that Dischord would be re-releasing the label's first six 7" records in a remastered box set. [17] With the catalog number "Dischord 200", it will consist of singles and EPs by Minor Threat, Government Issue, Teen Idles, SOA, and Youth Brigade. [17]
Bands such as Minor Threat, [18] Government Issue, [19] the Faith, [20] Void, [21] Iron Cross, [19] Embrace, [22] Rites of Spring, [22] Nation of Ulysses, [22] Scream, [23] Soulside, S.O.A., the Teen Idles, Gray Matter, Jawbox, [22] Marginal Man, [22] Shudder to Think, [22] Dag Nasty, [22] Lungfish and Fugazi [6] have released records on Dischord.
Additions to the Dischord roster as of the late 1990s and 2000s include Q and Not U, [6] Beauty Pill, Antelope, Soccer Team, [24] French Toast, Faraquet, Black Eyes, The Aquarium, Title Tracks, Edie Sedgwick, Slant 6, and Andalusians. Many of these acts, notably Q and Not U and Black Eyes, are both influential and experimental post-hardcore bands.
Dischord Records influenced many other labels such as Simple Machines, [13] Lovitt Records and DeSoto Records. [13]
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C., by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitarist Lyle Preslar to form Minor Threat. They added a fifth member, Steve Hansgen, in 1982, playing bass, while Baker switched to second guitar.
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label, and the frontman of hardcore punk band Minor Threat and post-hardcore band Fugazi. MacKaye was also the bassist for the short-lived band the Teen Idles, and frontman for Embrace, and Pailhead, a collaboration with the band Ministry. MacKaye is a member of The Evens, a two-piece indie rock group he formed with his wife Amy Farina in 2001 and in 2018 formed the band Coriky with Farina and his Fugazi band mate Joe Lally.
Rites of Spring was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in late 1983. Along with Embrace, and Beefeater, they were one of the mainstay acts of the 1985 Revolution Summer movement which took place within the Washington, D.C. hardcore punk scene.
Embrace was a short-lived American hardcore band from Washington, D.C., active from the summer of 1985 to the spring of 1986. Along with Rites of Spring, and Beefeater, it was one of the mainstay acts of the 1985 Revolution Summer movement, and was one of the first bands to be dubbed in the press as emotional hardcore, though the members had rejected the term since its creation. The band included lead vocalist Ian MacKaye of the defunct hardcore punk act Minor Threat and three former members of his brother Alec's band, the Faith: guitarist Michael Hampton, drummer Ivor Hanson, and bassist Chris Bald. Hampton and Hanson had also previously played together in S.O.A. The band played their first show on July 28, 1985, at Food for Thought, a former restaurant and music venue located on Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle; their ninth and final show was held at the 9:30 Club in March 1986. The only recording released by the quartet was their posthumous 1987 self-titled album, Embrace, being influenced by the Faith EP Subject to Change.
Lyle Preslar is an American musician best known for being the guitar player and songwriter for the hardcore punk band Minor Threat. Before that, he was the vocalist for The Extorts, who later became State of Alert after he quit. Despite not performing on any State of Alert recordings, Preslar received co-writing credit for the songs "Draw Blank" from the No Policy EP and "I Hate the Kids" from the Dischord Records compilation Flex Your Head.
The Teen Idles were an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C., in September 1979. Consisting of teenagers Nathan Strejcek, Geordie Grindle, Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, they recorded two demo sessions and the 1980 Minor Disturbance EP before breaking up in November 1980. The influential independent record label Dischord Records was originally created with the sole purpose of releasing The Teen Idles Minor Disturbance 7" record. They were an early landmark in the D.C. hardcore movement, and MacKaye and Nelson would later form the seminal punk rock outfit Minor Threat.
State of Alert was an American hardcore punk group formed in Washington, D.C., in October 1980, and active till July 1981. S.O.A. was fronted by Henry Rollins, then using his original surname Garfield.
Jeff Nelson is an American musician, graphic designer, and record-label owner. He is best known as the drummer for the Washington, D.C. hardcore punk band Minor Threat.
Washington, D.C., hardcore, commonly referred to as D.C. hardcore, sometimes styled in writing as harDCore, is the hardcore punk scene of Washington, D.C. Emerging in late 1979, it is considered one of the first and most influential punk scenes in the United States.
Skewbald/Grand Union, also known as 2 Songs, is the eponymous archival EP featuring the only studio recordings by American hardcore punk band Skewbald/Grand Union.
Flex Your Head is a sampler album featuring early hardcore punk bands from the Washington, D.C., area. It was originally released in January 1982 on Dischord Records, with a pressing of 4,000 copies on vinyl record that sold out within one week; an additional 3,000 copies were released shortly after. In 1982, a third pressing of 2,000 copies was released under license in the United Kingdom by Alternative Tentacles. Each of the first three pressings featured a different front cover.
Void was an American hardcore punk band formed in Columbia, Maryland, in 1980. The group was a pioneering force in the thriving Washington, D.C., hardcore scene during the early 1980s, successfully combining elements of punk with heavy metal in a style that was accepted by the scene's otherwise exclusive community. Void's punk metal fusion sound was marked by guitarist Bubba Dupree's innovative guitar work and the "unhinged" vocals of John Weiffenbach, which resonated in the band's chaotic but popular live performances. Like many of their contemporaries, Void had a short-lived recording career, limited to the split album Faith/Void Split with the Faith on Dischord Records. However, they have enjoyed an enduring cult following among hardcore aficionados.
The Faith/Void Split LP is a split album by Washington D.C. hardcore groups Void and the Faith, released on Dischord Records in 1982. Void was one of the earliest examples of hardcore/metal crossover with their chaotic musical approach cited as particularly influential. Kurt Cobain listed the album in his top fifty albums of all time.
The Faith was an early American hardcore punk band, from Washington D.C., with strong connections to the scene centered on the Dischord label. Along with Minor Threat, the Faith were key players in the early development of hardcore, with a (later) melodic approach that would influence not just associated acts like Rites of Spring, Embrace and Fugazi, but also a subsequent generation of bands such as Nirvana, whose Kurt Cobain was a vocal fan.
Minor Disturbance is the debut EP by the American hardcore punk band the Teen Idles, released in December 1980. It was the first release by Dischord Records. Comprising eight songs, Minor Disturbance referenced a number of issues pertinent to the band, from being turned away at local concerts due to their age to what they felt was the increasing complacency of many first wave punk bands. Upon its release, Minor Disturbance received positive reviews from local fanzines and gained airplay on local radio stations.
Dischord Records is an independent record label specializing in the punk rock music of the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene. The company is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded the label in December 1980. Before founding Dischord, both MacKaye and Nelson were members of the Teen Idles, and the label was initially meant to only foster a single release from the defunct band, the Minor Disturbance EP. By the time Dischord #1 was finished, many new bands had emerged from the same music scene, and like the Teen Idles, also began releasing their records through Dischord.
Rozzlyn Rangers was the name taken by the 5 original members of the Dischord House in Arlington, Virginia in October 1981: Ian MacKaye, Jeff Nelson, Rich Moore, Eddie Janney, and Sab Grey. Dischord House housed Dischord Records. Despite its terribly low ceiling, many DC punk bands practiced in its basement over the years: Minor Threat, Skewbald, Iron Cross, The Faith, Second Wind, Rites of Spring, Embrace, Three, Fugazi, Beefeater, Fidelity Jones, Happy Go Licky, Kingface, One Last Wish, The Evens.
Youth Brigade was an American hardcore punk band from Washington, D.C., formed in late 1980 and disbanded in 1981. They released the Possible EP and appeared on the Flex Your Head compilation, both on Dischord Records. Although active for less than a year, they were nevertheless contributors to the development of D.C. hardcore punk and have influenced many other bands. Several members briefly reunited for performances in 2012 and 2013.
20 Years of Dischord is a three-disc box set compiled by Washington-based record label Dischord Records to commemorate its 20th anniversary.
Revolution Summer was a phrase coined by an employee of Dischord Records in an effort to revive the hardcore punk scene of Washington, D.C. that occurred during the summer of 1985.