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.
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.
Fire Party was a band from Washington, D.C. They were together from the autumn of 1986 to the spring of 1990. The band members were Amy Pickering (vocals), Natalie Avery (guitar), Kate Samworth (bass), and Nicky Thomas (drums).
Beefeater was an American post-hardcore band from late 1984 until late 1986. Along with Embrace and Rites of Spring, they were one of the mainstay acts of the 1985 Revolution Summer movement which took place within the Washington, D.C. hardcore punk scene. They were pioneers of the post-hardcore genre in the mid-1980s with bands like Embrace, Rites of Spring and Gray Matter, among others.
Soulside, also spelled Soul Side, was an American post-hardcore band from the greater Washington, D.C. area. The original name of the band was Lunchmeat which was formed by high school students Bobby Sullivan, Chris Thomson, Scott McCloud and Alexis Fleisig in 1985. Lunchmeat played their last show under that name on August 29 of the same year as the group went on hiatus while the members went to college.
Fumble is the fifth studio album by American hardcore band Scream. It was recorded in December 1989 at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia, and released in July 1993 through Dischord. It is notable for showcasing the band's expansion in style, towards a more post-hardcore sound.
Salad Days is the final EP by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat. It was released in July 1985, two years after the band's breakup, through Dischord Records with the catalog number DIS 015. The EP differs somewhat from the band's previous material. All songs are slower, making a slight departure from the group's hardcore punk style. Tracks "Good Guys" and "Salad Days" both feature an acoustic guitar, and "Salad Days" also has chimes. Like many of Minor Threat's recordings, Salad Days has never been released on CD, but all the songs are available on their 1989 compilation album Complete Discography.
Positive Force DC is an activist organization founded in 1985 by members of the punk community in Washington, D.C. It has organized hundreds of benefit concerts for community and activist groups, and worked alongside Fugazi, Bikini Kill, Nation of Ulysses, Girls Against Boys, Q and Not U and other bands arising from the capital’s punk scene. Positive Force has also engaged in many other forms of progressive activism in the D.C. area, and from about 1985 to the mid-1990s there was a Positive Force house in Arlington, Virginia, where various members of the group lived and which the organization operated from.
Mark Andersen is a punk rock community activist and author who lives in Washington D.C. He was born and raised in rural Montana, and moved to Washington D.C. in 1984 to attend graduate school at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Bobby Sullivan is a musician and activist.
Food for Thought/Take It Back is a compilation album by American post-hardcore band Gray Matter.
Subject to Change is the first and only EP by American hardcore band The Faith. It was released in December 1983 through Dischord Records. Like other influential D.C. records, it was released after the band had broken up. For the band's only other release after their split LP with Void, Edward Janney added some second guitar.
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.
The single play record "Me and You", also known as Egg Hunt, and 2 Songs, is the first and only stand-alone release by the American experimental post-hardcore duo Egg Hunt.
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.
