BAND HISTORY
Fugazi was formed in 1987 by Ian Mckaye, Joe Lally, and Brendan Canty. They had five live shows together before adding their fourth member, Guy Picciotto to the lineup. Ian Mckaye was frontman for bands, Minor Threat and Teen Idles who also belonged to Mckaye's Discord Record Label, before starting Fugazi. They were pioneers in the DC punk scene during the late 80's early 90's. Embrace, For Better or Worse, and Canty and Picciotto's old band, Rites of Spring, started the emocore punk trend that would begin almost a decade later. After several more live shows , the band released their first LP in 1988 with a self title. On the album was their most popular song ever recorded; "Suggestion". It's been covered by bands such as the late Kurt Cobain's chart topping band, Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Pearl Jam. Fugazi's rhythm and sound is almost like no other with their independent beats and stylish guitars. The vocals are inspiring, mellow, and hardcore all in one. The next year they came out with the Margin Walker LP and soon after combined their self title debut with Margin Walker to create 13 Songs. That was their second highest selling record ever. In 1990 they created one of the most popular punk rock albums with Repeater. I own all of their cd's and Repeater, by far is my favorite. It is mixed extremely well and I like every single track on it. Critics gave them bad ratings and it seemed like they were at the bottom. They went right back on top when Steady Diet of Nothing.
Two years later they came out with their most
intense album ever, In on the Killtaker. Although it didn't sell much,
Fugazi still maintained the popularity they needed to be punk rock gods. The
bands "5 dollar shows and 10 dollar cd " reputation seemed to be almost
the only thing lasting in the music world for them. Despite their hard rocking
and crazy stage antics, Mckaye sometimes would give refunds back to fans if they
would leave after getting too rowdy. Their anti moshing shows seemed to sell
less and less and get calmer and calmer.
Their next album, Red Medicine, was their only low selling album and they seemed to lose their touch for good this time. In 1999, their album pulled them out of the hole but didn't put them on the chart. Long time friend of the band, Jem Cohen, put together a project that almost saved Fugazi's longtime career. It was titled "The Instrument". It was a collaboration of demos, live performances, and various recordings not from a studio. Just last year, they made The Argument LP and it topped charts across America. They stood their ground in the Punk Rock Scene and have kept their place since. Ian currently runs his Dischord Records Label and Joe Lally recently started his own label, Tolotta Records.