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A. Internet Resources 
B. The Band
C. Recent Projects
D. Merchandise
E. Concerts
F. Albums
G. Instrument Video
H. Rumors
I. Personal and Political Issues
J. Webpage Info and Credits
This F.A.Q. was checked by Guy from Fugazi.
Last updated: April 2007
A. INTERNET RESOURCES
1. Where can I get Fugazi info on the web? What are the main Fugazi webpages?
2. Is there an up-to-date discography somewhere?
3. Is there a mailing list?
Although there is no official mailing list, there is one Fugazi-related mailing list run by Kris Mestdag. Not too sure if it's still active, but you can try to sign up for that here:. http://users.pandora.be/fugazi/fugazimail.htm
4. Is there a Fugazi newsgroup?
No, there is no official Fugazi newsgroup.
5. Where can I get Fugazi music (MP3's) on the net?
As far as getting songs from the studio released albums, you will have to find those yourself. The band lives off of the money they make through their music, so buy the albums. There are however, some live bootlegs that you can buy. Go here: http://www.fugaziliveseries.com
6. How can I contact the members of Fugazi? Where can I e-mail them?
You can e-mail the band at:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Or you can reach them via snail mail:
c/o Dischord Records
3819 Beecher Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
USA
Or in the UK:
PO Box 59
London
N22 1AR
B. THE BAND
1. Who is Fugazi?
Brendan Canty- Drums
Joe Lally- Bass
Ian Mackaye- Vocals and Guitar
Guy Picciotto- Vocals and Guitar
1b. What about Jerry Busher, is he officially in the band?
He isn't officially in the band as far as we know, but he is a friend of the band, and he played with them frequently during their last couple of tours. He played a second drum kit as well as various other percussion instruments and the trumpet.
2. When did the band Fugazi form? Are the members still the same?
The band Fugazi formed in Washington D.C. in 1987. The band started out with Ian Mackaye and Joe Lally on the bass, playing with a variety of different drummers. Eventually Brendan Canty of Happy Go Licky joined with Joe and Ian, and the three-piece actually played a show together in 1987. In 1988, Guy Picciotto, who had been serving as a glorified roadie (singing backups on certains songs), joined the band and Fugazi as we know it today was formed. Recently, in 1998, a new 'fifth-member', Jerry Busher (also in the All Scars) has been playing off and on with the band. He provides addional drumming and plays the trumpet on a few songs. However, he is still not considered a full-member of the band (if that really matters).
2b. Is it true that Guy was a roadie for Fugazi before he joined the band?
It seems that Guy was in fact a roadie, but only for a show or two. He was a practicing musician though, and it wasn't long before he was singing backup for the band. He had just left Happy Go Licky, and he toured with Fugazi, singing back-up vocals on a couple of songs. In the Instrument video, Joe says that Guy was 'in the crowd for the first couple of shows". In 1988, he joined the band for good.
2c. With a name like Guy Picciotto, what can you tell me about Guy's ethnic background?
Guy says that he is "a mixed bag - my first name is french, the last name is sicilian. just a typical american background - usual european mixture. and my dad's an italian citizen".
3. How old are all of the band members?
Instead of me having to change this every year, I will give you their birthdates, and you can do the math.
Brendan- March 9, 1966
Joe- December 3, 1963
Ian- April 16, 1962
Guy- September 17, 1965
3b. Where were the members of the band born?
Brendan- Teaneck, NJ
Joe- Rockville, MD
Ian- Washington, DC
Guy- Washington, DC
3c. Where do the band members currently live?
All of the members currently live in the Washington, D.C. area. Ian moved to Arlington, Virginia for a while, into a home that now serves as an office for Dischord Records.
3d. Why did Ian move to Arlington?
Ian says: "I moved out of DC and into Arlington in October of 1981. Initially it was 5 punk kids moving out of our parent's houses and we needed to find a place that we could practice in, as well as set up the label, that was affordable. I actually only intended to stay out of the city for 6 months, but ended up staying in Arlington for over 16 years. At one point more than half of the house was built into offices for Dischord, but now only I still work there. I live in the DC area because this is where I was born. This is my home."
4. What other bands have the members of Fugazi been in (pre-Fugazi)?
Brendan- Rites of Spring, Dead Line, One Last Wish, Happy Go Licky, Insurrection, and Brief Weeds.
Ian- Embrace, Minor Threat, Skewbald/Grand Union, Pailhead, The Teen Idles, Slinkees and Egghunt.
Guy- Brief Weeds, Rites of Spring, Insurrection, One Last Wish, and Happy Go Licky.
Joe- Lunchbox and Pitbull.
4b. What can you tell me about the band Insurrection?
Guy says this about his time with the band Insurrection: "In the early eighties, Insurrection played eight or 10 shows around Washington, D.C. We made one demo tape with Ian Mackaye of Fugazi -- but it got buried by the wishes of the band because it was so terrible. We definitely weren't ready. We tried to do it and it was a complete disaster. We asked not to receive copies."
5. What does the name FUGAZI mean?
The name 'Fugazi' comes from a book that Ian read called "Nam" by Mark Baker. Ian says: "It's a book of reflections of Vietnam veterans and at one point, this guy said everything was Fugazi. I looked it up in the glossary and it said, 'fucked up situation'. It was right at the point when we were getting ready to do our first shw and I was desperately trying to come up with a name, anything other than Ian's New Band. It was really important for me and the band to not be 'Ian's New Band'. We all have an equal sharing part." The actual acronmym FUGAZI means: Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In.
5b. How do you pronounce the name of the Band?
The members of the band say it 'Foogähzee'.
6. Are any of the members of Fugazi involved in other projects besides Fugazi? (see section C as well for post fugazi projects)
You betcha. All of the members are heavily involved with other bands and other projects. The list is quite impressive, and this is by no means a complete list of all of their projects:
Ian
Ian has produced some of the Lungfish albums.
He also was a co-founder of the Dischord label.
He has also produced albums for many groups such as Lois, Nation of Ulysses, Rites of Spring, Scream, Warmers and Bikini Kill.
Guy
Guy Picciotto has just finished co-producing a new album for Blonde Redhead called "Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons." It was released on the Touch and Go label.
Guy has also made a couple of indie films called "Please Cry" and "Silly Game". He wants you to know though that "that they were very low profile, lo-fi films that were never distributed and were only screened a few times."
Joe
Joe Lally has started a label called Tolotta Records dedicated to the releases of the band Spirit Caravan and offshoot projects of its members. For more information don't go to http://www.SpiritCaravan.com because it has since become a porno site.
Brendan
Brendan has played guitar and keyboard with the All-Scars. He did live shows with them and appears on their album on the Slowdime Label named "Early-Ambient".
Brendan (and his brother James) appear on the new All Scars album "Introduction To Humanity" (out now on Slowdime).
Brendan also produced the new make-uP record "SaveYourself". That record is now available from K records. Brendan also plays vibrachime and percussion on a song from that record.
Brendan also played drums and organ for Girls Against Boys. It's on the "Nineties vs Eighties" CD (on the eighties half).
Brendan and Guy also have a side project called the Black Light Panthers, which put out a 12" in 1997 on Guy's Peterbilt label.
Brendan also recorded a project with Lois. "Union Themes" is out on Kill Rock Stars.
7. Who do the members of Fugazi cite as influences musically?
Brendan- Jazz
Joe- "the people in my band, Arthur Lee, Scott (Wino) Weinrich of the Obsessed and now Shine, Louis Armstrong, Joy Division, the list is endless I suppose".
Ian- He has said that his influences are Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Beatles, Ted Nugent (apparently Ian finds it interesting that Ted hunts and kills all of his own food), Queen, and Cheap Trick.
Guy- we will ask him
As a band- Guy: "we don't really have any set influences that we all share as a band per say, mainly because we all listen to so much different stuff that it would be kind of impossible to cover the full range. that said, i would say the most obvious source of inspiration for us has always been other bands from DC - from bands like the Bad Brains and Void in the early 80's to bands like Dead Meadow, Quixotic and the All Scars now. It may not always show up in strictly musical terms but we feel most tied into other bands from DC as a matter of community.
8. What does Fugazi have to do with Dischord Records?
Ian Mackaye started the company in 1980 with his bandmate at the time, Jeff Nelson. The company started out as a small company only created to put out their own records, and records of their friends. But over time, it has grown into a fairly large independent label and has spawned groups like Shudder to Think and Fugazi. Ian says: "The thing about Dischord, as a label, it's gotten bigger and bigger. We've been around for so long, primarily because of the Fugazi stuff, and also Minor Threat, and a lot more people have become kind of involved with the label as a sort of family. They work there, and there's a lot of activity, and a lot of stuff that Dischord is involved with that most people have no idea about. Particularly within
distribution. We lend an awful lot of money out to a lot of local labels to help them get stuff done. I think that the label's sort of gotten bigger than itself at this point. So, when I think about stopping the label, it really means it's gonna stop an awful lot of things and people. And Ihave to be very, very thoughtful about it before I do something like that."
9. Is Fugazi still a band, or have they broken up?
Well, this is hotly debated. Officially, they are still on hiatus. There has never been an official break-up. However, Fugazi probably wouldn't be the type to announce that they've broken up, even if they had. They played their last show to date in November of 2002, and there has been little to no band activity since then. Ian is playing in a new band, and the others are all involved in various other projects. There is still hope out there that one day they will reconvene, but anything more than that is just speculation...pure speculation.
In November 2006, I emailed Guy and basically asked him this question. Here is what he said:
"I think each one of us in the band has a slightly different take on it, at least semantically, so it makes it a bit hard for me to frame it
But the one thing that is for sure is that there are no plans for us to do any work together anytime soon, at least as Fugazi proper. So no recording and no tours for the foreseeable future . Nothing has changed on that front."
9b. Why are they on 'hiatus'?
The official reason was that Brendan Canty was busy with his parental duties to tour with the band. Joe Lally also became a parent.
C. OTHER PROJECTS (post 2002)
There were plans to document all of the members' post fugazi side projects here, but that never happened. Here are their wikipedia pages: Ian Guy Joe Brendan if you are interested in knowing what they're up to.
D. MERCHANDISE (keeps us in line)
1. Where can I find Fugazi's music?
http://www.dischord.com/bands/fugazi.shtml You can buy Fugazi CDs online at various different places. The Dischord site is probably the cheapest. You can also get most of their CDs from any decent record store. If they don't have any in stock, they will likely be able to order one for you. Fugazi have always attempted to keep the cost of their CDs low and accessible to all fans. Most of their CDs are less than $12 US, postage paid.
1b. Where can I find the song "In Defense of Humans" and where can I buy it?
'In Defense of Humans' can be found on a compilation entitled 'State of the Union'. You can buy it here
2. Where can I get Fugazi shirts and stickers?
Fugazi aren't too terribly interested in making t-shirts and stickers. Check your local record store if you desperately need one, although if you do find one, keep in mind that they aren't sponsored or supported by the band. There are no official Fugazi t-shirts. The band have said previously that they are okay with people making their own, as long as they aren't profitting from it.
2b. Why are there no Fugazi t-shirts?
According to Ian: "We just want to put out records. The rest seems somewhat empty." If you are still confused, see lyrics to 'Merchandise'.
2c. I once saw a "This is Not a Fugazi" T-shirt. Was that an official Fugazi t-shirt? Where can I get one?
There was a T-shirt made that said "This is not a Fugazi T-shirt", but it was in fact, not a Fugazi t-shirt. Apparently the band had nothing to do with the making of that shirt. It was a bootleg. In fact, at one point, CDNOW wanted to interview Guy, but he refused to do it because they were selling the bootlegged shirt (for over $20). He told them that if they got rid of the shirt, he would do an interview with them. CDNOW claimed that they were unaware that the shirt was a bootleg, and to their credit, they dropped the shirt. Guy did the interview. As far as where you can get one, who knows...who cares. Make your own.
E. CONCERTS
1. Where does Fugazi play and how can I get tickets?
First off, Fugazi are on hiatus, so they don't play anywhere at the moment. But, when they did play, Fugazi played only at all age venues. They mostly played in smaller clubs. You can get tickets usually through local indie record stores. If you are feeling really lucky, you can wait and try to get some at the door of the concert, but most Fugazi shows sell out long before that happens. Keep checking the official Fugazi tour page at: http://www.southern.com/southern/tour/tour.cgi?band=FUGAZ
1b. Is it true that during the last Fugazi tour, some of the shows were at age-restricted venues? If so, why?
According to Guy: "there was one show on the last tour in savannah, georgia where we showed up to play and the venue pulled a fast one on us and told us right before showtime that the gig was not all ages. it was the first time in our 13 years of being a band that we found ourselves in that position - we were able to manage a compromise situation whereby we got the club to open up the side doors of the venue next to the stage and under agers were able to watch the gig from that vantage point but the situation was still a real drag for us. our policy in terms of only playing all ages shows has not changed in any respect and this one incident only reinforced our conviction that we need to be ultra-diligent in terms of making sure that all venues we work with respect that policy."
1c. Why were tickets for the last Fugazi tour available through Ticketmaster?
According to Guy: "I think the basic answer is that since our shows sell out so fast and we don't tour that much, we wanted to make sure that kids who live a bit outside of the towns we play would have an equal chance to get tickets to see the shows. We also always make sure a bunch of tickets are made available through local indie record shops and at the clubs themselves so people who don't want to deal with Ticketmaster's extra charges don't have to. we also have been able to get Ticketmaster to respect the issue of our low door price and to moderate their charges on occasion."
2. How much are tickets?
Fugazi have always attempted to keep prices low for their tickets. In most cases, they are sold for five or six bucks. In Europe and Canada, they will obviously be a little bit more, but they are still way less than most competitors. In Washington D.C., they only play benefit concerts.
Every year, Fugazi play a free concert at Fort Reno park in Washington D.C.
2b. Why are tickets so cheap?
Because Fugazi are not like many other bands that tour in order to make a fortune off of their fans. Ian has said that the cheaper concert ticket price allows the band to be more honest at their concerts: "For five bucks we could suck. Because we are human and we do suck sometimes". Also, there aren't any extravagant light shows or crap like that. It is just the four (sometimes five) guys with their instruments. This is not to say that Fugazi put on a poor live show. In fact, the band has been known to play for well over two hours. They are well known for their live intensity.
3. Is it true that Fugazi has played in all of the fifty states?
During the tour in support of Red Medicine, the band played many first-time stops such as Alabama, and New Hampshire. With these two stops in the U.S., that meant that the band had indeed played in every one of the 50 states at least once. The band has travelled all over the world. Many of these shows can be found on our giglist.
4. I heard that there is no moshing allowed at Fugazi concerts? Is this true?
The band has taken a stand against moshing. This is because the band doesn't want to see anyone carried away from their shows on a backboard. Ian has said that it has a lot to do with the macho image that moshing has taken on. It is an unfair concert where the biggest and the strongest are the ones with the best seats because they push everyone else out of the way. Ian says this about it: "We play loud, electric guitar music, and you'd hope that that doesn't mean you have to act like an asshole". So you are probably okay to dance, jump up and down and enjoy yourself, but don't push forward, and show a bit of concern for those around you. That is all they ask.
5. What is the band's policy on bootlegs and on recording of shows?
Guy says: "our bootleg policy is really pretty straight forward. we are completely into people taping our shows and trading those tapes. we are also basically cool with people posting shows on the internet as long as its for free. where we draw the line is when people turn our music into a saleable product without our permission. even if people are selling tapes or CDR's for nominal amounts we are not into it and we are definitely against people marketing vinyl or CD's and selling them for stupid large amounts of money. we feel when we play live the music is open and available to everyone and we're not into people capitalizing off that access".
6. What kind of equipment does the band use?
This applies only to their live shows:
Ian plays a white or cream Gibson SG Standard. I remember seeing in the video (Furniture) that he used to play a brown SG. This one was an SG Special though. I think the main difference is in the type of pickups and the fact that the Standard has the trapezoid inlays on the neck, but the Special only has the simple dot inlays. The SG Standard is a higher quality guitar so he probably only plays that one.
Guy mostly plays a white and black Rickenbacker. I'm completely in the dark about what model it is. I checked the Rickenbacker website, but I wasn't able to match what I remember of his guitar to a particular model. There is also a picture of him playing a Gibson SG Special in the booklet for Repeater +3 Songs. I don't think he plays that guitar much anymore, though.
As far as amplification goes, they both use Marshall half stacks. I don't really know what model, but probably a JCM 800 or 900. -Thanks to 'Normal Guy'
According to Guy: "Here is our basic set up: brendan plays a 4 piece Gretsch drum set with zildjian cymbals and a large farmer's dinner bell on the side. Joe plays a Music Man bass through a GK head and an SVT cabinet. Ian plays a Gibson SG through a Marshall head and cabinet and i play a Rickenbacker 330 through a Marshall head and cabinet. I sometimes use an MXR distortion box and record with a Fender Twin amp".
7. Why doesn't the band play 'In Defense of Humans' live?
Here is the probable explanation from a frequent visitor to our message board, RedMartin: "i once spent a whole show shouting for them to play "in defense..", to the point where Brendan burst out laughing, and said that i could ask as many time as i could manage but there was no way they were gonna play it.
so after the show i spoke to Jerry Busher(the highy secret fifth Fugazi-ite) and he said that he believes the reason they dont play it is because it was written before Guy joined and had no parts for him to play live. i guess this reinforces the "fugazi as a unit" ideal that they push. anyways..i also asked Brendan the following night and he said pretty much the same thing. what was nice, was that he was really pleased that someone had been calling for a different song, instead of the usual faves."
8. What other songs do Fugazi not play anymore?
RedMartin writes: After a discussion on the Fugazi Forum I emailed Guy and asked him about the songs they don't play. Here is his reply.
"There are really only a very few songs that we don't play anymore - here's a brief rundown as best as i can recall:
1. Polish - this is a song we may have played once or twice but probably no more than that. At this point none of us have any idea how to play it and none of us really like it much so i think that it is fair to say that of all the songs we don't do, this one stands the least chance of resurrection.
2. In Defense of Humans/ Turn off Your Guns/ the Word - these are songs we played a lot when the band first started ( both on tours in Europe and the US) but they kind of dropped out of circulation after i started playing guitar. Some of the earliest songs like Furniture, Merchandise and Keep Your Eyes Open got revamped with the second guitar and re-entered the fold but these 3 have yet to be re- visited for whatever reason.
3. Latest Disgrace - this is a song we know how to play and often practice but for some reason we never have had it fit in with the shows that well. Its a bit of a mystery - can't say we'll never play it again but it would probably be a rare thing.
4. Long Distance Runner - we actively play this song. Maybe not as much as some of the others but it is definitely in rotation. Not sure how it ended up on your list.
5. Steady Diet (instrumental) - we played this for a long time but haven't really had the urge in the last few years. Rarely practiced at this point and kind of sitting around in the wings.
6. stuff of the Instrument soundtrack - things like LITTLE DEBBIE and I'M SO TIRED were just done at practice as one-offs and have never been played live to this point.
Everything else is part of the standard repertoire. Some songs we favor more than others live just because we like them and they work in the set but they all get their number called at some point. Anything on the above list always has the potential to be revisisted - we are always going back and pulling songs or parts out of the scrap heap and resuscitating them."
F. ALBUMS
1-7a. Used to contain info about all of the band's releases. For the sake of keeping this document less than 10 million words, this info was moved to each of the individual album pages and can be found here: discography
For individual FAQ's about each album, see the respective album page.
7b. Have any other bands done any cover versions of Fugazi songs?
Yep. These are the ones that we have heard of:
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Waiting Room
Magnapop- Song #1
Pearl Jam- Suggestion
Atom and his Package- Waiting Room
Long Beach Dub All Stars- Waiting Room (with their own lyrics)
Indecision- Merchandise
Face to Face- Merchandise
Emm Gryner- Waiting Room
G. INSTRUMENT VIDEO
1. Who is Jem Cohen, and what is his relation to Fugazi?
Jem Cohen is a long time friend of the band. Cohen has also done film/music collaborations with musicians including R.E.M., Jonathan Richman, Miracle Legion, Flat Duo Jets, Gil Shaham and the Orpheus Orchestra, Vic Chesnutt and Blonde Redhead.
Ian says this about their relationship: "Jem Cohen and I went to Woodrow Wilson High School together here in Washington. He's been quite close to the band since the very beginning. He actually co-wrote the song 'Glue Man,' and he's been filming us, really, since the beginning of the band, in one form or another. And finally, in the last few years, we've been trying to kind of bring all this material together and get it into some kind of two-hour-long piece about the band. We feel that as the band starts to kind of wane as far as playing live, we won't be able to tour as much, and obviously eventually we're not gonna be playing any shows at all, then people who are interested in seeing the band are gonna be reliant on video or film. We thought we'd create something that we were really comfortable with, and was aesthetically in keeping with the way we feel about the band."
The following questions and answers about Instrument all come from Guy from a QandA that he did shortly before the DVD release.
2. What's the story behind the three or four guys flipping off and spitting at the camera at the Tennessee show?
That footage is from the tail end of the sequence dealing with that pretty acrimonious gig in Knoxville. The show had been pretty confrontational from start to finish with lots of fights in the crowd and Ian having to eject that guy who spat in his face etc. I am sure those guys at the end were just jacked up from all the adrenaline spilling around and saw the camera as a convenient target to fuck with.
3. When it came to the "parking lot" interviews, ultimately, what were you trying to convey? Is this an accurate cross section or were these the minority? (i.e.: Mr. "They're there to entertain ME.")
The interviews are a pretty accurate cross section of what people said when Jem interviewed them. we tried to split it up about 50-50 with people saying positive and negative things about the band, trying to strike a fair balance. if it was all people praising the band that would be kind of self serving and if it was all people ragging on the group that would be kind of disingenuous and self-flagellating. still, from the band's perspective, we found the negative comments a lot more interesting and jem really had to fight to make it a more balanced presentation. even as vitriolic as some of those interviews are, there were actually some even harsher segments that we didn't put in. i think a lot of people are surprised that so many people would come to the shows if they disliked us so intensely but its important to remember that that it is part of the equation when the door price is so low - you get a much broader audience that is not all 100 % fans of the band. its a spicy blend.
4. Jem seems to have a knack for the technique called "extradiagetic sound", meaning that often the images occurring on screen are not "synched" with the sound. Was there a lot of thought in the pairing of certain live sequences with certain songs? A good example would be "Little Debbie."
basically, jem had always shot a lot of silent super 8 and we knew from the beginning that we would be doing a lot of that coupling of non-synched soundtrack to super 8 images. we spent a lot of time working through unreleased fugazi stuff we had in our archives to find the right music to fit the sequences jem had and we did a lot of re-editing of images to match up with the rhythm and dynamics of the music. that was a big part of what jem has called a dub-collage approach to the filmmaking.
5. Speaking of Little Debbie, was Guy overcome with transcendence or just plain dizziness?
"honestly, i can't really remember what was going on with me at that point. its all in the moment. "
6. What is the Warden saying in Lorton?
He says something to the effect of "Let's not get so carried away with all the boom-a-loom that we forget what time it is".
7. How did the Jamie Valdez interview come about? Was that public access? Is Jamie a fan of the band? She looked frightened.
Jamie was a student at a middle school in the DC area and she was in a television production class that did this show called "Personality Profiles" that interviewed people in a talk show setting. she contacted us and asked if we would do it and that was the end result. the whole show is pretty amazing - the set was built right in the middle of a classroom (we were facing out to the kid's desks) and the show had other features like kids from the class doing book reports on camera etc. Since that footage was pretty old it took us awhile to locate Jamie and get her permission to use the show. we were sweating bullets because we had used so much of it in our working edit and we were terrified that she would turn us down. luckily, she was into it and gave us permission. she has gone on to become a really successful political organizer.
8. Are most venue owners as clueless to the band's status as the gentleman who asks how Fugazi is spelled?
It really depends on the night. since we have kind of unique business practices (the low door price, the all ages dictum, etc.) we often end up in non-conventional, non-rock industry type rooms and the people who run those types of places can't really be expected to know all about some mid-level punk band. The guy in the movie you are referring to was running what was normally a drag cabaret and he only rented us the room as a business deal with a local promoter. it was no great shock that he didn't have any idea who we were.
9. Is the "Smallpox Champion" clip from Oxford? Can we see more of that in the DVD?
Yeah - that clip is from Oxford, Mississippi. A lot of people were kind of frustrated at how we edited that segment but the idea was to give a sense of the weird time compression that happens on tour - the show, which is the whole focus of the day and all the work that leads to it, actually just tears by so fast. We actually won't be running that whole song on the DVD - i think we had problems with the way the whole song came off, either performance-wise or audio quality-wise.
10. It was said in an interview with Guy recently that the Instrument DVD would have some "full performances" on it, does this mean whole concerts (not sure how much you can fit on DVD) or just full songs?
there are 5 extras attached to the DVD - about 30 minutes of extra footage. there will be 3 full songs from different shows and 2 short films by Jem with Fugazi soundtracks. The songs will be "Waiting Room", "Turnover" and "Long Division" and the short films are called "Glueman" and "Little Flags".
11. What kind of new stuff will the DVD release contain? Added scenes, commentary?
Besides the extras listed above there will be a fully programmed menu so you can move from scene to scene. there will also be a booklet included which is basically the same as the one that came with the video. there will not be any commentary options or any other of the usual DVD hijinks.
12. How is the sound mixed on the DVD? Stereo, or surround, 5.1...?
We couldn't really pull off the 5.1 sound with the audio master we had so its just a stereo mix though both the sound and the visuals should be a lot more high end on the DVD.
13. What's the name of the acoustic guitar song that closes the movie? Is Brendan playing it?
That song doesn't really have a name besides "D-Tuning" as i listed it on this 4 track of demos i'd made. its a piece of music the band never really worked on and i am actually the only person playing on it - its a couple of guitars, a keyboard and drums that i overdubbed.
H. RUMORS
1. Is it true that Fugazi turned down the headlining spot at Lollapalooza?
This seems to be the case. It seems as though the band felt that the ticket prices were too high, and they didn't want to be associated with that. Although there were probably a million other reasons as well. But as of now, this is only a rumor (although again, Guy checked this FAQ and didn't say anything either way about this question)
2. What is the band's stance on doing interviews?
There is no 'official' position on doing interviews. In fact, the guys have done countless interviews for small webzines and such. However, as should be expected, the band members usually refuse to talk about their personal lives in interviews. Interviews with major publications do seem to be a bit more of a sticky issue.
Apparently, after the release of every Fugazi album, Rolling Stone comes knocking for an interview and every time, Fugazi sends them away. But again, as of now, this is only a rumor.
3. Is it true that Fugazi have been offered spots on major labels and turned them all down?
Yeah, this is definitely true.
Ian says it best: "There are some major labels who are suddenly enamored of us because our name is on a list in some trade publication. Those people I don't really have much time for because they really don't have time for me. We're just not interested. There's nothing the labels can offer us that would be worth the loss of control over our own music".
Fugazi will never sign to a major label.
4. Why don't Fugazi make videos for their songs?
Ian has said in the past: "We aren't interested in that form of advertising".
5. Who are some of the artists/bands that cite Fugazi as an influence?
We are sure that there are hundreds of artists that do, but here is a list of some 'well-known' Fugazi lovers.
Eddie Vedder- Pearl Jam
Michael Stipe- R.E.M.
Kurt Cobain- Nirvana
Courtney Love- Hole
Thurston Moore- Sonic Youth
Keanu Reeves- Dogstar
Bikini Kill
Face to Face
Atom and His Package
Daniel Johns- Silverchair
Here's a quote from Daniel Johns (Silverchair): "Fugazi is the only band where I like every single song, including the B-sides. The music is stripped back and very raw and very experimental. I've always liked Ian Mackaye and his approach to life and his approach to music. I admire someone who has ideals and beliefs and integrity and doesn't give in to them for the sake of being cool. On both these albums the songs are really simple and they're arranged in creative ways. Fugazi have the attitude of punk rock but the experimentation of arty rock music. I think they have something special and they know it, so they don't want to fuck with the formula too much."
6. I heard that the band refused to play at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in Washington D.C.. Why?
Ian said that the band prefers to do things on a more grassroots level.
I. POLITICAL AND PERSONAL ISSUES
1. What did Ian Mackaye have to do with the starting of the straight edge movement?
Ian wrote a song called 'Straight Edge' for Minor Threat, and the straight edge movement was basically started from there. Ian says that he really did not intend to start the movement: "I'm interested in the phenomenom of youth movements, so it's pretty amazing to have written a song that has apparently launched one, but it was never my intention and I cringe when I am associated with the more violent or fundamentalist elements of 'straight edge'. Having said that, I also want to be clear that by far most of the people I've met who identify themselves as part of the S.E. movement strike me as good and constructive".
1b. Do Fugazi consider themselves a straight edge band?
Joe answers this question bluntly: "We're not a political straight-edge band!!!!!" Ian says: "When I wrote the song (and coined the phrase) I was celebrating the individual's right to choose their own way. I think people should take responsibility for their actions, but I'm not interested in joining a club to force the issue".
1c. Okay, then what are the members personal stances on the issues of straight edge? Do they drink or do drugs?
All Ian says about this is: "I respect people's decisions about what they do or how they live."
1d. What about vegetarianism?
Here is what Guy says about the issue:
"everyone in the band falls somewhere along the vegetarian/vegan continuum with different diet variations between the 4 of us. its sometimes a bit funny when people assume that the group has a "group" opinion on things that are really matters of individual behavior and opinion. we don't really monitor each other in that way".
2. What is the marital/family status of all of the band members?
Even though we aren't really sure that this is any of our business, there has been some info posted about this on the official Fugazi page, so we feel okay at least giving you that much.
Brendan is married and has two kids.
Guy is attached.
Ian is attached.
Joe is married.
3. What are some of the political causes that the band supports?
Amnesty International
Positive Force
Fort Reno
The Washington Free Clinic
Campaign for Tibet
Emmaus Services
Food Not Bombs
and many many many more!
J. WEBPAGE INFO AND CREDITS
1. When and why was this webpage started?
According to old news that I have saved, the webpage was launched on June 22, 1998. I thought it was earlier than that, but I'll take my word for it. It's been quite a while now, and this page has seen many different incarnations and designs. Why did I start it? Because I liked Fugazi and I liked making webpages. The rest is history.
1b. Who runs it?
Martin (England) and Todd (me, from Canada) are basically the two responsible. Martin kept it alive in the past two years (2005-06) by paying for the domain name, and for some reason, I have had my interest rekindled recently so I've redesigned things. Hopefully this page stays alive for good. The worldoffugazi.org domain name was registered in May of 2002. Why does this matter? It doesn't smart ass. 2. Is this an official webpage?
No, it's not. Most of the information has at one time or another been checked by Guy from the band, so we are reasonably confident that what you read is true.
3. Does this page have any connection to the band?
Aside from the fact that they have visited the page and have commented and corrected some stuff, no. Guy has been the one who has had the most involvement with it. The band has also donated quite a few items for some contests that we ran. Check that info out on our retired page. All in all, they have been very approachable and helpful, just as you'd expect. 4. Does this page make money or cost money?
This page makes no money whatsoever. It has cost Martin some money over the years for domain name registration, and I'm sure I've (todd) shelled out in some ways too. Currently, it is costing me 6 bucks a month (60 a year) to keep the ads off of these wiki pages. Update: the page costs about 6 bucks a month to host.
4b. Has there ever been any advertising on the site?
There was a time when I received a few free CDs from CDNow because of a link that I had up. I took a lot of heat over that, even though I gave away all of the CDs that I received as contest prizes. I guess no one believed me that I wasn't making a killing off of it. Ian Mackaye even made his only known appearance to the page during that time and commented on the CDNow link. He never asked me to remove the link, he just asked about it. He didn't seem to have a problem with the link. The problem he had was the CDNow was selling a t-shirt (this is not a fugazi t-shirt) that was not an official t-shirt (they have no official t-shirts). Eventually, I got rid of the link, because it did seem contrary to the essence of the band. And I gave away an instrument cd and dvd as contest prizes. It actually ended up costing me a little bit of money. Anyway, that was a long time ago and those wounds have healed. Since then, the only ad I've had on the page is one to the G7 Welcoming Committee record label and that was just because I think they rock. No money was received for that, so get off my case! Kidding. It would be pretty ridiculous for us to be making money on a band like Fugazi. 4c. Have you ever been interviewed as a result of this page?
Why yes, yes I have, thanks for asking. I was actually on JJJ radio in Australia quite a few years back. It was a surreal experience. I was living at home at the time, and my mom woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me that someone from Australia was on the phone and wanted to talk to me about Fugazi. It is pretty funny and I cringe at some of the answers that I gave. Oh well, my friends and I put it on occasionally for a good laugh. If you'd like a laugh at my expense, check it out {mgmediabot2}path=mp3/toddonjjj.mp3|popup=here|width=250 |height=250{/mgmediabot2}. I also provided them with a couple of live tracks from the Denver show for their broadcast. Fun was had by all (except my mom).
FAQ and Webpage Credits:
Thanks to anyone that has helped out in any way with the making of this monstrosity. You know who you are. Thanks to Teresa, my wife, who really hasn't done anything for this page, but feels left out.
If you want to use something from this FAQ, that's fine. Just let me know, or at least post a link to our site. Or don't, I don't really care to be honest:
The World of Fugazi @ http://www.worldoffugazi.org
If you have any additions, revisions, hate-mail, etc, you can
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Copyright 2006 Lockheed Martin Inc. Animal Rights reserved.
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