Ian MacKaye digital collection of punk fanzines

Ian MacKaye (b. Washington, D.C., April 16, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, and co-owner of the independent punk record label, Dischord. Born and primarily raised in Washington, D.C., MacKaye entered DC’s punk subculture in 1979 as the bassist of the Teen Idles (1979-1980). In late 1980, following the breakup of the Teen Idles, MacKaye co-founded the D.C.-based independent record label, Dischord Records with Jeff Nelson, specializing in D.C. punk rock and embodying the do-it-yourself ethics of the subculture. Dischord's first release was the posthumous Teen Idles EP, Minor Disturbance.

MacKaye and Nelson next formed Minor Threat (1980-1983) with MacKaye shifting from bass to vocals. Continuing his role as lead vocalist, MacKaye joined former members of the innovative D.C. hardcore band the Faith to form Embrace (1985-1986), a short-lived project that produced one self-titled album. MacKaye's next band, Fugazi, debuted in 1987. In Fugazi, MacKaye performed as a singer and guitarist. The group released six full-length albums with Dischord and heavily influenced both the punk and alternative music genres and subcultures. In 2003, Fugazi went on an indefinite hiatus.

MacKaye is currently a singer and guitarist in the Evens, which formed in 2001, with drummer and vocalist Amy Farina. Since 2018, MacKaye and Farina joined with bassist Joe Lally to form the band Coriky. In addition to these performing groups, MacKaye continues to serve as the co-owner of Dischord Records.

Since the early 1980s, MacKaye has produced scores of punk recordings, working with dozens of D.C. bands like the Faith, Dag Nasty, Rites of Spring, Nation of Ulysses, Q and not U, and Black Eyes, as well as national punk bands like 7 Seconds, Bikini Kill, and Verbal Assault.

Fanzines are amateur, small-run periodicals created by fans of a specific subject. They offer a flexible and personal forum for realizing the punk ideas of independence, free expression, accessibility, subversion, and connection. Punk fanzines emerged concurrent to the subculture itself in the mid-1970s, embodying the democratization and do-it-yourself ethos of the community.

MacKaye participated in the punk fanzine community as an avid reader and also frequent subject of interviews. From the late 1980s through the early twenty-first century, artist and onetime Dischord Records publicist Cynthia Connolly coordinated the maintenance and organization of many of the fanzines received by Dischord, which are also a part of this collection.