Ian MacKaye digital collection of punk fanzines
Collection
0415-SCPA
Ian MacKaye (b. 1962) is an American musician, record producer, and co-owner of Dischord Records. The Ian MacKaye digital collection of punk fanzines contains material from 1978 to 2020, and remains ongoing; the bulk of the material dates from 1986 to 2003, when MacKaye was a member of the punk band Fugazi. This collection contains digitized versions of print fanzines that MacKaye collected pertaining to punk music, culture, and communities both domestic and international. Many of the items contained in this collection feature interviews with MacKaye or other members of associated bands.
This collection is still being digitized and new titles are added periodically. To search available titles for viewing, please go here.
Copyright was not transferred to the University of Maryland with the gift of any copyrighted materials. All rights remain with the creators and rights holders. The University of Maryland Libraries is granted permission for the use in scholarly research by the Libraries’ patrons under fair use in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
To inquire about the materials in this collection, please contact SCPA’s curator.
Digital materials in this collection are made available for research and non-commercial use only. If you are the creator of a work in this collection and would like us to change details about your work or restrict/remove access to the work, please contact SCPA’s curator.
564.0 Gigabytes
The Ian MacKaye digital collection of punk fanzines contains items that span the period from 1978 to 2020, and remains ongoing; the bulk of the material dates from 1986 to 2003, when MacKaye was a member of the punk band Fugazi. The collection contains digitized versions of print fanzines that MacKaye collected pertaining to punk music, culture, and scenes both domestic and international. Many of the items contained in this collection feature interviews given by MacKaye or other members of associated bands. As UMD uploads the digitized fanzines to Digital Collections, they will be added to this finding aid.
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.
This collection is organized into two series:
This collection consists of digitized versions of punk fanzines collected by Ian MacKaye. MacKaye retained possession of the print fanzines, but collaborated with Special Collections in Performing Arts on making his collection available for digitization and access through University of Maryland Libraries' Digital Collections. Work on this project began in February 2015 and is ongoing.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library