Question and Answer with Ian MacKaye

Ian Mackaye held an open question and answer session in a packed lecture hall at UC Irvine. Mackaye is most famous for his work in bands like Minor Threat, Fugazi, and Embrace as well as establishing Dischord Records with  Minor Threat/Teen Idles drummer, Jeff Nelson. Audience members were free to ask any questions that they wanted and topics ranged from his musical legacy to his views on politics and the music industry.

Despite Mr. Mackaye's reputation amongst some circles within the Punk rock community as being preachy or humorless, the talk could have been billed as an open ended stand up act as almost every comment he made had the audience roaring with laughter. He joked about getting beaten up by  TSOL in the early 80's, John McCain's economic policies ("That bitch just doesn't like sharing"), the potential downfall of the corporate music industry, and his musical peers.  Of course musical obscureists asked questions about every musical project (excluding on Egg Hunt) he had been in from the Teen Idles, to Pailhead (featuring members of Ministry) and his current project, the Evens. The highlight of the night though may have been Imposters guitarist, Nikolai asking if he could get a ride home to Hermosa Beach.

Mackaye proved to be an eloquent and entertaining speaker and managed to keep the audience's attention for over two hours. It was however perhaps a sign of the times that more people attended this event than probably any DIY punk show in Orange County this year.

-Ditch-