Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (/mka/; created April 16, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, label proprietor and producer. He’s a cofounder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label. As well as his seminal band Minor Threat, he could be credited with coining the term “straight edge” to describe your own political orientation that encourages freedom by countering the popular allure of substance and alcohol misuse, though MacKaye has said many times that he didn’t think to turn it right into a motion.
MacKaye co-founded Dischord Records with Jeff Nelson in 1980 and it continued as a DIY job, whereby those involved learned the best way to make records—MacKaye promises that they crafted 10,000 singles by hand for a Teen Idles release. The label was initially formed as a way to spread a Teen Idles 7-inch EP, but over time it transformed into a well-recognized independent record label that worked with distinct Washington, D.C.-area artists. MacKaye notes the focus on Washington, D.C. musicians was inspired by folk labels such as Folkways Records and Arhoolie Records.
Singer, Record producer, Musician, Songwriter, Guitarist, Film Score Composer
Education
Woodrow Wilson High School
Nationality
United States of America
Children
Carmine Francis Farina MacKaye
Siblings
Alec MacKaye
Partner
Amy Farina
Nicknames
MacKaye, Ian , Ian McKaye , Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye
Music Groups
Fugazi (Since 1987)
Movies
Instrument
Star Sign
Aries
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Fact
1
He was the front man of the seminal Washington D.C. hardcore punk band Minor Threat, which disbanded in 1983.
2
While in Minor Threat, he wrote the song "Straight Edge" after one of his best friends, a drug addict, died as he overdosed on heroin. In swearing off drugs, alcohol, smoking, and promiscuous sex, McKaye unintentionally invented a life-style still strictly led by thousands of people to this day.
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Foo Fighters: Back and Forth
2011
Documentary writer: "Waiting Room" - as Ian T.G. Mackaye
Punk's Not Dead
2007
Documentary writer: "In My Eyes"
American Hardcore
2006
Documentary writer: "Seeing Red", "Teen Idles", "Minor Threat", "Stand Up", "Guilty Of Being White", "Straight Edge" - as I. MacKaye
American Wasteland
2005
Video Game writer: "Seeing Red/Screaming At A Wall"
Life and/or Death
2005
Short writer: "Combination Lock"
SLC Punk!
1998
writer: "Look Back & Laugh" - as I. MacKaye
Pariah
1998
writer: "Small Man, Big Mouth", "Bottled Violence"
Composer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Independent Lens
2004
TV Series documentary 1 episode
Instrument
2003
Documentary
Glue Man
1989
Short
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Pancake Mountain
2004
TV Series creative consultant - 2 episodes
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Best of Flipside Video #2
1995
Video
Minor Threat
Music Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Weather Underground
2002
Documentary composer: additional music
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Chain
2004
executive producer
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Freaks in Love
2011
Documentary thanks
Don't Need You
2005
Video documentary short thanks - as Ian McKaye
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
You Can Color Outside the Lines.: The Big Boys
2018
Documentary filming
Himself
Parallel Planes
2017
Documentary completed
Himself
Punk the Capital, Straight from Washington DC
2017
Documentary post-production
Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk
2017
Documentary completed
Himself
Blood and Steel, Cedar Crest Country Club
2016
Documentary completed
Himself
Monumentary: The Story Of Wax Trax! Records
2016
Documentary post-production
Minor Threat
HR Finding Joseph I
2016
Documentary
Himself
Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape
2016
Documentary
Himself
The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead
2015
Documentary
Salad Days
2014
Documentary
Himself (voice)
Washington in the '80s
2014
TV Movie documentary
Himself
It's Gonna Blow!!!: San Diego's Music Underground 1986-1996
2014
Documentary
Himself
Sonic Highways
2014
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
Riot on the Dance Floor
2014
Documentary
Himself
Breadcrumb Trail
2014
Documentary
Himself
Let Fury Have the Hour
2012
Documentary
Himself
We Who Wait: The Adverts & TV Smith
2012
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Bad Brains: A Band in DC
2012
Documentary
Music
2010
Documentary
Himself
Barbershop Punk
2010
Documentary
Himself
Edge
2009/I
Documentary
I Need That Record! The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store
2008
Documentary
Himself
Citizen 3.0
2008
Documentary
Towncraft
2007
Documentary
Himself
Punk's Not Dead
2007
Documentary
Himself - Minor Threat, Fugazi
Soft Focus
2007
TV Series
Himself - Guest
924 Gilman Street
2007
Documentary
Himself
American Hardcore
2006
Documentary
Himself
Don't Need You
2005
Video documentary short
Himself - Fugazi
We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen
2005
Documentary
Himself
Instrument
2003
Documentary
Himself (Fugazi)
D.I.Y. or Die: How to Survive as an Independent Artist