The Holland Project and Wolfpack Radio (UNR’s 1700AM) managed to get a music icon here to Reno, that man being a major force in bands such as the Teen Idles, Minor Threat, and Fugazi. He also is the creator of the excellent record label Dischord Records, who produced Reno’s own 7 Seconds and Rollins Band. Ian MacKaye is also well-known for his personal support and promotion of “DIY Scene,” (that’s ‘Do It Yourself,’) which inspires bands of all kinds and genres to get themselves moving in a method that is all their own.
Fortunately, I found out about it about two hours before the event! What the hell is wrong with you people? I’m just kidding…or am I? I think fun folks must have stolen most of the flyers for this event, so I hadn’t seen any around town. My instinctual prowess and powers of observation came through in the end, however. So all is forgiven.
About 300 people (according to Van at Holland) sat in the Jot Travis Student Union on the University of Nevada, Reno’s campus. That seemed to be a large turnout to me, and this was also reflected by the Holland Project’s volunteers as well! The crowd was largely counterculture youth, however, all walks of life were present in some capacity.
MacKaye spoke with the directness and the simple-truth manner he is probably best known for in his lyrics and music. He’s done this “in front of crowds,” thing before, and he works the crowd nicely. I personally liked his frankness and inclusive nature as he talked.
The discussion could have been simply directed by MacKaye, however he offered up much control to the audience, who had a little trouble shooting up their hands to ask questions at first. This “town hall,” meeting style suited the nature of his talks, we’d soon find out, because he’s not the kind of guy that unabashedly just talks about himself non-stop. Which is great, considering his command of presence and stage clout he has with the people there.
Questions were a bit infantile in at times, everything from asking about rumors of his death, band relation questions, if a band was getting back together, what “punk rock ethics,” meant to him. This seemed tedious for yours truly, only because here we had this self-made punk icon here and it felt at times like he was being asked beauty pageant questions.
MacKay, luckily let most of this roll off easily, as he’s not the type of person to dismiss anyone, he’s respectful, talkative, and poignant with a majority of the questions and how he answered them.
A few notable questions came up. Sooner or later, the “straightedge,” issue was brought up in a few capacities.
Straightedge, for those readers not-in-the-know is a relatively recent movement of sorts, particularly in the last 15 years or so, which is known for its believers to not drink, smoke, do drugs, or even have sex. What seems like charming kids being good has turned up bad seeds, such as violently inflicting their ideals on others who do not follow their own and being labeled as a “gang,” by authorities. The entire “movement,” had been effected by the notion that these were bad kids interested in nothing more than rabble rousing and fighting.
The question asked about straightedge was from a guy apparently doing a paper about the subject, noting how negatively it is looked upon by others and police in particular.
MacKaye brilliantly denounced any violent association with what he called, “…my own lifestyle.” Since he is credited with the term from a Minor Threat song entitled “Straightedge,” which gave a personal account of what he doesn’t do versus society, he addressed the fact there was some confusion (even with his band members regarding how lyrics are used) about this being a list of do’s and don’ts as a guideline. MacKaye almost seemed disturbed that this ideal has gotten where it has gotten from a simple song about his simple, chosen lifestyle. There was a light feeling of disappointment from at least a few members that, one can only assume, didn’t get the answer they were expecting, since MacKaye is put on a pedestal for his personal choices. He reiterated his disdain for hurting other people, and encouraged people to make decisions for themselves and not live under labels. MacKaye repeatedly tried to make this as clear as possible, repeating the theme in other questions and answers with the audience. I personally got the feeling he, as his character and life suggests, wants nothing to do but be himself, let alone a figurehead.
A question was asked about his feelings on music formats, whether MP3 was an easy decision to come to as a useful method rather than the CD or the ethereal “vinyl.”
MacKaye answered smartly, saying formats aren’t something he thinks should be adhered to unless that is your preference. He believes that people need to be exposed to music, so there wasn’t any problem with using the MP3 format over the more subculturally-loved vinyl record.
MakKaye also answered a question about all-ages shows, and once again, answered appropriately. He believes that music should be accessed by all ages, and he doesn’t like the idea of “exclusionary shows,” where he (jokingly) said that if he were excluded by being as old as he is (46), that would be just as bad as people being excluded for being underage.
At this point I felt it was time to ask him my own question, having to do with Reno and its own scene. I asked what advice or suggestion he had for this town, and how to overcome problems such as venues, divisiveness and separation amongst the people involved (noting the audience.) His answer to me was perfect, as I asked not so for myself, but maybe to get people thinking. I did ask it for this reason, because I feel as a whole, it is one of Reno’s big problems. Cohesiveness. With 200 people at the MacKaye talk, why do things in Reno get bleak with music and the scene? Granted this is a loaded question because of course, how the fuck is he supposed to know what Reno scene and tendency is like? That was okay with me, however.
He replied simply, “Do something.” Start up a band. Start up a website (hooray!) do something that contributes to what you want to do. He continued that anything you do should bring people together. I hope I did my part by being a part of the Q and A session.
He briefly went into politics, as this crowd probably wouldn’t have gone a long time without wanting to know what an icon did, say, during the election, or even waiting to offer up tidbits about how he feels about past, present and future politics in America. He has a large belief that war is wrong, is avoidable, and should be considered as what not to do to other people. I appreciated the fact he didn’t spend a lot of time talking about politics, and I think he felt the same way. His first answer as to the question of how he felt about the election that just happened, he implied he was relieved it was over. Amen.
At one point he talked about fear, society, the media (not us!) and the idea that violence is something we see all too often, engage in too frequently, and eventually become numb to. He recounted the story of the 9/11 attacks, at how he saw it briefly on TV, and then turned it off. He knew (and was right) that all that would happen was re-runs of the same terrible event, and he simply didn’t want to be subjected to it. Being a Washington, D.C. resident, he eventually found out about the Pentagon being attacked. His best quote of the evening in Reno resulted of the answer:
Someone called MacKaye about the Pentagon being attacked and asked, “What are we going to do, what are we going to do,” obviously distressed.
MacKaye says he laughed and said, “I’m going to have breakfast.” He laughs it off but says in seriousness, there’s too much fear dictating our lives, and he chooses not to live that way.
Overall the talk was excellent. Once the crowd warmed up and felt like asking questions (and the questions were ones that weren’t fan-related), it was a good session. MacKaye can be a little long-winded and repeat himself a little, but there are few people I know that can handle 2 straight hours of talking without a hitch. As I mentioned before, his down-to-earth attitude and interaction with the crowd was fantastic. Considering I whole-heartedly believe Reno is capable of amazing things, I was a little disappointed that the crowd wasn’t more interested in picking this man’s brain about what his successes were, how to get there themselves and what to do to create great art, music and a community. That was just my take, however, and I did what I could, personally. He had a real way with the crowd without being flashy, told great stories about his past experiences with Reno, and brought together a good number of people in our fair town.
I applaud the Holland Project for helping get Ian MacKaye to Reno for this.
- Gay Rodeo
