ABSTRACT
Based in Washington, D.C., Dischord Records has been administered as a utopian postpunk institution since its establishment in January 1981. Espousing a do-it-yourself (DIY) ethic, the label has attempted to provide a mouthpiece for area punk bands unable to achieve-and, more importantly, not interested in-affiliation with a major record company. According to Michael Azerrad, author of Our Band Could Be Your Life (Little, Brown, 2001), Dischord “has set ethical standards, indie style [and] made a mythos out of the D.C. scene, inspiring like-minded souls in cities across the nation to start their own scenes…”
Dischord was created when Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson spent $900 to release Minor Disturbance, a seven-inch EP containing eight songs recorded by their former band, the Teen Idles. Reviews in fanzines and radio airplay in selected nationwide markets enabled the label to sell out its initial run of a thousand copies in short order. The profits were used to finance releases by S.O.A., headed by future rock star/actor Henry Rollins; MacKaye and Nelson’s then-current hardcore band, Minor Threat; Youth Brigade; and Government Issue in early 1981.
