"Basically we just created our own label, but again we just did it to document our own music and create our own thing, so the major labels were just always out of our picture, we're not interested"
About this Quote
A shrug disguised as a manifesto, Ian MacKaye frames independence as something almost boringly practical: “Basically” and “again” sand down any whiff of grandstanding. That’s the move. Instead of selling DIY as a romantic rebellion, he positions it as simple record-keeping for a community that already exists. The intent is clear: reclaim the means of production so the music can stay accountable to the people making it, not to a market plan.
The subtext is sharper than the casual tone suggests. “Document our own music” isn’t just about releasing records; it’s about authorship and narrative control. If you don’t own the pipeline, someone else edits your story - through budgets, singles, radio strategy, image polish. “Create our own thing” signals a refusal of translation: no need to make the sound legible to executives, no need to monetize it into a familiar genre product. In MacKaye’s world, authenticity isn’t a vibe, it’s infrastructure.
Context does a lot of the heavy lifting. Coming out of D.C. hardcore and the Dischord ecosystem, this is a response to a music industry that historically treated punk as a resource to extract: sign the band, smooth the edges, sell the attitude back. By saying major labels were “always out of our picture,” he flips the usual power dynamic. The label isn’t the gate; it’s irrelevant. That’s why the line still lands: it’s less anti-corporate slogan than a blueprint for opting out, quietly, on purpose.
The subtext is sharper than the casual tone suggests. “Document our own music” isn’t just about releasing records; it’s about authorship and narrative control. If you don’t own the pipeline, someone else edits your story - through budgets, singles, radio strategy, image polish. “Create our own thing” signals a refusal of translation: no need to make the sound legible to executives, no need to monetize it into a familiar genre product. In MacKaye’s world, authenticity isn’t a vibe, it’s infrastructure.
Context does a lot of the heavy lifting. Coming out of D.C. hardcore and the Dischord ecosystem, this is a response to a music industry that historically treated punk as a resource to extract: sign the band, smooth the edges, sell the attitude back. By saying major labels were “always out of our picture,” he flips the usual power dynamic. The label isn’t the gate; it’s irrelevant. That’s why the line still lands: it’s less anti-corporate slogan than a blueprint for opting out, quietly, on purpose.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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