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The 20 Years of Dischord release is an overview of the label's output from 1980 until 2000. Originally intended to mark Dischord's twentieth anniversary (Dec. 2000), the project took on a life on it's own and has ended up taking over two years to finish. This is partly due to Dischord's "it will get done when it's done" approach as well as the label's tendency to put it's immediate energy into current active bands as opposed to historical projects.
In late 1980, the Teen Idles were coming to the end of their run. They decided to record and self-release some of their material, figuring no one else would do it. They knew they'd need a name for the label, and Ian came up with "Dischord". Months later, Dischord No. 1 was released: The Teen Idles' `Minor Disturbance EP". Eight songs on a 7 inch record. Following on from this, Dischord put out the S.O.A "No Policy" EP and more singles followed from Minor Threat, Government Issue, and Youth Brigade. By 1982 Dischord had put out its first full length, the Flex Your Head compilation album and the label's operations had been moved across the river to Arlington, Virginia into an old green house they shared with three others, which was subsequently dubbed Dischord House. Not knowing how long they would stay, they kept Ian's parents house on Beecher Street as the mailing address. A small room off the kitchen served as the record company office. It was a company run when they weren't at their day jobs, praticing with their bands in the basement or on tour. There was a lot of work to be done.
Over the next 18 years Dischord released records by Faith, Void, Scream, Marginal Man, Rites of Spring, Soulside, Shudder to Think, Three, Jawbox, One Last Wish, Lungfish, Nation of Ulysses, Holy Rollers, Fidelity Jones, Ignition, The High Back Chairs, Severin, The Make Up and Fugazi amongst many others. The sudden and intense interest in underground and independent music in the early 1990s led to offers from the majors to buy the entire label, but selling it was never even a consideration. We understood the value of self-determination, and because the label was so well established we weren't faced with the same circumstances as many other labels at that time. Like many small labels, Dischord was and still is a lot of work, but twenty years down the road it keeps going strong. Countless labels with larger budgets have done less, had less impact and disappeared in the same time. Music over marketing, content over profit, ethic over strategy. Dischord keeps their prices low, the ads are informational and hype-free. They are looking for listeners, not consumers. They run fairly in the face of what's known as the "music industry". They are not trying to out do, there is no competition. Dischord is now what it started out as - a small label that is dedicated to releasing the music of DC-area bands. That being said, Dischord has struck a worldwide cultural impact with the tastefulness, style and recognition that is unique and envied by labels all over and with an integrity that labels of all sizes will strategize to acquire in basements and boardrooms for years to come. Initially the release was going to be a double cd featuring one song from every band (50) on the label, but that idea grew to include a 100+ page booklet that would include photos and text about the bands and the history of the label. Later, a third cd was added, this one featuring unreleased or rare material from the Dischord vaults, as well as some cd-rom video files of archival footage of performances of some of the early bands. |
