Ian MacKaye

Ian MacKaye

Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye ( /məˈkaɪ/; born April 16, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, label owner, and producer. Active since 1979, MacKaye is best known for being the frontman of the influential hardcore punk bands Minor Threat and The Teen Idles, the post-hardcore bands Embrace and Fugazi, as well as The Evens.

He is a co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label.

A key figure in the development of hardcore punk, straightedge, and an independent-minded, do it yourself punk ethic, MacKaye also works as a producer, and has produced releases by Q and Not U, John Frusciante, 7 Seconds, Nation of Ulysses, Bikini Kill, Rites of Spring, Dag Nasty, and Rollins Band among others. Along with his seminal band Minor Threat, he is credited with coining the term "straight edge" to describe a personal ideology that promotes independence by countering the popular notion of drug and alcohol abuse, though MacKaye has stated many times that he did not intend to turn it into a movement.