1 00:00:02,620 --> 00:00:05,371 So, Scream is from Bailey's Crossroads, 2 00:00:05,423 --> 00:00:07,506 which is right down the street. 3 00:00:07,542 --> 00:00:11,043 "Put together with a troubled groove," is Trouble Funk. 4 00:00:11,095 --> 00:00:13,846 This is all about the Revolution Summer that happened here. 5 00:00:13,881 --> 00:00:16,182 That's the reference to the Chocolate City riots, 6 00:00:16,217 --> 00:00:18,184 which started on 14th and U. 7 00:00:18,219 --> 00:00:22,188 This is taken from a quote from the Bad Brains. 8 00:00:22,223 --> 00:00:23,606 They said their school they went to was like a prison, 9 00:00:23,641 --> 00:00:25,474 there were no fuckin' windows in it. 10 00:00:25,476 --> 00:00:27,310 It was one door in and one door out. 11 00:00:27,362 --> 00:00:30,730 And then "check yourself and wreck your brains 12 00:00:30,782 --> 00:00:33,482 like the Bad Brains. Where's your 'P.M.A.'"? 13 00:00:35,069 --> 00:00:37,320 - They're great. - Pat? 14 00:00:37,372 --> 00:00:39,739 Yeah, really good. 15 00:00:39,791 --> 00:00:43,042 - Check that out. - Wow. 16 00:00:43,077 --> 00:00:45,411 That's a lot of fuckin' words. 17 00:00:45,463 --> 00:00:47,296 Let's play. 18 00:00:47,332 --> 00:00:48,664 What the fuck are we doing? 19 00:00:48,666 --> 00:00:49,999 Everyone's just sitting around, talking. 20 00:00:50,001 --> 00:00:51,167 That's some bullshit. 21 00:01:47,415 --> 00:01:50,879 Sync, corrected by icephoenix 22 00:02:03,157 --> 00:02:05,741 Hey, how you doin', man? How you doin'? 23 00:02:05,743 --> 00:02:08,828 - Oh, yeah? - Yeah, yeah... 24 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:09,912 Oh, really? 25 00:02:09,964 --> 00:02:12,882 All right, come on in. Come on in. 26 00:02:12,917 --> 00:02:15,551 We're one big happy family here. You guys good? 27 00:02:15,586 --> 00:02:17,136 - Yeah, yeah. - All right. 28 00:02:17,171 --> 00:02:19,355 Where to, sir? 29 00:02:19,390 --> 00:02:21,490 Club LeBaron. 30 00:02:28,065 --> 00:02:30,933 Every city has its past. 31 00:02:34,605 --> 00:02:37,440 Good gracious, this place bring back memories. 32 00:02:38,693 --> 00:02:42,244 But you have to know your past 33 00:02:43,281 --> 00:02:46,198 in order to know your future. 34 00:02:46,250 --> 00:02:48,617 Direct from our newsroom in Washington. 35 00:02:48,619 --> 00:02:51,787 In color, this is the CBS Evening News 36 00:02:51,839 --> 00:02:53,923 with Walter Cronkite. 37 00:02:53,958 --> 00:02:56,542 Good evening. Dr. Martin Luther King, 38 00:02:56,594 --> 00:02:59,628 the apostle of nonviolence in the civil rights movement, 39 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,131 has been shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee. 40 00:03:02,133 --> 00:03:05,468 Martin Luther King, 20 minutes ago, died. 41 00:03:07,472 --> 00:03:09,939 It was insane. 42 00:03:09,974 --> 00:03:11,474 I mean, I can remember hearing about it in school. 43 00:03:11,526 --> 00:03:14,727 My friends said, "Oh," you know, 44 00:03:14,779 --> 00:03:16,111 "there's gonna be a race war, 45 00:03:16,147 --> 00:03:18,147 and we're gonna get killed." 46 00:03:20,485 --> 00:03:23,819 I just remember everything going crazy. 47 00:03:26,824 --> 00:03:30,326 Frustration just reached a boiling point. 48 00:03:31,546 --> 00:03:33,879 I knew when it happened, 49 00:03:33,915 --> 00:03:35,664 I said, "Folks gonna burn this town down." 50 00:03:37,835 --> 00:03:40,503 How I happened to be with my dad, 51 00:03:40,555 --> 00:03:41,921 and we were going down U Street 52 00:03:41,973 --> 00:03:43,088 and there were just people fighting 53 00:03:43,140 --> 00:03:44,507 in the middle of the street, 54 00:03:44,559 --> 00:03:46,175 you know, people being pulled from their cars. 55 00:03:47,762 --> 00:03:50,179 You know, my dad was, "Don't even worry." But I'm like, "Whoa." 56 00:03:52,517 --> 00:03:55,985 They shut the whole shit down. National Guard was in. 57 00:03:57,104 --> 00:03:59,855 Tanks going up and down the damn street. 58 00:03:59,907 --> 00:04:01,407 Boys like that. 59 00:04:01,442 --> 00:04:05,861 Their M-16s and helmets and shit. 60 00:04:05,913 --> 00:04:08,747 We couldn't quite understand why we couldn't go out. 61 00:04:10,368 --> 00:04:12,418 So I have this memory of smoldering buildings 62 00:04:12,453 --> 00:04:14,370 and broken windows smashed out, 63 00:04:14,422 --> 00:04:16,205 and police and firemen, and I started to wonder 64 00:04:16,207 --> 00:04:18,541 if maybe I had... This was something 65 00:04:18,543 --> 00:04:20,543 I had created in my mind to tell a story. 66 00:04:21,712 --> 00:04:22,711 When you're a kid, 67 00:04:22,763 --> 00:04:24,380 your environment is your main influence. 68 00:04:24,382 --> 00:04:27,633 But you don't know that until you grow up 69 00:04:27,685 --> 00:04:31,520 and start finding out about yourself. 70 00:04:39,146 --> 00:04:42,064 Whenever I felt lost, 71 00:04:42,116 --> 00:04:45,234 I would go back to Virginia. 72 00:04:45,286 --> 00:04:48,320 To my mother's house. 73 00:04:48,372 --> 00:04:51,490 To the room where I grew up in. 74 00:04:52,910 --> 00:04:58,797 And it just pulled everything back into perspective. 75 00:04:58,833 --> 00:05:02,835 I remember that watch, it was a Mr. Peanut watch. 76 00:05:02,887 --> 00:05:05,754 - Oh. - I liked that watch. 77 00:05:09,010 --> 00:05:11,226 God, I couldn't just take a nice picture, you know? 78 00:05:11,262 --> 00:05:12,811 I always had to be the jackass. 79 00:05:15,566 --> 00:05:18,567 - Pre-punk. - And then, I lost all of my... 80 00:05:18,603 --> 00:05:21,937 I never thought that I would move away from Virginia. 81 00:05:25,993 --> 00:05:29,078 I thought I would spend the rest of my life there. 82 00:05:31,449 --> 00:05:34,083 Like all of my friends that I grew up with. 83 00:05:49,717 --> 00:05:52,518 Charles Dickens, I think, called Washington, DC 84 00:05:52,553 --> 00:05:55,220 "the city of magnificent intentions." 85 00:05:55,272 --> 00:06:01,977 But the gap between the dream and the reality 86 00:06:02,029 --> 00:06:03,946 is excruciatingly wide. 87 00:06:10,321 --> 00:06:13,155 DC is naturally a transient town. 88 00:06:13,207 --> 00:06:15,658 There's not that many people who were born and raised here. 89 00:06:22,333 --> 00:06:25,000 Even today, I was like, "There's people from DC, 90 00:06:25,002 --> 00:06:26,669 then there's a 'Washingtonian.'" 91 00:06:29,974 --> 00:06:32,174 People come and go. And a lot of the money 92 00:06:32,176 --> 00:06:35,060 and a lot of the change is from the people that come and go. 93 00:06:36,514 --> 00:06:39,014 I think so much of what happened in DC makes more sense 94 00:06:39,066 --> 00:06:42,101 when you look at the way an often ugly reality 95 00:06:42,153 --> 00:06:46,071 is juxtaposed so close to this dream. 96 00:06:49,944 --> 00:06:51,944 Growing up as a white kid in Washington, DC, 97 00:06:51,996 --> 00:06:55,197 I felt really marginalized. 98 00:06:55,249 --> 00:06:57,199 Because... Can you name a '70s... 99 00:06:57,201 --> 00:07:00,419 Like, a popular '70s rock band from Washington, DC? 100 00:07:00,454 --> 00:07:01,670 Name one. 101 00:07:01,706 --> 00:07:03,789 You grew up here. Name one. 102 00:07:03,841 --> 00:07:06,709 It's, like, very hard... Like "Average White Band"? 103 00:07:06,761 --> 00:07:08,210 No, they're not from here. 104 00:07:08,212 --> 00:07:10,045 What's the one who did "Afternoon Delight"? 105 00:07:10,097 --> 00:07:11,213 Starland Vocal Band? 106 00:07:23,561 --> 00:07:27,396 They're from here. That's about it, right? 107 00:08:24,205 --> 00:08:26,955 Gonna drop the bomb on 'em, baby! 108 00:08:42,356 --> 00:08:44,306 DC really didn't have a sound 109 00:08:44,358 --> 00:08:46,558 until the go-go thing broke out. 110 00:08:48,863 --> 00:08:51,980 This is go-go, the sound of Chocolate City. 111 00:08:52,032 --> 00:08:53,649 If you had to describe go-go 112 00:08:53,701 --> 00:08:55,067 for someone that has never heard it before, 113 00:08:55,119 --> 00:08:57,536 - how would you describe it? - Exotic drum patterns. 114 00:09:02,827 --> 00:09:04,543 Raw and tribal, that's all I can say, 115 00:09:04,578 --> 00:09:06,829 just 'cause that's how I felt when I first heard it. 116 00:09:06,831 --> 00:09:08,580 It was just like the rawest thing ever. 117 00:09:10,835 --> 00:09:12,334 Bap! 118 00:09:15,806 --> 00:09:19,258 The art form that should have been popular instead of rap. 119 00:09:32,072 --> 00:09:35,107 A lot of it is credited to Chuck Brown. 120 00:09:35,159 --> 00:09:38,944 In the early '70s, he was playing Top 40s. 121 00:09:38,996 --> 00:09:41,830 All Top 40 tunes, you know, you had to sound just like the radio. 122 00:09:41,866 --> 00:09:44,533 People didn't like bands doing their own original tunes 123 00:09:44,535 --> 00:09:45,868 if they hadn't been played on the radio. 124 00:09:45,870 --> 00:09:48,921 He would play something by LTD 125 00:09:48,956 --> 00:09:50,589 or O'Jays, 126 00:09:50,624 --> 00:09:53,926 and in between those songs, he wouldn't stop. 127 00:09:53,961 --> 00:09:57,262 When you stop playing, you lose the crowd. 128 00:09:57,298 --> 00:09:59,298 He had a beat 129 00:09:59,350 --> 00:10:01,717 that he played in between those Top 40s. 130 00:10:01,719 --> 00:10:03,435 It's like this. 131 00:10:03,470 --> 00:10:05,721 That's the bottom... 132 00:10:07,558 --> 00:10:09,775 of the go-go beat. 133 00:10:09,810 --> 00:10:12,394 Everything else is taken from that. 134 00:10:12,446 --> 00:10:15,614 It's called a pocket beat, right? 135 00:10:15,649 --> 00:10:17,065 A lot of drummers still play it. 136 00:10:17,117 --> 00:10:19,067 But mainly, like myself and other drummers 137 00:10:19,069 --> 00:10:21,820 of, I guess, the new era, we kind of mix it up. 138 00:10:21,872 --> 00:10:23,038 Instead of playing the basic... 139 00:10:26,377 --> 00:10:28,076 we'll switch it up. 140 00:10:32,750 --> 00:10:35,300 One of the things that people don't understand 141 00:10:35,336 --> 00:10:39,137 or recognize about this go-go movement, 142 00:10:39,173 --> 00:10:43,008 is that before it became a music, it was just that. 143 00:10:43,060 --> 00:10:46,094 It was a atmosphere. You know what I'm sayin'? 144 00:10:46,096 --> 00:10:50,015 The club was actually what they called a "go-go." 145 00:10:50,067 --> 00:10:52,017 I didn't fall in love with the music 146 00:10:52,069 --> 00:10:55,354 till I went to a go-go when I was like 15, 16 147 00:10:55,406 --> 00:10:57,322 and then like, saw it. And I'm like, 148 00:10:57,358 --> 00:10:59,992 "Now, like, I completely understand everything." 149 00:11:06,784 --> 00:11:09,785 Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers come on, 150 00:11:09,787 --> 00:11:13,288 all these kids start comin' from out of nowhere. 151 00:11:13,290 --> 00:11:15,173 Before they can hit one note, they goin', 152 00:11:15,209 --> 00:11:16,708 "Wind me up, Chuck!" 153 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,628 - Wind me up, Chuck! - "Wind me up, Chuck!" 154 00:11:19,630 --> 00:11:21,013 And the drummer just... 155 00:11:21,048 --> 00:11:23,298 "Mm-pow!" 156 00:11:23,300 --> 00:11:24,967 Boom! Right in the pocket! 157 00:11:25,019 --> 00:11:27,302 Yeah! 158 00:11:27,354 --> 00:11:28,937 That's what I'm talking about. 159 00:11:28,973 --> 00:11:32,474 I was like, "Man, you know, we need to try to open up for Chuck." 160 00:11:32,476 --> 00:11:33,976 Sounds so good, you gotta do it again for me now! 161 00:11:33,978 --> 00:11:36,979 And... we did! 162 00:11:40,484 --> 00:11:42,150 Come on, now! 163 00:11:44,989 --> 00:11:46,621 My earliest memories of DC 164 00:11:46,657 --> 00:11:50,125 and their sound and go-go was Trouble Funk. 165 00:11:51,795 --> 00:11:55,714 When a multitude of drums are played at the same time in unison, 166 00:11:55,749 --> 00:11:59,668 it becomes... hypnotic. 167 00:12:01,055 --> 00:12:02,804 Mesmerizing. 168 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,508 And then you got the call-and-response thing. 169 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:09,478 "Are y'all tired yet?" They go, "Hell, no!" 170 00:12:09,513 --> 00:12:12,097 "You tired yet?" "Hell, no!" 171 00:12:12,149 --> 00:12:14,566 "Do you want some mo'?" "Hell, yeah!" 172 00:12:14,601 --> 00:12:17,185 "You ain't ready to go?" "Hell, no!" 173 00:12:17,237 --> 00:12:18,653 It kind of made everybody 174 00:12:18,689 --> 00:12:21,490 that came to see a go-go act 175 00:12:21,525 --> 00:12:24,576 feel like they were a part of what was goin' on. 176 00:12:32,870 --> 00:12:34,503 Chuck Brown went to the owner and said, 177 00:12:34,538 --> 00:12:36,805 "I don't want them boys playing with me no mo'. 178 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:38,273 They stealin' my music." 179 00:12:38,308 --> 00:12:40,982 We didn't steal his music. 180 00:12:40,993 --> 00:12:43,578 We stole the idea. You know what I'm sayin'? 181 00:12:43,614 --> 00:12:45,430 It just kind of grew just from the street. 182 00:12:45,466 --> 00:12:48,016 You go to see a Chuck show or a Rare Essence show or one of these shows, 183 00:12:48,052 --> 00:12:50,519 these kids take their tape decks in and they tape the show. 184 00:12:50,554 --> 00:12:52,137 And all over the city, during the day, 185 00:12:52,189 --> 00:12:53,889 they're listening to these local bands. 186 00:12:56,977 --> 00:13:00,729 You can't stand there and not pat your foot. 187 00:13:00,731 --> 00:13:03,231 It had a certain repetitiveness to it... 188 00:13:04,651 --> 00:13:06,234 that just got you movin'. 189 00:13:08,539 --> 00:13:11,239 Even the mayor of Washington, DC 190 00:13:11,291 --> 00:13:14,743 had Chuck Brown play at his inauguration ceremony. 191 00:13:14,795 --> 00:13:16,044 That says a lot. 192 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:18,914 The go-go sound, which Chuck created 193 00:13:18,966 --> 00:13:20,549 has helped to define 194 00:13:20,584 --> 00:13:23,752 what Washington, DC... What the District of Columbia is today. 195 00:13:23,754 --> 00:13:27,172 The greatest city in the world! 196 00:13:28,642 --> 00:13:30,175 Know what I mean? DC is go-go. 197 00:13:30,227 --> 00:13:32,978 Go-go is DC. You know what I'm saying? 198 00:13:33,013 --> 00:13:36,398 I mean, I would assure you that even Obama 199 00:13:36,433 --> 00:13:39,101 probably got a go-go tape somewhere up in there. 200 00:13:39,103 --> 00:13:40,769 You know what I'm saying? 201 00:13:46,610 --> 00:13:50,612 Downtown Washington, DC was alive with its own music. 202 00:13:52,533 --> 00:13:56,001 But something else was happening in the suburbs of Virginia. 203 00:14:22,312 --> 00:14:24,729 - Should we go through here? - Yeah! 204 00:14:27,701 --> 00:14:30,118 One local Virginia studio 205 00:14:30,154 --> 00:14:35,157 produced the entire soundtrack of my youth. 206 00:14:35,209 --> 00:14:37,292 - Was that in your back yard? - That's the back yard. 207 00:14:37,327 --> 00:14:39,661 That's Rites of Spring's sessions. 208 00:14:39,713 --> 00:14:41,413 Oh, wow! 209 00:14:43,417 --> 00:14:45,750 There's Ian in dress-ups. 210 00:14:45,802 --> 00:14:48,420 There's a good picture of Henry with a dress. 211 00:14:48,472 --> 00:14:51,173 - Look at that. - Before tats. 212 00:14:51,175 --> 00:14:55,143 These are all the heroes of like, the Washington, DC punk rock scene. 213 00:14:55,179 --> 00:14:57,345 This is sort of like a Hall of Fame, this whole thing. 214 00:14:57,347 --> 00:15:00,015 Inner Ear is the right person 215 00:15:00,017 --> 00:15:02,017 in the right place at the right time. 216 00:15:03,237 --> 00:15:06,104 Don Zientara is that guy. 217 00:15:06,156 --> 00:15:10,775 Don himself is an artist, a musician, an activist. 218 00:15:10,827 --> 00:15:15,030 He was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. 219 00:15:15,082 --> 00:15:18,783 I was drafted, went through basic, 220 00:15:18,835 --> 00:15:20,669 and they had a program 221 00:15:20,704 --> 00:15:24,039 where you can get an education through the army, 222 00:15:24,041 --> 00:15:27,425 so I got an electronics training. I was always involved in that. 223 00:15:27,461 --> 00:15:31,379 I had a phonograph and I had an amplifier, 224 00:15:31,381 --> 00:15:33,882 and I needed a phono preamp, 225 00:15:33,884 --> 00:15:36,551 which nobody needs anymore. 226 00:15:36,603 --> 00:15:41,056 So I told my friend Bob, and Bob said, "No problem." 227 00:15:41,108 --> 00:15:43,858 He comes over with a paper bag, just full of parts. 228 00:15:43,894 --> 00:15:47,529 He says, "Here's the drawings, make it." 229 00:15:47,564 --> 00:15:49,948 And so that's how I learn. 230 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,604 When you see Don Zientara's name 231 00:15:55,639 --> 00:15:58,707 on the back of every punk rock record 232 00:15:58,742 --> 00:16:00,742 coming out of Washington, DC, 233 00:16:00,794 --> 00:16:05,463 you just imagine him to be this gnarly punk rock guy 234 00:16:05,499 --> 00:16:08,667 with a mohawk and a leather jacket and tattoos. 235 00:16:08,719 --> 00:16:10,552 So when I first met him, 236 00:16:10,587 --> 00:16:12,587 I was totally surprised 237 00:16:12,589 --> 00:16:17,559 that he is a 6'6" surfer with a nerdy voice, like, 238 00:16:17,594 --> 00:16:19,561 "Hi, how you doing, I'm Don Zientara." 239 00:16:19,596 --> 00:16:22,097 I took one look at him and thought, 240 00:16:22,149 --> 00:16:24,399 "Wait, you're the guy that recorded 241 00:16:24,434 --> 00:16:27,102 the fuckin' Bad Brains?" 242 00:16:43,287 --> 00:16:44,853 A lot of bands, they had their songs and all, 243 00:16:44,888 --> 00:16:46,521 but they're rocking and rolling, having a good time. 244 00:16:46,556 --> 00:16:49,257 To me, it was competitive. Like, I literally said, 245 00:16:49,293 --> 00:16:51,626 "If they think they playing fast, watch this." 246 00:17:04,725 --> 00:17:06,391 The Bad Brains were really 247 00:17:06,443 --> 00:17:08,360 one of the first hardcore punk bands. 248 00:17:08,395 --> 00:17:11,229 They were the first band 249 00:17:11,281 --> 00:17:12,864 influenced by punk rock, 250 00:17:12,899 --> 00:17:15,400 taking it much further musically. 251 00:17:15,452 --> 00:17:18,570 Much faster. Much more aggressive. 252 00:17:18,622 --> 00:17:22,574 They brought me in a homemade demo tape on a reel-to-reel 253 00:17:22,626 --> 00:17:25,493 and they were accomplished musicians, but they had 254 00:17:25,495 --> 00:17:28,296 their own idea of what they wanted their sound to be. 255 00:17:31,168 --> 00:17:32,500 So did you grow up in the city? 256 00:17:32,552 --> 00:17:35,220 Yeah, I grew up Southeast Hartford Street. Projects. 257 00:17:37,674 --> 00:17:39,224 What was DC like back then? 258 00:17:39,259 --> 00:17:40,842 Separate. 259 00:17:40,894 --> 00:17:43,511 DC's a weird town, like this beltway that's around DC 260 00:17:43,563 --> 00:17:46,598 is almost like a wall here. DC is a very segregated city. 261 00:17:46,650 --> 00:17:48,983 They built the school that we went to. 262 00:17:49,019 --> 00:17:51,686 - It was a brand-new school. - Like a prison. 263 00:17:51,688 --> 00:17:52,937 Well, that was our frickin' school. 264 00:17:52,989 --> 00:17:55,407 With the slotted windows and stuff? 265 00:17:55,442 --> 00:17:58,660 It was crazy. They locked the back door. 266 00:17:58,695 --> 00:18:01,446 Only way in and out was... If a fire broke out, 267 00:18:01,498 --> 00:18:03,081 everybody's dead. 268 00:18:03,116 --> 00:18:05,450 You know, we lived in the suburbs. 269 00:18:05,502 --> 00:18:07,252 So downtown was a place 270 00:18:07,287 --> 00:18:10,538 where you went on field trips to the Smithsonian 271 00:18:10,590 --> 00:18:12,624 and if you went with your parents, 272 00:18:12,676 --> 00:18:14,843 you know, you had the windows rolled up, 273 00:18:14,878 --> 00:18:18,763 and that was not a place you got out of the car. 274 00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:21,299 Only white people we saw was teachers 275 00:18:21,351 --> 00:18:23,718 or people who owned stores. 276 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,221 Here's all the governmental white buildings, 277 00:18:26,273 --> 00:18:28,106 and everything was black all around it. 278 00:18:28,141 --> 00:18:30,892 And I remember being in Hartford Street as a kid in the '60s. 279 00:18:30,894 --> 00:18:33,862 My mom had a Polaroid picture of a house with a yard. 280 00:18:33,897 --> 00:18:36,064 I saw this picture, and I'm like, "Wow. 281 00:18:36,066 --> 00:18:38,032 That's like The Brady Bunch and shit," you know? 282 00:18:38,068 --> 00:18:39,868 I think sometimes The Brady Bunch 283 00:18:39,903 --> 00:18:41,986 had a lot to do with what I thought of... 284 00:18:42,038 --> 00:18:43,872 What the world... You know, how it's supposed to be. 285 00:18:46,326 --> 00:18:48,543 I mean, everybody was in bands at the time. 286 00:18:48,578 --> 00:18:49,961 When people wanted to make a demo tape, 287 00:18:49,996 --> 00:18:53,331 they saw, "Hey, you've got a tape recorder." 288 00:18:53,383 --> 00:18:56,918 So, I recorded my friend's band. 289 00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:58,837 The man who was 290 00:18:58,889 --> 00:19:01,840 sort of the executive producer for them, 291 00:19:01,892 --> 00:19:03,258 he said, "Well, I've... You know, I've got 292 00:19:03,310 --> 00:19:05,093 a few other people bring over." 293 00:19:05,145 --> 00:19:07,178 I said, "Well, you know, I'm open." 294 00:19:07,230 --> 00:19:08,847 You know, "We'll give it a shot." 295 00:19:08,899 --> 00:19:12,100 I was impressed enough with the Bad Brains 296 00:19:12,152 --> 00:19:13,735 to pay for a recording session over at Don's studio. 297 00:19:13,770 --> 00:19:17,188 The night before, where I'm working at the store by myself, 298 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:19,691 H.R. comes in... 299 00:19:19,743 --> 00:19:20,942 Nobody else from the band... 300 00:19:20,994 --> 00:19:24,446 and he sits there, across the counter from me 301 00:19:24,448 --> 00:19:28,116 with his hands crossed like this, 302 00:19:28,118 --> 00:19:30,869 staring at me... 303 00:19:30,921 --> 00:19:32,620 menacingly. 304 00:19:32,622 --> 00:19:35,457 And I freaked out. 305 00:19:35,459 --> 00:19:38,293 I got this session tomorrow with them. 306 00:19:38,345 --> 00:19:41,129 I can't do it. This guy's scaring the hell out of me. 307 00:19:41,131 --> 00:19:44,516 What were your first impressions of the Bad Brains? 308 00:19:44,551 --> 00:19:48,136 I had to become acclimated to their style of music, 309 00:19:48,138 --> 00:19:51,689 which is... was quite a... quite a shock to the system. 310 00:19:57,731 --> 00:19:59,981 I remember when I was 14 or 15, 311 00:20:00,033 --> 00:20:02,317 seeing a piece on the Bad Brains 312 00:20:02,319 --> 00:20:05,320 on the local, like, news magazine show. 313 00:20:05,322 --> 00:20:08,373 And they showed H.R. doing backflips on the stage. 314 00:20:08,408 --> 00:20:11,409 And I was like, "Wow. Who the fuck are these guys?" 315 00:20:24,724 --> 00:20:27,342 They started playing in Madam's Organ, 316 00:20:27,344 --> 00:20:28,643 which was this hippie commune on 18th Street. 317 00:20:28,678 --> 00:20:30,261 It was pretty much like a flophouse, really. 318 00:20:30,313 --> 00:20:34,432 You walked in, there was people everywhere. 319 00:20:34,484 --> 00:20:36,518 There'd be a couple mattresses there, whatever. 320 00:20:36,570 --> 00:20:39,437 Always beer, always pot. 321 00:20:39,489 --> 00:20:40,605 People were throwing up. 322 00:20:40,657 --> 00:20:43,658 That was sort of their home base. 323 00:20:43,693 --> 00:20:45,527 We saw these guys walk in... 324 00:20:45,529 --> 00:20:48,413 The coolest-looking punk people we'd ever seen in our lives. 325 00:20:48,448 --> 00:20:51,749 These guys used to wear suits all the time in high school. 326 00:20:51,785 --> 00:20:53,918 Some "Cooley High"-type shit? My man took the suit, 327 00:20:53,954 --> 00:20:56,421 threw that shit... Paint on that shit, glue. 328 00:20:56,456 --> 00:20:58,039 Put glass... All kind of shit. 329 00:20:58,091 --> 00:21:00,708 Tear up everything. 330 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,378 Now we Bad Brains. 331 00:21:03,380 --> 00:21:05,213 They'd walk around Georgetown, to hand out these flyers. 332 00:21:05,265 --> 00:21:08,800 "Are you ready? We are! Bad Brains." 333 00:21:08,852 --> 00:21:12,437 "The punk rock explosion 334 00:21:12,472 --> 00:21:15,306 with the roughest punk band in the world. 335 00:21:15,358 --> 00:21:18,026 Bad Brains." 336 00:21:18,061 --> 00:21:19,811 I remember the day I saw them. 337 00:21:19,863 --> 00:21:22,196 I mean, we were all waiting 338 00:21:22,232 --> 00:21:24,399 for them to start playing, and then H.R. 339 00:21:24,451 --> 00:21:27,569 just kind of busted through the audience from behind us 340 00:21:27,621 --> 00:21:30,538 and came right up on that stage. 341 00:21:30,574 --> 00:21:33,124 And then they just kind of exploded. 342 00:21:33,159 --> 00:21:35,243 So you had H.R. moving like, you know, 343 00:21:35,295 --> 00:21:37,412 Cab Calloway or whatever, but on steroids. 344 00:21:37,414 --> 00:21:40,915 H.R., like, you know, one of the greatest things about watching him 345 00:21:40,917 --> 00:21:42,584 was when he would turn around to you guys 346 00:21:42,586 --> 00:21:44,802 and do his little conducting thing. 347 00:21:44,838 --> 00:21:47,922 You know, there was part of me watching that, 348 00:21:47,924 --> 00:21:50,725 thinking like, "Wow, is he... Like, 349 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:53,478 is he conducting the band right now?" 350 00:21:53,513 --> 00:21:55,063 - Yeah, it was that. - Backflip. 351 00:21:55,098 --> 00:21:56,931 But not even in a contrived way. 352 00:21:58,518 --> 00:22:00,902 Frenetic. It was insane. 353 00:22:09,946 --> 00:22:11,279 When he start doing that shit... 354 00:22:12,616 --> 00:22:14,449 ...then we really poppin'. 355 00:22:26,379 --> 00:22:27,962 It's like a weeknight, I've snuck out 356 00:22:27,964 --> 00:22:29,514 to go see the Bad Brains, right? 357 00:22:30,634 --> 00:22:32,967 We go and we're probably two of... 358 00:22:34,054 --> 00:22:36,304 Let's say, 10 people there. 359 00:22:40,777 --> 00:22:43,561 It was the most amazing show I had ever seen. 360 00:22:43,613 --> 00:22:45,980 That was the greatest band that ever existed 361 00:22:46,032 --> 00:22:47,365 as far as I was concerned. 362 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,283 It's just like I realized 363 00:22:49,319 --> 00:22:53,488 you know, I'd found my home with the Bad Brains. 364 00:22:53,540 --> 00:22:56,824 There was very little crossover I think, between communities then. 365 00:22:56,826 --> 00:23:00,828 They had no hang-up about being black. 366 00:23:02,966 --> 00:23:04,716 We're not on no black shit. 367 00:23:04,751 --> 00:23:06,584 We're not on no "black punk" shit. We're not no Afro shit, 368 00:23:06,636 --> 00:23:08,886 we're just youth. The shit turned into a youth movement. 369 00:23:10,306 --> 00:23:13,841 It's this whole, like, confusion about being "punk" 370 00:23:13,893 --> 00:23:15,309 that they take it into this "black" shit. 371 00:23:15,345 --> 00:23:17,812 When I was a punk, I was a punk. 372 00:23:17,847 --> 00:23:20,148 I think they gave me a set list of what they wanted to do. 373 00:23:20,183 --> 00:23:24,185 It was 14 songs or 10 songs... It was an enormous amount. 374 00:23:24,187 --> 00:23:26,020 This is one afternoon. 375 00:23:26,022 --> 00:23:29,574 They said, "Well, we'll probably not get a chance to mix them today." 376 00:23:29,609 --> 00:23:32,577 I said, "Still, come on." 377 00:23:32,612 --> 00:23:34,195 We were recording in his house, 378 00:23:34,247 --> 00:23:36,164 so that's why you hear on that recording... 379 00:23:36,199 --> 00:23:40,251 I was in the basement doing my tracks. 380 00:23:40,286 --> 00:23:42,503 Original Inner Ear was on Ivy Street. 381 00:23:42,539 --> 00:23:46,374 I don't know what the address was. 382 00:23:46,376 --> 00:23:48,876 Don started his own studio in his house. 383 00:23:50,180 --> 00:23:52,847 You know, just a regular suburban house. 384 00:23:52,882 --> 00:23:56,100 I had the control room on the side porch. 385 00:23:56,136 --> 00:24:00,688 But then we ran a snake down to the basement. 386 00:24:00,724 --> 00:24:02,223 He was in the friggin' bathroom. 387 00:24:02,225 --> 00:24:05,727 Earl was in the living room. 388 00:24:05,779 --> 00:24:06,728 H was... 389 00:24:06,730 --> 00:24:08,446 Outside. 390 00:24:08,481 --> 00:24:10,698 They had crickets and shit, 391 00:24:10,734 --> 00:24:14,035 kids watchin' and talkin'. 392 00:24:14,070 --> 00:24:16,320 He's in the back yard, like... 393 00:24:19,242 --> 00:24:20,708 And he's jumping around and dancing around. 394 00:24:20,744 --> 00:24:22,660 I mean, you just have to wonder 395 00:24:22,712 --> 00:24:24,378 what the neighbors made of this. 396 00:24:24,414 --> 00:24:25,747 You can't hear it on the "Black Dots" record, 397 00:24:25,749 --> 00:24:27,749 but I have this other version where you can actually 398 00:24:27,801 --> 00:24:29,917 hear the kids going like, "What's going on here?" 399 00:24:29,969 --> 00:24:31,969 Like, then they'd cheer and stuff. 400 00:24:33,473 --> 00:24:35,723 That is okay. 401 00:24:35,759 --> 00:24:38,176 This is all happening over 30 years ago now 402 00:24:38,228 --> 00:24:39,761 that that stuff was recorded. 403 00:24:39,763 --> 00:24:44,482 At that point in time, people needed something new. 404 00:24:44,517 --> 00:24:46,350 That is as fresh and dynamic 405 00:24:46,402 --> 00:24:48,686 as the day that they recorded it. 406 00:24:51,775 --> 00:24:53,775 When I was a kid, I thought, 407 00:24:53,777 --> 00:24:55,193 "I'm not gonna be a musician." 408 00:24:59,783 --> 00:25:01,783 You look at people like Peter Frampton 409 00:25:01,835 --> 00:25:03,851 or Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix, 410 00:25:03,887 --> 00:25:05,787 like, they're just at a level... 411 00:25:05,839 --> 00:25:07,205 there's just no way. 412 00:25:09,626 --> 00:25:11,292 So I became a skateboarder. 413 00:25:12,128 --> 00:25:13,628 We just started skating. 414 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,298 Me and Rollins and all of the neighborhood kids, 415 00:25:17,350 --> 00:25:18,850 and we listened to a lot of rock. 416 00:25:20,854 --> 00:25:24,021 I loved rock. And then Ted Nugent. 417 00:25:35,785 --> 00:25:38,536 Have you ever seen footage of him in the '70s? 418 00:25:39,989 --> 00:25:41,656 He's got a beard and long hair 419 00:25:41,708 --> 00:25:43,791 and he's wearing a loincloth and a tail, 420 00:25:43,827 --> 00:25:45,493 and moccasins. 421 00:25:45,495 --> 00:25:49,163 And he is going crazy! Screaming. 422 00:25:52,135 --> 00:25:55,336 We would argue and argue like, whether the Ramones or Ted Nugent... 423 00:25:55,338 --> 00:25:57,588 Who was better? And I said, "Ted Nugent!" 424 00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:59,006 And I'd just argue and they told me, 425 00:25:59,008 --> 00:26:01,342 "What about The Clash?" "Fuck The Clash. Ted Nugent." 426 00:26:08,484 --> 00:26:09,934 Punk just seemed kind of a joke to me. 427 00:26:09,986 --> 00:26:12,103 If punks have a home territory, 428 00:26:12,155 --> 00:26:15,022 it is here on the same street that launched the miniskirt 429 00:26:15,074 --> 00:26:17,859 and the look and mood of the Swinging '60s. 430 00:26:17,861 --> 00:26:20,611 Because the media treated it like a joke. 431 00:26:20,663 --> 00:26:22,446 Having seen the Bad Brains, 432 00:26:22,498 --> 00:26:24,665 we decided like, "We're gonna do this. 433 00:26:25,952 --> 00:26:27,869 We're gonna fuckin' be in a band for real." 434 00:26:28,705 --> 00:26:30,288 That's George. 435 00:26:31,257 --> 00:26:32,707 Jeff. 436 00:26:32,759 --> 00:26:34,375 Ian. 437 00:26:34,427 --> 00:26:37,128 And Nathan, this guy. You have to introduce yourself. 438 00:26:40,300 --> 00:26:42,049 What was the first record that you made? 439 00:26:42,051 --> 00:26:45,770 "Teen Idles." I was in high school. 440 00:26:45,805 --> 00:26:47,955 The reason we recorded 441 00:26:47,991 --> 00:26:50,391 was to make a yearbook. 'Cause we were breaking up. 442 00:26:50,426 --> 00:26:52,393 We knew we were gonna break up. 443 00:26:52,445 --> 00:26:54,395 So we just wanted to document the stuff 444 00:26:54,447 --> 00:26:56,063 'cause it was important to us. 445 00:26:56,115 --> 00:26:58,316 And the first recording experience 446 00:26:58,368 --> 00:27:00,534 was pretty terrifying for us. 447 00:27:00,570 --> 00:27:04,155 And we were not good, I can acknowledge that. 448 00:27:04,207 --> 00:27:06,490 But, fuck, man. We were trying. 449 00:27:06,542 --> 00:27:08,409 So we were tracking and another band 450 00:27:08,461 --> 00:27:10,578 had come to see the studio. 451 00:27:10,580 --> 00:27:13,664 And there was a small window into the control room. 452 00:27:13,716 --> 00:27:16,467 And the other band would stand there with him 453 00:27:16,502 --> 00:27:18,552 sitting at the control desk. 454 00:27:18,588 --> 00:27:21,923 And we're playing, and he's pointing 455 00:27:21,975 --> 00:27:24,425 and they're all laughing at us. 456 00:27:24,477 --> 00:27:28,012 And I remember thinkin' like, "This is fucked up!" 457 00:27:28,064 --> 00:27:31,649 There's so many people saying, you know, 458 00:27:31,684 --> 00:27:34,936 "Why don't you stop this noise and play some real music?" 459 00:27:34,988 --> 00:27:38,189 The punk music intensity, 460 00:27:38,241 --> 00:27:39,991 or... Call it what you want... 461 00:27:40,026 --> 00:27:43,411 You had to break through so many barriers 462 00:27:43,446 --> 00:27:45,279 to get shows, to play, 463 00:27:45,331 --> 00:27:48,499 to get people to listen to your music. 464 00:27:48,534 --> 00:27:50,618 So much of my work, I think, really came 465 00:27:50,670 --> 00:27:52,286 out of feeling we were being dismissed. 466 00:27:52,338 --> 00:27:54,538 So much of the energy, I think, I was like, "Okay." 467 00:27:54,590 --> 00:27:56,674 Like, "Fine, I'm a piece of shit. 468 00:27:56,709 --> 00:27:59,794 Watch what this piece of shit's gonna do." 469 00:27:59,846 --> 00:28:01,045 I was gonna keep on going. 470 00:28:03,967 --> 00:28:07,351 In '79, I had started going over 471 00:28:07,387 --> 00:28:09,303 on buying trips to England 472 00:28:09,305 --> 00:28:11,389 because we weren't getting the fill 473 00:28:11,441 --> 00:28:13,808 from our distributors of the kind of records 474 00:28:13,810 --> 00:28:15,476 that I knew were coming out in England. 475 00:28:15,528 --> 00:28:17,812 Henry and Ian would always be among the first 476 00:28:17,864 --> 00:28:20,231 to come out and help me unpack the bags 477 00:28:20,283 --> 00:28:21,816 so that they could get the next copy 478 00:28:21,868 --> 00:28:24,118 of the Satan Rats' "You Make Me Sick" .45. 479 00:28:24,153 --> 00:28:25,736 Or the next UK Subs .45. 480 00:28:30,326 --> 00:28:32,743 I don't think these punk rock music scenes 481 00:28:32,795 --> 00:28:35,413 began as music scenes. 482 00:28:35,465 --> 00:28:38,632 I think these scenes started 483 00:28:38,668 --> 00:28:41,002 as a group of misfits... 484 00:28:41,004 --> 00:28:45,923 People that didn't feel accepted in society. 485 00:28:45,975 --> 00:28:47,141 I was told if I wanted to be a punk, 486 00:28:47,176 --> 00:28:49,343 I should move to New York. 487 00:28:49,395 --> 00:28:52,596 'Cause you can't really be a punk in Washington. 488 00:28:52,648 --> 00:28:53,931 Which I was like, "Well... 489 00:28:53,983 --> 00:28:56,684 fuck that, I'm not moving to New York." 490 00:28:56,686 --> 00:28:58,652 Here's Ian. 491 00:28:58,688 --> 00:29:01,238 Hey, Ian. What's up, buddy? 492 00:29:01,274 --> 00:29:02,823 We got in last night. 493 00:29:02,859 --> 00:29:05,076 We got drums up and we got sounds 494 00:29:05,111 --> 00:29:07,194 and so we're just gonna start tracking today. 495 00:29:07,246 --> 00:29:09,864 Come by! 496 00:29:09,866 --> 00:29:11,615 Okay, bye. 497 00:29:35,308 --> 00:29:39,310 It's a challenge to go into a different studio 498 00:29:39,362 --> 00:29:42,396 every week and bang out a song. 499 00:29:42,448 --> 00:29:44,148 Hey! 500 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,567 Guitars are too fuckin' loud! 501 00:29:46,569 --> 00:29:48,319 Say what, Shifty? 502 00:29:48,371 --> 00:29:50,121 - My guitar keeps getting really loud. - The guitars are way too loud! 503 00:29:50,156 --> 00:29:53,040 - Dave's guitar? - Yeah. 504 00:29:53,076 --> 00:29:55,042 Especially when you haven't been in there before. 505 00:29:56,129 --> 00:29:58,412 Hey, is there any way that, uh, 506 00:29:59,749 --> 00:30:01,465 we could record? 507 00:30:02,752 --> 00:30:04,251 James is gonna check one thing, 508 00:30:04,303 --> 00:30:06,220 and then we're gonna go again right away. 509 00:30:06,255 --> 00:30:08,589 Everybody kind of has to rise to the occasion, 510 00:30:08,591 --> 00:30:11,559 adapt to the sound of the room. 511 00:30:14,430 --> 00:30:16,564 What they're hearing coming back from the speakers. 512 00:30:22,939 --> 00:30:25,523 I've never met Don, I've never been in to Inner Ear. 513 00:30:25,575 --> 00:30:28,776 But I've been looking at the name "Inner Ear" 514 00:30:28,778 --> 00:30:33,364 on album sleeves since probably 1983. 515 00:30:33,416 --> 00:30:35,116 This is the studio 516 00:30:35,118 --> 00:30:38,002 that I was most looking forward to visiting. 517 00:30:38,037 --> 00:30:41,122 It's like my bedroom from when I was a teenager. 518 00:30:43,459 --> 00:30:46,427 I knew about this place 519 00:30:46,462 --> 00:30:48,796 and all the bands that had made records here. 520 00:30:59,142 --> 00:31:02,026 And then just being here today, and Ian MacKaye comes 521 00:31:02,061 --> 00:31:03,561 and hangs out all day, man. 522 00:31:03,613 --> 00:31:05,279 - All right. - Excellent, you guys. 523 00:31:05,314 --> 00:31:09,366 God, dude. Queen and Thin Lizzy, in one fuckin' night, dude? 524 00:31:09,402 --> 00:31:11,819 My sister took me and we went down, and I was 14 or 15... 525 00:31:11,871 --> 00:31:13,120 My sister took me to my first Queen concert. 526 00:31:13,156 --> 00:31:14,655 so I sat down, and then I looked behind me 527 00:31:14,707 --> 00:31:16,323 and there was these kids from my neighborhood. 528 00:31:16,375 --> 00:31:17,825 Turn around and there's this one girl, who's a little older than me. 529 00:31:17,827 --> 00:31:20,494 And she said, "Hey!" And she just has the word "fuck" 530 00:31:20,496 --> 00:31:23,581 written across her forehead in Sharpie. And I was like... 531 00:31:23,633 --> 00:31:26,750 "Okay." 532 00:31:26,802 --> 00:31:28,002 When that guy's around, you just want to sit down 533 00:31:28,054 --> 00:31:29,336 and listen to him talk, man. 534 00:31:29,338 --> 00:31:31,388 When I was in 11th grade, 535 00:31:31,424 --> 00:31:33,140 I went to the prom, with a... A senior invited me to prom. 536 00:31:33,176 --> 00:31:34,642 And the band that played 537 00:31:34,677 --> 00:31:36,177 was a band called "The Mighty Peacemakers." 538 00:31:37,346 --> 00:31:39,180 And they were a go-go band. 539 00:31:40,433 --> 00:31:43,017 Then I realized, "Wow, this is happening here!" 540 00:31:45,021 --> 00:31:47,562 And someone said, "Yeah, Friday night go-gos." 541 00:31:47,579 --> 00:31:49,413 Every night, like 4,000 or 5,000 kids 542 00:31:49,415 --> 00:31:50,580 come out to the go-go there. 543 00:31:50,632 --> 00:31:52,632 Trouble Funk and other go-go bands... 544 00:31:52,668 --> 00:31:53,750 Experience Unlimited, Rare Essence, 545 00:31:53,802 --> 00:31:55,051 Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers... 546 00:31:55,087 --> 00:31:57,554 They're playing these giant shows. 547 00:32:01,226 --> 00:32:02,843 The whites don't really know what's happening, most of them. 548 00:32:02,895 --> 00:32:05,061 But these bands had been doing this thing for 10, 12 years. 549 00:32:05,097 --> 00:32:06,179 No one even knew it was happening. 550 00:32:10,686 --> 00:32:14,020 It was really inspiring for us. 551 00:32:14,072 --> 00:32:15,605 We thought, "Fuck, man, 552 00:32:15,607 --> 00:32:18,275 like, nobody knows about it, and yet they got it going on? 553 00:32:19,495 --> 00:32:21,278 We can get it going on, too." 554 00:32:35,127 --> 00:32:37,677 No one would put out Teen Idles. 555 00:32:37,713 --> 00:32:40,380 No one would put out Bad Brains at the time. 556 00:32:40,432 --> 00:32:45,135 Some groups just were simply unknown. 557 00:32:45,187 --> 00:32:48,972 And a lot of people wanted to keep them unknown 558 00:32:49,024 --> 00:32:51,858 or considered their music not music. 559 00:32:51,894 --> 00:32:53,443 We just thought, 560 00:32:53,479 --> 00:32:56,780 how many labels are lining up to put out, like, 561 00:32:56,815 --> 00:33:00,283 a pretty okay teenage punk band from Washington, DC 562 00:33:00,319 --> 00:33:03,653 that's already broken up? And then someone said, 563 00:33:03,655 --> 00:33:06,656 "Fuck it, let's start our own record label." 564 00:33:06,692 --> 00:33:08,909 I was like, "What?" 565 00:33:08,961 --> 00:33:10,293 Because I didn't know anything about 566 00:33:10,329 --> 00:33:11,828 a fucking record label, honestly. 567 00:33:12,915 --> 00:33:14,831 The record business stinks. 568 00:33:14,883 --> 00:33:20,337 But we're like, "Our necessity. We gotta do this." 569 00:33:20,389 --> 00:33:21,805 How many 18-year-olds are like, 570 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,758 "Let's start a fucking label"? 571 00:33:24,810 --> 00:33:26,476 The ones who had no choice. 572 00:33:26,512 --> 00:33:28,178 That's how many are fucking doing it. 573 00:33:41,289 --> 00:33:43,194 I can't even think of another community 574 00:33:43,246 --> 00:33:46,748 that preceded us with that attitude 575 00:33:46,783 --> 00:33:47,866 of, like, "Well, we can put out our own single. 576 00:33:47,918 --> 00:33:49,334 And we're gonna make our own covers 577 00:33:49,369 --> 00:33:51,703 and we'll press 100 or whatever." 578 00:33:51,755 --> 00:33:54,289 - We took an English single. - We pulled it apart. 579 00:33:54,291 --> 00:33:56,841 Unfolded it to see how the flaps looked. 580 00:33:56,877 --> 00:33:58,593 Took it to a print shop. 581 00:33:58,628 --> 00:34:00,929 And just said, "Can you print a thousand of these?" 582 00:34:00,964 --> 00:34:04,549 And then, we got them back, and I'm using scissors and glue. 583 00:34:04,601 --> 00:34:07,101 We fucking hand-cut and folded 584 00:34:07,137 --> 00:34:10,021 the first like, 10,000 to 12,000 records by hand. 585 00:34:10,056 --> 00:34:11,473 I remember hanging out at Dischord 586 00:34:11,525 --> 00:34:13,141 and putting together those Minor Threat records 587 00:34:13,143 --> 00:34:14,943 'cause they'd have the folding parties. 588 00:34:14,978 --> 00:34:16,561 They were homemade. I mean, they were like... 589 00:34:16,613 --> 00:34:18,530 Not even totally shaped like singles 590 00:34:18,565 --> 00:34:22,116 and the guys in the band would write shit on them. 591 00:34:22,152 --> 00:34:24,369 And you know, it was just 100% homemade venture. 592 00:34:24,404 --> 00:34:27,238 It's an approach to life. 593 00:34:27,290 --> 00:34:29,407 Do it yourself. 594 00:34:29,459 --> 00:34:31,493 "P.M.A.," to quote the Bad Brains. 595 00:34:31,545 --> 00:34:34,329 "Positive mental attitude. You can do it." 596 00:34:34,381 --> 00:34:36,831 Our first poster said, "The Bad Brains, 597 00:34:36,883 --> 00:34:38,583 the greatest punk rock band in the world." 598 00:34:38,635 --> 00:34:41,553 I don't think we ever even had a song. 599 00:34:41,588 --> 00:34:44,923 If you see something you think needs to be done, go do it. 600 00:34:44,975 --> 00:34:47,141 Don't wait for anybody else. Do it yourself. 601 00:34:47,177 --> 00:34:49,894 Dischord gave to Washington 602 00:34:49,930 --> 00:34:52,981 what it would not otherwise see 603 00:34:53,016 --> 00:34:57,602 musically or philosophy-wise. 604 00:34:57,654 --> 00:34:59,904 I didn't have a problem thinking that 605 00:34:59,940 --> 00:35:01,573 you know, we could do it in Iron Cross, 606 00:35:01,608 --> 00:35:03,441 because I had just seen the Teen Idles do it. 607 00:35:03,493 --> 00:35:05,443 I'd just seen the Bad Brains do it. 608 00:35:05,495 --> 00:35:08,696 And so you get this sort of snowball of creative energy 609 00:35:08,698 --> 00:35:11,332 'cause people realize, "He did that? I can do that." 610 00:35:13,169 --> 00:35:15,370 We made records. That's what we did. 611 00:35:17,374 --> 00:35:18,706 These bands might not be 612 00:35:18,708 --> 00:35:21,926 the most famous bands in the world, 613 00:35:21,962 --> 00:35:24,045 but these bands influenced 614 00:35:24,047 --> 00:35:26,548 some of the most famous bands in the world. 615 00:35:26,550 --> 00:35:28,633 The Red Hot Chili Peppers, 616 00:35:28,685 --> 00:35:30,435 Beastie Boys, 617 00:35:30,470 --> 00:35:33,021 Jane's Addiction, Green Day. 618 00:35:33,056 --> 00:35:35,607 We were all brought up and influenced 619 00:35:35,642 --> 00:35:38,693 by these bands from Washington, DC 620 00:35:38,728 --> 00:35:40,812 and Dischord Records. 621 00:35:44,117 --> 00:35:46,117 How many records, in total 622 00:35:46,152 --> 00:35:48,653 do you think Dischord's has sold? 623 00:35:48,705 --> 00:35:51,573 I dunno. Four million, maybe? 624 00:35:51,625 --> 00:35:53,324 - Fucking A, man. - Yeah. 625 00:35:53,376 --> 00:35:54,809 - I had no idea. - A lot. 626 00:35:56,379 --> 00:35:57,912 I just wanted to document music that I thought was important. 627 00:35:57,964 --> 00:36:00,715 And then to try to show some responsibility about it. 628 00:36:00,750 --> 00:36:02,083 I still feel that way. 629 00:36:02,085 --> 00:36:06,004 Hey, Ian, when everything was, like, you know, 630 00:36:06,056 --> 00:36:08,640 "alternative rock" got popular and all that stuff, 631 00:36:08,675 --> 00:36:12,927 how many big labels came to you and said, "Can I buy you?" 632 00:36:12,929 --> 00:36:15,063 I mean, in theory, all of them. 633 00:36:15,098 --> 00:36:17,682 - But we never had lunch with anybody. - Right, you didn't... 634 00:36:17,734 --> 00:36:19,817 They asked for lunch. We got a lot of lunch requests. 635 00:36:19,853 --> 00:36:22,153 - Yeah. - But it just was nothing to talk about. 636 00:36:22,188 --> 00:36:24,606 Right, right. 637 00:36:24,608 --> 00:36:26,991 It's such a different world than I'm from. 638 00:36:27,027 --> 00:36:29,277 When I was a kid, I didn't know 639 00:36:29,329 --> 00:36:32,113 that you could put a band together, print your own records, you know, 640 00:36:32,165 --> 00:36:34,782 I didn't really know that that existed. 641 00:36:34,784 --> 00:36:36,167 The only thing I thought you could do 642 00:36:36,202 --> 00:36:38,336 was, you know, play, like, maybe in a wedding band 643 00:36:38,371 --> 00:36:42,206 or go to Hollywood and get the big record deal. 644 00:36:42,258 --> 00:36:44,792 This is fucking rad. 645 00:36:46,630 --> 00:36:48,930 Rad. 646 00:36:53,103 --> 00:36:54,636 So there's a certain angst I feel 647 00:36:54,638 --> 00:36:57,605 when I'm here in DC. 648 00:36:59,359 --> 00:37:01,309 We lived here for a while 649 00:37:01,361 --> 00:37:03,311 to record "Nothing Left to Lose" 650 00:37:03,313 --> 00:37:04,896 and "One by One." 651 00:37:06,366 --> 00:37:08,316 I struggled learning how to record drums 652 00:37:08,318 --> 00:37:10,368 on a record. 653 00:37:10,403 --> 00:37:11,486 Everybody ready? 654 00:37:11,488 --> 00:37:13,321 - Yes. - Yeah, yeah! 655 00:37:13,323 --> 00:37:15,623 I don't know if I've learned yet. 656 00:37:15,659 --> 00:37:17,625 Here we go! 657 00:37:28,838 --> 00:37:31,472 Everybody thinks we're from Seattle. 658 00:37:31,508 --> 00:37:34,759 We're not. We're from everywhere. 659 00:37:34,811 --> 00:37:40,515 California, and Washington state and Washington, DC 660 00:37:40,517 --> 00:37:42,400 and Los Angeles. 661 00:37:42,435 --> 00:37:44,569 But if there's anywhere where you could say we're from, 662 00:37:44,604 --> 00:37:46,654 to a certain degree, would be here, possibly. 663 00:37:46,690 --> 00:37:50,241 'Cause most of our germs of our ideas 664 00:37:50,276 --> 00:37:53,578 come from Dave and he's from here. 665 00:37:57,450 --> 00:37:59,450 I like it, but I can't hear me. 666 00:37:59,502 --> 00:38:02,203 Come on in and listen, y'all. Come on in. 667 00:38:02,205 --> 00:38:03,871 Butch has a Southern accent now. 668 00:38:05,759 --> 00:38:08,342 "Come on in and listen, y'all. 669 00:38:08,378 --> 00:38:09,877 We're in Shirlington, Virginia." 670 00:38:09,929 --> 00:38:11,879 If Dave had grown up in Los Angeles, 671 00:38:11,931 --> 00:38:14,549 he wouldn't be who he is. I think in the nature 672 00:38:14,601 --> 00:38:17,635 of him growing up in DC and in Virginia, 673 00:38:17,687 --> 00:38:20,521 you're sort of forced to find your own path. 674 00:38:20,557 --> 00:38:22,724 Pretty darn good, Dave Grohl. 675 00:38:22,776 --> 00:38:25,109 I fuckin' hate what I just did. 676 00:38:27,897 --> 00:38:30,231 Oh, God, it's perfect! 677 00:38:33,286 --> 00:38:35,403 Most of the albums from the Dischord label 678 00:38:35,455 --> 00:38:38,122 were recorded at Inner Ear Studios. 679 00:38:38,158 --> 00:38:41,325 This studio was so important to me as a musician. 680 00:38:41,377 --> 00:38:44,545 Not only because it became the soundtrack of my youth, 681 00:38:44,581 --> 00:38:48,883 but these albums were my teachers. 682 00:38:48,918 --> 00:38:51,886 Ian MacKaye has been my hero 683 00:38:51,921 --> 00:38:53,471 since the day I met him. 684 00:38:53,506 --> 00:38:55,256 Dave told me about your interview 685 00:38:55,258 --> 00:38:57,258 was you were schooled on Ted Nugent 686 00:38:57,310 --> 00:39:01,429 when you started out, man. That just fucking rules so much. 687 00:39:01,431 --> 00:39:04,482 One of the most honorable things about him 688 00:39:04,517 --> 00:39:07,268 is his evolution as a musician, 689 00:39:07,270 --> 00:39:10,438 from being the bass player of Teen Idles 690 00:39:10,490 --> 00:39:13,191 to being the singer of Minor Threat 691 00:39:13,243 --> 00:39:15,827 to being the guitar player of Fugazi. 692 00:39:15,862 --> 00:39:17,779 In the Teen Idles, my proficiency... 693 00:39:17,831 --> 00:39:20,331 It wasn't great, you know. I was learning. 694 00:39:20,366 --> 00:39:22,283 The Bad Brains, I think they really were the ones who said, like, 695 00:39:22,335 --> 00:39:23,951 "Don't waste time on the stage." 696 00:39:23,953 --> 00:39:25,753 Like, if you're gonna do it, do it right. 697 00:39:34,798 --> 00:39:35,963 I love Minor Threat. 698 00:39:36,015 --> 00:39:38,466 I think the reason they were so good 699 00:39:38,518 --> 00:39:42,687 was most of the other punk rock bands 700 00:39:42,722 --> 00:39:45,022 were influenced by English punk rock, 701 00:39:45,058 --> 00:39:48,609 which talked about political things and class struggle 702 00:39:48,645 --> 00:39:52,563 and things that didn't really apply to our American life. 703 00:39:52,615 --> 00:39:54,949 And Minor Threat, I think, was the first band 704 00:39:54,984 --> 00:39:58,486 that talked about, like, sociological issues 705 00:39:58,538 --> 00:40:01,239 that really did matter to us. "My friend lied to me." 706 00:40:01,291 --> 00:40:04,542 You know... "You didn't do what you said you were gonna do." 707 00:40:04,577 --> 00:40:07,161 Much more personal and relatable 708 00:40:07,213 --> 00:40:10,414 and the stuff you could really get behind. 709 00:40:10,466 --> 00:40:12,133 Yeah, I remember, like, Teen Idles 710 00:40:12,168 --> 00:40:16,205 I was writing to 25 kids in Washington, DC, 711 00:40:16,229 --> 00:40:18,840 never thinking, really, that it would be a song 712 00:40:18,842 --> 00:40:21,342 that would ever be heard outside of the city. 713 00:40:21,394 --> 00:40:23,511 Because... let's face... 714 00:40:23,513 --> 00:40:26,314 Who would ever listen to some punk band from DC? 715 00:40:30,019 --> 00:40:31,769 So this is the example 716 00:40:31,821 --> 00:40:35,189 of the power of the DC punk scene... 717 00:40:35,961 --> 00:40:38,793 Its reputation reached even Montana. 718 00:40:38,828 --> 00:40:42,113 By the early '80s, I knew about Bad Brains, 719 00:40:42,165 --> 00:40:43,614 I knew about Minor Threat. 720 00:40:43,666 --> 00:40:46,834 Henry Rollins, of course, was in Black Flag at that point. 721 00:40:46,870 --> 00:40:49,453 I bought Black Flag records in Montana. 722 00:40:49,505 --> 00:40:50,872 I actually came to DC 723 00:40:50,874 --> 00:40:53,040 'cause I was going to graduate school. 724 00:40:53,042 --> 00:40:57,044 Looking back, it was my effort to grow up. 725 00:40:57,046 --> 00:40:59,380 Found an apartment near Dupont Circle 726 00:40:59,382 --> 00:41:01,048 September of 1984. 727 00:41:01,100 --> 00:41:03,301 I put my stuff in the apartment, 728 00:41:03,353 --> 00:41:06,103 walked across the street to the pay phone to call my mom 729 00:41:06,139 --> 00:41:09,056 to assure her that, yes, I was in Washington, DC, 730 00:41:09,108 --> 00:41:11,475 but no, I had not been killed yet. 731 00:41:11,527 --> 00:41:13,895 I had not been robbed. But what I saw 732 00:41:13,947 --> 00:41:16,781 spray-painted on the wall next to the pay phone 733 00:41:16,816 --> 00:41:20,568 was "Nazi punks rule. Oi, oi, oi!" 734 00:41:20,620 --> 00:41:23,404 Honestly, I felt in... In those moments 735 00:41:23,406 --> 00:41:25,623 like it might have been better 736 00:41:25,658 --> 00:41:28,159 if punk rock had never been invented. 737 00:41:29,545 --> 00:41:32,463 I went and visited all those beautiful monuments 738 00:41:32,498 --> 00:41:34,548 to our national idealism. 739 00:41:39,756 --> 00:41:43,140 Everywhere I went... 740 00:41:43,176 --> 00:41:46,761 there were homeless people, people asking for money. 741 00:41:50,733 --> 00:41:53,567 And I thought, "Wow. 742 00:41:53,603 --> 00:42:00,858 'Government of the people, by the people, for the people.'" 743 00:42:00,910 --> 00:42:02,777 It's heartbreaking. 744 00:42:02,829 --> 00:42:04,578 I'm not ashamed to say I cried. 745 00:42:09,452 --> 00:42:13,170 Here we are in Washington DC, probably the single most 746 00:42:13,206 --> 00:42:16,958 affluent metropolitan area in the entire country. 747 00:42:17,010 --> 00:42:18,843 At the same time, 748 00:42:18,878 --> 00:42:21,629 a community with a gaping wound at its heart. 749 00:42:28,021 --> 00:42:29,971 Thank you so much. 750 00:42:29,973 --> 00:42:31,222 Good to be here. 751 00:42:31,274 --> 00:42:34,025 I remember the first time I met him. 752 00:42:34,060 --> 00:42:37,728 Mark was like, "I'm really disappointed in this scene." 753 00:42:37,780 --> 00:42:39,030 And we're like, "Who the fuck are you?" 754 00:42:40,366 --> 00:42:43,034 "I'm Mark Andersen. Punk activist from Montana." 755 00:42:43,069 --> 00:42:47,872 Mark Andersen is really earnest, 756 00:42:47,907 --> 00:42:49,490 and he loves everyone. 757 00:42:49,492 --> 00:42:52,793 And he wants good for the planet 758 00:42:52,829 --> 00:42:54,328 and will fight for that. 759 00:42:54,330 --> 00:42:57,665 Everything I believed in Montana about punk rock was a lie. 760 00:42:57,717 --> 00:43:00,668 You want the truth, you don't want fucking lies. 761 00:43:02,839 --> 00:43:05,506 That's kind of how I felt. 762 00:43:06,809 --> 00:43:09,393 One of the very first signs that made me feel 763 00:43:09,429 --> 00:43:12,730 like I had some brothers and sisters in this scene 764 00:43:12,765 --> 00:43:15,149 was a little cassette tape I picked up 765 00:43:15,184 --> 00:43:18,102 at Smash! Records in Georgetown. 766 00:43:18,154 --> 00:43:19,570 A band called Mission Impossible. 767 00:43:25,695 --> 00:43:27,361 I remember Dave being just like 768 00:43:27,363 --> 00:43:28,746 the most insane drummer I'd ever seen. 769 00:43:31,334 --> 00:43:33,834 When I listened to the tape, 770 00:43:33,870 --> 00:43:35,703 I was like, "I have to find these guys." 771 00:43:35,705 --> 00:43:39,340 And then he fucking, like, buys a demo tape of my band 772 00:43:39,375 --> 00:43:41,258 and comes over to our rehearsal space. 773 00:43:41,294 --> 00:43:43,210 - Really? - Yes! 774 00:43:43,262 --> 00:43:44,845 I think I was 16. 775 00:43:44,881 --> 00:43:46,097 What I discovered 776 00:43:46,132 --> 00:43:49,934 was a window into a universe of possibilities. 777 00:43:49,969 --> 00:43:52,219 When Mark Andersen came to Washington, DC, 778 00:43:52,221 --> 00:43:55,356 all of a sudden we were going to protests 779 00:43:55,391 --> 00:43:57,058 in front of the South African embassy. 780 00:43:57,110 --> 00:44:00,945 This whole thing called "Revolution Summer" was building. 781 00:44:00,980 --> 00:44:02,313 There was definitely 782 00:44:02,365 --> 00:44:04,448 a lot of political awareness developing 783 00:44:04,484 --> 00:44:06,067 with a lot of the people in the music scene. 784 00:44:06,119 --> 00:44:09,036 Sort of the politics of, "Well, the world's a little bigger 785 00:44:09,072 --> 00:44:11,038 than just our little subsect of people 786 00:44:11,074 --> 00:44:13,791 and maybe we should care about that." 787 00:44:13,826 --> 00:44:16,243 Revolution Summer all came together 788 00:44:16,245 --> 00:44:18,212 in the mind and the heart of Amy Pickering 789 00:44:18,247 --> 00:44:20,297 over at National Planning Council. 790 00:44:20,333 --> 00:44:24,385 The NPC had a summer program 791 00:44:24,420 --> 00:44:27,338 to keep teens engaged or something. 792 00:44:27,390 --> 00:44:30,257 Somehow I fell into this job. 793 00:44:30,259 --> 00:44:32,426 And I hired all of my friends 794 00:44:32,478 --> 00:44:34,228 to come work there, too. 795 00:44:34,263 --> 00:44:36,397 But I'm not sure what we did all day. 796 00:44:36,432 --> 00:44:37,681 It was very straightforward. 797 00:44:37,733 --> 00:44:40,067 Mostly what they were doing was fucking around 798 00:44:40,103 --> 00:44:43,104 and getting paid for it. 799 00:44:43,106 --> 00:44:45,406 We started making ransom notes. 800 00:44:45,441 --> 00:44:48,109 I remember seeing flyers around Washington, DC 801 00:44:48,161 --> 00:44:50,778 that said "Revolution Summer." 802 00:44:50,830 --> 00:44:52,746 There were a lot of things 803 00:44:52,782 --> 00:44:55,416 like apartheid that we thought were wrong 804 00:44:55,451 --> 00:44:57,785 and we should be actually acting against. 805 00:44:57,837 --> 00:44:59,620 She was watching TV one day, 806 00:44:59,672 --> 00:45:01,372 and she saw pictures from South Africa 807 00:45:01,424 --> 00:45:04,041 and the incredible courage 808 00:45:04,093 --> 00:45:06,460 of folks rising up against apartheid. 809 00:45:06,462 --> 00:45:09,547 But apartheid looked like a system that would never fall. 810 00:45:09,599 --> 00:45:13,467 That's how strong the South African white regime was. 811 00:45:13,519 --> 00:45:16,520 But what struck Amy was the youth 812 00:45:16,556 --> 00:45:20,641 of many of the protesters, and their courage. 813 00:45:20,693 --> 00:45:24,278 She was watching this and all of a sudden, she started feeling ashamed. 814 00:45:24,313 --> 00:45:28,282 The idea that we should act for the greater good 815 00:45:28,317 --> 00:45:31,819 outside of our own issues in our community 816 00:45:31,871 --> 00:45:35,906 inspired me and a number of other people to say, 817 00:45:35,958 --> 00:45:40,211 "This is Revolution Summer. Let's do something about this." 818 00:45:40,246 --> 00:45:42,463 Spring ended today. 819 00:45:42,498 --> 00:45:44,748 And the Revolution Summer began today. 820 00:45:46,169 --> 00:45:49,503 One of the ways to draw the community together 821 00:45:49,505 --> 00:45:51,922 was to have shows. 822 00:45:51,974 --> 00:45:53,841 I feel like half or more of the shows that happened 823 00:45:53,893 --> 00:45:56,560 a few years running there were all Positive Force shows. 824 00:46:01,934 --> 00:46:04,351 Seeing the gigs go from 50 people 825 00:46:04,353 --> 00:46:06,520 to 5,000 people 826 00:46:06,522 --> 00:46:09,323 and all of them connected by this message, 827 00:46:09,358 --> 00:46:11,158 I guarantee you that the people 828 00:46:11,194 --> 00:46:13,360 that were at these shows were inspired 829 00:46:13,412 --> 00:46:16,197 to go on and do something with their lives 830 00:46:16,249 --> 00:46:18,332 because of Positive Force. 831 00:46:18,367 --> 00:46:21,869 It was the idealism of Washington, DC, 832 00:46:21,871 --> 00:46:24,421 it was also the idealism of punk rock. 833 00:46:24,457 --> 00:46:29,126 And Positive Force, for me, was a way to live out all of that. 834 00:46:32,765 --> 00:46:34,014 I remember going 835 00:46:34,050 --> 00:46:37,434 to the local punk rock record store 836 00:46:37,470 --> 00:46:40,054 and finding the Scream album, 837 00:46:40,056 --> 00:46:41,722 "Still Screaming." 838 00:46:41,774 --> 00:46:44,725 There was a PO box address, 839 00:46:44,727 --> 00:46:46,810 and it was from Falls Church, Virginia, 840 00:46:46,862 --> 00:46:50,948 which was only two miles from where I lived. 841 00:46:50,983 --> 00:46:55,653 Scream became one of my favorite bands in the world. 842 00:46:55,705 --> 00:47:00,324 Not just from my neighborhood, but in the world. 843 00:47:02,245 --> 00:47:05,713 So, when I saw a flyer in our local music store 844 00:47:05,748 --> 00:47:07,414 that they were looking for a drummer, 845 00:47:07,450 --> 00:47:11,919 I immediately called that phone number. 846 00:47:11,921 --> 00:47:14,672 We needed to find a drummer because our drummer 847 00:47:14,724 --> 00:47:16,390 was getting ready to have his first kid 848 00:47:16,425 --> 00:47:17,641 and he didn't wanna go on tour anymore. 849 00:47:17,677 --> 00:47:20,094 I was still in fucking high school. 850 00:47:20,096 --> 00:47:22,730 I couldn't imagine being the drummer of Scream. 851 00:47:22,765 --> 00:47:25,516 I was just in that moment, 852 00:47:25,568 --> 00:47:27,935 jamming with my heroes. 853 00:47:35,611 --> 00:47:38,829 When he abruptly left to join Scream, 854 00:47:38,864 --> 00:47:40,948 I understood why Dave did it. 855 00:47:40,950 --> 00:47:42,700 Besides the fact that they were his heroes, 856 00:47:42,752 --> 00:47:44,785 he just wanted to tour and go out. 857 00:47:44,787 --> 00:47:47,171 Just be in a band that's working and on the road. 858 00:47:49,959 --> 00:47:53,177 My first show with Scream was a Positive Force benefit 859 00:47:53,212 --> 00:47:55,129 for Amnesty International. 860 00:47:55,131 --> 00:47:57,131 And it was triumphant. 861 00:47:57,133 --> 00:47:58,265 Great show. 862 00:47:58,301 --> 00:48:00,134 I remember it. I remember it well. 863 00:48:04,140 --> 00:48:06,857 I remember the show. 864 00:48:06,892 --> 00:48:10,311 The band and audience all marched up the street. 865 00:48:10,363 --> 00:48:12,279 Everyone brought a drum 866 00:48:12,315 --> 00:48:14,281 and we stood across the street 867 00:48:14,317 --> 00:48:15,816 from the South African embassy 868 00:48:15,868 --> 00:48:19,236 and played as loud as we could. 869 00:48:19,288 --> 00:48:21,488 We were protesting apartheid, 870 00:48:21,490 --> 00:48:24,541 which made you feel like a human being, 871 00:48:24,577 --> 00:48:28,379 but you also felt like the luckiest person in the world 872 00:48:28,414 --> 00:48:32,166 because your hero from your favorite local band 873 00:48:32,168 --> 00:48:35,502 was standing next to you with his drum 874 00:48:35,504 --> 00:48:38,806 and we were all doing it together. 875 00:48:38,841 --> 00:48:40,641 It was about us 876 00:48:40,676 --> 00:48:43,477 as a community taking action. 877 00:48:45,181 --> 00:48:48,515 Mark took the sentiment of Revolution Summer 878 00:48:48,517 --> 00:48:51,819 and put it into action. 879 00:48:51,854 --> 00:48:53,854 You were challenging the world and yourself 880 00:48:53,856 --> 00:48:55,739 to do something really hard. 881 00:48:56,942 --> 00:49:00,527 Which is to live out these glorious dreams. 882 00:49:00,579 --> 00:49:03,330 Dreams that we like to put on monuments... 883 00:49:03,366 --> 00:49:06,200 and then kind of forget about. 884 00:49:06,252 --> 00:49:09,286 You could never live them out alone. 885 00:49:09,338 --> 00:49:10,704 And by the time you came along, 886 00:49:10,756 --> 00:49:12,339 there was like, a scene, right? 887 00:49:12,375 --> 00:49:14,208 You could go fucking see how many bands? 888 00:49:14,260 --> 00:49:16,960 It was just like, a reality. 889 00:49:17,012 --> 00:49:19,797 It didn't exist five years earlier than that. 890 00:49:19,849 --> 00:49:21,014 When you were young, 891 00:49:21,050 --> 00:49:23,350 did you know much about the local music scene? 892 00:49:25,221 --> 00:49:26,603 When I was in my first band, 893 00:49:26,639 --> 00:49:28,389 I was obsessed with finding out 894 00:49:28,391 --> 00:49:31,058 about everything from Dischord and DC hardcore 895 00:49:31,060 --> 00:49:33,143 and, like, we respect it so much. 896 00:49:33,195 --> 00:49:36,397 But I just remember everyone was following that model 897 00:49:36,449 --> 00:49:38,148 and making their own CDs and passing 'em around. 898 00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:40,234 We learned from that. 899 00:49:40,236 --> 00:49:42,069 You know, we started doing that ourselves. 900 00:49:42,071 --> 00:49:44,121 The way that like, record labels work 901 00:49:44,156 --> 00:49:46,707 like an antiquated process, 902 00:49:46,742 --> 00:49:48,459 it slowed that band up. 903 00:49:48,494 --> 00:49:50,077 I think that they're on their way, 904 00:49:50,079 --> 00:49:51,211 it's just that 905 00:49:51,247 --> 00:49:53,547 they've got to go touch the people, man. 906 00:49:53,582 --> 00:49:58,385 Figure out who you are and establish a rapport with your group 907 00:49:59,922 --> 00:50:02,506 of people. 908 00:50:02,558 --> 00:50:07,428 Music, it takes a certain amount of willpower. 909 00:50:07,430 --> 00:50:09,263 Not only us, any band in this town. 910 00:50:10,933 --> 00:50:12,683 We was, like, recording this music, man. 911 00:50:12,735 --> 00:50:14,735 We was putting out music like every other week. 912 00:50:14,770 --> 00:50:17,438 And the music was like, spreading like a disease. 913 00:50:17,490 --> 00:50:19,189 The DIY thing carries through 914 00:50:19,241 --> 00:50:21,442 a lot of different music scenes in DC. 915 00:50:21,444 --> 00:50:23,694 I'm sure you've experienced this where you run into some guy 916 00:50:23,746 --> 00:50:26,830 who's like a jazz guy or some funk player. 917 00:50:26,866 --> 00:50:29,783 You're from the punk scene and you guys relate 918 00:50:29,835 --> 00:50:31,168 in a way that's very... 919 00:50:31,203 --> 00:50:33,787 A Washington, DC-like language. 920 00:50:33,789 --> 00:50:36,290 I saw a real parallel with the go-go thing, 921 00:50:36,342 --> 00:50:37,708 but never could connect with them, 922 00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:39,343 'cause they were a totally different world. 923 00:50:39,378 --> 00:50:42,713 And then we decided, like, "We should play with Trouble Funk." 924 00:50:42,765 --> 00:50:45,382 They headlined, we opened for them. 925 00:50:45,434 --> 00:50:48,051 Big Boys, Minor Threat, Trouble Funk. 926 00:50:48,103 --> 00:50:50,103 Trouble Funk were interested in it, 927 00:50:50,139 --> 00:50:51,472 'cause they heard about the punk scene. 928 00:50:51,474 --> 00:50:54,274 We were into it, 'cause we loved the go-go thing. 929 00:50:54,310 --> 00:50:56,643 Then there's these punk-funk shows. 930 00:50:56,695 --> 00:50:57,945 Yeah. 931 00:50:57,980 --> 00:51:01,532 They both are like, two underground type of sounds. 932 00:51:03,402 --> 00:51:05,235 And it just goes together. You know what I'm sayin'? 933 00:51:05,287 --> 00:51:07,738 We got there... This is real culture clashing. 934 00:51:07,790 --> 00:51:08,906 I remember again, Minor Threat playing 935 00:51:08,958 --> 00:51:10,290 and just looking out at the soundboard, 936 00:51:10,326 --> 00:51:11,825 seeing all the Trouble Funk guys, 937 00:51:11,877 --> 00:51:13,494 just going like... 938 00:51:13,546 --> 00:51:15,662 Look at us like, "What the...?" Like laughing and pointing. 939 00:51:15,664 --> 00:51:19,132 It was pretty amazing, I gotta say. 940 00:51:38,270 --> 00:51:41,989 Where the real power is... 941 00:51:42,024 --> 00:51:44,324 The real revolution, if you will, 942 00:51:44,360 --> 00:51:46,994 is simply getting people 943 00:51:47,029 --> 00:51:51,365 who otherwise might never encounter each other, 944 00:51:51,367 --> 00:51:54,117 to know each other. 945 00:51:54,169 --> 00:51:55,786 Man, we should get together and do something 946 00:51:55,838 --> 00:51:58,956 - like a go-go/rock project. - Tony, I'd love to. 947 00:51:59,008 --> 00:52:00,457 I think it'd be so much fun, man. 948 00:52:00,509 --> 00:52:04,211 It'd sure be nice to do some of them big money shows, man, 949 00:52:04,263 --> 00:52:06,680 with the Foo Fighters and stuff. 950 00:52:08,133 --> 00:52:10,300 Welcome... 951 00:52:10,352 --> 00:52:13,554 to Big Tony's birthday bash! Everybody ready? 952 00:52:15,190 --> 00:52:18,692 One of the best things about growing up in this area 953 00:52:18,727 --> 00:52:21,895 is the fuckin' music and you know that's true. 954 00:52:23,521 --> 00:52:26,984 If it weren't for Washington, DC and the music scene here, 955 00:52:27,036 --> 00:52:29,903 I wouldn't be standing up here with a mic right now. 956 00:52:33,576 --> 00:52:35,576 What we've done is we've put together 957 00:52:35,628 --> 00:52:37,661 an evening of entertainment 958 00:52:37,713 --> 00:52:41,048 that celebrates generations of Washington, DC musicians... 959 00:52:41,083 --> 00:52:44,301 People that have inspired the next to go on 960 00:52:44,336 --> 00:52:46,837 and do better things and keep the tradition alive. 961 00:52:46,889 --> 00:52:50,390 And I consider myself a Washington DC musician. 962 00:52:50,426 --> 00:52:54,595 For life, no matter where I am. 963 00:52:54,597 --> 00:52:57,431 Just so you know, it's gonna be a long fuckin' night. 964 00:53:05,107 --> 00:53:08,609 The experiences that I had here in this city 965 00:53:08,611 --> 00:53:12,946 from the age of 14 years old 966 00:53:12,948 --> 00:53:15,616 set this foundation 967 00:53:15,668 --> 00:53:19,252 for the rest of my life as a musician. 968 00:53:19,288 --> 00:53:21,788 The community, 969 00:53:21,840 --> 00:53:24,374 the support, 970 00:53:24,426 --> 00:53:26,843 the love 971 00:53:26,879 --> 00:53:29,963 that was here in the DC music scene 972 00:53:32,518 --> 00:53:36,970 has carried over into what I do now. 973 00:53:48,317 --> 00:53:51,451 The way the Foo Fighters work as a band, 974 00:53:51,487 --> 00:53:53,654 we're like a family. 975 00:53:56,542 --> 00:54:00,827 And we try to treat everyone that way. 976 00:54:00,829 --> 00:54:04,998 I honestly feel like that comes from Ian, 977 00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:07,000 that comes from Dischord Records, 978 00:54:07,052 --> 00:54:13,507 Don Zientara and all of the bands I saw when I was young. 979 00:54:15,344 --> 00:54:19,062 The message wasn't "We were rock stars 980 00:54:19,098 --> 00:54:22,315 and we are better than you," 981 00:54:22,351 --> 00:54:24,685 the message was that "We're people 982 00:54:24,687 --> 00:54:27,020 and we're all in this together." 983 00:54:29,074 --> 00:54:31,274 I got that from Washington, DC. 984 00:54:31,326 --> 00:54:33,443 And it makes its way into our music. 985 00:54:36,758 --> 00:54:39,341 _ 986 00:54:45,707 --> 00:54:47,985 _ 987 00:54:48,008 --> 00:54:50,791 _ 988 00:54:50,815 --> 00:54:53,597 _ 989 00:54:53,615 --> 00:54:56,433 _ 990 00:54:56,456 --> 00:55:00,431 _ 991 00:55:02,001 --> 00:55:04,734 _ 992 00:55:04,758 --> 00:55:07,538 _ 993 00:55:07,561 --> 00:55:10,333 _ 994 00:55:10,356 --> 00:55:13,151 _ 995 00:55:13,162 --> 00:55:15,932 _ 996 00:55:15,957 --> 00:55:18,754 _ 997 00:55:20,426 --> 00:55:22,915 _ 998 00:55:24,089 --> 00:55:28,173 _ 999 00:55:28,636 --> 00:55:31,255 _ 1000 00:55:31,795 --> 00:55:35,294 _ 1001 00:55:35,314 --> 00:55:38,085 _ 1002 00:55:38,100 --> 00:55:40,833 _ 1003 00:55:40,852 --> 00:55:43,610 _ 1004 00:55:43,634 --> 00:55:46,633 _ 1005 00:55:46,652 --> 00:55:49,093 _ 1006 00:55:49,118 --> 00:55:51,841 _ 1007 00:55:51,865 --> 00:55:54,588 _ 1008 00:55:54,613 --> 00:55:57,351 _ 1009 00:55:57,372 --> 00:56:00,099 _ 1010 00:56:00,117 --> 00:56:03,210 _ 1011 00:56:03,229 --> 00:56:05,812 _ 1012 00:56:05,834 --> 00:56:08,417 _ 1013 00:56:08,441 --> 00:56:12,609 _ 1014 00:56:13,842 --> 00:56:18,175 _ 1015 00:56:18,190 --> 00:56:20,908 _ 1016 00:56:21,656 --> 00:56:25,259 _ 1017 00:56:36,058 --> 00:56:40,182 _ 1018 00:56:40,206 --> 00:56:43,120 _ 1019 00:56:43,141 --> 00:56:46,447 _ 1020 00:56:46,471 --> 00:56:49,198 _ 1021 00:56:49,222 --> 00:56:51,793 _ 1022 00:56:51,817 --> 00:56:57,109 _ 1023 00:56:58,046 --> 00:57:03,224 _ 1024 00:57:11,776 --> 00:57:15,979 _ 1025 00:57:17,188 --> 00:57:21,018 _ 1026 00:57:21,465 --> 00:57:24,870 _ 1027 00:57:24,894 --> 00:57:28,059 _ 1028 00:57:28,082 --> 00:57:32,313 _ 1029 00:57:32,335 --> 00:57:35,414 _ 1030 00:57:35,437 --> 00:57:38,680 _ 1031 00:57:38,690 --> 00:57:41,415 _ 1032 00:57:41,432 --> 00:57:44,121 _ 1033 00:57:44,144 --> 00:57:48,597 _ 1034 00:57:50,315 --> 00:57:54,348 _ 1035 00:58:19,780 --> 00:58:23,626 Sync, corrected by icephoenix 1036 00:58:27,653 --> 00:58:30,245 _