Dischord Records founder and Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye participated in a debate/discussion with Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore at the Brooklyn Book Fair, yesterday. According to Billboard.com MacKaye and Moore discussed issues ranging from advertising and record sales to a packed audience. An excerpt from Billboard’s piece on the discussion…

“In response to the moderator’s use of the word “Google” as a verb, MacKaye began the panel with a rant about the danger of language being a branded commodity. He then discussed his band’s now-legendary $5 cover policy, saying that there are always ways for the music industry to be more efficient. At the same time, he encouraged the audience to support artists by buying their music and seeing their shows.”

“Finally, the pair addressed the hot-button issue of indie bands associating with brands. MacKaye claimed the notion that working with brands was the only way to expose music is a conceit created by advertisers, and that all bands have a choice as to whether or not to sell their songs.”

This event seems like it would’ve been really cool to attend, it doesn’t say whether or not the audience got a Q&A type setup with MacKaye or Moore but one would expect something like that to occur. It would be great to see a video or hear audio of the event, if I find out its been posted somewhere I will definitely re-post that here.

A new documentary called “I Need That Record” is going to premiere May 3rd in Amherst, MA. The film basically chronicles the fall of the record store in America.

“The movie, directed by Brendan Toller, explores the reasons why independently owned record shops are getting scarcer through interviews with Ian MacKaye, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Mike Watt (Minutemen), Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Glenn Branca, Chris Frantz (Talking Heads), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Bryan Poole (Of Montreal), writer Legs McNeil, Noam Chomsky, and plenty of music business folk across the U.S.”

The films release on DVD has not been announced yet. This film seems like an interesting look at the troubles facing record store owners and the people who frequent them. I know they need “star power” with somewhat big names being interviewed for the film. Personally though, I am more interested in what the record store owners have to say than musicians. If the film ends up relying more on that kind of first-hand experience/stories it could end up being really cool.

Source.

This story is kind of old at this point, but a lot of people probably haven’t seen it. There is a new hot sauce out named after the legendary Washington D.C. hardcore punk band Minor Threat. The sauce is called…get ready… “Minor Threat” Hot Sauce, due to it being only mildly spicy.

The makers of the sauce knew how anti-commercial Fugazi/Minor Threat frontman Ian Mackaye is. Still, through certain connections they approached the Dischord Records founder with the idea. After trying the sauce he agreed to let them use the name “Minor Threat” but not the above modified artwork they had prepared.

Minor Threat: The Sauce

Minor Threat Turns Condiment