Merrick Deneen
Staff Reporter
Minor Threat was not only able to define an entire genre of music, but also lead a movement that went against every notion of the genre. Formed in 1980 in Washington D.C., Minor Threat is a hardcore punk band that had a militaristic approach to the punk subgenre.
Founded by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, they played fast, aggressive, and violent. They took the punk rock attitude and put it into overdrive, but the true story of Minor Threat is in their work ethic. They never signed to a major record label and did all the recording, producing, booking, and outreach through one house and their own label, Dischord Records. This was becoming a common practice in the independent rock community during the 1980s and it paved the way for some of the tightest knit music communities in the industry. Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson had been friends in high school and the two formed the punk band Teen Idles, which was able to gain a sizable following within the D.C. community.
While in Teen Idles the two used all the money they made to fund a record label that would soon become a flourishing symbol for the D.C. hardcore community. The first recording released under Dischord Records would be Teen Idles only recording, titled the Minor Disturbance EP. Teen Idles broke up in November of 1980, however, MacKaye and Nelson quickly formed Minor Threat with bassist Brian Baker and guitarist Lyle Preslar. Their songs were rarely political and were mostly about the hypocritical nature of their own community. Songs like “Seeing Red'' accused the punk community of being the same oppressive power that it swore to destroy. It was not uncommon for bigger punk bands to harass and discourage kids from attempting to make their own music and sexism was becoming more and more common in the industry. Female punk bands were made fun of and were told it is impossible for them to be aggressive enough to play real punk music. Of course, bands like Bikini Kill and 45 Grave would quickly destroy that concept, but until then it was very uncommon for a band containing a female member to develop any type of following.
The song “Straight Edge” by Minor Threat birthed a social movement, which banned all forms of drinking, drugs, and casual sex. Ian MacKaye was credited as founding this movement which began to grow in popularity in the hardcore scene. It had gotten to a point where almost every band that was signed to Dischord or that toured with Minor Threat resigned from all forms of chemical intake. Ian MacKaye explained it as “an attack on what the community expected of us, not all punks were junkies”. Minor Threat was active for three grueling years that were filled with cross country touring. They would often travel with other bands signed to Dischord and bunk at someone’s house all together. Money was scarce considering they were getting ripped off at every show they played. Ian and Jeff not only had to tour with Minor Threat, but manage a record company back home in D.C. They split their time between working, rehearsing, touring, and managing.
In the end Minor Threat was able to push the boundaries of hardcore punk rock and left the court open for any other bands that could play loud enough and was willing to work hard enough.
Image Credit: Immo Wegmann on Unsplash
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