Soft Focus: Ian Mackaye

[jtrenholm85]

lmao I lost it when he asked Mackaye if he was a prophet

[jefferygwatkins]

Are you a prophet?

[fickifickmaster]

"are these the two choices of I have?" hahha

[Pilaf1984]

@mutantgenome You think that's bad? I saw him doing Pepsi at one of his shows.

[StrongHeartLives]

Why is Rod Blagojevich's hair living on that mans head?

[anna41429]

Rather distracted by swooning over Mr chocolate eyes here, and only 7 mins through it, but i feel the problem is: They are both looking at things through the wrong end of the telescope. There is a limiting post-modern tendency to view culture in a protopolitical way - where there is a substitution of cultural politics or politics of the 'entertainment industry'. Also an assumption that there should be a radical transformation of culture before a radical transformation of social relations.

[bowlsallbroken]

"You pick up a newspaper... it looks like a Dead Kennedy's record..."

LOL too fucking true.

[TheHoyaJoe]

Yawn ... soft stool ... is right

[knightschwartz]

I hate this pretencious, hipster, leftist host but he gets sort of funny during the interview.

[ZRN959]

@knightschwartz it's kinda a character....

[yannoche]

@knightschwartz : Cool down it's a sketch.

[lesysteme]

Oh man thanks for posting - I was at this taping. The first half was Henry Rollins and he really seemed so stuck in the past and was really sorta a blow hard - after that and hearing Ian, he was such a refreshing, well rounded voice. If forgot how funny Ian (the interviewer) was! Always a huge Nation of U and The Make Up fan!

[poseidonaskwhy]

why the hell are people laughing ever 3 seconds?

[SadMarker]

i like the way the guy with the bad hair thinks hes taking the piss out of ian, ian goes along with it then outsmarts him x.X.x

[mattyesque]

@ knightschwartz @SadMarker You realize these two guys are friends and that "the guy with the bad hair" was the co-founder and singer of Nation of Ulysses and the Make-Up?

Kids these days…

[massnerder1]

@mattyesque you don't say

[13socalmizuno]

Don't forget the Teen Idles asshole...

[Basskay]

@13socalmizuno Ian was not the voice of the Teen Idles, he played bass.

[tourettes84]

Ian and Ian

[mediattackrecords]

i dont really mean pure pop

[mediattackrecords]

like always new sounds can be found in r and b and radio pop

[mediattackrecords]

CYNDI LAUPER is PUNK definitely

[mediattackrecords]

ha ha ha right. hes stoned out of his mind and joking

[TheIllegalKind]

@mediattackrecords ian????

[Bmxdad40]

Intro made me not watch.....bad delivery......get to the interview......no one wants to sit through a cornball intro with geeky music just to see an interview

[fiveyearwinterkiss]

i love what he says at the end, what a wise man

[typeanoise]

The interviewer is a total douche bag.

[crashpix]

Intro too long. Didn't watch. 

[chuckb11]

@crashpix One minute is too long for you? Jesus. How are you going operate like a normal human being if you can't sit still for one fucking minute?

[crashpix]

@chuckb11 Your reply too long. Didn't read. ;^)

Okay, I admit I was being totally flippant. God knows I loves me some Mr. Svenonius & have been a fan since Nation Of Ulysses. I'm assuming it's just Ian Svenonius being Ian Svenonius. Which he can do because he just happens to be Ian Svenonius.

[wenders99]

I hate how some of these guys want to define the terms of how those who lived through these times. Who does he think he is? He wants to be a man of the people and then he says crap like "what I worry about is white dudes...disgusting." Frankly, it's not his business nor is it within his control.

[mresplendent]

@wenders99 I can understand your take on it, but Ian S.(the inerviewer) is being somewhat ironic. That is his gag.

[SoundCrusherPlanB]

This is absolutely hillarious!

[kingmmm121190]

This show is SO GOOD!

[OliverReedv2]

Boring shit.

[mrlambchop24]

where is part two?anyone?Bueller?Bueller?

[livershot]

Ian S talks like Thurston Moore does in music docs but taken to the nth degree

[crassisdead]

"... the voice of Evens, Fugazi, Minor Threat..." DON'T FORGET EMBRACE!! Embrace is definitely my favorite Ian Mackaye band.

[xbyiu97]

@missyjudyful actually NOU's drummer James Canty is the younger brother of Brendan Canty, who drummed for Fugazi.

[ayerian]

Isn't it some good irony that the record companies are virtually in the dumps and Ian MacKaye's music is still thriving enough so he can make a living off of it ?

[Powerfulhound]

"...the visigoths storming the roman empire?" ... really? that's a kinda annoying thing to say.

it's cool that ian is into practice, not prophets. the interviewer seems to want him to be a hero and prophet instead.

[niacin]

@Powerfulhound: he's taking the piss

[FuttBucker667]

@Powerfulhound the interviewer was a character, he was supposed to seem arrogant. it's a joke.

[bueyokyan]

so where the fuck is part two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Frupp]

@bueyokyan this is part 2.

[afokenr]

i think if ian svenonius next door to me i would pants him every day.

[unfortunatebeam]

I love Ian McKaye. fugazi are the kind of albums one should actually go out and buy and not get for free. Men who feel the need to look up to other men for whatever reason should look up to men like mcKaye and not UFC contenders or football stars or dogshit like that. I wish every man and woman in the world thought and behaved more like McKaye.

[gabeuop79]

@unfortunatebeam - - Well said indeed.

[killjaisonbecker]

its wierd hearing his voice without it being blown out from screaming hard punk haha

[dearyou1994]

Ian Svenonius is hilarious.

[precinctful]

@dearyou1994 He doesnt seem to understand much and is a pseud.

[dearyou1994]

@precinctful It's clearly a joke.

[precinctful]

@dearyou1994 Here yes, elsewhere he's clearly up his own arse.

Mackaye is a smart chap though.

[chriskamakazie]

this is fucking awsome thank you for posting this =]

[shaolinkin]

the video is fucking with me.

[mommyimadeapoopy]

the host sang in a few dischord bands,the make-up of nation of ulyless...check em out

[bretadounitedfc]

Ian will always be one of my musical heroes 4 NEVER SELLING OUT 2 CORPORATE PUNK

[endofsomething]

@bretadounitedfc Yeah, bro. You fuckin' said it!

[negatyve]

For those who want to see the video without it being a jittery mess, head over to vbs tv's website. The address is: vbs[DOT]tv[SLASH]watch[SLASH]s­oft-focus[SLASH]ian-mackaye (obviously replace the words with the punctuation, I had to format it that way in order to post it)

[maximus50238]

when was this

[Dayberry]

So uhmm anyone on here want to start a band... get some shit done?

[PieceofMindmusic]

@Dayberry im in one. this our youtube profile.

[thecommonground]

I fuckin' love FUGAZI and all they stand for. Ian Mackaye is the man.

[Kingrizla2000]

The host is funny and Ian is, as ever, incredibly insightful.

[BearWindAppleyard]

the host is funny

[vapetlover]

Reminds me so much of Bob Dylan's philosophy about music.

[RHCPPCHRRHCP]

*All good music :)

[succubus92]

"Are you a prophet? As an early punk, are you a prophet?" hahahahahaha this guy is funny. Great interview.

[storksforever2000]

Ian Mackaye is a pimp

[N3rve]

Ian Svenonius is way underrated. Nation of Ulysses was the best band to come out of that scene, in my opinion.

And he makes a great host for this.

[djmined]

check out his newest band 'the evens'

[CriticalPedagogy]

Ian S. is fucking hilarious.

[pompadourssuck]

word

[SinnedSnewo]

Ian MacKaye is a sharp human being.

[TheIllegalKind]

@SinnedSnewo beacause hes straight edge

[Loyalbrox]

Sunshine, if you don't like him just tell it straight, just say: " I think you're a c*** ! " but don't critisise him for being a bad host, when he isn't (look at the response he's getting out of his interviewees) , because that's offensive :)

[2bin]

I think Ian M. would make a better host. I can only take so much pretentious bullshit philosophy for so long. No disrespect Ian S. Your shit works great in the Make-Up context. But take the "Great" out of "Great Bullshit" and what do you get? Plain bullshit!

[mazec1]

There wasn't that much bullshit to it - the interview was just doing something different and actually managed to get some good answers out of MacKaye on the topic of music historicism.

It was a worthwhile interview.

[chadcells]

i actually found him funny and he engaged ian allot more then some other interviewers i've heard... what is it that made him pretentious or bullshit? on a side note, this was enjoyable and highly enertaining.

[xpredox]

I can't think about anything as annoying as this intro

[OldIronGiants]

The frame rate?

[VLBA96DJV]

you're a sheet

[verbalabuse]

Can't ANYONE interview these aging guys from early HC and ask them about what they're doing now?? Who wants to talk about what they did at 18 for the next 20 years?!

[CystVonCysor]

I think Mackaye just runs Dischord nowadays. Don't quote me on that one. But yeah, it'd be interesting to see where some of the others ended up after they slipped off the radar.

[metull666]

@verbalabuse

They're all working shit jobs like the rest of us.

[grapefruitstrawberry]

that was funny as shit. the interviewer reminds me of my friend bachman.

[gammyeyenik]

the jerkyness makes this so much better

i love the pause face

[d1vineinfekt]

man it's all jerky, thats fucking infuriating.

[BoycottStabb]

Svenonius is great, 'The We Are The World crowd, they were like deities!', that's funny as hell...... '....or did those negative thought waves create the world we live in?' Just brilliant, he's a very funny man. It's funny people think he's being totally straight......

[italiaholic]

Everyone! The interviewer is not serious.

He was the singer for the Make-Up and Nation of Ulysses. This crazy and ridiculous rhetoric has been his act for 20 years. It's meant to be campy and satirical. Enjoy it.

[FunBoxBoards]

amen

[onlywithmyeyesclosed]

Man, that shit is gold. Svenonius is so on point.

Ignorant, you say? Check out Svenonius' back catalogue and bio and then watch it again.

Nice.

[unfortunatebeam]

Is the interviewer so ignorant! saying they were "prophets" of what society has become. There were societies that were far more faschist, imperial, etc, in the long gone past then Western society is now. What the fuck is that interviewer talking about "they created this society now" and "picking up a newspaper it's like a dead kennedys record" WHAT!? THE REASON WHY THE DK RECORDS WER LIKE THAT IS CAUSE THEY WERE TALKIN ABOUT THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING THEN!! Not in the future! What dumbass!

[watchman99]

people who dont get, well they simply cannot get it!

cant you see that Ian, Henry, etc they love to be interviewed by Svenonious because he is funny and weird and knowledgeable about music?

[jimmyjustus]

the interviewer sounds like a total ass in his own lame wannabe hipster mode

[DukeofSanchez]

What the fuck is this? Who is that pretentious, narcissistic interviewer? And what's with that gawd-awful intro. I can't tell you what was said in the interview because I couldn't get past a minute of this shit. Is it supposed to freeze for effect?

[XDevonousX]

I think you might not have "gotten it".

[HamburgerMartyr]

It's Ian Svenonius, who sang for Nation of Ulysses, Make-Up, Weird War, etc.

[uberscheisse]

it's ian svenonius!!! take a look at his back catalogue (NOU, the make-up) and you'll see that pretentious and narcissistic is the name of the fuckin' game for that guy.

[sorosan]

why the hell the video freezes all the time?

[oldhacks]

@sorosan cuz it's soft

[punkisALIVEagain]

MINORTHREAT.

[robgoose]

love the exchange at the end

[misterobvious]

Jesus,...was there are more ridiculously pretentious band than Nation of Ulysses?

No. there was not. Those people were so far up their own asses it was unbelievable.

[walrus555]

you don't get it

[misterobvious]

yeah, that MUST be it....

(snicker)

[walrus555]

you seem far up your own ass its unbelievable.

[misterobvious]

yeah , that MUST be it...

tut tut tut...

Did someone mock your girlfriend?

[DownSyndromeGimp]

Ian mackaye sucks people just like him because of Minor threat and that band broke up like 27 years ago

[kmb21701]

I wish the quality of this video was better. Both sides (Q & A) of this interview are very amusing. There was no better harDCore band than Minor Threat!

[Mklztr]

OMFG He sang in the Nation of Ulysses!

[libertarianjury]

Lack of thought waves, more like it...

We were just the commentators. I thought they were just the minor threat, and just the fugazi. LOL

Mackaye is awesome though. He has a largely constructive view of reality. I personally stand outside it all. (Until I die, that is.) LOL

[rbjhsucks]

he forgot teen idles....wat a bitch

[iamyates]

if you wanna go that way he forgot embrace too...

[Jewski530]

...and Egg Hunt.

[dudgeonmaster]

hahaha Egg Hunt.

[woogieblasted]

He doesn't sell to the System!

[xmoodudex63]

Is there a better video with better quality or is thus purposeful?

[WARDOG1138]

At first I thought this was on purpose, worked for the "intro" but the whole interview, annoying. let me know if u find a better video please

[rocknrollporn]

if someone wants 2 fuck ian would he just gentally decline the offer and start singing out of step

[norvy666]

hahaha

[SomeKindOfBand]

to rocknrollporn: I sure hope he will and that someone in this modern age tapes it with a digital camera. That would be nice.

[MarginWaIker]

awful video quality, great video

[HangLoosecaca]

Oh Ian i worship thee everyday, thee the creator of Straight Edge, just kiddin but yeah Ian Mackaye is awesome and relevant... and Straight Edge Pride!

[CreepyFreakFilms]

I got an e-mail from him! It was holy.

[HangLoosecaca]

really how?

[h0spitalbeds]

i seriously see ian mackaye as this jesus-like creature. he is not human, he is a god! he's the ultimate punk rocker!

[skaneverdies]

can't get enough of ian's interviews and lectures. so eloquent.

[CorotteConstable]

Great interview about Music Biz

[mirf59]

So that Nation of Ulysses guy is still doing the same shtick after 20 years? If I had a question for him it would be -- "How does it feel to have pulled off an entire band concept based on a single Mission of Burma song?"

[standupminorthreat]

Cool interview

[JoeyHawk]

This guy has interesting mannerisms, but the audience and Mackaye can't seem to realize that it's part of the shtick and move on! It seems like the audience laughs whenever he asks an insightful question... odd.

[myassishaunted]

mackaye has known him for like 20 years, i think he gets it.

[JoeyHawk]

I guess I'm missing the joke.

[dextorgarfunkle]

hes purposely asking questions to aggravate ian mackaye. he gives him multiple options that both go against ian's thinking

[softfocus012]

i am sorry but mckaye needs to grow a sense of humor. he is too terse and obvious. everyone knows these stances and points. more self deprecation. he takes it too seriously. svenonius was trying to get him to relax, and mckaye just didnt get it.

[cauthoncrazy]

I think Ian Mackaye is very intelligent and always gives interesting interviews. I have a great deal of respect for his beliefs and the music that he makes. Fugazi is awesome.

[caseyforever]

i'm really impressed with this interviewer. he's really funny. i love Ian MacKaye. he's a hero if i had any. again it's a real pleasure to see him interviewed in such a way. really awesome.

[lazarus0202]

Ian Svenonius is really funny. He knows the questions are insane.

[replikant0101]

i wish i could reach ians level of irony cum seriousness cum irony. it is erudite at best.

[gumby0s69]

fucking funny

Ian Mackaye is my hero

[RevPsychobilly]

he was the lead singer of weird war

[vanuaturocks]

ian sevonious is hilarious, Mackaye's a genius!

[LosersandHippies445]

sevonious used to play in Nation Of Ulysses which was on dischord records so they're pretending to say something new and hear something new

back in the 80's it was hard to forsee this interview

[ManilaSyndicate]

Good interview. Ian looks like a nice, good-natured guy.

"It's a continuing crisis. It was here long after we arrived, it'll be here after we leave. We were just the commentators. Some of us still are".

[funtimeadventures]

oh man this is the first time i was ever rolling on the floor with laughter literally well not literally but iw as luahing so hard that i was rolling on my desk.

[criminyjimjims]

Ian Svenonius was in the greatest band ever

[sXeKenneth]

i dont get any of this guys jokes

[octagonalatthebreech]

so good.

[MrPotatoesLatkie]

If this was meant as humor (and I think it has to have been) it succeeded. The host is very funny.

[Disintegrate1]

Ian does not think he is a douche. Ian knows him for over 20 years. That's a fucking life time. Svenonius is awesome and his Washington DC based band Nation of Ulysses was signed on to dischord records in 1988 itself. Awesome interview!

[Chuckjagermeister]

Someone put both of them outta my misery. Zzzzzzz.

[xalstarx]

If you don't like, don't watch it. Numnut.

[bc8378]

Continued in part 2? What the hell, I dug part 1, & I want to see the rest! If anyone can find it for me, I'd appriciate a little help.

[Tanikaze2]

if it means not using phrases like "Ya'll", that's alright with me, bro.

[McNutz88]

ive never heard the evens before, ill have to check it out.

[samuraiinCfede]

people don't really get what's so funny about his...hahahahaha, he's just mocking the pretentiousness of culture interview show presenters and it's cracking me up!

[ZodiakThriller]

Wow. Did you really think it was that hard to understand and you're that much better than everyone for getting it when 'no one else could.' You speak about the pretentiousness of 'culture interview show presenters' what about yours?

[samuraiinCfede]

Well everyone is calling Svenonius a tool...

Quote : "wow, this thread proves fugazi fans are a bunch of humorless a-sexual elitists. "

And dude, don't take it that serious either...I'm attacking both sides, just read it again.

[stoopiddub333]

yeah, but any true fugazi or Ian Mackaye fan woulden't get mad at this video or Svenonius... becuase they would be able to see that what svenonius is saying is made to induse thought and he pretty much contradicts himself the whole time... he's making a mockery of somthing... what i dont really know... Ian Mackaye makes the best points in this video, specialy with the sports and music analogy. i agree totally with what your saying... i think this soft focus thing couldabeenpresentedwaybetertho

[MarxAviano]

oh we get it, it's just not very clever

[samuraiinCfede]

yeah, you're right...man this whole discussion is just idiotic, i shouldn't had started it

[veganshits]

ian mackaye and ian svenonius are both highly influential and important figures in punk/hardcore. both are very intelligent and well spoken. end of story. great interview!

[xnoxhatex]

it's pretty interesting none the less

[bash8000]

who is this guy? Max fisher form "rushmore"?

[loveminuszero]

wow, this thread proves fugazi fans are a bunch of humorless a-sexual elitists.

[gorgod]

that post proves that you're just a little too dumb to know what you're talking about. at least you tried.

[gordonskates]

im sorry i couldnt hear you i was busy talking on my razr and yanking it on my golf clubs...

[xnoxhatex]

he certainly seems like one, but at the same; what if he is truly a genius?

[ghost037]

Ian Svenonius is a tool.

[ghost037]

Ian Svenonius is a tool.

[ghost037]

Ian Svenonius is a tool.

[ghost037]

Ian Svenonius is a tool.

[JoeHughes]

alright buddy we get the point

[darthreed]

ian svenonius made far more important points than in his career in the nation of ulysses, the make up, and weird war, than ian mackaye ever did. a combination of personal ethos and bigger picture politics, which doesn't find itself obsolete after an issue is resolved (dear justice letter isn't exactly the most relevant piece of songwriting nowadays, is it?). if you'd take the time to read his essays, you'd understand that he IS a satirical character as a host, but he's dead-on as a writer.

This host is such an idiot.