Old shit: An interview with Guy from Fugazi

[like many of the attempts at journalism I've posted here this was intended to go in issue 3 of my long defunct fanzine FSU - here is is presented with all the formatting form the .txt file it's been sat in dated 13th July 1999 - I was absolutely fucking delighted they took the time to respond!]

>Hi Lukas!


here's the interview - forgive the typo's i had to do this pretty fast - all
the best - guy/fugazi


>
>You tend to get mixed reactions from the press about your live shows, ranging
>from mind numbing to mind blowing. Do you think this is due to media
>ignorance of your music or something else? When I walked out of your gig in
>Nottingham there were 'varied' reactions!


By "varied" i assume you are politely indicating that some people thought we
sucked and others didn't. That is fine by us - it would be impossible to
please everyone all the time and really to my mind that should be more the
ambition of a fast food franchise than a band anyway. we simply play our
music in the manner that feels right to us - if people are into it, great -
if not, oh well. i think you only get unanimous reactions when everyone's
expectations are met in a uniform fashion and that is not something we spend
alot of time trying to achieve.
>
>
>Do you still get people turning up at your gigs asking for songs by your old
>bands?


 At this point only very rarely. When the band first started i think there
was an underlying expectation/hope that we would be playing material from
the other bands we were in - as the band has progressed and we established
ourselves as a distinct band with a forward trajectory i think that
nostalgia impulse has waned in the people who come to our shows. for the
most part i think people come to see Fugazi and that is what they get.
>
>
>How do you choose your live sets? Is there any kind of setlist or do you just
>listen to what the audience shout for?


Basically we have never used a set list in any form. Before we leave on tour
we re-acquaint ourselves with pretty much every song we've ever written so
we can draw from any of them during the show. when it comes to showtime we
simply agree on the first song and from there we just make it up as we go.
there is kind of a general framework that helps shape it ( for example ian
and i tend to alternate vocals from song to song) but really at any point in
the set everyone has to be ready for anything. it keeps it interesting for
us and allows us to shape the set to conform to the mood of the night.
>
>
>How do you think the audience reacts to your quieter numbers such as 'Closed
>Captioned'?


i don't really know - i guess it would depend on who you asked, it being a
taste thing after all. for us, we've always enjoyed stressing the dynamics
of sound from soft to loud, slow to fast. we like to break up the uniformity
of sound.
>
>
>Do you think that the Fugazi 'reputation' ("Hardcore supergroup with the
>angry bloke from Minor Threat" last time I checked) attracts a share of your
>audience, or is every show filled with Fugazi fans and random crazies (every
>show has random crazy types!) ?

It is impossible for us to monitor the various motivations of the people who
come to see us. i think for the most part the people who come to the shows
are quite simply the people who want to see us play -  a pretty simple
equation. if they were coming to see a "Hardcore supergroup with the angry
bloke from Minor Threat" i'm sure they would be dissapointed and would
probably not come to see us a second time - at this point i think the
majority of people with that idea have weeded themselves out.



>
>
>Does it bother you that people drink etc at your gigs?

No - what bothers me is shows where underage people are not admitted to see
a concert just because alcohol is being served. those are the shows we will
not play.
>
>
>How do your songs get written? Does the lyricist always sing the song?
>

Generally speaking we all contribute to the music of each song - all four of
us play guitar and bass so we all contibute ideas to forming the music. we
will sit around in joe's basement where we practice and we will tear apart
pieces and reassemble them over and over till we get something we all like.
lyrically its a different story - one of us will pick a song and designate
it as one they are trying to get lyrics together for. lyric writing is a
totally solitary affair and the person who sings the song is the one who
wrote it. occasionally, one of us will write a back up or a secondary vocal
for the other guy's song - like on a song like "blueprint" or "foreman's
dog", but that's kind of rare.


>
>Why the tough stance on stage diving?


Mainly because its boring and we've seen way too many people seriously,
seriously injured by it.

>
>
>How would you like Fugazi to be remembered?

I don't really think about stuff like that - we've made records, we've
written songs, we've played shows - people can take from that whatever they
like.
>
>
>Anything else to add?

Thanks for the interest and support - see you next time we make it back to
the UK.
>
>