Fugazi (Integrity>Efficiency Principles>Profit)

Growing up as a young punk kid in the late 80’s one of my top 5 favorite bands was Fugazi. A post-punk (some say hardcore) group made up of members from other seminal bands hailing from DC.

Fugazi’s sound was catchy, raw, and oddly danceable. With frontman, Ian McKaye (of Minor Threat fame) screaming his way through lyrics aimed at the powers that be, highlighting inequity and underscoring all that was wrong with the world at that time.

And Fugazi was popular for a punk band. They released 6 studio albums and toured vigorously from 1986-2002. They had staying power. But a big part of what made them so popular wasn’t just about the music, but about an ideal.

Fugazi never charged more than $5 for a cover fee to their shows and most of their local shows in Washington DC were free benefit shows for local charities where they raised $250,000 over 16 years.

They didn’t sell merchandise to make more money because they didn’t feel comfortable asking people to be walking advertisements for their music.

They only played all-ages shows ensuring access to anyone that wanted to come.

They had a “no moshing” rule at their live shows so everyone would stay safe and women and kids could be close to the stage without fear of getting knocked down by some rowdy skinhead or punk. This might not sound like a big deal, but it was very countercultural for a punk show to ask people not to mosh.

From a creative standpoint, they did a few things worth noting as well.

They never had a setlist for live shows. They would climb on stage and feed off each other and the songs came up more naturally and organically as a response to the energy of the audience.

They worked their asses off! Fugazi practiced 4 days a week for 4-6 hours at a time.

They carried around bits and pieces of songs for years and years until the right song showed up. Some scraps of songs took more than a decade to find their final place in a track that ended up on a record.

I guess what I’m getting at here is that it would have been incredibly easy for the member to live outside of their value system. Surely the allure of more money and notoriety had to be appealing at times. I could even see where they could justify money and fame as a means to accomplish their goals of helping non-profits and raising awareness for the many causes they seemed to champion.

But somehow they knew that the call of fame and fortune was a bullshit siren song and it would have led them to destruction. And it’s true, like I said, part of what we all loved about Fugazi was the idea of a band like that. A group that would never take a nickel from the man and always stand up for what was right, even when it looked like it would have served them better to take the money and run.

Fugazi serves as an important reminder to me that I’m not here for the money. Even though the idea of being rich is always appealing to me, I’m reminded that I’m here to help others. That’s when I’m living in my value system and things feel like they’re running smoothly, as they were designed to run.

So thanks Fugazi. Thanks for serving as that reminder that we can see through the illusion of money and fame and all that bullshit and stay true to who we are and go help some people.