From left to right: Joe Lally (bass, vocals); Guy Picciotto (vocals, guitar); Brendan Canty(drums); Ian MacKaye(vocals, guitar)
—
Since the hiatus, everybody in the band has been very busy working on different projects. Ian MacKaye is working with The Evens; Joe Lally joined the band Ataxia with John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and released two solo albums; Brendan Canty is involved in different projects from films to music production; and Guy Picciotto also has his share of work done.
I had the opportunity to interview Guy via e-mail. I did the interview over a year ago, so some of the information is old and some things already happened. Here it is:
Me: What are you up to these days?
Guy: Since Fugazi went on hiatus 5 years ago I’ve been sort of a dabbler – doing all kinds of different shit. For awhile I did a few improvisational live collaborations with improv musicians in Europe. I also was focussing a lot on producing other bands – working with groups like Blonde Redhead, the Casual Dots, the Blood Brothers and The Gossip. More recently I’ve done some guitar playing on some records for other people , like earlier this year I recorded with Vic Chesnutt who is a songwriter from Georgia – the album is called “North Star Deserter” and its coming out this month on Constellation Records – I’m actually going to go on tour for that album for the whole month of November in Europe. Also, last month I did some playing on Joe Lally’s second solo album which will be coming out later this year on Dischord. So I’ve just been doing lots of different things – while also always working on my own music but more in private.
Me: What is Brendan Canty doing?
Guy: Brendan has been doing all kinds of shit too – he has produced a bunch of records for people like bands like the Thermals, Mary Timony and Ted Leo. He has played drums with Bob Mould on record and live. He’s done a lot of soundtrack work for movies and tv. He’s created his own DVD series called BURN TO SHINE which documents bands playing in their hometowns. He’s a very busy cat.
Me: I know that he can play piano, so other than his drum work, how else did he contributed to Fugazi’s songwriting?
Guy: Brendan can actually play just about any instrument you put in front of him. He is probably the most naturally talented musician I’ve ever hung around with. Fugazi’s songwriting was really collaborative and Brendan definitely wrote more than his fair share of guitar and bass parts in addition to the drum work.
Me: If you were to give a Fugazi album to someone that didn’t knew anything about the band, which would be your pick?
Guy: I’m a pretty generous person – I think I would just give them all the albums, the INSTRUMENT dvd and a bottle of water.
Me: What about releasing a collection of unreleased material?
Guy: There are a few things here and there. Mostly of the demo variety or instrumentals that never got turned into full songs. We probably have enough stuff for the type of collection you’re talking about and maybe at some point we’ll turn our attention to that if we think the stuff is interesting enough to warrant release.
Me: I read on some other interviews that after The Argument you guys were working on some new ideas…anything recorded or nearly finished?
Guy: Up and until we decided to take the big break, we were practicing pretty regularly and working on a batch of new songs. It was mostly still in the very early stages so a lot of the stuff we were recording in our practice space was sort of loose, long jams, basslines, threads of ideas. I actually have a tape somewhere of all of it mixed down but I haven’t checked it out in a long time so I can’t really remember if we had hit on any majorly genius concepts – but with us it was always a very laborious process of working and re-working, streamlining and polishing and we were still very much in the preliminary stages of what would have been a next record.
Me: When on tour…you guys played a lot of different songs from night to night…how much did you rehearsed before getting in the van?
Guy: We rehearsed like maniacs. We would practice for hours and hours, day after day, playing every single song we ever wrote and drilling it all out so everyone would be in position to play any of the songs at any given moment. Its a lot of music to keep in your head but by not using a set list it kept the shows fresh for us and it kept us all on our toes cos you never knew what was coming next.
Me: Since the band played without a setlist…how was the chemistry on stage? how did it worked?
Guy: We just developed a lot of ways to signal each other – sometimes with hand signals or codes so we could just go immediately into songs without having to shout the song across the stage. It wasn’t always perfect but it was always interesting because we tailored the way the set moved to the way the audience was working with us. It was letting the night dictate the flow of the show instead of trying to preconceive it hours before in the dressing room.
Me: Any particular song that was a big pain to pull off?
Guy: We stopped playing “Polish” from STEADY DIET OF NOTHING almost immediately. For some reason that song just never felt right. We probably only played it twice ever, if that. Most everything else got a fair shake.
Me: What is your favorite thing about being part of Fugazi?
Guy: Playing the shows. I loved being on stage with those guys.
Me: What would you say is the biggest misconception a lot of people have of Fugazi?
Guy: That we didn’t like dancing at our shows. We loved dancing and actively encouraged it . We just weren’t into violence.
Me: Has there been any attempt to get the band together in the last 5 years?
Guy: Nope – everyone’s been pretty busy doing other stuff it seems like.
Now, something random about each album:
13 songs (1989)
Guy: The photo on the back was taken in Miles City, Montana sitting at the counter of a Ben Franklin soda fountain ordering fried cauliflower and feeling a bit crazy because our van had broken down and we couldn’t get out of town to save our lives.
Repeater (1990)
Guy: The first album where I started playing guitar so it felt like a new chapter to me. I had found a way to play that worked with what the other 3 guys were laying down – I was pretty relieved because I wanted to chip in too.
Steady Diet of Nothing (1991)
Guy: We didn’t really know what we were doing but we decided to produce and mix it ourselves anyway. We were really suspicious of reverb at that point. We gained a more dub appreciation of reverb later in the game.
In On the Kill Taker (1993)
Guy: A really great time to be part of the music scene in DC – Bikini Kill, Nation of Ulysses and Slant 6 were all playing around the time this one came out and it felt like a massive posse was rolling together and making shit happen.
Me: Before nailing what is now the album the band worked on some demos with Steve Albini. What was the best thing you guys got out of that experience?
Guy: I would say just getting to know Steve. He’s a straight up total gentleman and it was great to become friends with him. I have total respect for the guy – he’s a class act all round.
Red Medicine (1995)
Guy: The most enjoyable session for me – at least in my subjective, probably-faulty memory. I love the segues.
End Hits (1998)
Guy: The back cover is a photo of us in the mountains outside Santiago, Chile. We had spent the day sledding and when the sun went down the whole sky turned Martian red. It was amazing.
The Argument (2001)
Guy: I remember being sort of uncertain going in to make this record – thinking we weren’t really ready but somehow the whole thing came together really smoothly and suddenly all the songs just fell into line. The biggest decision for us was whether or not to include “Furniture”, “Hello Morning” and “Number 5” – we just couldn’t get them to fit sonically into the record so we put them on a single instead. We agonized over it but it was the right call I think.
Me: I know you’ve been to Puerto Rico a couple of times. What can you tell us about that?
Guy: I’ve been all over Puerto Rico – San Juan, Ponce, Culebra, the rain forest, Arecibo, – it’s the most beautiful place in the world and I’ve had some of the best times of my life there. I wish Fugazi had been able to do a show there so the other guys could check it out too. Thanks for the interest –
http://www.dischord.com/band/fugazi
By: Rubén González Juárez
Laser Eater Archives 