The energy and bump of 2000 suddenly came to a halt with the break ups of Black Eyes and Q and Not U, along with the departure from the label of El Guapo, and once again things seemed quiet. Yet new bands were appearing, Medications rose up from the ashes of Faraquet and I began playing with Amy Farina in The Evens. When there was time to dig, Dischord would go into the vaults to release older material that we thought might be of interest.

In the summer of 2005, John Loder of Southern Studios passed away. John had been our friend, supporter, and partner since 1983 when he first approached us about releasing the Minor Threat records in England. His genius played a huge role in our ability to keep so many records in print and get them distributed around the world. The loss of such an important person has been a challenge, but the structure he built at Southern has proven thus far to be solid enough to survive his departure.

Which brings us finally to 2006...

After a relatively quiet beginning to the year, the label had a batch of new releases in the fall, including debuts from two new bands, Soccer Team and The Aquarium, as well as a second album from French Toast. We also released a new record by Channels, who came over from DeSoto Records. Joe Lally of Fugazi had the distinction of being Dischord’s first official ‘solo’ release with ‘There to Here’ in early October. The long out of print ‘Blue is Beautiful’ film featuring The Make-Up has been re-mastered and reissued as part of a live Make-Up DVD. The last release of the year is ‘Get Evens’ the second album from my new band, The Evens. Amy and I recorded it at Dischord House, which struck me as a perfect way to get started on what will come. Having a studio set up at the house (as simple of a set-up as it may be), brings yet another dimension to a house that has seen so much industry over the years. I’ve already recorded another record there, the debut album from Antelope, which should be coming out in early 2007.

This strongly suggests that we’ll see another year and more music.

-Ian MacKaye December 2006