Jeff Nelson (Pt. 1)

Dischord Record's other half on Minor Threat, 3, and the agony of choosing between Toledo, Ohio and Stavanger, Norway.

Sinewy drummer Jeff Nelson, 1994. Photo by Kurt Sayenga.

Interview by Kurt Sayenga

The creation myth of Dischord Records is well-known: how two skateboard-riding young hellions bound by a mutual antipathy to so-called “authority” – Jeff Nelson and Ian MacKaye – met at Wilson High School in Washington, D.C. and formed The Slinkees, which begat The Teen Idles, which in turn begat Minor Threat, the best hardcore punk band that ever walked the Earth. Together with guitarists Lyle Preslar and Brian Baker, later joined by bass player Steve Hansgen, Minor Threat made a brief, uncompromising statement about teenage rage that still resonates, even though we whose pulse quickened to their music at the time are now rapidly approaching our sell-by dates. Dischord Records was founded to document the burgeoning DC scene, and for 45 years it has followed a fiercely ethical path, taking the idea of DIY to an extreme few can match.

Jeff is a talented and influential graphic designer; I plan to discuss h…