Metrograph

A Washington DC native and classmate of Ian MacKaye at Wilson High School, Cohen began documenting MacKaye and his bandmates in Fugazi at early practices in the Dischord House… and 13 years and a thousand or so gigs later, Instrument, shot on Super 8, 16mm, and videotape, appeared in the world. Featuring singer/guitarist Guy Piccioto shrieking his head off while dangling upside down through a basketball hoop in a college gymnasium, MacKaye’s quietly plinked performance of non-album track “I’m So Tired,” and countless other memorable moments, Instrument is an instance of perfect alignment between filmmaker and subjects, with Cohen’s stated intention to “capture music-making and try to make something that felt, visually, like music, and something where the music was inextricably tied in with the moving pictures.”

Q&A with Fugazi's Guy Picciotto on Saturday, August 9th