“I don’t fuckin’ care if we sell 100 copies; all I wanna know is that the music can be out there and grow organically and, if people are interested in it, they can get it. Because that’s the most important thing.”

In ScrewLabels.com’s first installment of our interview with Fugazi drummer and filmmaker Brendan Canty, he discussed the community aspect of the DIY method and the benefits of cultivating long-term creative relationships within your family and peer group. We pick up where we left off, where Canty discusses Dischord’s policy of keeping all its releases in print—sales be damned.

In the case of Fugazi’s legendary self-titled EP, “the one that ‘Waiting Room’ was on,” Dischord initially only pressed 3,000 copies. When those sold out, they figured it was worth a 5,000-unit second pressing and, subsequently, a 10,000 platter third. “And it just grew over time,” says Canty. “It certainly wasn’t a big, explosive release at the time; it was pretty meager. It just takes time to build things like that up.”

Slow and steady wins the race, right? Coming from your mom, it’s a cliché. From a musician who has experienced it firsthand, it’s sage wisdom. Careers in music have the shortest expiration dates when the machine behind the music is a publicly-traded company whose investors want a return on their money now. Doing it yourself means you are less beholden to what should be irrelevant interests; you can focus on getting your music out and growing your fanbase.

It may seem a daunting task at first, such that the labels’ money and manpower would maintain its appeal. It’s natural to want the quick fix, the easy money, the leg up—to fantasize about winning the lottery. But that doesn’t mean it’s smart. “A lot of people look past their relations and their friends and the people in their peer group,” Canty says. “They look to the people who are five and ten and twenty years older than them to kinda give them a free pass or a lucky break or something like that.”

That’s where community and family become especially important. “You’re surrounded by creative people,” Canty says. Someone in your circle, be they friend of family, is a talented visual artist, or has their proverbial shit together enough to handle the business end while you hold down the creativity. In that sense, it really is ‘all who you know.’ And when you’re just starting out, someone you know is doing the same thing in another field. That can be mutually advantageous.

Canty believes “the most long-lasting and fruitful” business relationships he’s had are with people who went to the same school, or that he knew from the scene, that one day either provided him with an opportunity or vice versa. It was true in his garage days and it’s no less so today. In fact, the way he got into scoring films was when a friend decided to try his hand at cinema. “I’m thinking about making this film,” said Canty’s pal. “Do you do soundtrack work?” Canty’s reply—“No, but I’ll try it”—opened an entirely new revenue stream for him.

“And so you try it out and you do more and more,” he says. “It’s what we used to call ‘getting in on the ground floor.’ If you work with people who are in your same boat when you’re learning, you learn and grow together.” Whereas, he points out, the fantasy of “Prince Charming dropping this briefcase full of money at your feet? It’s not smart, it’s not realistic, and it’s not gonna work.” And in the mercurial music industry, more than ever, “it’s just not gonna happen. And if it does, mostly likely you’re not gonna be ready for it—and it’ll fuck you up.”

Reflecting on how the community-oriented DIY approach served—and continues to serve—him today, be it as Bob Mould’s touring drummer, Trixie DVD co-honcho, or film composer, Canty hits upon two things. One is courage. “[DIY] gave me the courage and the knowledge that I can do this.” The other? Well, interestingly enough, it’s that DIY teaches one the rewards of DIY… which is DIY. “We spend a lot of our time not abdicating our responsibilities. We really do try to do everything ourselves, no matter where that ends up.”