DIY America #6: Washington, DC

the dc scene report compiled by the band aunt katrina

Jun 19, 2025

DIY AMERICA: WASHINGTON DC

by Ray Brown and Ryan Walchonski

The Nation's Capital. Unlike many other major US cities, Washington D.C. does not have a vast history of manufacturing. The biggest employer is the Federal Government and its many, many associated agencies, non-profits, law firms, and defense contractors. Counter Culture in Washington D.C. has always been in the shadow of the Federal Government. Its unique position allows for artists to directly challenge local norms and nationwide beliefs. All art is political, but making art in DC feels poignantly political. The artists here hold a mirror to the Federal Government, reflecting the actions and decisions our country carries forth; Civil Rights, Vietnam, Reagan, the War on Drugs, the Iraq War, the Climate Crisis, Trumps presidency(s), Gaza and more. (See: Fugazi playing in front of the White House to protest the Gulf War).

It is impossible to speak to counter culture, or to music of D.C. without discussing the contributions of Black artists. Like Duke Ellington for Jazz, Bad Brains for punk or the Go-Go movement, Black artists in D.C. have pushed genre forward, paving the way for new forms of music. As Bad Brains set the stage for Hardcore punk in D.C., and beyond, local teenagers picked up the mantle and carried it to new heights. Ian MacKaye of Fugazi and Minor Threat, said of Bad Brains “In 1979-80, not only did we have this great local band, we actually had the greatest band in the world playing in Washington”. D.C. band Minor Threat formed in 1980, armed with a set of ideals that punks have used as a North Star since. Minor Threat saw the birth of Discord Records, Straight Edge as a culture and a new and unique way to express frustration, anger, sadness and hope. After Minor Threat folded, frontman Ian MacKaye went on to form the band Fugazi. To me, Fugazi was, is and always should be the blueprint for bands/musicians wanting to pursue music in a DIY fashion. Fugazi showed me that you don’t need to bend to the music industry to be an artist. That remaining independent is something to be proud of. A whole lot could be written about this band, and it has so I won’t go into it here. Fugazi is one of the most important bands in the world, and certainly in D.C.

These days, you often hear folks who have been in the scene for a while say the city has changed (usually for the worse). Like many cities, D.C. is suffering from crippling cost-of-living, never-ending gentrification, and the closing of historical businesses. Being an artist in the city has become more difficult, even hostile at certain points. Long term DIY venue Rhizome has been at risk for years of being demolished to build condos. It is in this squeeze that we find ourselves as artists in D.C. We find what it means to have community, to support each other and to create in spite of everything seemingly crumbling around us (as I write this, the Trump presidency is continuing to dismantle the Federal Government, putting thousands out of work in our city). DIY, local music, and activism will always survive in Washington D.C., as it is woven into the cloth of the artists living and creating here.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Ryan Walchonski (formerly of feeble little horse) and Ray Brown (Snail Mail, Prude, Inversion), play in Aunt Katrina together. Ray has lived in the DMV mostly his whole life. Ryan moved to DC in 2021 after graduating University. Together, we have played many shows in the area, attended countless and work to support our community. Ray books shows in DC under Red Brick Presents.

VENUES:

Pie Shop
Black Cat
Songbyrd
Rhizome
DC9
618 H St.

PROMOTERS:

UN Booking
DC Grind Guild
Red Brick Presents
Rediscover Fire
S-L-U-G
Hice Mice
Rat City
Dead City
Potomac House
Goomba Presents
Zap Outdoorz

ARTISTS:

Tosser
Inversion
NAPPYNAPPA
Anno
Glitterer
Dumb Lucky
Baltimore Ave
Flowers For the Dead

IDEAL DC DAY (Ray Brown):

(North to South roughly, mostly Northwest DC for this particular ideal day)

TAKOMA PARK MD/TAKOMA DC

Grab some donuts at Donut Run, breakfast burrito at San Pancho or breakfast sandwich at Soko, some records at the new Joint Custody location, check Rhizome for some fun afternoon programming, find a “Nuclear Free Zone” sign and tune into 94.3 WOWD Radio for hyperlocal radio

PG COUNTY MARYLAND SIDEQUEST

Vigilante in Hyattsville for coffee (matcha latte rocks) then Atomic Music in Beltsville (best used music store in the country, huge warehouse with lots of deals and fun finds) then stop at La Placita in Hyattsville for tacos for lunch

DUPONT CIRCLE

Find some books at Kramerbooks or Second Story or Middle East Books and hang out inside the circle, grab a cold boba tea from Spot of Tea and/or some high qual hot tea from Teaism

CHINATOWN

You can go back to back for Teaism locations and grab some fun gifts at the Teaism Gift Shop in Penn Quarter, head to the Portrait Gallery courtyard to decompress in the afternoon, the Shrine of the Third Heaven in the Folk Art Wing might be my favorite room in DC, MLK Library has the DC Punk Archive exhibit and a pleasant rooftop to boot
618 H will satisfy your needs for great electronic music and a ~late~ late night if that’s up your alley

ADAMS MORGAN/MT PLEASANT

All in the same pocket geographically, Malcolm X Park for people watching and skater watching, check out Suns Cinema for a movie, The Raven for a good bar (cash-only), Ersilias for pupusas, Mt Desert Island for ice cream, Purple Patch for Filipino food, Haydees or Marx Cafe for karaoke with locals, St Stephens if there’s a show or market or if you need a good DC punk history lesson

U STREET/COLUMBIA HEIGHTS

Joint Custody is the best record store in the country, the staff are all gems and there’s tons of records and clothes to look through, they close at 8 so you can head over there even if the sun is down
Bens Chili Bowl is classic/obvious but truly so good
Good chunk of rock clubs are down here so your night will most likely take you down this way in some capacity, DC9/930 Club/Atlantis/Howard Theater all in this zone
*SIDEQUEST* Comet and Quarry House shows start late (doors ~10pm on weekends) if you want a later adventure slightly out of the way for a good show and great pizza and tater tots respectively
Lymans is a scene staple bar, kitchen open until 11, ~10 pinball machines, some outside space if you have a bigger group

NIGHTTIME DOWNTOWN/MALL/MONUMENTS/POTOMAC RIVER

Late night is definitely the time to hit the Mall, way less packed and very fun to see the lights reflect on the water, walk around the Tidal Basin and Reflecting Pool and hit the FDR Memorial (most underrated part of downtown imo)
Walk around Georgetown, head down the hill to the river and watch the ducks on the Potomac while listening to “Hanging Out In Georgetown” by No Trend to cap off the ideal DC day <3

IDEAL “DAY IN”:

Takoma Park MD/Takoma DC:

COFFEE/SWEET TREATS: Start off at Donut Run, grab a vegan donut from some DC all stars, the line outside can get long on weekend mornings but it goes deceptively quick (s/o CORVO, SECLUSION, RDX, REASON WHY, POSICION UNIDA, GOETIA, INVERSION, GLITTERER)
RECORDS/CLOTHES: Walk down the block to the new Joint Custody location to scratch your itches for used records and vintage clothes
FOODSan Pancho for San Fran style burritos, Cielo Rojo for Mexican food (maraichi band on Tuesdays if that’s your thing), Soko for breakfast sandwiches with high qual meat, La Casita for pupusas, Koma Cafe for
OTHER: WOWD radio local radio station that you can access in the neighborhood ft. new station manager Bob Boilen (of Tiny Desk fame), DJ Valentina has a great show on the station as well

VENUE: Rhizome, incredible independent arts space, a real gem in the area. Everything from shows, art installations, classes, yoga outside, and more (have seen lots of good shows over the years here, s/o SENSOR GHOST, BRNDA, CONTINUALS)

*Tonal Park is a favorite in the area for recording, great people and a rock solid live room for an affordable price (s/o CLEAR CHANNEL)

Prince George (PG) County sidequest:

MUSIC EQUIPMENT: Atomic Music in Beltsville best used music store in the country, basically an airplane hangar sized warehouse full of second-hand music gear where they make up prices on the spot. All sorts of weird things to find here, prepare to buy more things than you intended & prepare for the dust if you dig in the trenches here you will be rewarded, trust us
COFFEE: Vigilante Coffee in Hyattsville for the coffee snobs, big fan of their matcha
FOOD:2Fifty in Riverdale for trendy amazing BBQ, La Placita in Bladensburg for amazing tacos

-s/o RICO NASTY, KEVIN DURANT

Mt Pleasant:

FOOD: Elle (breakfast sandwich and yogurt parfait are faves), Purple Patch for Filipino food, BeauThai for Thai, Ersilias for pupusas, Haydee’s for quesadillas & karaoke
SWEET TREATS: Mt Desert Island Ice Cream (s/o LOVITT RECORDS)
DRINKS/ENTERTAINMENT: Suns Cinema for cozy independent theater, cocktails, and outdoor patio, schedule comes out at the end of the month for the following month & tickets go quick since the spot is now pretty blown up

-s/o THE EVENS (see: “Mt Pleasant Isnt So Pleasant Anymore”)

Chevy Chase sidequest:

-s/o BAD MOVES, DIM WIZARD, EMOTIONAL WORLD, FLASHER

-put on for younger bands, s/o FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD, TORO, BREAKFAST ALL DAY RECORDS,

-Fort Reno

-Jackson Reed high school tourism

Dupont Circle:

-BEVS: Emissary, Teaism

-FOOD: P St Bagels

-BOOKS: Second Story Books, Kramers

Georgetown:

-bougie but a bit of a guilty pleasure

-s/o NO TREND (see: “Hanging Out In Georgetown”)

-Walking paths for a nice day outside, take the Trolley Trail down to Bethesda or the C&O Trail to Ohio

Discord house sidequest in Arlington:

-s/o all the goats MINOR THREAT, FUGAZI, VOID, SOA

U St/Columbia Heights/Adams Morgan:

VENUES: Most of the major DC venues:9:30 Club/Atlantis, DC9, Howard Theater, Black Cat. St. Stephens, favorite place to see a show when it hits, saw lots of formative sets there growing up and have had the pleasure of booking a few shows there the past few years,

s/o TURNSTILE, 86 MENTALITY, THE FLEX, FURY, TONY MOLINA

FOOD/DRINK: Lymans for pinball and hot dogs (s/o DES DEMONAS, TWO INCH ASTRONAUT, BACKLASH, DELIRIANT NERVE, JANITORS)

Chinatown:

-618 H St, s/o HDF, 140+, FWB

-Teaism, RIP the koi pond

-Portrait Gallery courtyard, Shrine of the Third Heaven in the Folk Art wing

Silver Spring:

-Quarry House Tavern

-s/o JAWBOX, BLACK EYES, Q AND NOT U, FLEETWOOD MAC, SLUMBERLAND RECORDS