Fugazi performed numerous worldwide tours and produced six studio albums, a film, and a comprehensive live series, gaining the band critical acclaim and success around the world.

[2] One day, Picciotto, Canty's Rites of Spring bandmate, dropped by during a practice session to see how his friend was getting along; he later admitted he secretly harbored the idea of joining the group.

The group still needed a name, so MacKaye chose the word "fugazi" from Mark Baker's Nam, a compilation of stories of Vietnam War veterans, in there being a slang acronym for "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In [a body bag]".

In June 1988 the band recorded its debut EP Fugazi with producer Ted Niceley and producer/engineer Don Zientara (who became a longtime collaborator), and shortly afterward embarked on an arduous tour of Europe.

[9] With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye.

It was critically well received and featured an alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which unexpectedly broke the genre into the mainstream.

During its sold-out 3-night stint at New York City's Roseland Ballroom in September 1993, music mogul and Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun met with the band backstage in an attempt to sign them.

Fugazi opted to retreat from the in-your-face production values of In on the Kill Taker and instead worked to create an ambient sound that displayed greater range and depth.

[1][14] After the grueling worldwide tour the band completed in support of Red Medicine, Fugazi took an extended break and also began writing material for a follow-up release.

During the recording process a considerable amount of time was spent finalizing each song's production, in particular the album's drum tracks, in an effort to give it a unique feel.

Arion Berger of Rolling Stone called the album "bracing" and "intellectual"[20] and Chris True of AllMusic "spine-tingling and ear-shattering all at once", writing, "the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again."

He has also appeared on fellow DC post-punkers Decahedron's debut album Disconnection_Imminent, as well as on a project with Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarists John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer, known as Ataxia.

Picciotto currently works as a record producer most notably with Blonde Redhead and the Blood Brothers, and he has performed alongside members of the Ex at the Jazz festival in Wels, Austria.

Picciotto also contributed guitar on two Vic Chesnutt albums, 2007's "North Star Deserter and 2009's At the Cut (co-producing the latter), for Constellation Records and performed live with Chesnutt and members of Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra and the Quavers in Jem Cohen's program entitled, "Evening's Civil Twilight in Empires of Tin at the Vienna International Film Festival (Viennale) in 2007 (a DVD of the program was released in 2009).

In July 2011, Minneapolis based record label Doomtree released an album of mash-ups between Fugazi and east coast veteran rap crew the Wu-Tang Clan.

[33] Bassist Joe Lally was asked about his thoughts on the Wugazi release, and stated "I think they could've found better Fugazi pieces to sample with Wu-Tang guys rapping on it.

[50] While each concert was professionally mastered, the recordings capture everything that happened onstage and for preservation's sake the band chose not to edit anything out, singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto explained to the New York Times, "We liked this idea of, 'Let's just let it be everything,' ...

As a career-spanning archival project, the Fugazi Live Series has few equals, putting the band in the company of acts like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Pearl Jam, three notable examples of other artists with such a large volume of concerts available for purchase.

[57][2] Picciotto became the group's second guitarist when he realized MacKaye's typically chunky, low-end riffs and Lally's dub-influenced basslines allowed him to focus on high-pitched parts.

"[9] Their inventive, interlocking guitarwork often defies the traditional notion of "lead" and "rhythm" guitars and features unusual and dissonant chords and progressions filtered through a hardcore punk lens.

By the time of 1995's Red Medicine bassist Joe Lally also began contributing vocals to the band and the group was implementing many of their broader influences into the overall sound.

Critics Ian McCaleb and Ira Robbins declared that Fugazi's music combined an "unprecedented dynamic range ... and previously unimagined elements" such as "clattering musique concrète ... piano and sound effects ... murky dub and lancing clarinet" and "loose-limbed jammy funk ... into an ambitious, experimental format that raises more stylistic questions than it answers.

The band was also motivated by moral or ethical considerations: for example, Fugazi's members regarded pricey admission for rock concerts as tantamount to price gouging a performer's most loyal fans.

Unlike some similar, independent rock contemporaries, Fugazi's performances and tours were always profitable, due to the group's popularity, low business overhead costs, and MacKaye's keen sense of audience response in given regions.

This was partly because they saw as relics of the early 1980s hardcore punk era, but also due to financial considerations, since moshing often meant costly barricades had to be installed to prevent injuries.

As MacKaye's financial advisor, Seth Martin, explained to The Washington Post in a 1993 interview: "protection from liability is the main reason to form a corporation, and for these guys it makes sense.

[92][93] Towards the end of his life, Joe Strummer, lead vocalist of the Clash, recognized Fugazi as the band that best exemplified "the spirit of punk" in a 2000 Rolling Stone interview, besides offering them accolades on several other occasions.

"[97] Daniel Kessler of Interpol has also cited the band as an influence on his guitar-playing,[98][99] as has Colin Frangicetto of Circa Survive,[100] and Gareth Liddiard of the Drones and Tropical Fuck Storm.

"[104] "Fugazi was probably my biggest influence as far as wanting to start a band", Modest Mouse founding member Jeremiah Green admitted, "It was really great music and just sounded like something I could possibly do.

Black Emperor,[131] Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings,[132] Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler,[133] Paul Dempsey of Something for Kate,[134] Travis Morrison of the Dismemberment Plan,[135] Brand New guitarist Jesse Lacey,[136] Converge singer Jacob Bannon,[137] Coalesce,[138] Ben Lee,[139] Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers,[140] Pretty Girls Make Graves guitarist J. Clark,[141] Explosions in the Sky,[142] Kele Okereke of Bloc Party,[143] Trevor de Brauw of Pelican,[144] Matty Healy of the 1975,[145] Mary Timony,[146] Hayley Williams of Paramore,[147] Justin Vernon of Bon Iver,[148] Keanu Reeves[149] and Lorde.