Once the center of go-go and hardcore punk music in the 80s, with emblematic bands such as Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, Minor Threat and Fugazi, the nation’s capital progressively lost its aura in the 90s, predominantly due to its very work-oriented and bureaucratic mindset which never helped the creative and artistic scene to fully take off.
Though, in this complicated atmosphere, several local bands still managed to produce and compose some quality music. For instance, take DC moguls, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, today mostly known as entrepreneurs and restaurateurs, they were once recognized and celebrated as innovative artists and musicians. They had formed the band Thievery Corporation stem from their dissatisfaction of not being able to find the sound they liked in the city, a subtle lounge music mixing elements of dub, bossa and acid jazz. They created their own record label, Eighteen Street Lounge Music, and released their first record in 1997, laying the path for others.