Take a group of musicians. Force them to conform. Rob them of their individuality and replace it with radio-friendly lyrics, pop hooks, matching outfits and every trick in the book — whatever will insure profits.

Stamp an $18 price tag on every CD and charge $50 for concert tickets. Just sell the image.

These are the ways of the music industry.

Fugazi is the direct opposite.

As guitarist for the genre-defying Washington D.C. band Fugazi and founder of indie label Dischord Records, Ian MacKaye has spent all of his efforts trying to preserve any artistic quality music has ever had.

Spawning from the remnants of the ’80s D.C. hardcore punk band, Minor Threat, Fugazi played its first show in 1987. Since then, the band has played all 50 states, Europe, Australia, South America and Japan.

In its 11 year existence, Fugazi has never played a show for which tickets cost more than $5. On top of that, Fugazi concerts are always all ages.

With six full length albums, numerous seven inches and two EPs under its belt, Fugazi is hitting the road for just two weeks, and one of the stops is tonight in Des Moines.

How would MacKaye describe Fugazi?

“I wouldn’t,” he said, atypically calling bright and early on a Saturday morning. “The only people I describe things to are police and customs agents … We play music. It doesn’t benefit the band to place it into simple descriptions.”

Taking pride in obscurity, members of Fugazi are not afraid to be themselves, playing music for those who appreciate their humbleness and genuine passion. Fugazi simply has a DIY philosophy and the desire to keep itself afloat without the help of commercial radio or major labels. No strings attached.

In fact, the group is 100 percent self managed, releasing material solely on its own label, Dischord Records, founded in 1980 by MacKaye and partner Jeff Nelson. Unlike Sub Pop or Epitaph, Dischord is one of the few independent labels established in the ’80s that has maintained its original simplicity and refused to drastically expand.

“[Our] music has been important for people who are involved in the underground music scene, the non-mainstream aspect of it,” MacKaye said. “I think people are interested in us because it’s a novel thing. For us, it’s just our daily lives. It’s what we do, not necessarily unique.”

But Fugazi is unquestionably unique because of its distinct outlook. Although politics do play a role in Fugazi’s music, MacKaye said he and his bandmates are not trying to push any views on listeners.

“We don’t have an agenda,” MacKaye said. “We see ourselves as a band. We play music, and that’s our primary function. If we want to work on something politically, music is a good vehicle for that.”

In addition, back in its Minor Threat days, Fugazi founded the straight edge movement, leading lives free of alcohol and drugs.

“The word politics has a lot of definitions. For a lot of people, they think of it as some sort of dressing or affiliation of being Democrat or Republican. Politics is what you do. It’s how you behave,” MacKaye said. “In our case, we’re a band.”

Fugazi has a tremendous output of songs, but not all of them end up being released. “Most songs I’ve tried to write are ones we’ve never finished, ones that didn’t work out,” MacKaye said. “The ones that exist are the ones that made it past the gauntlet.”

Next in store for Fugazi is a film that contains live footage from the past 10 years. The movie, along with an all Fugazi soundtrack, will soon be released on videocassette by Dischord.

“I think music plays an important role, especially with young people,” MacKaye said about the future. “It’s an important soundtrack in people’s lives. People use it to help them get through the turbulent changes in their lives. I play music because it seems like the right thing to do.”

Fugazi plays an all-ages show tonight at 6 p.m. at the Safari Club in Des Moines. Tickets cost (of course) $5.