easyrider
Venerated Member
Steve Albini, Storied Producer and Icon of the Rock Underground, Dies at 61
The Shellac and Big Black frontman, who recorded classic albums by Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey, and more, died of a heart attack
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RIP Steve Albini
- Thread starter easyrider
- Start date
Oh man! That's crazy! 61?!?
moraldecay31
Established Member
Wow. Shocking. His studio here in Chicago, Electrical is bad ass. Had a lot of cool recording knowledge, approaches, and philosophies.The old time mechanic jumpsuit is classic haha. R.I.P Steve.
OrangeCrush
Venerated Member
Boy, that's a tough one 
... keep the kind words coming for therapeutic reasons please.
Back in the day you could write Steve a letter in the mail, and in a few weeks or so get a written reply from him!
Steve did NOT take royalties on albums he recorded/produced! Just flat fee's. It was his ethic and I believe his belief in the bands, and a middle finger to the corrupt music industry.
When things were slow at Electrical, Steve would hit the poker tables (he was a Pro) to make money to keep the studio going and staff paid.
Chicago, Indie Music, and the Industry are left with a big hole to fill. My sincere condolences to his friends, co workers, and family.
Finally, a reminder to all to keep your health appointments, checkups, and take care of yourselves. On a 2nd life here.
Perhaps our friend Mr. Brauer and or others can chime in and might have a good story or tale about Steve to tell when/if they have time.
@Michael Brauer
... keep the kind words coming for therapeutic reasons please.Back in the day you could write Steve a letter in the mail, and in a few weeks or so get a written reply from him!
Steve did NOT take royalties on albums he recorded/produced! Just flat fee's. It was his ethic and I believe his belief in the bands, and a middle finger to the corrupt music industry.
When things were slow at Electrical, Steve would hit the poker tables (he was a Pro) to make money to keep the studio going and staff paid.
Chicago, Indie Music, and the Industry are left with a big hole to fill. My sincere condolences to his friends, co workers, and family.
Finally, a reminder to all to keep your health appointments, checkups, and take care of yourselves. On a 2nd life here.
Perhaps our friend Mr. Brauer and or others can chime in and might have a good story or tale about Steve to tell when/if they have time.
@Michael Brauer
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Bear-Faced Cow
Hall of Fame Member
It felt like a hit to the gut when I read it this morning that he died. I will admit that I really didn't appreciate him until the later years with, believe it or not, one of the drum libraries that he made. It made me appreciate some of his other work, including some bands I used to listen to in my 20's, that I wasn't aware that he was the engineer. We lost a monster of an engineer. Sort of makes me glad there's a part of him on my hard drive.
jord
jord
I had the good fortune to watch Steve in action recording my friends Oxbow in SF back in the mid 90's at Coast (AKA Toast), and Brilliant studios. Here's a few memories:
There was a pool table in the basement rec room at Brilliant, and Steve had a standing offer that if anyone could beat him at pool, the day's session was on him. We all tried, but nobody could beat him.
He spent a very long time carefully setting up the guitar mics- IIRC he used 3 mics on the one Marshall cabinet, one close and 2 farther back, very close to the floor ( this was at Brilliant, which had a very large recording space with skylights, there was even a small tree, sadly condo'd over now ), moving them in tiny increments to get them all perfectly in phase. That was interesting, because he had a large ( HP?) oscilloscope on the console, which I believe he was using to help him with his phase alignment. When he was finally satisfied, and we listened to the playback, the guitar sound was enormous- really full and spread out.
He was a nice guy, very funny, didn't suffer fools, and said kind words about the 2 previous albums I'd done with the band. He's a big loss, and I'll miss him.
There was a pool table in the basement rec room at Brilliant, and Steve had a standing offer that if anyone could beat him at pool, the day's session was on him. We all tried, but nobody could beat him.
He spent a very long time carefully setting up the guitar mics- IIRC he used 3 mics on the one Marshall cabinet, one close and 2 farther back, very close to the floor ( this was at Brilliant, which had a very large recording space with skylights, there was even a small tree, sadly condo'd over now ), moving them in tiny increments to get them all perfectly in phase. That was interesting, because he had a large ( HP?) oscilloscope on the console, which I believe he was using to help him with his phase alignment. When he was finally satisfied, and we listened to the playback, the guitar sound was enormous- really full and spread out.
He was a nice guy, very funny, didn't suffer fools, and said kind words about the 2 previous albums I'd done with the band. He's a big loss, and I'll miss him.
BlackCatBonz
New Member
How many curious home recording musicians has this man inspired.Steve Albini, Storied Producer and Icon of the Rock Underground, Dies at 61
The Shellac and Big Black frontman, who recorded classic albums by Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey, and more, died of a heart attackpitchfork.com
A huge loss for the music loving community.
Michael Brauer
Guest Moderator
I never hung out with Steve (I wish i had) so i have no personal stories to tell. My son Erik called me and gave me the sad news the day he passed. Even though I only knew new him by reputation my heart sank to know another great legend was no longer going to grace us with his presence.
Life is precious and so short
Life is precious and so short
OrangeCrush
Venerated Member
There is a good segment on Steve & Electrical, and the Chicago scene on Dave Grohl's/Foo Fighters Sonic Highways Series here:
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OrangeCrush
Venerated Member