Losing a Legend

Iconic Engineer and Frontman, Steve Albini has passed at age 61

Today the world has lost an absolute legend in the music industry. It was announced earlier today that Albini, age, 61, had suffered a heart attack and passed away. Steve was a recording “engineer” or “producer” or maybe producing engineer is the better term. He would probably just tell you he is merely “the guy that turns on the mikes.” He was humble, yet he had his hands on so many monumental albums that helped define a generation. He was an outspoken fixture against the exploitative nature of music industry practices. Possibly, the most famous story comes from his work involving the Nirvana album In Utero. Albini wrote to Nirvana and laid forth his philosophy in a pitch letter that is both fascinating and refreshing. Here is a snippet from said letter: 

#5 Dough. I explained this to Kurt but I thought I’d better reiterate it here. I do not want and will not take a royalty on any record I record. No points. Period. I think paying a royalty to a producer or engineer is ethically indefensible. The band write the songs. The band play the music. It’s the band’s fans who buy the records. The band is responsible for whether it’s a great record or a horrible record. Royalties belong to the band.  

I would like to be paid like a plumber: I do the job and you pay me what it’s worth. The record company will expect me to ask for a point or a point and a half. If we assume three million sales, that works out to 400,000 dollars or so. There’s no fucking way I would ever take that much money. I wouldn’t be able to sleep.  

I have to be comfortable with the amount of money you pay me, but it’s your money, and I insist that you be comfortable with it as well. Kurt suggested paying me a chunk which I would consider full payment, and then if you really thought I deserved more, paying me another chunk after you’d had a chance to live with the album for a while. That would be fine, but probably more organizational trouble than it’s worth. 

“I would like to be paid like a plumber” might be the most punk rock line in music history. Afterall, punk rock is all about changing up the norm and doing your own thing. That’s exactly how Steve lived his life. 

From his own bands Big Black and Shellac, Albini kept a style true to himself. He always credited his musical beginnings to The Ramones. He honed his bass playing and experimental sound making as Big Black in the 1980’s. He made every sound a meaningful one. Albini worked with feedback, grunts, shouts, drum machines, and even played with a metal pick sometimes to make the strings crackle. He would later form the “noise rock” or preferably “post-hardcore” band Shellac in 1992.  

Steve knew sound, and his study in creating unique reverberation and resonance is what made him a rock deity (he would definitely hate that term). Steve Albini would go on to produce absolutely huge albums that reconfigured the topography of the industry. I touched on his work with Nirvana and their In Utero album earlier. Well before that he worked with a little band (at that time) out of Boston known as the Pixies on their album Santa Rosa. Steve corralled their hard-hitting style and raw energy based totality and was able to translate that into a record that lives in infamy.  

Albini worked with PJ Harvey, Low, Superchunk, The Breeders, The Jesus Lizard and so many more. His discography is an entire article in itself. It’s insane!  

Steve once said, “My participation in all of this is going to come to an end at some point. The only thing that I can say for myself is that, along the way, it was a cool thing that I participated in, and on the way out, I want to make sure that I don’t take it with me.”.  

He wasn’t just involved in a scene, but he helped outline and define that scene, like it or not. His new album with Shellac comes out May 17^th. I am sad that he will not be able to receive our praise for this latest work, but then again Steve never wanted the accolades. He just wanted us to enjoy the music.