Steve Albini

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Steven Albini (pronounced), a born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer, and music journalist.

He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and Shellac also.

He is the developer, owner, and chief engineer of Electrical Audio, Chicago's record-based recording studio complex.

Albini said he had worked on several thousand albums over his career in 2018. Albini has also known for his outspoken and controversial views on the music industry, having stated consistently that it financially abuses musicians and homogenizes their sound.

Albini, the band's sole producer and guitarist, has refused to receive royalties from album sales, claiming that a producer's job is to record the music to the band's liking, and that charging a producer as if they had contributed artistically to an album is unethical.

Early life

Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. The middle name section of his birth certificate states "(None)" as his father refused to leave it blank. His father, who was a wildfire researcher, was a wildfire researcher. He has two siblings. Albini's family migrated often in his youth before settling in Missoula, Montana, in 1974. Albini is an Italian, and a portion of his family comes from Northern Italy's Piedmont region.

Albini began playing bass guitar and took part in bass lessons in high school for a week as a result of a broken leg. On a field trip when he was 14 or 15. He loved it and bought every Ramones album available to him, and he owes his music career to his first album. "I was baffled and delighted by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo, and all those modern, inspiring punk bands without intending to imitate them," the singer said.

Albini's teen years spent time in bands including Montana punk band Just Ducky, Stations' Small Irregular Pieces of Aluminum, and another band with the name Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records explained, "he [Albini] is paying us not to mention."

Albini graduated from Hellgate High School and went to Evanston, Illinois, to attend Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism (NU), where he earned a degree in journalism. Albini said he studied painting in college with Ed Paschke, who describes himself as a brilliant educator and "one of the few people in college who actually taught me anything."

Albini was active in the Chicago area as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and he earned a reputation for his flamboyant content. He began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. Ruthless Records (Chicago) was co-managed by him and Jon Babbin, the Effigies and Jon Babbin of the Criminal IQ Records). Albini said he worked in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist for five years until 1987.

Personal life

Albini is married to film producer Heather Whinna, and they work and live in Chicago. As a result of a car crash when he was 18, his right leg is barely deformed.

In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid fan of social media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films.

In a 2011 interview, Albini called himself an atheist.

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Performing career

Albini formed Big Black whilst a student at NU and released Lungs, the band's debut EP on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Babbin and Kezdy in 1981. Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, which was played by his pal John Bohnen. On Ruthless and Fever Records, the Bulldozer (1983) EP was released.

Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango of Chicago, along with live drummer Pat Byrne, joined the band shortly after; after touring and signing a new deal with the Homestead Records company, the EP Racer-X was released in 1984. Pezzati started recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but the band had to return to his original band before it was finished. Dave Riley, Pezzati's bassist, with whom the group's debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986), was released on bass. Riley was eventually finished with Riley as bassist, and the band also released The Hammer Party, which was a collection of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs, at Homestead.

Big Black left Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986 and released the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat, between June and August 1986, the following year. On the Not/Blast First label, a live album titled Sound of Impact was also released in 1986. Albini's book gives insight into the band's influences; Albini cited Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, Suicide, SPK, Minor Threat, Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The Ex, Minimal Man, Utah. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans, and Bad Brains.

The band's second studio album, Songs About Fucking, was released in 1987, as well as the He's a Whore/The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black was disbanded shortly after a year of heavy touring in favor of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and became a lawyer.

Albini formed Rapeman in 1987: Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims (bass) is a computerized version of Sims. Both Washam and Sims were previously Scratch Acid users. The band was named after a Japanese comic book. They broke up after the introduction of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and a Pack Mule album, which was also released in 1988 on Touch and Go.

Albini expressed regret for the band's name in a 2020 interview, saying that he wasn't "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman" because he was "held to account for being in a band." "It was a foolish choice," he said, describing it as unconscionable and indefensible. It's likened to getting a bad tattoo.

Shellac was founded in 1992 by Albini and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus, and Brick Layer Cake). Three EPs were released at first: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993), and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EPs were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label version.

Live in Tokyo, the Japanese label NUX Organization's two-year anniversary of inception, released a Japan-exclusive live album. Five studio albums were released: At Action Park (1994), Terraform (1998), 1000 Hurts (2000), and Dude Incredible (2014). Both Shellac's studio albums were released on vinyl and CD.

Recording career

Albini has been known as a recording artist since the early 1990s; however, he detests the word and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer."

Albini estimated that he orchestrated the recording of 1,500 albums, the majority by underground musicians. His estimate had increased to several thousand by 2018 by this time. Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You are just some of the many famous artists that Albini has collaborated with. The Mogwai, the Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Presenter, Joanna Newsom, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Burnt, John Smith, John Smith, Der Spiegel, The Fleshtones, Boosis, Smith, Ferrand, Morley, Sort, The Montage, The Black Emperor, Prof. John Smith, The Mogwai, The Bloodaxe, The Glass, The Bautician, The F, The Black Emperor, Stephen, Don Caballery, Don Caballery, Don Caballero, Don Caballer, The Wedding Present, Joanna, The Flock, the Photograph, Black Emperor, The Flett, Jarvis Cocker, Jee, Infinit, The Fight, The Flock, The Flock, Brownt, Robert Cocker, The Fet, The Flett, Robert Page and The Black Emperor, The Photograph, The Flet, And The White, The Frog, The Flute, The Frob, The Black Emperor, The, The Flet, The Black Emperor, The Flet, The Fruce, Robert Plant, Mr. The F.

"The truth is that when you first enlisted by the major leagues, Albini treated your work as seriously as when assisting with the debut of a group of young unknowns," wrote the Vinyl District's Joseph Neff.

"Even if he's [Albini] been an outspoken critic of the main label system (and other underground-rock heroes), he's still available to work with just about every one who requests his assistance."

In February 2018, James Owen, a Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini, and the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini held a one-day Audio Engineers' Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland.

In Albini's view, recording sessions often destroys records, while the recording engineer's job is to solve problems in capturing the musician's sound, not to jeopardize the artist's control over their product.

Writers including Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician, have reviewed Albini's albums. Albini's appearance on Albini's album Surfer Rosa, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's performance: "Both had no special effects; got an exciting, often aggressive guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section was slammed as one."

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John Loder, an English producer who came to fame in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and cheaply, but also with distinctive features and a sensitivity toward a band's sound and aesthetic.

Albini has expressed admiration for ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. Albini has praised his frequent collaborator (and Shellac bandmate) Bob Weston, as well as Brian Paulson and Matt Barnhart among others.

Nirvana recruited Albini for their third album, In Utero, 1993. Nirvana was dismissed by Albini as "R.E.M." "an unexpected recreation of the Seattle sound" and "an unremarkable version of the Seattle sound." Nonetheless, he accepted the position because he felt sorry for them, including "the same people as all the small-fry bands I work with" at the mercy of their record company. Cobain said he preferred Albini because the Pixies and Pod (1990) by the Breeders had two of his favorite records, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990). Cobain wanted to try Albini's method of capturing a room's natural atmosphere by the placement of many microphones, something previous Nirvana producteurs had been apprehension for trying.

Nirvana travelled to Pachyderm Studios in Minnesota to record the album on Albini's suggestion. Albini selected the studio in part due to its isolation, in the hopes of keeping Nirvana's record company, DGC Records, away from the public. Recording was completed in six days, Cobain anticipated differences with Albini, whom he had suspected "was reportedly this sexist jerk," but described the procedure as "the easiest thing we've ever done hands down."

When the label and administration heard the final recording, they were dissatisfied with it. Nirvana's members had mixed reactions: afterward, Cobain declared that it was the first time he had played it at home, "I got no emotion from it," and that re-recording the songs with more radio-friendly production was a possibility. However, a month later, having listened to it more and played it for colleagues, he concluded that it was "exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan." The band did later decide that the vocals and bass were too low in the mix. They asked Albini to remix the album, but he refused because he was happy with the end and concerned that the process would result in "a spiral of recriminations and remixes" among himself, the band, and the record company. During the remastering process, engineer Bob Ludwig increased the volume of the vocals and sharpened the bass guitar's sound. In addition, R.E.M. Scott Litt, a singer from the United States, was brought in to remix several of the songs. Despite Albini's assertion that the final album "doesn't look much like the one that was made," Albini's statement that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the one that was made." Albini, who was interviewing In Utero in 2004, said the record label was to blame for the album's inability. In Utero, making him unpopular with major record labels, Albini said, and he had a difficult time finding jobs in the year after.

In 1995, Albini purchased Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio. Albini and his wife's separation from each other's house was the catalyst for the move to his own studio. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over most of the rooms with the exception of the bedroom. Albini had a studio in the basement of another personal residence before Electrical Audio. Robbie Fulks recalls the struggle of "running up two flights of stairs all the time from the tracking room" to Albini's house.

Albini is not compensated for anything he records or mixes at his own studio, unlike many other engineer/record engineers with his experience and fame. Albini earned a daily wage of US$750 for engineering work and a salary of US$24,000 per year at Electrical Audio. In 2001, Azerrad referred to Albini's rates as one of the most affordable for a world-class recording studio. Albini charged only for his time after the studio's completion, encouraging his co-workers or musicians he admired to engineer their own recording sessions and buy their own magnetic tape to use his studio for free. Albini said in a 2004 lecture that he never deals with bands specifically at Electrical Audio, and that he answers the phone himself in the studio.

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