Arguably the most influential producer of the last 30 years Steve Albini has died. He was 61 years old Steve died of a heart attack. And no further information is available. That’s known as the iconic producer with his own electrical audio studios in Chicago, who confirmed the news of Steve’s passing to Pitchfork.com, Steve is also the well-known leader of bands such as shellac and Big Black. Shellac is about to release a new album, and Ghost Cult was attempting to secure an interview with Steve to discuss it. As a producer. He recorded incredible eighties and nineties albums such as Nirvana’s In Utero, Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, and many more. Unique in his approach Steve considered himself less of an actual typical producer and more of an engineer who translated the music that was made to tape as opposed to having the ego that led him to believe he was influencing the performances of the band much. He also refused to charge a lot of money, considering the stature of his name and experience, and he never took points on records in his entire career which is something that has now become a standard for producers in lieu of former high pay rates. He also believed in bands coming in prepared to record asap, getting instrument sounds and levels and often recording albums in a day or two, not months and years. A record produced by Steve meant it came with an instant cache, and that it was going to be one of the best albums you ever heard in your life. Steve had a keen sense of years and knew what was going to translate to every format a record was made on. This is a tragic loss for the music world as Steve is very young at 61 and we send our condolences out to his family friends and fans. Continue reading
