There was an unmeasurable loss suffered May 7th when Steve Albini died from a heart attack at his home in Chicago, on May 7, 2024, at the age of 61.
It’s very hard to state Albini’s importance in music but also what a wide thinking individual he was - with ethos and values that he re-visited and which evolved along with him as a person.
He was one of my all time favourite musicians but on top of that he was also probably my single favourite recording engineer, having recorded masterpieces like:
1000 Hurts (Shellac of North America)
At Action Park (Shellac of North America)
Atomizer (Big Black)
In Utero (Nirvana)
Goat (The Jesus Lizard)
Rid Of Me (PJ Harvey)
Song About Fucking (Big Black)
Surfer Rosa (Pixies)
Tweez (Slint)
Two Nuns and a Pack Mule (Rapeman)
Pod (The Breeders)
Seamonsters (Wedding Present)
I have listened to dozens and dozens of interview’s and talks that Steve gives because he was one of the most most insightful and articulated person that ever existed. He was very intelligent but also super humble. He was of course an loudmouth back in the day and and had come out a few years ago on Twitter and taken his responsibility for things said - nothing too horrible, but he did front a band called Rapeman, which was taken from a Japanese manga (and later 9 live-action films!).
Point is Steve evolved with the times and was always outspoken how he felt about the current state of the country, political and sociologically but also the state of the music business, or lack thereof in recent years.
I feel so I unbelievably lucky to have had that chat with Steve. I had been in email contact with him since mid January of 2024 where we were trying to sort out time (or where he was slightly ignoring me for about a month.)
He did finally come back to me on February 16th and this interview was conducted on Monday February the 20th 2024 at 11am (CST).
Steve was a little standoffish at first but when he realised that I wasn’t just some dweeb asking about Nirvana he eased up and became very warm, funny and as always insightful.
Point is Steve was irreplaceable both as a person and as an musical and recording artist. No words can do him justice and the void he leaves no one person can fill, not in a 1000 years.
So go back and listen to Big Black and Shellac and all the other stuff he worked on. We are truly blessed to have been alive as the same time as Steve Albini.
May 7th
I love you guys. Take care of each other.
Elvar