Underground Rock Producer Known for Mixing 'In Utero' Passed Away

Punk legend and audio engineer Steve Albini died on Tuesday, May 7th of a heart attack . He was 61 years old. The staff at his Electrical Audio recording studio in Chicago confirmed the news.

He produced quite a few iconic albums such as In Utero by Nirvana, Surfer Rosa by Pixies and PJ Harvey’s Rid Of Me. Steve was also known for his work as a frontman for post hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black and Shellac. Shellac is releasing their new album “To All Trains” on May 17th. This will be their first album in 10 years after Dude Incredible which they had released in 2014. The band was also preparing for a tour after the album release. The indie rock icon was the founder, owner as well as the principal recording engineer at Electrical Audio, a house to thousands of artists including Nirvana, the Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, the Jesus Lizard and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

Noted for his straightforward opinions, Albini hugely criticised how the music industry works. He viewed it as exploitative of artists. He even refused to take royalties on albums he worked on.

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Steve Albini: Work and Inspirations

Though known as a “record producer”, Albini disliked the words. He preferred to go by the title “recording engineer”. In 2004, Albini estimated that he engineered the recording of 1,500 records, mostly by underground musicians. After his early works on Surfer Rosa, Slint’s Tweez, and the Breeders’ Pod, the producer strongly associated with a brutal analogue sound, almost close to a live performance. His résumé in the late 1980s and 1990s includes the Jesus Lizard’s influential early albums, the Wedding Present’s Seamonsters, Brainiac’s Hissing Prigs in Static Couture, and records by Low, Dirty Three, Helmet, Boss Hog, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Hum, Superchunk, and many more.

As a teenager, The Ramones heavily influenced Albini. He had even said, “I was baffled and thrilled by music like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Pere Ubu, Devo, and all those contemporaneous, inspirational punk bands without wanting to try to mimic them.” His work will influence generations of rock, punk and metal musicians and producers all over the world. Our thoughts are with his friends, family and loved ones at this time of grief.