Steve Albini has died. Famous frontman and producer, central figure of the global indie and alternative scene, has passed away at the age of 61 due to a heart attack.
The news, as reported by Pitchfork, came from the staff of his Electronic Audio recording studio
Steve Albini, real name Steven Frank Albini (Pasadena, July 22, 1962 – Chicago, May 8, 2024), was a singer, guitarist, record producer, sound engineer and music critic. Besides that frontman of historic alternative rock groups such as Shellac, Rapeman and Big Black, Albini also produced some of the albums that have made the history of rock in the last 40 years, including “In Utero” by Nirvana (here is our in-depth analysis of that historic collaboration ), “Surfer Rosa” by the Pixies and “Rid Of Me” by PJ Harvey. He is also the founder of the company Electrical Audio, which operates with two recording studios in Chicago and over the years has established itself as one of the most important realities of independent rock.
Born in Pasadena, California, Albini grew up in Montana and moved as a young man to Chicago, where he still lived today. He rose to prominence in the early 1980s as frontman of Big Black, the Chicago trio known for aggressive guitar-based rock that used a drum machines instead of a real drummer. The work he did on Nirvana's “In Utero” is particularly famous, in which he helped Kurt Cobain identify the sound he wanted to give to his band after what had been recorded on the previous album, “Nevermind”, had not satisfied him. . Albini was known for giving the records he produced a sound that was very faithful to what the bands had in live concerts, interfering little in the artistic process. In fact, he liked to be called engineer rather than producer and, throughout his career, he has continued to openly criticize the music industry's exploitative practices. He insisted on “Recorded by Steve Albini” credit but refused royalties from his recordings, a common financial bonus for most producers. Even in his later years, Albini consistently accepted production gigs, refusing to pay for them royalties as a sign of support for its indie artists.
With his Shellac he was preparing the presentation tour of the new album “To All Trains”, out next week, Friday 17 May.
Below is the video in which Steve Albini talked about his conditions for the collaboration with Nirvana for “In Utero”.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM