Steve Albini (born July 22, 1962) is an influential guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist, former member of Big Black, Rapeman and current member of Shellac.
He is currently most active as what is mostly known in the music industry as a record producer, but he dislikes the term and prefers recording engineer, saying that putting producers in charge destroys records, while the role of the recording engineer is to solve problems in capturing the sound of the musicians, and does not threaten the artists control over their product. He is founder and owner of the company Electrical Audio, which operates two recording studios in Chicago.
His guitar playing has been just as influential on the sound of rock music as his sound engineering. With Shellac, Albini showcases his abrasive vocabulary of clanging, scraping metallic sounds. As a lyricist, Albini demonstrates an interest in the seamier side of life.
Additionally, he is famous (or notorious) in the indie world as a pundit on the music industry and trends in indie music, starting from his earliest writing for 'zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, to his commentary on the poor ethics of big record labels, and how their practices filter through to the independent labels. He has been a strong supporter of labels who have tried to break the mold, especially Touch and Go Records, with whom all of his bands have released recordings.
His playing style in the 1980's was often compared to that of Henry Rollins and Black Flag.
Among many other records, he has recorded:
External links
Last updated: 10-20-2005 08:23:06
