RSR078 – Steve Albini – Electrical Audio, Recording Nirvana, & Shellac

My guest today is Steve Albini. Though he is often referred to as a producer he prefers the label of recording engineer. Steve owns and operates Electrical Audio, a beautiful and very unique studio in Chicago. At a time when smaller studios were popping up, and many commercial studios were beginning to close their doors, Steve was doing the exact opposite by opening a large facility, and bringing on a dedicated full time staff of eight.

He has been making records for four decades and continues to make music daily both recording other bands and playing in his own band, Shellac. When we worked together 10 years ago Steve told me that he had probably recorded around a thousand records so far, and today Wikipedia claims that it’s closer to 1500. He records a full spectrum of bands, from those that you have never heard of, to some of the biggest names in rock and roll with recognizable credits like: The Pixies, Nirvana, Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Pj Harvey, The Breeders, Superchunk, Helmet, The Stooges, Cheap Trick, Veruca Salt, and of course 1490 others!

I had the great pleasure to work with Steve at Electrical Audio on a couple of different records while staying at the studio in the dorms. I learned a ton from Steve about recording, running a professional studio, business, and believing in people and their music, and I’m sure you will too here on this podcast.