In a 2021 interview with the Sun-Times, Albini was asked if he considered himself successful.

“To the extent that I could care about that, I would say yes,” he told Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg. “I’ve lived my whole life without having goals, and I think that’s very valuable, because then I never am in a state of anxiety or dissatisfaction. I never feel I haven’t achieved something. I never feel there is something yet to be accomplished. I feel like goals are quite counterproductive. They give you a target, and until the moment you reach that target, you are stressed and unsatisfied, and at the moment you reach that specific target you are aimless and have lost the lodestar of your existence. I’ve always tried to see everything as a process. I want to do things in a certain way that I can be proud of that is sustainable and is fair and equitable to everybody that I interact with. If I can do that, then that’s a success, and success means that I get to do it again tomorrow.”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/music/2024 ... 1-obituary

turnbullac wrote: Wed May 08, 2024 1:01 pm
“To the extent that I could care about that, I would say yes,” he told Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg. “I’ve lived my whole life without having goals, and I think that’s very valuable, because then I never am in a state of anxiety or dissatisfaction. I never feel I haven’t achieved something. I never feel there is something yet to be accomplished. I feel like goals are quite counterproductive. They give you a target, and until the moment you reach that target, you are stressed and unsatisfied, and at the moment you reach that specific target you are aimless and have lost the lodestar of your existence. I’ve always tried to see everything as a process. I want to do things in a certain way that I can be proud of that is sustainable and is fair and equitable to everybody that I interact with. If I can do that, then that’s a success, and success means that I get to do it again tomorrow.”

This is a lovely quote that I hadn’t read, and is a life philosophy that is blowing my mind a little right now.

just here to say, i wish i could repost and +1 everything.

so very sad;

To say that I’m shocked and that this is a huge, huge loss is an understatement.

Unreal. Deepest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. I admired everything about him.

I can't believe it. I'm shocked. I have no words.

Requiescat Steve

A shining beacon of integrity in the cesspool of the music industry, and a damn fine musician and engineer. The world is just a little shittier now without him.

Love to all.

More that listening to the things he engineered, I want to read all the stuff he wrote.

Is there any place where his writings are collected?

jfv wrote: Wed May 08, 2024 12:58 pm

penningtron wrote: Wed May 08, 2024 12:50 pm Obviously in shock here after the news was confirmed..

I guess one bit of comfort at the moment was remembering what Steve wrote after John Grabski's death, about wanting to die fully engrossed in his work, his art, his writing, surrounded by people he loved. I suppose he got a version of that, though it still seems too cruel. I'm sure we would have all preferred a gradual decline, spending years basking in the glory of a mile long list of accomplishments.

Fuck...

Yeah, to an extent true.

My dad died suddenly of a heart attack at 74. He said that's how he wanted to go. Except he was expecting it to happen at 84.

Steve at 61. So incredibly sad. It's not supposed to happen this way.

Time to donate to the American Heart Association again.

I found the writing, with this being the quote I was remembering:

The way John faced his mortality was inspirational. When my time comes, I hope I can follow his example. I hope when I die I go like John, embroiled in the middle of things, surrounded by people I love, doing the things that matter most. I hope I leave a mountain of shit unfinished, that I have a pan on the stove, a phone call waiting and a pencil in my hand. I hope I'm man enough to be thinking about tomorrow.

Fuck. Thanks for everything, FM Steve.