turnbullac wrote: Wed May 08, 2024 1:01 pm 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

Great quote. Hits home.

I'm not very active on the forum, but this time I need to write something. This is the first time the death of a "public person" whom I didn't know personally has really affected me.

It goes far beyond his bands, which I love, and his involvement with the production of some of the best music ever. In time I got kind of obsessed by his ideas, his approach to life and completely charmed by his clarity of thought and the way he could express himself clearly. I have tried to listen to all the podcasts and interviews he has taken part to. The conversations with Vish Khanna in the Kreative Kontrol podcast were highlights for sure, in particular this one with Ian MacKaye http://vishkhanna.com/2015/11/12/ep-223 ... ni-part-i/ which I will revisit as soon as I can.

turnbullac wrote: Wed May 08, 2024 1:01 pm 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

The quote above sums up really nicely his ethos that has fascinated me for many years, thank you for sharing it.

My earlier post failed to post.

So long Steve. Thank you for making the world an immeasurably better place. Thank you for making this place. Thank you for everything.

All of my love to all of you

Seby

In the chapter on the Minutemen in Michael Azerrad's OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE, there's a quote from Steve's journal after he learned that D. Boon had died. He wrote, "So there's nobody left who's been doing it since the beginning and doing it all the way right. Fuck. It's like Buddy Holly or something. Sure it's kind of pathetic to get all worked up over it but hell, they meant it and that means something to me."

That's how I feel right now. I think Steve's example was strong and pervasive enough that there are plenty of folks trying to follow his example as a musician, an engineer, and as a person who could grow and change for the better. But it's hard to imagine anyone else doing what he did as well, and with his degree of dedication and purpose. I didn't know him, but he was someone I honestly looked up to, and it's a punch in the gut to know we'll never read another smart, funny, righteously angry post from the man, or see him wrench more brilliant sounds from his Travis Bean.

He meant it, and that means something to me, and everyone else here. Good passage, Steve.

tallchris wrote: Wed May 08, 2024 10:05 pmI was doing a backing vocal in the control room, just getting warmed up so not even recording anything, and Steve came in to ask Scott about grabbing some piece of gear. He immediately felt terrible that he'd walked in while someone was tracking, and I brushed it off and told him it was no big deal. Ran into him again later in the kitchen and he apologized profusely again, and even when I said it was just practice he said no, that's all his fault for just walking in without checking first. Totally humble and apologetic in the house he literally fucking built.

I had a similar experience recording there in January of 2004. I knew zero people in Chicago then, so I was setting up a sleeping bag in the studio B control room. He walked in looking for something as he does throughout the day, but apologized several times after seeing my situation (it was also like 9pm and completely forgiveable). Kinda nuts they let a stranger sleep in a room with thousands of dollars in gear, but that's the level of generosity he, and by extension everyone he brought into EA, gave to unknown musicians.

I got to have several exchanges with him over the years and he was always like that. I was courteous back of course, but to be honest never got over being a little intimidated and awestruck around him. But I did my best to celebrate and contribute to the community he fostered and celebrated, convincing myself that he probably appreciated action more than having some drooling fanboy hover around.

Can't sleep. Still feels like a gut punch.

I don’t think crying is what you’re supposed to do listening to Kerosene.

BBC has done a tribute.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live: ... are-mobile

all i can feel is indignation, how is something like this allowed to happen

last decade i went to Primavera a few years in a row and i always made sure to catch Shellac, even if "bigger" names were playing at the same time. always so special, and i guess i always took it for granted that i'd see them again...

sparky wrote: Wed May 08, 2024 11:57 pmA half-composed letter to him lies useless in my head suggesting he compile his writing, all of it, seen and unseen. I wish someone would do this.

yes!

sending love to everyone, i'm not on here as often anymore but i second everyone's feelings about the impact this place and steve have had

FM member Rimbaud III here. Like so many of us, I've been lucky enough to befriend so many of you in the flesh and across other channels. Life-long friends, who in the twenty years since I joined have shared in so much of my life, as I have theirs. The gigs and beers were one thing, but we've seen marriages, births, divorce and death. The shit that life throws at you, and real friends follow you through. You've always been there, and there has always been love.

That's entirely on Steve. The music, both his and the work he helped to bring to us all, is a monumental legacy in and of itself. It's what brought us together in the first place. But for me, a man on the furthest periphery of his world, it's the friends I've made because of him that will be his most significant gift.

I would have been watching Shellac for the fifth time soon, and I wish I could have told him this to his face.

Love and condolences to you all, friends and family.

I only met Steve a handful of times. We talked about the history of Torlex the Snakesking while he was manning the grill at the Hideout Block Party. We chatted briefly at a Shellac show in Missoula during the brief stint that I lived in MT. I sold him a dBx 165A compressor, and the EA check that was sent as payment had this fantastic clipart image of a billiard player in the top corner. That image is burned in my memory.

Over the years, I benefited immensely from his knowledge and, maybe more importantly, his willingness to share that knowledge, and it made me a better engineer as a result. When I was in recording school at MTSU in 2004, he gave a lecture/Q&A session to a packed house, and held court for nearly 2 hours. I found a recording of that lecture last night and watched it again. Then I realized that he was younger in that video then than I am now. You can't help but think about your own mortality in situations like this.

RIP FM steve

Heard the news last night, and - like everyone else on the thread - it's been playing on my mind. Some thoughts...

Unlike many on here, I never interacted with Steve personally. I did see all three of the bands he fronted (in the case of Shellac, five times). Would have loved to record at EA if the opportunity had ever arisen. Have an unfortunate tenancy to noodle on things for too long, sometimes to the detriment of the final result. I have a feeling he'd have stood for none of that nonsense, and quite rightly so.

I suspect he'd have disliked the notion that he had a signature sound, as his ethos was always to facilitate bands in capturing the sound THEY wanted. Nonetheless, I'm confident that I could usually have spotted one of his recordings - even the ones he wasn't credited on - mainly due to the unique way in which he mic'd up drums and didn't push vocals to the forefront of the mix. Also respected the extraordinary generosity of spirit with which he shared his knowledge with anyone who wanted to know - an approach that went against many name industry producers who regarded their recording techniques as trade secrets for fear of being emulated.

I also gained further respect for him due to the 2020 interview in which he admitted to feeling embsrassment and some remorse for many of the provocateurish things he said and did when he was younger. Growing and learning are signs of maturity that most of us acquire IRL - but sadly so many musicians are far too egocentric to acknowledge their past mistakes I'm public.

My heart goes out to Heather, to Steve's family, and of course to the staff at Electrical Audio. However much of a loss Steve's death feels to us forum members, it goes without saying that it must be hundreds of times worse for them.

R.I.P.