tallchris wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 12:16 pm Bill from Federation X wrote about them meeting and recording with Steve in the early 00s and how much he went out of his way to help out a broke ass band:

I love all of this. Thank you for sharing it here.

A few days later, and like the rest of you, I'm still processing all of this. Shellac was kind enough to open the dual record release show for my old band and our friends' band back in 2006. It was a noon all-ages show at the 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis. We kept it secret for months, and though I think the secret started getting out the week before the show, I believe most people were actually there to see the "headlining" bands. That said, just about everyone in our circles were big fans of the "opener", whose gear they got to see sitting up on stage as they filed in to fill up their plates with lunch out of the crock-pots each of our bands brought. I like to think most folks there were genuinely surprised that they were seeing a performance by one of their favorite groups at 12pm on a Saturday at a budget price.

Shellac headlined the First Avenue mainroom later that night; our bands played a second show in the Entry, and when we weren't playing, we'd all pop in to check out the mainroom set.

That old band would go on to record two full length albums with Steve as the engineer, an opportunity I myself will unfortunately never get to have, but I'll always remember that weekend where he, Bob, and Todd shared the stage with our little group and helped make me and others feel on top of the world.

I wish I had my own Steve story to share, but I appreciate hearing everybody else’s, and I am going to be so sad when these stories run out and there is nothing more to say.

I probably should not post mine then cause it's kinda weird...

ChudFusk wrote: I wish I had my own Steve story to share, but I appreciate hearing everybody else’s, and I am going to be so sad when these stories run out and there is nothing more to say.

Here's a tiny one. This was so long ago and such a stupid little thing I'd forgotten all about it until now.

Back in the early 00s, I was on another recording/mixing forum, the crowd there was more of a boomer industry pro kinda vibe. A lot of those dudes really did not like FM Steve, probably because:
1. they fancied themselves producers, and
2. they were jealous he was famous and no one knew or cared who they were.

So there was one thread where people were really talking a bunch of shit about him, and I thought:

1. you dudes are dicks
2. you dickdudes don't know what you're talking about, and
3. this thread would be way better with Steve in it.

Back then I enjoyed a good internet shitshow and I had a feeling Steve wasn't opposed to one either, so I sent him a link to the thread. He promptly joined the forum and got on the thread with "Hi everyone, Steve Albini here!" followed by his patented brand of witty invective. I don't remember any specifics but hilarity ensued and the dickdudes were made to look like the fools they were.

So, you were a snitch!?

Was that the Pro Rec forums or whatever they were called? There was some useful mastering advice on there, but yeah it used to blow some boomer minds why he didn't think studio folk deserved points on records. I remember his reasoning along the lines of "I've never seen a music fan wearing a Ted Templeman tshirt, but I've seen a whole lot of Van Halen shirts".

There were definitely some douchebags on there. "A $25,000 recording budget? Pfft.. back in my day we called those demos.." I wonder how much work they're getting these days.

That thread on the Velvet Rope was what brought me here. It's where I learned the magic of "FYP" or "Fixed Your Post."

FM Steve took absolutely no prisoners and it was fucking hilarious. HILARIOUS.

I have a super personal reason for loving this forum and the people here.

Most of you remember that right at the height of the PRF heyday, my wife and I were fighting tooth and nail to protect our adopted daughter. The protracted legal battle totaled around $30k.

The PRF paid for more than half of it. A big chunk of that was donated anonymously.

It's been, fuck I dunno, ten years or more? Every day I wake my daughter up for school and make her breakfast and reach out to the poster than FM Jay Ryan made for the fundraiser and tap it once for luck as I head out the door.

We talked at great length on this forum about how much of our formative years were spent being provocative and shocking, pretending to be awful people in the most adolescent ways imaginable. Some of our peers turned out to actually be terrible people, surprisingly, and they were called out here mercilessly over and over again. We held each other to account. We made each other better. Steve set the tone and led the pack.

Steve held people accountable for their professional and personal behavior. Some of those people REALLY didn't like it. You can trace the tiny handful of shitty things people are saying in the wake of his passing right back to those very people, strutting around in a now-empty room and beating their chests. Oh, well, Fuck 'em.

Because we had each other here, and Steve was so approachable and such a part of this community, I guess I lost sight of this impact on the culture outside of the PRF. I was gutted when I got the text from a friend that he'd passed. I sat in stunned silence for the better part of the afternoon. I checked on a couple of friends, but I also let the silence grow a little bit so that we could process together at a later time, when things weren't so raw.

What I didn't expect, I guess, was that the whole world of creators and artists that I care about was going to have a thing or two to say .

I knew people who I love- Jodi, Nick, Faiz and Alex- were going to have some thoughts and feelings. I guess I didn't expect to hear from Jimmy Page. PJ Harvey, and The Guardian.

I think it's because Steve never entered a room like a celebrity. You never got the Do You Know Who I Am? vibe from him, which is of course laughable to even consider, but dudes with significantly less impressive resumes have thrown chardonnay on flight attendants. (Coincidentally, many of those same also-rans had shit to say about Steve.)

I owe the best things in my life to this community, and I owe this community to the Electrical Audio Studio, and so I guess Steve's shadow looms exceedingly large over my life.

One day I'll walk the kiddo through the studio, I hope. Maybe she'll make a record there if she grows up to care about stuff like that.

Thanks, Steve. Thanks, PRF.

Possum makes you get it.

Lu Zwei wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 3:08 pm I probably should not post mine then cause it's kinda weird...

See, now you have to…

penningtron wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 3:47 pm Was that the Pro Rec forums

Yep. The mastering forum was mostly ok, I learned a ton there, that was a great resource back in the day. And there was good stuff to be had elsewhere but eeeeeeesh, that industry boomer vibe was kinda rampant and I always hated it. Those guys had no understanding of DIY or indie culture at all, which would've been alright but they were super arrogant and dismissive about it, so fuck 'em.

The best was one William Wittman, whose resume includes such PRF staples as Cindi Lauper and the Hooters. He really didn't like Steve and never missed a chance to say something negative. Once Steve got on the forum he only ever referred to William as "Hooters guy".

Some years later, another guy on there was a producer based in LA. He said something like "Once Albini came out with his anti-producer screed, all of a sudden I couldn't get any work." And then this priceless gem: "I think he owes the entire music industry an apology."

For all my problems with the man, I am upset and generally perturbed that Steve Albini has died, and have been since I heard the news days ago.

I think that there is a heaven, and I think that Steve Albini is there and he's doing more or less exactly as he did in life, because he lived in service of the good.

I'd hoped to see you in this life but I didn't; hope to see you in the next one.