mr albini vs mr reznor
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 10:15 am
ive been curious about this for a long time. i dont really like mr reznors music (i think he rips off jg thirlwell way too much) but i can respect his hustle i reckon. im curious about this:
forgive me if this thread has been made before. i did a search and didnt find much, and ive always wondered about this story!
i read something else about steve calling trent a 'primadonna' during these sessions. i gotta be honest, the whole thing sounds fucking hilarious. its definitely gossipy horseshit but im just trying to imagine those two in the studio together. maybe mr albini was a different person in 89 or 90 or so but i cant imagine him telling a band they cant do something! are they being honest?A frazzled Reznor saw the last of "Mr. Cheekbones," and enthusiastically took up Martin Atkins' offer to join Pigface in the studio to record vocals on "Suck", for the forthcoming Gub album. "When we put the Pigface thing together everybody was getting involved," Atkins laughingly reminisced, "and I had Trent fly in from Cleveland. (Producer) Steve Albini said, "Aaaah, keyboards, waaargh! But I told him, 'No, it's cool, I want this guy to come out and work on this.' So, Trent came out and very matter-of-factly went and sang and that was that."
But Reznor obviously had a slightly different experience, as he related to Grant Alden in Focus: "That was very unpleasant. Probably the whole Pigface sessions weren't like that, but while I was there Steve Albini was just proving how 'alternative' he is. There's a very vulnerable time when you're offering up ideas, and you're around people who are all trying to make something sound better. Then there's one jerk saying, 'That's the worst idea I've ever heard. No, we're not going to try that.' Getting off on the power, getting off on knowing that he was making me feel shitty. Someone who got pushed into too many lockers in high school."
Atkins candidly admits that the experience probably wasn't the happiest for Reznor. "A producer is many, many things and I like Steve, but there are a lot of things that Steve isn't.. Imagine Steve as a Midwestern foundry worker meets a Yorkshire working class state of mind, portrayed in a Pythonesque manner. Without saying, his attitude was, 'Who's this waste of time? Oh you want to do two takes..oh, sure.' His people skills are somewhat lacking, I have to say."
forgive me if this thread has been made before. i did a search and didnt find much, and ive always wondered about this story!