Steve Albini

In an April 2020 interview on the Conan Neutron's Protonic Reversal podcast, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he didn't feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He later likened it to getting a bad tattoo.

On March 10, 2020, a short documentary was released called "Steve Albini Recording 'In Bed with Medusa'", directed by Rich Kolar, about the making of the album "In Bed with Medusa" by a British punk rock band called Medusa.

In February 2018, along with the Scottish lo-fi band Spare Snare, Albini presented a one-day Audio Engineers’ Workshop at Chem19 Studios in Blantyre, Scotland.

Asked about these statements in a 2018 interview, Albini stated that, given the reduction in the power of record labels over the previous 25 years, the prevalence of producers who are there only to exert artistic control over the recording had dropped significantly. He also noted that digital recording had enabled many more people to "do productive work" as audio engineers, while noting that he himself was sticking with analog recording.

Albini critiqued Jay Z's subscription-only, lossless audio streaming service Tidal in an April 2015 interview with Vulture.com, arguing that streaming services would eventually be usurped by a more convenient technology, that "if you want your music to play at the push of a button, convenience is going to trump sound quality 100 percent of the time", and that audiophiles would prefer vinyl to streaming. He made the point that the internet has a history "of breaking limitations placed on its content" by making paid-for products freely available.

Albini has frequently stated his dislike for pop music, and in a 2015 interview told 2SER Sydney that "pop music is for children and idiots."

Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, of Chicago band Naked Raygun, and live drummer Pat Byrne joined shortly thereafter, and the band—along with a drum machine credited as "Roland"—released the EP Racer-X in 1984, after touring and signing a new contract with the Homestead Records business. Pezzati commenced recording the "Il Duce" 7-inch single with the band, but returned to his original band before it was completed. Pezzati was replaced on bass by Dave Riley, with whom the group recorded their debut full-length album, Atomizer (1986). The "Il Duce" recording was eventually finished with Riley as bassist; the band also released The Hammer Party album while signed to Homestead, which was a compilation of the Lungs and Bulldozer EPs.

On Nirvana's In Utero, one can find a typical example of Albini's recording practices. Common practice in popular music is to record each instrument on a separate track at different times, and then blend the different recordings together at a later time as part of a process that is known as multi-track recording. However, Albini prefers to record "live in the studio" as much as possible: the musicians perform together as a group in the same recording space. Albini also places particular importance on the selection and use of microphones in achieving a desired sound—including the painstaking placement of different microphones at certain points around a room to best capture ambience and other qualities.

Following the completion of the studio's construction, Albini initially charged only for his time, allowing his friends or musicians he respected—who were willing to engineer their own recording sessions and purchase their own magnetic tape—to use his studio free-of-charge.

In November 2014, Albini delivered the keynote speech at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed the evolution of the music scene and industry since he started making music in the late 1970s. He described the pre-internet corporate music industry as "a system that ensured waste by rewarding the most profligate spendthrifts in a system specifically engineered to waste the band's money," which aimed to perpetuate its structures and business arrangements while preventing bands (except for "monumental stars") from earning a living. He contrasted it with the independent scene, which encouraged resourcefulness and established an alternative network of clubs, promoters, fanzines, DJs and labels, and allowed musicians to make a reasonable income due to the system's greater efficiency.

Albini was asked about file sharing in June 2014 and he clarified that, while he does not believe that the technological development is the "best thing" for the music industry, he does not identify with the music industry. He considers "the community, the band, the musician" as his peers, and is pleased that musicians can "get their music out to the world at no cost instantly".

While in Australia in November 2014, Albini spoke with national radio station Double J and stated that, while the state of the music industry is healthy in his view, the industry of music journalism is in crisis. Albini used the example of the media spotlight that he received after criticizing Amanda Palmer for not paying her musicians after receiving over $1 million on Kickstarter to release her 2012 album Theatre Is Evil, stating: "I don't think I was wrong but I also don't think that it was that big of a deal." He described the music media as "superficial" and composed of "copy paste bullshit."

Albini was hired to produce the 20th-anniversary deluxe reissue of In Utero, which came out in 2013. For the reissue, Albini mastered the audio into copper discs, using a process called Direct Metal Mastering, which he felt "gives you better immediate fidelity." He also referred to the conflict with the record label during the original recording process as "old injuries" and said that he found it "gratifying" that his amenable relationship with Novoselic and Grohl remained intact.

Albini is an avid poker player and ranked in 12th place at the 2013 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Seniors Championship. Albini won his first WSOP Gold Bracelet at the $1500 Seven-Card Stud at 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP), he beat out Jeff Lisandro to win $105,629.

Stereogum's Tom Breihan wrote in 2012: "even though he's [Albini] been an outspoken opponent of the major-label system (and of other underground-rock heroes), he's known to work with just about anyone who requests his service".

Albini began a cooking and food blog, titled "Mariobatalivoice: What I made Heather for dinner", in March 2011.

Albini called himself an atheist in a 2011 interview.

Albini explained in 2010 that Shellac had made a decision early in their existence that they would not play at festivals and this position was articulated to All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) festival organizer Barry Hogan during the preparation stage of the inaugural ATP event. However, Scottish band Mogwai managed to convince Albini at the time that they were ATP curators and the band was very impressed by the experience: "They (ATP) completely changed the festival game. Now the whole world has to operate under the knowledge that there are these cool, curated festivals where everyone is treated well and the experience is a generally pleasant one."

In 2010, he revealed that he is not an avid consumer of media and watches a lot of cat videos on YouTube, while avoiding feature films.

In 2004, Albini estimated that he has engineered the recording of 1,500 albums, mostly by obscure musicians. By 2018, his estimate had increased to several thousand. More prominent artists that Albini has worked with include: Foxy Shazam, Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, The Jesus Lizard, Don Caballero, PJ Harvey, The Wedding Present, Joanna Newsom, Superchunk, Low, Dirty Three, Jawbreaker, Neurosis, Cloud Nothings, Bush, Chevelle, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Helmet, Fred Schneider, The Stooges, Owls, Manic Street Preachers, Jarvis Cocker, The Cribs, The Fleshtones, Nina Nastasia, The Frames, The Membranes, Cheap Trick, Motorpsycho, Slint, mclusky, Labradford, Veruca Salt, Zao, The Auteurs and Spare Snare.

The resulting album, In Utero, was a critical and commercial success, and remains strongly associated with Albini, despite Albini's contention that the finished album "doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made". Asked about In Utero in 2004, Albini stated that the record label was responsible for the difficulties that marred the trajectory of the album.

Albini does not receive royalties for anything he records or mixes at his own facility, unlike many other engineer/record producers with his experience and prominence. At Electrical Audio in 2004, Albini earned a daily fee of US$750 for engineering work, and drew a salary of US$24,000 a year. Azerrad referred to Albini's rates in 2001 as among the most affordable for a world-class recording studio.

In a 2004 lecture, Albini stated that he always deals with bands directly at Electrical Audio, and answers the phone himself in the studio.

At a 2004 Middle Tennessee State University presentation, Albini reaffirmed his perspective on major labels, explaining that he was opposed to any form of human exploitation.

Albini's recordings have been analyzed by writers such as Michael Azerrad, who is also a musician. In Azerrad's 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991, Azerrad describes Albini's work on the Pixies album Surfer Rosa: "The recordings were both very basic and very exacting: Albini used few special effects; got an aggressive, often violent guitar sound; and made sure the rhythm section slammed as one."

Albini bought Electrical Audio, his personal recording studio, in 1995. The impetus for the move to his own studio was the lack of privacy for Albini and his wife. His former studio was in their house, eventually taking over almost all the rooms, with the exception of the bedroom.

Perhaps Albini's most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, which was Nirvana's final studio album. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain's favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. All of the band was eager to work with Albini because they wanted the rawer sound for which Albini was already known, after feeling that their previous album, Nevermind, had come out sounding too polished. Albini was not particularly fond of Nirvana's music, later stating that he had considered them to be "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox", but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management.

Albini's most famous piece of writing is the essay "The Problem with Music", which was first published in the December 1993 issue of art and criticism journal The Baffler. The essay criticizes the music industry, and specifically the major record labels of the time, for financially exploiting and deceiving their artists. In the essay's longest section, Albini runs a financial breakdown to show how a hypothetical band which sells 250,000 copies of their major-label debut album could end up making only "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11" from the album, due to all the expenditures the label makes, ostensibly on their behalf. Albini also criticized the labels' A&R scouts, whom he said were hired to provide a young, credible representative, whom the artists may already recognize, in order to give the musicians the illusion that the record company is "on their side". He named some specific A&R scouts of the time that he perceived with disdain, including Lyle Preslar and Terry Tolkin.

Touch and Go released a Big Black live album and video, Pigpile, in 1992; this consisted mostly of recordings from the band's final tour in 1987. Pigpile was also released in Japan, Australia and Germany. Touch and Go stated on its website in May 2014: "Someday, we might release the video on DVD. Until then, please don't ask us about it."

Albini formed Shellac in 1992, with bandmates Bob Weston (formerly of Volcano Suns) and Todd Trainer (of Rifle Sport, Breaking Circus and Brick Layer Cake). They initially released three EPs: The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History (1993), Uranus (1993) and The Bird Is the Most Popular Finger (1994). The first two EP releases were on Touch and Go, while the third EP was a Drag City label release.

Since the early 1990s, Albini has been best known as a record producer; however, he dislikes the term and prefers to receive no credit on album sleeves or notes. When credited, he prefers the term "recording engineer."

In 1987, the band released their second studio album Songs About Fucking as well as the He's a Whore / The Model 7-inch single, both on Touch and Go. Big Black disbanded shortly after a period of extensive touring that year in support of Songs About Fucking. Durango enrolled in law school and was successful in becoming a practicing lawyer.

Albini went on to form the controversially named Rapeman in 1987: the band consisted of Albini (vocals, guitar), Rey Washam (drums), and David Wm. Sims. The band was named after a popular Japanese comic book that garnered Albini and Washam's interests. They broke up after the release of two 7-inch singles, "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" (1988) and "Inki's Butt Crack b/w Song Number One" (1989), one EP titled Budd (1988) and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album, also released in 1988 on Touch and Go.

Albini is a supporter of analog recording over digital, as can be evidenced by a 1987 quote on the back cover of the CD version of Big Black's Songs About Fucking: "The future belongs to the analog loyalists. Fuck digital." He has maintained his support for analog recording, stating in a 2013 interview that using digital files as audio masters is "irresponsible", because such files will "eventually disappear or become unusable".

Big Black left the Homestead label for Touch and Go Records in late 1985/early 1986, and recorded the Headache EP and the 7-inch single, Heartbeat between June and August 1986—both were released the following year. Also in 1986, a live album titled Sound of Impact was released on the Not/Blast First label. The accompanying booklet provides insight into the band's influences; Albini cited bands such as Ramones, The Birthday Party, The Stooges, SPK, Minor Threat, Whitehouse, Link Wray, Pere Ubu, Chrome, Rudimentary Peni, The 4-Skins, Throbbing Gristle, Skrewdriver, the Ex, Minimal Man, U.S. Chaos, Gang Green, Tommi Stumpff, Swans and Bad Brains.

In 1983, Albini wrote for Matter, a monthly new US music magazine appeared at the time in Chicago. He wrote in each issue a chronicle called "Tired of Ugly Fat?", and also contributed articles such as “Husker Du? Only Their Hairdresser Knows For Sure”. In 1994, Albini wrote a famous letter to music critic Bill Wyman (not to be confused with rock musician Bill Wyman), which was published in the Chicago Reader, calling Wyman a "music press stooge" for having championed three Chicago-based music acts whom Albini labeled as "frauds": Liz Phair, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Urge Overkill.

In the Chicago area, Albini was active as a writer in local zines such as Matter and Forced Exposure, covering the then-nascent punk rock scene, and gained a reputation for the iconoclastic nature of his articles. Around the same time, he began recording musicians and engineered his first album in 1981. He co-managed Ruthless Records (Chicago) with John Kezdy of The Effigies and Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records). According to Albini, he maintained a "straight job" for five years until 1987, working in a photography studio as a photograph retouch artist.

In 1981, Albini formed Big Black while he was a student at NU, and recorded Lungs, the band's debut EP, on Ruthless Records (Chicago), a label he co-managed with Jon Babbin (Criminal IQ Records) and John Kezdy (The Effigies). Albini played all of the instruments on Lungs except the saxophone, played by friend John Bohnen. The Bulldozer (1983) EP was then released on both Ruthless and Fever Records.

Albini was born in Pasadena, California, to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father is a wildlife researcher. He has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy.

A key influence on Albini was English producer John Loder, who came to prominence in the late 1970s with a reputation for recording albums quickly and inexpensively, but nonetheless with distinctive qualities and a sensitivity towards a band's sound and aesthetic.

Steven Albini (pronounced /æ l ˈ b iː n i / ; born July 22, 1961) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer, and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums during his career.