Vocalist, guitarist, producer, provocateur and staunch defender of independent expression, Steve Albini is one of the defining names of the US musical underground – and, occasionally, overground. He’s best known for working with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, and for his own bands Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac. As the latter are set to release their first album since 2014, Albini will be answering your questions.
While studying for a journalism degree, Albini started Big Black and immersed himself into the music scene of Chicago, embodying punk’s ethos with Big Black’s forthright, abrasive songs and DIY spirit. He supported his income by taking music production jobs (or engineering, as he would rather frame it), and these eventually become a key part of his artistry, most famously with Nirvana’s 1993 album In Utero. He founded his own studio, Electrical Audio, and still takes production jobs – always for a flat fee, refusing royalty payments in a show of solidarity with his artists.
After Big Black’s breakup, Albini formed and fronted Rapeman (a deliberately provocative name taken from a Japanese comic book) from 1987 to 1989, then formed Shellac in 1992 with drummer Todd Trainer and bassist Bob Weston. Celebrated for their minimalist, rhythmic, singular vision of alt-rock, they’re back with To All Trains (the follow-up to 2014’s Dude Incredible) made over a series of long weekends between 2017 and 2022.
Ahead of his album’s release on 17 May on Touch and Go, Albini will be answering your questions. Post them in the comments below before 3pm BST on 13 May, and we’ll publish his answers in the 17 May edition of our Film & Music section as well as online.
• Footnote added 8 May 2024: The Guardian regrets to inform readers that shortly after this request was published it was announced that Steve Albini has died.
