What Does It Take To Get Steve Albini To Produce Your Debut LP? This Aussie Band Found Out

When we first rocked up to Electrical Audio in Chicago I was shitting myself. So much work and preparation had gone into making this a reality and we were finally here; standing outside in the snow, ringing the doorbell of Steve Albini’s studio. It was surreal. Looking back, the whole experience sort of feels like a dream. Here are six "pinch me" moments from our Slob Stories sessions:

That signature drum sound

One of the most characteristic and iconic elements of Steve Albini’s work is his drum sound. It’s one of the main things that compelled us to go and record from him. From Cloud Nothings’ Wasted Days to Pixies’ Surfa Rosa, I’d always been in awe of how Steve captured the raw energy of the drums in a holistic way. I think I was more excited to hear the way Steve recorded Gabe [Argiris]’ drums than anything else. On the first day of recording, Gabe was playing his drums with Steve in the control room adjusting the levels of the mics. I sat behind Steve as that trademark drum sound was blasted back at me through the monitors. Gabe’s drums were bombastic and electrified. I knew then and there that the album was going to turn out exactly how we’d wanted it. 

Humble Steve

In the studio with Steve Albini

My favourite thing that struck me about Steve Albini was how humble and down-to-earth he was. With his reputation as a badass punk, I was prepared for him to be a bit of a dick. And I wouldn’t have cared if he was, as long as the album sounded how we wanted. It turns out we got the best of both worlds. One morning, another of the studio’s engineers came down with a broken microphone and asked Steve what he wanted him to do with it. Steve kept tinkering away at whatever he was doing and replied, “Write Nirvana on it and put it on eBay.” That was the only time he mentioned Nirvana.

Outta the way

With his humble attitude and seeming lack of ego, Steve is one of the only people we’ve worked with who have let us be ourselves and do our thing in the studio (the other is Geoff Mullard from the beloved Newy studio, Rock The Nation). His attitude was that he was there to capture what we do and nothing more. He wasn’t interested in putting his mark on the recordings or injecting his own great ideas into our songs. He was just there to hit record when we were ready to play - and that’s exactly how we wanted it. The result is an album that is honest and unapologetically us. There are a few mistakes here and there that other people might have been inclined to fix, but fuck it. 

Tea boy

When it came time to record vocals, Steve asked me if I’d like a tea before we got started. 

“Yes, please!” 

“Green tea or black?” 

“Surprise me!” 

“OK, give me ten minutes.” 

He left the control room and ran up the stairs towards the kitchen. There’d been a few interns hanging around throughout the week so I assumed Steve would ask one of them to make the tea, but it seemed as if he was going to put the brew on himself. Ten minutes later, Steve ambled into the live room with tea caddy in tow, equipped with a big pot of green tea and a cute bear-shaped squeeze honey bottle. It’s up there in my top five best ever teas. 

Work ethic and fluffy coffees

Drinking fluffy coffees

Steve’s work ethic was unbelievable and left a long-lasting impression on me. Throughout the four days of recording, he was attentive and made it clear that his only agenda was to help us make the record we wanted to make. He even only used the bathroom a handful of times, where he’d excuse himself and say he “had to use the little engineer's room.” We didn’t see him eat throughout the entire four days either, though his favourite thing to talk about was food. He kept himself perked up with a steady intake of ginger beer and fluffy coffee, the studio’s signature hospitality beverage. They even went to the shops and bought me almond milk for a dairy-free alternative. If you’re confused, check this out:

Recording to tape

Steve Albini at the one computer screen in the studio (also note the presence of an empty fluffy coffee)

The allure of recording to tape was one of the most exciting things about working with Steve at Electrical Audio. There’s only one computer screen in the entire studio and that’s just there so he can scroll Facebook while the band is in the live room recording a take. Hearing ourselves back on the reel-to-reel in the control room was incredible. For the first time, I felt like the energy that Max [Tuckerman, (bass)] , Gabe and I had created in the room had actually been captured. I was surprised by how liberated it felt to hear the uncompressed, analogue sound coming through the monitors. It’s why people need to hear the album on vinyl (go buy a vinyl and come back to finish reading this).

I could go on forever about all the awesome things that happened during our time recording Slob Stories. Going into it, I honestly didn't think that everything would go as well as it did. Listening back now, there's a tangible feeling that Max, Gabe and I created within these songs that we probably wouldn't have been able to capture without Steve. Yoch!

Slob Stories is out now, check it out here.