Steve Albini is a world-renowned recording engineer and the owner and one operator of the stellar Electrical Audio recording facility in Chicago, Illinois. He is also one of three singers and one of one electric guitarists in Shellac, one of the most significant and influential underground rock bands of the past 25 years. On September 16, Touch and Go Records will release Dude Incredible, the fifth official album by Shellac. Here, Steve and I chat about a cool Chicago July and the Polar Vortex revival, his recent interview with High Times who care a lot about drugs, how smoking weed is a young man’s game, how certain things should be experienced by all of us who wish to relate to everyone else, the last time he tripped balls, rolling fatties, Kevin Goldstein and getting the royal treatment at a recent White Sox/Astros game in Chicago, meeting Steve Sparks and talking about knuckleballers, living in Houston, being on-field for batting practice, the Cubs are really embarrassing statistically and otherwise, Wrigley Field is cool but Sox games are more fun, the Steve Bartman incident, baseball and curses, National League versus American League baseball, when he first fell in love with baseball as a kid, the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s, why baseball might be the most appealing, compelling, and distinctive major team sport, pulling the goalie, participating in events like the World Series of Poker, welcome back Gabe Kaplan, why poker can be so engaging, oddly complex games like baduci, winning, tells in poker versus the dramatic arts, interpreting behaviour, reverse psychology, and pantomime, the honesty of Jamie Gold, streakiness, the significance of the Ramones, laughing at the Clash, the Jesus Lizard’s BOOK, David Yow and cats that demand respect, Gary the cat, making At Action Park 20 years ago, taking time with Shellac, the Shellac albums don’t need to be remastered, why Shellac haven’t released singles in a while, contemplating a Shellac singles compilation album, a one word encapsulation of every song on Dude Incredible with a slight elaboration on that one word, the Evens, his upcoming Pop Montreal speaking engagement, recording symposium with Howard Bilerman, and a cooking exhibition, making a record in Winnipeg this fall, and that’s the end of radio/podcasting.
Related links: touchandgorecords.com electricalaudio.com vishkhanna.com
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