Steve Albini, American producer and performer, died of a heart attack at age 61, as confirmed to Pitchfork the staff at his recording studio, Electric Audio. Albini, who fronted bands such as Shellac and Big Black, is considered an icon of indie rock and grunge, and is recognized for his “no frills” and minimalist recording approach.

The engineer recorded important albums, such as In Utero from Nirvana, Pink Surfer by Pixies and Rid of Me by PJ Harvey. Also, she worked with artists such as Jarvis Cocker, Joanna Newsom, The Breeders, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Low, among others.

multi-instrumentalist, Albini played bass, drums and guitar. His first forays into music were in punk, in the short-lived band Just Ducky, and later turned to journalism, where he covered the Chicago punk rock scene for magazines like matter and later, to Forced Exposure.

At the beginning of the eighties Big Black, his first band, which resulted in two studio albums, five singles and four EPs. Ten years later (1992) he forms the current band Shellac, consisting of him on guitar and vocals, Todd Trainer on drums, and Bob Weston on bass. The group was working on their next tour, motivated by the publication of their sixth album – and the first after a decade – called To All Trains. The album’s release date is next May 17.

Steve Albini’s role as a producer began alongside his forays into bands. However, His career was established when he founded a recording studio in Chicago: Electrical Audio. Amid the rise of digital recording in the 1990s, Albani’s studio was characterized by the exclusive use of analog equipment, including mixing consoles, tape recorders, and sound effects pedals.

Steve Albini was a fervent defender of gang independence to work in the studio and of the producer’s non-intervention in creative processes. In addition, always advocated for fair production costs in the industry. This is expressed, for example, in the text The Problem With Music (The problem of music) from 2007 and raised it in several interviews. “It is ethically wrong,” said, For example, to explain why he did not receive extra money after the success of In Utero from Nirvana.