Butch Vig
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| Butch Vig | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Bryan David Vig |
| Born | 2 August 1957 |
| Origin | Viroqua, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer, remixer |
| Instrument(s) | Drums |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Label(s) | Geffen Records, A&E Records, Atlantic Records |
| Associated acts | Garbage Firetown Spooner |
Butch Vig (born August 2, 1957) is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling albums Nevermind by Nirvana and Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins.[1]
Now a resident of Los Angeles, Vig had been based in Madison for much of his career, from studying at the University of Wisconsin, to performing in local bands Spooner and Fire Town, and then to setting up his own recording studio, Smart Studios, in the town.[2] After becoming well-known as a producer, he returned to performing with Garbage, who sold 14 million records over a ten-year period. Vig returned to producing full-time once Garbage was put on hiatus.
Vig is married to his second wife, Beth Halper, a former DreamWorks A & R executive, and they have a three year old daughter, Bo Violet.
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[edit] Early life
Butch Vig was born Bryan David Vig in 1957 to Dr. DeVerne and Betty Vig, a music teacher,[3] in Viroqua, Wisconsin.[2] Vig has two siblings, Chris and Lisa.[3] Vig acquired the nickname Butch as a child, due to the severe crew cut his father gave him.[2] Vig studied piano for six years, before becoming interested in drumming after seeing The Who perform on The Smothers Brothers. He soon swapped his piano for a $60 drum kit.[2]
Moving to Madison, Vig enrolled at the University of Wisconsin to study film direction, where he first met Steve Marker. Vig contributed several soundtrack pieces to low-budget films, including one song on Slumber Party Massacre, a Hollywood B-movie. While in Madison, Vig joined a number of garage pop bands, including Eclipse, and in 1978 formed Spooner with Duke Erikson, Dave Benton, Jeff Walker and Joel Tappero. Spooner founded their own label, Boat Records to issue their own recordings, including their 1979 debut EP, "Cruel School", and releases for around twenty local acts.[2]
In 1984, Vig and Marker founded Smart Studios in Madison, while still performing drums in Spooner at night and driving a taxi cab during the day. When Spooner lost momentum, Vig formed a band called First Person with Marker and Phil Davis and a side-project called Fire Town featuring Davis and Erikson. Fire Town quickly became Vig's priority, and after their first album were signed to Atlantic Records. Atlantic hired producer Michael Fondelli to work with Fire Town on their second album. While the sessions did not do well, and the resulting record sank, Vig learnt a lot of production techniques from the process. Fire Town split, and Vig reformed Spooner for a final album before Vig's production work became a full-time career for him.[2]
[edit] Production career
Vig's first high-profile production work was in 1991, when he produced The Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Nirvana's Nevermind. Vig incorporated overdubs and vocal doubletracking, whereas Nirvana's previous album, Bleach (produced by Jack Endino) had a more "lo-fi" sound. Kurt Cobain originally refused to double-track his vocals and guitars but Vig reportedly got him to comply by saying "John Lennon double-tracked". Cobain would later criticize Vig for the album's slickness, although this might be due to Andy Wallace's mixing of the album.[4] Cobain said that "Butch Vig...recorded the album perfectly," in a 1993 MTV interview. Billy Corgan welcomed Vig's elaborate production on The Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream. This album met with great commercial and critical reception, also breaking another indie band into the mainstream.
Vig worked with Jimmy Eat World on their sixth album, Chase This Light, released in October 2007. He is also working on soundtracks for two new movies. Produced his first English band The Subways' on their second album. He is also working with Tom Gabel of Against Me! on his new solo EP, which is suspected to be called 'Heart Burns'. Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage, revealed in a Carson Daly interview that Vig will be producing the 8th studio album by Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown.
Butch Vig composed and produced the soundtrack for the following movie: The Other Side
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albumsSpooner
Fire Town
Garbage
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[edit] Compilation albums and E.P.sSpooner
Garbage
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[edit] Production career
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[edit] Remix work
Butch Vig has remixed songs for the following artists: Against Me!, Ash, Beck, The Cult, Depeche Mode, EMF, Fun Lovin' Criminals, House of Pain, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Alanis Morissette, Nine Inch Nails, Michael Penn, M.O.P, U2 as well as his own band Garbage.
[edit] References
- ^ "Garbage: Behind The Music". Behind The Music. 2002-03-31.
- ^ a b c d e f "Welcome to Spooner Town", Record Collector, 1997-02-01
- ^ a b Obituaries (Tuesday August 23, 2005), Wisconsin State Journal (reproduced on Madison.com), 2005-08-23, http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2005/08/23/0508221222.php, retrieved on 2009-04-05
- ^ Berkenstadt, J. (1998). Nevermind Nirvana at pg. 96. New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 0-02-864775-0
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Butch Vig |
- Butch Vig at the Internet Movie Database
- Official Website Garbage
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