Steve Albini

Steven Frank "Steve" Albini (pronounced /ælˈbiːni/; born July 22, 1962) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex located in Chicago. In March 2004, Albini said that the number of albums he had worked on was "probably as many as 1500."

Early life

Albini was born in Pasadena, California to Gina (née Martinelli) and Frank Addison Albini. His father is a wildlife researcher. He also has two siblings. In his youth, Albini's family moved often, before settling in the college town of Missoula, Montana in 1974. Albini is Italian American and part of his family comes from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy.

While recovering from a broken leg, Albini began playing bass guitar and participated in bass lessons in high school for one week. According to Thrill Jockey's Looking for a Thrill, Albini was exposed to punk rock by a schoolmate on a field trip when he was 14 or 15, and subsequently bought every Ramones recording available to him.