Butch Vig
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Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter who is the drummer and co-producer of the rock band Garbage. Known for producing the diamond selling Nirvana album Nevermind (1991), Vig also produced for several other alternative rock acts of the 1990s, including the Smashing Pumpkins, L7, and Sonic Youth. Some notable production credits of Vig's include L7's Bricks are Heavy (1992) and the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream (1993).
A native of Wisconsin, Vig studied at the University of Wisconsin and performed in local bands Spooner and Fire Town. He set up his own recording studio in Madison, Smart Studios, with bandmate Steve Marker. After becoming well known as a producer, he formed and played drums with Garbage, which sold 17 million records over a ten-year period. Vig returned to producing full-time when Garbage went on hiatus in 2005. The band reconvened in 2010 to record material for their fifth album. In 2012, NME ranked Vig the ninth greatest producer of all time.
Quotes
[edit]- At the time [Nirvana's Nevermind] stuck out so bad and was so refreshing to hear something that real and that passionate. I remember Madonna was huge at the time, C&C Music Factory, this slick dance music, much like what’s out there now and has always been. And a lot of the rock bands were like, the hair metal bands. And it was so different because I think that his passion and rage and confusion and how he felt as a person came across in his music. You could hear something real in Kurt’s voice, it wasn’t done to death, it didn’t have a homogenised sound to it. You could go right inside and feel the scraping of his vocal cords. And it sorta put a torch under what was going on around it and burned it all out. It opened up a whole new space.
Quotes about Butch Vig
[edit]- He’s the guy who, after reaching the pinnacle of success as a producer, made an unexpected pivot and formed a band of his own, Garbage, which became a top alternative group and sold over 17 million albums worldwide. When I was a teenager, Vig’s success made me believe that if he could make it, anyone from Madison could. As I grew into adulthood and beyond, I continued to follow his career at every step, forever citing him as a source of inspiration.
- Kurt Stream of Madison Magazine (Nov 27, 2024) [2]
- His journey reveals a drive that not only fueled his own success but also reshaped the U.S. music scene. In my three hours with Vig, and subsequent conversations with others that followed, I heard a legacy in sound so loud that it still reverberates through Madison and far beyond.
- Kurt Stream of Madison Magazine (Nov 27, 2024) [3]
- Vig’s easygoing, unpretentious nature lived up to his reputation, and his calm demeanor quickly settled my nerves.
- Kurt Stream of Madison Magazine (Nov 27, 2024) [4]
