Steve Albini talks about his relationship with Kim Deal and The Breeders.mp4

The Fleacast guys visited with Steve Albini at his studio Electrical Audio on January 31st of 2011 to conduct an interview. This segment features insights from Albini on Kim Deal and The Breeders. Download the whole interview for free on iTunes or thefleacast.com.podbean.com

[@scottcooneymusic6736]

pod is one of my favourite records of all time.

[@Gollas4k]

Breeders are great in general but with Steve Albini as a producer and Britt Walford on drums they had the best foundation for this masterpiece

[@andyknowles772]

"Josephine.. do you think you're going bald"?

[@JamesDeWeaver]

"There's always some loser that wants me to record his Band" Steve Albini '89

[@michaelmcdonald8452]

What was the point of this comment?

[@MeatSnax]

The great thing about Albini is he'll just do it. You too can cut a song with one of the greatest rock producers of all time for like 4 grand right now!

[@JamesDeWeaver]

@@MeatSnax agreed!🙌

[@ExcitedAnacondaSnake-hg8ec]

@@MeatSnaxnot anymore

[@anonamouse.p4115]

​@@ExcitedAnacondaSnake-hg8ec #thankyoustevealbini

[@gamelanplan]

@MrSloika Neither Charles, Kim nor Steve are saints, yet all of them have done some good work. Personally I just appreciate what I like by The Pixies, The Breeders and Steve and leave it at that.

[@MrSloika]

@gamelanplan Albini continued his relationship with Kim, even while he was trash talking the Pixies. He's recording Kim, talking up her solo stuff, while simultaneously shitting on the Pixies. That's a very provocative thing to do....something a troublemaker would do.

[@MrSloika]

@gamelanplan Yes, the band's problems were bigger than Albini. That doesn't give Albini a pass for being a douche. Thompson tried to shit-can Kim after Doolittle, but he couldn't get Dave and Joe to go along. As Kim said say in an interview years later about Thompson's attempt to get rid of her. "Charles wanted to fire me, but Dave and Joe pussied out."

[@maosaytounge49]

Steve was asked in a relatively recent interview about his experience recording surfer rosa, and he spoke well about the pixies.

[@emeraldcelestial1058]

He did but he also said they were pretty boring compared to what he was seeing at the time even if they were a decent band. He always spoke well of Kim, though.

[@fiveways]

​@emeraldcelestial1058 honestly I can't disagree with his assessment. I get why they have an enduring quality and why people enjoy them but to me they've aged like fine milk.

[@gamelanplan]

@MrSloika Whether or not Albini had anything to do with their interband politics, the quality of the Pixies music had went downhill after Doolittle. Therefore, Albini wasn't around for that to happen.

[@ThisIsNotHappyDays]

Prayer to God off 1000 hurts.

[@gamelanplan]

@MrSloika How did Albini influence the Pixies break up? Even if this is the case, the Pixies should have been adult enough to deal with Albini.

[@MrSloika]

@AICSLUDGE Together? It's just a money grab, they're not a real band, they've become their own tribute group.

[@dyr234]

steve is cool, shellac and breeders rule.

[@youtert]

Who are the band that "turned into dope fiends"? The Amps?

[@SecretGerms]

@MrSloika well, i'm not sure what music circles you frequent/used to frequent, but big black, rapeman and shellac are very well known (and respected).

[@looshkin66]

sigh, i thought i could talk some sense into a troll.......but i guess ignorance wins again.

[@object_ash]

Bye bye Steve x

[@beavisdupont8927]

and bands-comparing is still a pretty useless hobby anyway

[@AICSLUDGE]

@MrSloika lol well at least you can still see em play

[@looshkin66]

Look, I expressed my opinion, and i stand by that comment. Kurt killed himself for MANY MANY MANY reasons, one being what i said about the respect he wanted so bad from his peers and heroes. Kurt loved big black, thats why he pressed so hard for Albini to engineer the record. All he wanted was to be recognized, appreciated, and validated. You're right he had a lot on his plate,but recognition and validation were on the top of his list. period.

[@prokesuk]

That pic at 2:50 looks like it's from one of Devo's old movies

[@PatrickTK21]

Oh man, I was hoping he'd mention something about The Amps album. Didn't Albini produce a bunch of those songs?

[@N0rthT]

This may not be it, but I think Steve albini might just be genuinely blown away by kim's music, voice, writing etc., So much that he doesn't understand why not everyone in the world feels this way. I sorta have that with a musician. His style is so hand in glove with my taste it's strange. I love a ton of music but no one hits my ear like his. He has more appeal than the music, but in the brief interaction I've had with him, I've been cautious. I don't want anything to happen that would turn me off to his music... I don't need to be his friend... I'd just be happy with the tunes... Incredibly happy. Music interest is weird. Its part prejudice and part sound I think. Albini strikes me as choosey. I know people who need their music to be complicated and their musicians to be regarded as geniuses by the world. Other things drive the rest of us, but musical taste as prejudice is something I think about a lot. I can look back at howbi looked at the world at different times in my life and see what drove me to love and hate certain music. I think prejudice is fine in music context. People can listen to what they want for any reason, even if it's a bad or unfair one. I had a teacher who was like the whiplash guy when I was 4 years old. Luckily it didn't turn me off to the piano, but a certain type of square classic contemporary music makes my skin crawl.... For example. My musical interests are varied, but I'm particular. That musician whose music is perfect for me hits the right side of all my prejudice. Maybe thats the deal with albini and deal, or maybe it's just sexual😆

[@bardofly1]

Ronald it's about the Sound...!!!! Big Black are one of the Best American by far.!!! That guitar Sound makes me shit my pants every time,,,And if people like Jimmy Page want to work with the Man,,,well Case Closed...!!

[@Malegys]

Kim Dealer !

[@MarcFarful]

What's the name of the song at beginning?

[@worldcheerleader]

RIP Steve

[@Oveneise]

Can't find the original podcast interview anywhere :(

[@gangurobitch]

I don't know about anyone else, but I really want some garlic bread.

[@jeremykramer3818]

Did you get your garlic bread ?

[@codymacaulay1435]

Hi there! How was the garlic bread?

[@TestMeatDollSteak]

I tend to get skeptical when people starting throwing terms like "rip off" and "original" around, especially when talking about music, and even more so when talking about rock and pop music, where it's basically all been done before. New artists basically start with something that inspires them, and then try to add their own flavor and inject their own personality and ideas into that, and that's the way it's always been done, as far as I can tell. Artists don't create in a vacuum.

[@finnkdy]

Ba ba Black sheep, ad finitum. je crois pas, pilgfim.

[@gamelanplan]

@MrSloika So the band's problems were obviously bigger than Albini running his mouth. Anyway they were getting staler and blander towards the end. They probably should have broken up before making Bossanova or change the line up.

[@CTCJakinator]

whats the song that plays in the begining?

[@cx34r]

Albini ruined Pod , it sounds like the neighbors recorded a Breeders rehearsal on a micro cassette recorder.

[@iainrobb2076]

I'd prefer it to be recorded and mixed better, myself. Vocals are too low in the mix. Drums are well recorded but the guitars can sound a bit brittle or sludgy. Similar to the sound he got with Surfer Rosa, but SR has more dynamic range.

[@Adrian_Franco]

@@iainrobb2076 Yeah the drums are way too loud on Pod. Kind of ruins it for me but I like the songs.

[@iainrobb2076]

@@Adrian_Franco The songs are mostly great. It's the production which is shit. The only Albini production he got totally right was on Nirvana's In Utero, which ironically he believes he could have done a better job with, i.e. it doesn't sound like sludge recorded in a tin box. He's one of the most overrated engineers / producers in the history of rock.

[@AICSLUDGE]

@MrSloika theyre still together

[@beavisdupont8927]

1:50 say.. that's a nice pic man!

[@shadoflite]

I Made that X Files...shhhhh

[@panamachasely]

lol you guys

[@PICLex]

Yea

[@elvisdelarge]

Actually it HASN'T all been done before and in what universe would Big Black be a pop band? and here's some examples for you...Come As You Are = Eighties by Killing Joke AND Life Goes On by the Damned, Teen Spirit is obviously 'More Than a Feeling' by Boston and All Apologies = 'Balancing Act' by Volcano Suns just to name a few. He brought in Chris and Kurt from the Meat Puppets...Look I LIKE Nirvana but I'm not going to pretend they were 'original'. .Big Black were pioneers.

[@delhidelirium9091]

Huge early PIL, early Cabaret Voltaire, Industrial/No wave etc influence there but yeah ... guess you´re right , they took all those elements and turned Big Black into a rather unique sounding nasty piece of work ,for sure .

[@soysaucefool]

There are only so msny notes and chords, it is fairly impossible not to stumble upon a used idea.

[@finnkdy]

@Sergio Balaguera yip. That Gm hasn't reached its sell by date yet.

[@the-np4mr]

Big black are a pop band.

[@jimmaguire3079]

True. So many bands have used the riff from more than a feeling which Boston borrowed from louie louie.

[@kurt52073]

Um, the theme music. "Skate Party" by Doggy Style? Cool

[@MrSloika]

@FriendOwI No? He's not the only reason they broke up (he's not that important despite what he thinks of himself), but he contributed to the discord. First off, he trash talked Surfer Rosa after he recorded it. Joe Santiago called him "two faced". He then went on to talking up Deal's solo stuff, in a vain attempt to to get Kim's legs open, an endeavor in he failed. It's obvious he was jealous of Thompson's abilities. Who ever heard of Big Black/Rapeman?

[@lesterhalfjr]

Last Splash sounds a lot better than Pod.

[@p0llenp0ny]

I agree.

[@_-DS-_]

I disagree

[@youbuddha1]

I disagree

[@rjh6037]

I agree with Dominic Smith & Nicky Nunn that I disagree.

[@Miggy_222]

Pod sounds a lot better than last splash

[@TestMeatDollSteak]

I was referring to Nirvana as a rock/pop band, not Big Black. Regardless, Big Black has music that influenced & inspired them, and those people have music that influenced & inspired them, & so on and so forth. Cobain's influences *might* have been more obvious at times, mostly because he wasn't that great of a guitarist, but his real talent and originality was in the melodies and lyrics he wrote, which made all of those songs you mentioned uniquely his own. It's all in how you define "pioneers"

[@MrMotherfuck123]

Those Deals are crazy

[@tweezerfetish]

I like squirrels

[@liamshanley_21]

I keep seeing your comments on videos and I just gotta say the autechre display pic with the Slint reference name cracks me up

[@tweezerfetish]

+Liam Shanley Recognition at last!! Thanks dude!

[@bamslackwood433]

Is that some kind of metaphor?

[@AB.BABY.]

REAL SQUIRRELS