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Quick Facts
• Vig produced both Smashing
Pumpkins’ Gish and Nirvana’s
Nevermind in 1990-91, among
other projects.
• He started Garbage partially
because he wanted a change
from the many conventional
three-piece bands he’d produced.
• Places a strong emphasis on
process over results.
MC: Are you open to working with unknown
bands? If so, how can they contact you?
Vig: In the past few years, I’ve worked with relatively
new or obscure acts. I’ve worked with
Never Shout Never. Christofer [Drew Ingle] is an
amazing pop writer with great pop sensibilities.
I’ve also worked with Against Me! I love that
band. To me, they should be as big as the Clash.
They’re so intense and powerful.
Unsigned bands can contact me through
Garbage’s management––Paul Kremen at Big
Picture. Garbage has been on tour for the last six
months and at every show, fans give me CDs or,
more often, memory sticks with their music. I try to
listen to everything. I may only get to 30 seconds
or so of each song, but I put each one on. We’ve
heard some cool new stuff.
MC: What are your current and future projects?
Vig: I just got off the road with Garbage. We’d
been on tour since April. I’ve got some time off
now but will record some new Garbage songs in
January. We’ll be doing some shows in Australia
probably at the end of February, early March.
I’m also helping Dave Grohl finish up the soundtrack
for his documentary Sound City. It’s an amazing
film. Dave bought the Neve console from
Sound City studio, which is where we recorded
Nevermind 20 years ago. He interviews a bunch
of people who worked there and has them tell
stories.
MC: Do you have a dream project on which you’d
like to work? Are you in talks with anybody?
Vig: I absolutely adore Neil Young. Someday it
would be cool to record a song with him. I think
he’s an amazing musician and an icon. He’s as
good as you can get. He’s followed his own path,
has an incredible body of work and is still doing it.
Contact Paul Kremen / Big Picture Music,
310-836-1000, http:/bigpicturemusicco.com
MAXIMUM VELOCITY
• Listens to music given to him
by fans.
• Acquired his first drum kit as a
child in trade for his piano.
• He is sometimes referred to as
“Nevermind Man” for his production
of Nirvana’s Nevermind.
Vig: There are a couple of criteria. One, I have to
feel that I have a vision I can bring to the band’s
ideas. I have to go through the process of meeting
them, understanding what they’re about and
feeling that I can help; bring them up a notch from
or help them get where they want to go. Two, it’s
a matter of the songs: do I fall in love with them?
It’s not necessarily “do I hear a hit single?” It
doesn’t matter if they’re signed to a major label or
an indie. It’s a matter of whether the chemistry is
right and if it feels like the right thing for me to do.
MC: Given your taste in music now, are you
happy working outside of your comfort zone?
Vig: The great thing about being in Garbage is
that over the years we’ve dabbled in almost every
genre: orchestral, techno, hip-hop, folk, punk. I
listen to a lot of Internet radio stations and they
play a ton of crazy stuff. I’m genuinely interested
in listening to music that pushes the envelope,
whether it’s lo-fi or crazy electronica. I’m not elitist
when I listen to music. I listen to everything.
MC: What advice do you offer to producers who
are just starting out?
Vig: Try to understand the artist you’re working
with. Don’t lose what’s unique about them. Don’t
feel that you have to genericize or over-commercialize
their music to have success. Bands
that have a true identity are the ones that rise to
the top. A lot of people are obsessed with trying to
get a hit that could be on the radio. But these days
with the Internet, a lot of the songs that I hear that
are “hits” don’t sound anything like commercial
music that we’d listen to 10 or 20 years ago. I say
to artists, be true to yourself. Don’t try to change
your music to fit into a style or form. You have
to write and perform material that you feel good
and honest about. If you write good songs, you’re
going to find success.
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Audio Engineering
Associates
Handmade in Pasadena, California
February 2013 www.musicconnection.com 39