With a rock resume including bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, Muse, and Foo Fighters, producer/musician Butch Vig is the real deal. Most notably known as the drummer for the 90s hit band, Garbage, Vig has had a successful career of creating music on both sides of the “glass.”
Musician To Producer
Growing up in Viroqua Wisconsin and eventually going to school in Madison, Wisconsin, Vig went from playing music in bands, to starting a studio, to eventually producing major rock records. His career really took off after he produced and recorded the legendary Nevermind album from Nirvana in 1991.
His work on that record helped shape a sound that countless bands copied for quite a few years. The combination of stripped down rock arrangements with raw vocal performances plus a steady consistent drum and bass back beat gave Nirvana’s catchy songs a perfect radio platform.
Back In As A Musician
In 1995, Garbage’s self titled debut album was released and Butch Vig spent a few solid years focusing on drumming and producing for his own band. Selling over 14 million records, Garbage was a total hit. While doing a little producing from ’95 to 2005, Vig was mostly drumming for his band.
Since 2005 however, he has swung back into the producing role of things, and most recently produced and recorded the new Foo Fighters album, Wasting Light, which has garnered some attention as being tracked completely analog and in a garage.
Quite A Resume
Butch Vig has produced some killer rock records over the years and he’s not slowing down. Here are just a few of his notable projects he’s produced (or played on)…
- 1991: The Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
- 1991: Nirvana - Nevermind
- 1992: Sonic Youth - Dirty
- 1992: L7 - Bricks Are Heavy
- 1993: The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
- 1995: Garbage - Garbage
- 1998: Garbage - Version 2.0
- 2001: Garbage - Beautiful Garbage
- 2003: AFI - Sing the Sorrow
- 2005: Garbage - Bleed Like Me
- 2007: Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
- 2009: Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
- 2009: Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits
- 2010: Muse – “Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)“
- 2011: Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
If you want to stay up on what Vig is doing, you can follow him on Twitter: @butchvig and see what he’s up to.
Comments
Cool stuff. I love “behind the scenes” stuff like this… keep em coming Graham. I’m sure that was all cut to analog tape too, right?
Kevin
You bet that was cut to tape! Play it right the first time. What a thought
I’d love to see a post that gets some perspectives on what makes a great producer…maybe taking a look at some of the big names.
In my humble opinion, a great producer seeks to understand the artists vision and then helps them arrive at that. Keep them on track and on vision. But there’s something to be said for connecting with a producer who brings their own vibe to all the work they do.
Rick Rubin comes to mind as someone who elevates the quality and creativity of a song regardless of genre.
Definitely will do a post in the future about aspects of producing. Great suggestion. My goal with these profiles is to show people some great examples of a producer and let that paint a picture of what is going on in studios all the time. Also a good music history lesson!
Graham…You need to change where Butch was born. He was born in Viroqua, Wi. He graduated H.S. from there and then went to school in Madison.
Thanks…
Lisa
Thanks for the info Lisa. Post has been updated.