Smart Geeks

Many of you will probably think that Butch Vig is my hero. Well, that would be a false statement. I do have a high admiration and respect for the producer / drummer of Garbage, but to call someone a hero implies other connotations.

This brings me to my link of the day. Years ago, before Grunge and Seattle turned the music industry upside down, buddies Butch Vig and Steve Marker began Smart Studios, collaborating together and collecting what cheap, outdated, vintage gear they could. They recorded everything they could, mostly underground punk bands that were gigging around Madison, Wisconsin. Butch and Steve's efforts went virtually unknown until they had a relatively unknown band record their sophomore album. The album went platinum countless times over, and soon, every artist wanted to record with Butch at the helm.

The band was Nirvana, and the album was Nevermind.

Within three years of Nirvana's success, Butch and Steve put together a little group that was meant to solely be a side project. Out of pure fluke, they recruited Shirley Manson, and created Garbage. The mixture of Rock, Punk, and Industrial with Shirley's sexy lyrics blew the floodgates wide open, and Garbage went from side-project to supergroup. The rest, they say, is history.

If you haven't been to the Garbage webpage recently, I would suggest taking a moment to watch some of the new videos that are available (membership may be required). The video for Bleed Like Me is haunting, as is the song. Additional videos are also available at the Geffen website.