“I’ve been blessed,” Grammy-winning producer Butch Vig freely admits.
And with bands like Nirvana, Green Day and Foo Fighters on his production resume, it’s easy to see why.
Throw in a successful run as drummer for the Grammy-nominated band Garbage, however, and even he knows what he’s accomplished is something beyond his wildest expectations
amNewYork had a chance to sit with Butch and discuss Garbage’s 20-year anniversary tour, the upcoming new album and how the band almost never came to be.
How has the response been to the tour?
It’s been a blast. We’re playing the entire first album, including B-sides from 1995-1996. I’ve gotta say the audience has followed us through all the U-turns. Because some of the songs we’re playing we’ve never played before, but the response from our fans has been absolutely crazy.
There was a seven-year gap between “Bleed Like Me” and “Not Your Kind Of People.” What brought you guys back together?
After “Bleed Like Me” we needed a break. We’d done four albums and four long tours and quite frankly we were burned out. We needed that time to regain our own personal lives. And when we came in to make [“Not Your Kind of People”] we realized how much we loved each other’s company and what a great vehicle Garbage was to express ourselves.
What’s the vibe like on the upcoming record?
Half the songs sound like classic Garbage and some are left-field departures for us. Some of the songs I refer to as stoner goth-rock. Sort of dark epics. I love them. One of the tracks I think should be our first single is seven-and-a-half minute long. But we’ll see, were going to finish it in January and hopefully it’ll come out around May 1st.
With the 20th anniversary here, take us back to the early formation of the band with singer Shirley Mason.
It’s such bizarre story. I was doing remixes with Duke and Steve and it inspired us to start a band. Steve saw Shirley’s band Angelfish and we called her up in her home in Scotland. She agreed to come for a few days and hang out, and we really liked her, but it didn’t go very well because we had all these demos, but no clear direction. We sort of said, “Shirley, go and make up some words and some lyrics” and it was kind of a disaster. She went home and called two weeks later and said, “I think I know what to do with these songs.” And from day one, she sang “Vow,” “Queer” and “Stupid Girl.” And that was it, we didn’t look back.
If you go: Garbage is at the Kings Theatre on Saturday at 8 p.m., 1027 Flatbush Ave., Flatbush, 718-856-5464, $45.50-$75.50
