Producer and musician Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Foo Fighters, Green Day) looks back at his long career, from early days at Smart Studios and the smash success of Nirvana’s Nevermind, to making music with his own band Garbage.
Visit www.waves.com/tag/butch-vig?ut... to learn more.
Loved when he says "I finished Smashing Pumpking's Gish in 1991 and then a few months later I did Nirvana's Nevermind" like it's no big deal producing two of the best sounding albums in the history of rock music :D
I admire Butch Vig so much. He pretty much shaped the 90s sonically. Smashing Pumpkins' Gish, then Nirvana's Nevermind, then Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream, then Garbage. What a producer and musician, and he seems like a great guy too.
yeah even house of pain lol, and that album was actually really good sonically
I think he worked with The Breeders to , an amazing 90’s alternative band
Or that might be Steve Albini either way it’s great music
don't forget he done an En Vogue album in the early 90's
@@stromer24 and it was entertaining
BILLY CORGAN EATING BRATWURST LISTENING TO NEVERMIND BEFORE IT EVEN CAME OUT ALSO A BUNCH OF OTHER MUSICIANS THATS FUCKIN HILARIOUS AND AWESOME EVERYONE GOT QUIET AND LISTENED TO THE END AND AGAIN
Thanks for the all caps
@@drago6769 I think you mean...... THANKS FOR ALL CAPS
YOURITW BORTHER 💪💪💪👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
He's a humble genius and national treasure.
I love the fact that loads of people over a certain age have a “first time I heard Nevermind” story. I will certainly never forget mine, despite it being about 30 years ago
such a nice guy, very humble
Butch deflecting and naming Helter Skelter as the first grunge song was really interesting and shows his humility.
Every song on nevermind is perfect.
Evan Garnett Agreed. Timeless perfection.
Evan Garnett Yes
I love nevermind but it's definitely my least favorite of all the Nirvana records. 1. Bleach 2. Unplugged 3. In Utero 4. Incesticide 5. Nevermind
@@uzivert3210 feels. But nevermind was their best album by far.
@@fatninjacatmatt Their most succesful certainly in terms of money making ....
They were not slackers, they were ready. Good job Butch.
Man he has produced some amazing albums
1991 I got an advance cassette of Nevermind. Only because it said Butch Vig on it. It sat on the give away table at work all day, no one took it. I did. Played it when I got home from work, my roomate David was home. We both freaked out. Played it again, and again, and pretty much listened to it every day for a few months. Then the album came out and, well there ya go ;) Spooner is my favorite band of all time. Talk about hooks, you bet cha!
Hope you kept that
Last cassette I bought was in 87, all CD's after that, didn't realize they were still making tapes in '91
Furry
@@mad4669 I didn't get a CD until 97 so yeah tapes were still everywhere.
mad4669, Cassettes are back especially amongst the kids, my son included.
I still think Nevermind is one of the greatest sounding albums of all time, maybe the greatest
Tyler Dennis no question about it.
same here this album and metallicas and justice for all
+Michael Farrell best...a dangerous word if you dont mind me saying so.
Nah, I wouldn't even put it in the top
+MrTechselect i guess its a matter of taste i guess..some might say y that 60's rock and roll lps are the best in sound ..others will insist that the current albums made by beyonce are masterpieces of sound engineering.
this guy is a legend
The fact we can't have a Kurt and Butch interview about the process of making Nevermind is a titanic tragedy. Edit: Hijacking my comment to let you guys know I have a band making music FriendsInTheBasement! Thanks and much love.
Agree, i kinda curious about that too for years..
How good would that have been
at least we have Titanic
Now that would have been awesome and Dave ghrol movie have kurt special guests appearance
Thad Cully At least we now have Rick Beato’s interview with Butch. That’s the closest we’ll get. And it’s awesome interview
The sounds on Siamese dream are incredible!
Listen to Dirty. That album has some of the sickest production I’ve ever heard.
@@areyoujelton Yes! "Dirty" is a damn good sounding album and underrated. I don't think many people know Butch produced that one, because Siamese Dream and Nevermind were so huge.
A true legend, brilliant and grounded.
God bless you Butch. You are a legend.
You can see why people like working with him, he's so laid back, and open to everything.
I couldn't stop listening. This guy is so good at telling stories. Even more exciting when he's telling his own story.
He's completely right about the imprint thing. I fell in love with a girl earlier this year around the same time I heard Everlong for the first time, and now I get that feeling again every time I listen to it. Music truly is the most powerful form of art.
Ahh that's one of the best songs for that.
Someone who hasn't heard the song Everlong until 2018? Wow where you been living under a rock.
Nothing like finding a lost song transports you years back into time, finding a once lost part of yourself in the process.
i fell in love with a blue eyed, blonde haired girl many many years ago and the music that is forever imprinted in that time is 311, beyond the grey sky. i still cant listen without thinking of her and how amazing those times were. my heart forever aches for her.
@@blazedONEin87 dude I totally relate
I’m hoping for rock music to rock again.
kzhead.info/sun/oa-ud7p7a6d-aXA/bejne.html
Not gonna happen bud
Rival Sons - start with Pressure and Time....
Vaughn Felix, I’m working on it.
Don't hope for it, make it happen! We can't just hope for change we have to make it happen!
Butch is what Nirvana needed !!
Glad he didn’t go out to Hollywood to do films and stuck to music....can you imagine if he went to Hollywood, like how different everything would be?
I saw him perform 2 nights ago with Garbage and I couldn't take my eyes off him because I knew that most people in the crowd had no idea about Butch. And I was like, You're The Man. Rock The Park London ON 2022 xo Front row centre. Mind blown
Saw him in Ottawa at Bluesfest last week. My reaction was the same and I kept saying to people around me "Do you have ant idea who that is!." Wish I could have met him.
This was amazing! All Butch, totally letting him riff, no interruptions. Thank you a hundred times over, Waves Audio. 🎸
I could listen to this guy forever. very techinical, very intuitive. He knows what he is talking about. Also hearing his experience with my favourite bands is so heartwarming
The fact that BV is unschooled, makes me love him even more.
I got a bootleg bleach tape in the fall of 89 at our W.V. black walnut festival and fell in love at the age of 11, it used to be insane, the amount of new music I'd get a that festival. the following year, at the end of 8th grade, it was an end of the year dance and I heard nevermind for the first time 🤯. I didn't even know it was the same band on the bleach tape I'd been jammin to, got my first copy of nevermind about two weeks later. there is no way I can put into words the importance of the impact it had, I made life long friends with that music, it brought people together, it gave our youth a loud voice and a coherent and incoherent life that we just understood, when nobody else could. the sky was made of amethyst and tonight we are cool and uncool the same, the air was heavy and thick with pot smoke and angst and some organized chaos. I thank the cosmic gods for all of that time!
I was in highschool when Kurt died, and Nevermind still sounds amazing to me. And Gish is just ridiculous too.
What a nice monologue. It´s very cool that a lot of experienced engineers, musicians - you name it- are just showing what they´re about and connecting the dots of the human side to the larger than life experience that is music. Hoping this feels enriching to all those who are about into capturing and sharing moments of bliss.
This is a reminder that an interview-based documentary doesn't necessarily need magic tricks to shine. Good job!
My favorite producer/engineer of all time. Pure Admiration! Respect!
"Music is really an art form that can be experienced over and over and over again and I think that's one of the great things about it has emotional bond with a listener that you can continue to experience and that is very very powerful"
I lived in Madison through the late nineties and every now and then would wait on Butch and his wife (?) at places like Cafe Kahoutek, Boticellis, and so forth (long gone). I also would run into Paulie on the lake trails. Once I met Shirley when she was in town. I was always some humbled that they were such kind, giving, considerate, respectful, down to earth people. I knew I was in the presence of giants, but they always treated me like they'd treat anyone else. I respect Butch so much as an artist and producer and his work has shaped my own creativity, I admire him as a person for his virtue and character.
Best producer ever 🤘🏻💪🏻!!! Gish from Smashing Pumpkins is a peace of art thx so much 4 your work
I never knew the guy who produced Nevermind and the drummer for Garbage was the same person. Ya learn something new everyday!
Was a great great year...thank the universe I listened to BLEACH when it first came out and no one knew whom they were, because I was dating a skateboarder for years that listened to punk rock...and liked heavy metal type like ozzy and such.....but I used to be made fun of for loving Nirvana , and I took the Bleach tape and listened to it in my car over and over and they would make fun of me "because it wasnt punk rock" when never mind hit everyone got worse saying it was too cheesy and clean.....but to me, this band has spoke to my energy and soul and has been there with me 30 years through lifes ups and downs.....they g And Hole got me to play guitar....and I had a small maybe 5 group of friends that LOVED nirvana ....I'm so THANKFUL we have what we have......if I start living the "what if" about Kurt I get depressed and upset....I MISS him daily, and I know that sounds crazy...but through his art. Hes not been a stranger in my life..
What a nice, centered and cool dude. Also the interview is really good and takes the time to capture his concept without any weird cuts. I hope there were more videos like this.
Very well done interview piece, Waves. It was a classy look at one of the most iconic albums ever created.
i thank my mum for playing music constantly when i was growing up. we used to watch Top of the Pops together and listen to Sunday night Top 50. Every car journey was filled with Beatles, Abba, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Led Zepplin, Queen...Black Sabbath...and then Nirvana came out and i was a happy man. Heavy but melodic...the perfect combination for growing up and dealing with your emotions!!
i could sit and listen to this guy all day, such a unique bloke
I lived in Yosemite when Gish came out. My mom sent me the cassette for my 23rd birthday. Before my roommate and I popped the tape into the player, we got good and stoned. Thus, the first time I ever heard Gish I was really stoned, sitting in a lawn chair in the middle of Yosemite on the autumn afternoon of my 23rd birthday. To this day, it remains my favorite album from the "grunge years."
thislazylife707 stop lying about your mom this is so fake liar liar
This is great. In that you get to see Butch Vig without all the garbage that most people add to his video's. If you watch this all the way to the end, you get to hear alot about him and his history as a producer, which is really nice!
Jesse Sou Pritchard actually, the “garbage” reference in this video is to the band Garbage, one he famously worked with.
@@ubermensch9179 He didn't work with them he is their drummer lol
An honest, straight forward really cool gentleman. So wonderfully informative. An inspiration. Great vid. Thank you.
Legendary. Loves me some Garbage and Pumpkins
Yes Nevermind was great. I love Nirvana... but Siamese Dream was when I really appreciated Butch Vig....
You could argue without Butch Vig (producing Gish & Nevermind) the grunge era would have never happened
such a humble guy
I didn’t want this video to end. Such a badass dude.
Some music is so magical. I'll never forget a meeting I had at my house one time. There were 16 - 20 people there, and everyone was talking, discussing, debating, etc. I had music on in the background, because we were also doing food, and other things, too. Then Green Onions came on and the entire house fell quiet and started Grooving out to Booker T and the MG's. Then we all looked at each other and started laughing.
Gish and Nevermind 2 amazing all time Albums!
Well Mr. Vig, I was 32 at the time and my wife was 28, and the first time we watched SLTS on MTV, our jaws dropped wide open in amazement. We've pretty much been listening ever since. I suspect early to mid 90's music will be the last great music to have occurred in my lifetime.
Pretty much my reaction. I was walking by my teen daughter’s bedroom, (I was about 35) and heard it and I was like, wtf is that???!!! I instantly became a grunge fan.
16 days to record Nevermind!! Booooom!
16 days to record.. and then another two weeks for overdubs and mixing. The label had hoped to sell 500,000 copies of Nevermind, it sold 25 million copies! Great album and the defining record of the grunge movement.
And solid 6 months of pre production + other months of songwriting.
@@ba.attila You got it
Butch Vig + Alan Moulder + Flood shaped the 90s sonically.
6:35 Butch is such a sonic genius that he makes music even when he talks normally
This guy is awesome, would of never known what he was like without this video
Soothing and calming sounds of Butch Vig. Thank you for the music!
what an inspirational guy.
I saw a kyuss poster! Great taste can't be explained. It's liberating hearing someone who produced an album as such as Nevermind not be afraid to point out how much of a pop album it is, pop is not a foul word, it's a stylistic choice, if you can sound different and "hooky" kudos to you.
I think butch has a great philosophy on how things are done. How to use your environment, the environment you are given, to help shape the sound. I bought the Nevermind album he had his fingers on, but was not into them all that much. I was into XTC at the time and PIL, joe satriani and as a complete contrast to all previously mentioned bands, the 10.000 Maniacs. I did like the Smashing Pumpkins and saw them live. So even before i knew of who butch was, i was exposed to his work, as an engineer, on several albums. It was only after Garbage that i found out he was involved with all the bands i had previously listened to. As soon as he mentioned being in Garbage for twenty years i had to look at the date of this clip. Yeah, its 28 years now of Garbage. And may there be many more. I was a semi serious guitarist before. Now i am a drummer. Since the day taylor hawkins died. What turned out to be an honest try on the drums turned into a daily habit of a few hours attempting to learn them. Butch is now one of my hero's.
Dudes from Wisconsin are the chillest.
Wow What a great video... One hell of a great guy and musician and producer All the great guys go back to basics ... find the emotion in a song and then get it across as clearly and musically as possible ... hell Springsteen released tracks from a Tascom 144 cassette 4 track that bleed with emotion....cheers all
today you cant listen to an album front to back anymore... I miss the 90's alot!!
Take a shot every time he says 'Funky'.
take a shot every time he says "the"
Take a shot every time he says a word.
And ultimately
Naah!! «Different hats» wins!
"record"
Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to share your knowledge & experience! Catching a clip of you explaining a song from Nevermind really piqued my interest in record production & engineering. Thank you for sharing something so rare and undershared. 🙏❤️
I knew Nirvana was huge as soon as I heard Teen Spirit I remember some people scoffing at it when it came on the radio at work but most people had a huge favorable reaction to it
I saw the world premiere video for it on MTV and it blew my nips off. By the end of the song I was jumping up and down on the couch. It was exactly what I had been waiting for and I didn't know until I heard it. I've been playing drums for 20 years now thanks to Dave, Kurt, and krist. Thanks guys
girls poop too keep smashing them skins dawg!!!! I’ve been playing for about 15 years now!
Awesome interview. Thanks for spending the time to go over what you do
awesome interview... lots of insights into his carrier... THANK YOU
I’ve NEVER fast forwarded/skipped a song on Nevermind... NEVER!
I've honestly listened to Gish about 10x more than Nevermind, but I can remember having Nevermind on cassette back in the 90s. Man, great times!
I’m glad he mentioned About a Girl, it’s my favorite Nirvana song. One of the simplest chord progressions but it works so well.
This is a great video, with an absolute legend. From someone who's spent thousands with waves - thank you!
So many things I could say. But you’re basically my music production hero and I learn every time I read or hear anything from you. And thank you for helping put Seattle on the map with your production of never mind. And Smashing Pumpkins managed to get onto the singles soundtrack even though they were not from Seattle… And of course garbage is beyond genius. I was mega impressed when you coproduced and mixed bleed like me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. Do you master as well?
Siamese Dream was the true masterpiece he worked on.
Gish was also pretty amazing as well.
It's mastered so quietly
What a great interview! I find Butch Vig's comments very interesting and inspirational, and he seems like such a nice, normal guy who has worked very hard in an area he feels passionate about.
I love how he's still mentally living in the 90s.... Referencing Titanic, love it! Great interview
Sonic Youth's Dirty was a gamechanger for me also...
Great little documentary, superb work, super interesting! I Looking forward to seeing more similar content from the channel. I randomly stumbled upon this video, happy that I did, you guys have got a new subscriber from England over here! Keep up the great work!
The city where I lived in, an amazing place to be inspired and play and create music. I had the opportunity to record and album with my band there in 2008 and 2009. Two of my kids were born there and that's why I love much more that place. I had the opportunity to watch Garbage live also. Butch Vig is an amazing musician and producer who understands really well musicians trying to find their sound. This is an amazing interview!
So down to earth but with a wealth of knowledge experience and wisdom! Excellent interview!
Great video! Butch's voice is so warm and pleasant to listen to.
I think You (Butch), need to create your own vocal masterpiece at some point, or something of the sort.....perhaps with Les Claypool....🤔🤗
Thank you for all your contributions, Butch
Great interview! Butch Vig is a very interesting musician and producer. I hope they reissue the Garbage Debut on vinyl! Thanks for sharing :)
+AudiophileLaws they did a month ago - remastered!
oh yeah! I just got the deluxe box set. so cool
+AudiophileLaws I got the pink vinyl version earlier on... so now I am still undecided whether I should by the box set as well or not
He reminds me of the record store dude in Family Guy. Great producer.
Jesus?
+Just a regular ostrich lol
Lemont D'Ettinge you mean Jesus looool
Nevermind, Dirty, Siamese Dream, Garbage - this guy is extremely talented.
“Helter Skelter was the first grunge song”.
Roberto Peña Link Wray - Rumble was the first, id say. Neil Young also says it.
That’s what I said to ma pal last week, and now I watch this and I’m like, “shit butch vig agrees and ma pal doesn’t”
None of these are grunge guys sorry
@@SuperMikeFender ok mike
@@SuperMikeFender it may not be what you say is grunge but it defo paved the way for alot of genres including grunge
I agree with what he was saying about PUNK. I felt the same about The seattle sound. Those bands were a breath of fresh air and made it "accessible " for people like myself to be inspired and do it .
Greetings from Sydney Australia.. That was fkn awesome!! Thank you
He made the perfect record. Nevermind still sounds fresh and new.
We really are lucky to live in a time when all of this music was not just recorded but done with such great attention to detail. And now to be able to watch this video with the man himself. Fantastic. It is only a little over a hundred years ago when if you wanted to hear music you either had to play it yourself or listen to someone else play.
saw him 1996 open for the smashing pumpkins in hartford connecticut and newhaven connecticut. garbage was so awesome shirley was hot what can i say good times
This is really cool. There was a lot of great music coming out in the early 90's. Being born in 1980 and one of the first Millenials/last year of GenX, I really felt like this was the music of my generation, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, so many cool albums.
the whole recording and mixing stuff he talks about i totally get it. i cant do what he does but i listen for the nuances that make a humdrum song great. and like he said ....you can record anywhere and that room will dictate the feel and groove. and if it aint there you adjust. man this is good stuff. there just aint no one formula for all. thank god.
First time I heard Helter Skelter I thought it was grunge too. Cool to hear Butch say that.
Very informative and insightful! Thanks for creating and sharing this video!
Good interview. Thank you guys you re awesome .
Great video! So much things which I thought about music is told here and it's amazing how the same they are.
Fantastic ear Butch has - A "Smart" producer !
Great speech! Thanks for this.
This was the last Rock Revolution. A true real onslaught of a true Scene. If the Chicago people would have gotten along w/o huge Egos, we could have been the late 1990s "Scene", as a unit, instead of a competitive behaviour. BTW, Butch, if you do read this, I am the Electronic Music guy, induced with Blues, play harmonica and my Jazz Box, and write my rock like Tom Petty. I read somewhere you were looking for a guy like that...but I'm older now...so Nevermind...or not. All due respect to you, Sir!
i'd kill for that blood for poppies instrumental in the background.