The artist known as Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy met the late musician as a 15-year-old fan, and became a creative partner and friend. He explains why Albini’s idealism is more needed than ever
‘I always had something to learn from what came out of his mouth’ … Steve Albini and Will Oldham .‘I always had something to learn from what came out of his mouth’ … Steve Albini and Will Oldham .in 1985, when I was 15 years old. Me and some friends had driven up to northern Kentucky to see Big Black perform at a club, which we had to create fake IDs for.
We did three proper full-length recording sessions in the 1990s, and I wanted to do them in studios that were away from Chicago so that I would have Steve’s full and undivided attention – because as a true egalitarian, he was likely to place equal amounts of attention on whatever might come across his path. So I’d say: let’s go to Alabama, Minnesota, California.
He was a human being who elevated the quality of the human experience. He expected more of himself and other people, but also knew it was possible. There was nothing outrageous. Just the idea of being able to continue to work within the music business and maintain such humanity, in the face of what almost everybody says: well, it’s impossible to do things right, because this is just the way you do things. For Steve: no, there’s not another way to do it besides doing it as right as you can do it.
He tried to be as objective as possible but he was a very subjective person, and his personal tastes were not necessarily … like, I always found it ironic that he was a staunch supporter of the All Tomorrow’s Parties festivals. Which, to me, were sometimes mildly offensive events and sometimes deeply offensive events in their very nature.
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