Butch Vig Reflects on New Garbage Album, His Influence on Grunge

Butch Vig has been a staple in the rock scene for decades, yet many do not know his name. The highly-sought producer and drummer for Garbage has always flown just below the radar with casual alt-rock listeners. Vig seems to be content with that as Garbage are ready to drop their first studio album in seven years.

While in Los Angeles for two sold-out Garbage shows, Vig spoke to LA Weekly about the band’s new album, ‘Not Your Kind of People,’ which is due out May 14. Even though seven years have passed between 2005′s ‘Bleed Like Me’ and ‘Not Your Kind of People,’ Garbage had no intention of straying far from their sound.

“When we started making the new album, we decided we did not want to reinvent ourselves,” Vig says. “We wanted to just embrace exactly who we are and what we like to do and just sort of update it sonically for 2012. For better or worse, when we approach a song, it’s going to end up sounding like Garbage. I think we have a strong sonic identity, and I think that’s an asset these days.”

A few years before Garbage even released their first album, Vig helped usher in a new era of rock with a little band called Nirvana. The producer was at the helm of the grunge pioneers’ debut album, 1991′s ‘Nevermind.’ While the overnight success of that record may have surprised Vig and Nirvana, the Madison, Wisconsin resident can see why it resonated so tremendously with fans.

“A lot of times, music gets boring, and something comes along and turns it on its head,” Vig explains. “That’s what happened with ‘Nevermind.’ It just blew open these floodgates. I think that music was sounding very calculated and clinical and soulless in the ’80s, and ‘Nevermind’ sounded real.”

Read Diffuser.fm’s review and watch the music video for Garbage’s latest single, ‘Blood For Poppies,’ here.