Beautiful Garbage: A Conversation with Butch Vig

Enable frames

Beautiful Garbage :

A Conversation with Butch Vig

By Robert E. Martin & Alan Sculley

Photos by Kay McEntee

If popular music is an art form that synthesizes a myriad of

stylistic influences into a tightly crafted expression that yields an

original sound, hungrily digested by the consuming public, then the band

known simply as Garbage are masters of their trade.

The musical brainchild of producer/drummer Butch Vig, Garbage was born in

Vig's studio based out of Wisconsin.  Known for producing the

earth-shattering Nirvana album, Nevermind, as well as Smashing Pumpkin's

Gish, Vig was looking to create a new collective of musicians to translate

the innovative sounds stirring within his head.

Shirley Manson was radiant & charged at her Michigan performance at the State Theater.

His 'ace-in-the-hole' was hooking up with Shirley Manson, a striking singer from Scotland, struggling also to find the appropriate type of musicians to frame her uniquely soaring voice and stark lyrical imagery.

In 1995 the group broke into international consciousness with their groundbreaking self-titled debut. A high-tech mixture of hybrid disco electronica spliced with intoxicating tape-loops and strong melodic rock sensibilities, the CD yielded three major hits, Supervixen, I'm Only Happy When It Rains, and Stupid Girl.

The follow-up CD, Version 2.0 proved to be even more musically rewarding than their debut, focusing upon the creation of catchy and compelling songs, boosted by Phil Spectorish triple-tracking of Shirley's incredible voice.

Currently on tour with the release of their latest CD, Beautiful Garbage,

the Review caught up with the group at their Detroit gig in late April at

the State Theater.

Musically, the band was in top form. Pop diva Manson held the audience in

rapt attention, their bodies swaying and flaying to both her musical

strength and her impeccably modern stylistic sensibilities.

Normally if one suggests to a band that the music on their album feels a

bit scattered or schizophrenic, that kind of comment won't sit well with

the group.

In the case of Butch Vig, drummer for Garbage, that might be just the kind

of opinion he wants to hear about his band's latest CD, "Beautiful Garbage."

"It's very much a collection of 13 sort of schizophrenic songs," said Vig

in a phone interview prior to the gig. "There are probably some of the

heaviest songs we've ever done, some of the darkest songs we've ever done,

and some of the poppiest songs we've ever written. "

Shirley Manson was radiant & charged at her

Michigan performance at the State Theater.

"So you listen to it all the way through and it's probably pretty much of a rollercoaster ride for someone to get into it for the first time," he said. "But hopefully as you listen to the record, on repeated listens it starts to make sense."

The truth is, rather than being a detriment; the variety is a primary fascination of "Beautiful Garbage." That's because the songwriting is strong throughout much of the CD, and there's plenty of enjoyment to be had in listening to how Garbage adapts to the many song settings on the CD.

On the one hand, a few tunes such as "Shut Your Mouth," "Breaking Up The

Girl" and "Silence Is Golden," seem like logical extensions of the blend of

catchy pop, programmed beats and bracing guitar that defined previous

Garbage songs such as "Stupid Girl" and "I Think I'm Paranoid."

From that foundation, though, "Beautiful Garbage" branches out

considerably. "Can't Cry These Tears" is a lush pop tune that features Phil

Spector-ish cinematic production. "Drive You Home" is a delicate ballad

that pairs singer Shirley Manson's restrained vocal with gentle guitar and

full-bodied harmonies.

"Til The Day I Die" blends elements of Euro-dance and jagged rock.

"Untouchable" comes off as a hybrid of modern uptempo R and B and pop-edged

techno.

Manson, in particular, emerges as more of a multi-faceted force. Her vocal

range has expanded considerably, stretching from the girlish coo of "Cherry

Lips (Go Baby Go)" to the emotionally charged low register of "Silence Is

Golden."

Lyrically, Manson has never been more direct or complex. The sassy attitude

that defined the first two Garbage CDs remains, but there are now also

moments of vulnerability and hurt in songs like "Silence Is Golden" and

"Can't Cry These Tears" that has rarely shown through as clearly in

Manson's earlier performances.

Shirley Manson was radiant & charged at her Michigan performance at the

State Theater.

At this point, few people would dispute that Garbage is one of the most

compelling and musically distinctive bands on the scene.

But what's ironic is that when Vig founded the band a little over six

years ago, many people in the industry viewed it as anything but a smart

career move.

The producer of such groundbreaking alternative rock albums as Nirvana's

"Nevermind" and the Smashing Pumpkins' "Siamese Dream," Vig was one of the

most in-demand producers in rock.

Garbage, on the other hand, was anything but a sure bet to succeed. The

band members had credentials, but aside from Vig little name recognition.

Vig and bassist Steve Marker had been in a group called Firetown in the

1980s that recorded a string of solid, yet overlooked and undersold albums.

Garbage guitarist Duke Erikson

Vig and guitarist Duke Erikson had a history as well, having been in Spooner, a band that preceded Firetown. Manson, meanwhile, fronted Angelfish, a band that never rose above cult status.

What's more, the band members weren't sure that Garbage would be viable on a musical level. The three guys had a shared history, but none had even known Manson's name until they happened to see her one day on MTV in an Angelfish video and decided she might be exactly the kind of singer they needed for their new band.

Whether she would mesh on a musical or personal level with Vig, Marker and Erikson was anybody's guess when the foursome first got together.

"A lot of people told me I was crazy to do that, to start a band, because

if the album failed, it would have been my ass on the line," Vig said.

"Nobody knew Shirley. Angelfish hadn't had much success, and Duke and

Steve, I'd been working with them, but they were still pretty under the

radar. It would have been my ass hung out to dry."

"But I didn't really think of it in those terms," said Vig, who noted he

had gotten a bit burned out on producing. "I was excited about being in a

band and making music with my mates, and also working with Shirley. We were

just really excited about what she brought to the equation."

These days nobody questions Vig for starting Garbage. The band's first two

CDs, "Garbage" (1995) and "Version 2.0" (1998), have both sold upwards of

four million copies worldwide.

Musically, Vig sees the musical risks on "Beautiful Garbage" as a sign of

confidence the band members have gained through close to years of recording

and touring.

"We kind of felt like with 'Version 2.0' that we sort of proved ourselves

and that we weren't a fluke, that we were the real thing," he said.

"We felt good about where we were and that we were going to be around for

awhile. I think in some ways that freed us up because we felt immense

pressure in making the second album. We didn't feel it as much making

'Beautiful Garbage.' So in a lot of ways we just decided to try a lot of

different things."

"We know each other and we're much more comfortable with each other and we just have much more confidence in terms of not feeling self-conscious in terms of how we write and when we walk on stage," Vig said.

"I think we've become pretty good as a live band. We used to be like we were fighting just to play the songs, to figure out how to play the songs. And on 'Version 2.0' we learned how to liberate ourselves and really enjoy it and make the show more celebratory and communal with our audience, which is a great thing."

Garbage's set list from Detroit

Vig and the other boys in the band don't mind that as the group has

developed, Manson, with her dynamic stage presence and outspoken nature,

has come to be seen as the band's focal point and the person who sets the

tone musically for Garbage, even though all four band members are involved

in the songwriting.

"We don't really have a problem with that," Vig said. "I mean I never

really wanted to be a frontperson or have that kind of image anyway. I've

always sort of liked to hang in the background, and it's a natural

progression when you have someone who looks good on stage and can sing well

and (has) the lyrics and the voice. The frontpeople in bands get the

attention. People are going to be more interested in interviewing (U2

singer) Bono than they are in interviewing (U2 drummer) Adam Clayton.

"That's the reality," Vig said. "So all of us are cool with that. I mean,

in fact, I think we're glad we have someone with that much character and

that much presence, because I don't think we would be as successful as a

band if we didn't."

To Vig, Manson is just naturally suited to take on the demands that come

with fronting a band and being a media magnet.

"She's a showoff. She loves attention," Vig said.

"She's also very emotional and opinionated, very brutally honest. I mean,

she didn't make up a persona. She's very complicated and sometimes very

difficult to deal with. But I love working with her because there's never a

dull moment."

"Every day it's a rollercoaster ride. It's not boring."

Enable frames