Did You Know this Famous Record Producer Graduated from Hellgate High?

You always see those posts like "did you know these celebs are from Missoula?" And it's always a bunch of people who you absolutely did know were from Missoula. But this one shocked me. I had zero idea that super amazing punk producer Steve Albini grew up here and graduated from Hellgate High School, that's my alma mater, my whole family went there.

If the name sounds familiar it's because Mr. Albini produced Nirvana's final album, 'In Utero,' although I've read that he hates being known as a producer and refuses ongoing royalties. He prefers to be called a recording engineer. I also remember reading an article some time ago where he explained that he doesn't accept continued royalties for projects because in his opinion, the engineer finished their job when the record was done and shouldn't continue to be paid. A famous producer with ethics, imagine that.

I know Steve Albini from Nirvana, the Pixies, and the Breeders, and most recently, he recorded the Foo Fighters' song "Something From Nothing," but he's produced (engineered) dozens of bands and has been in his own punk bands, including Big Black, Rapeman, and Shellac, and as a teenager, the Montana punk band Just Ducky. He's multi talented for sure and a true punk, here's one of my favorite articles about him and his band Shellac that he took part in for an Australian music website called Listen.

So you learned something today, Steve Albini's family moved around a lot before they settled in Missoula when he was a kid, and he graduated from Hellgate High. In fact, you can see his yearbook photo below. Or, did you know Steve when he lived here? I'd love to hear about that!