ABSTRACT
Born Bryan Vigorson in Viroqua, Wisconsin, Vig was a well-known producer of alternative rock in the 1990s who has gone on to a career as a performer with his band, Garbage. Playing piano and drums as a child, Vig spent two years in college before dropping out to perform with a local band, Spooner. With bandmate guitarist Steve Marker, Vig purchased his first recording equipment, and produced the band’s three albums. By the late 1980s, he had established his own studio, Smart Studios, in Madison, Wisconsin, recording local indie acts. His work drew the attention of a new band out of Seattle, Nirvana, and they recorded their 1991 debut album, Nevermind, at his studios; Smashing Pumpkins also cut their debut, 1992’s Gish, there, making Vig the hot producer of the moment. In 1994 he formed Garbage with old friend Marker, enlisting vocalist Shirley Manson, a Scottish singer who had performed with the group Angelfish. The band’s great success in the later 1990s led Vig to curtail his production work and focus on his burgeoning career.
