"A record for pop geeks," suggests Butch Vig ("drums, loops, noise and efx"), "who dance by themselves with the lights out."

Though Vig has earned prominence by producing albums by Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth, amongst others, Garbage is a decidedly group effort. Duke Erikson ("guitars, keyboards, six-string and fuzz bass"), Marker and Vig have played in bands together for years, and the latter two are partners in Smart Studios, which was founded in 1984. Back then, living on peanut butter while recording punk/hardcore groups for $100 per single, when a band would cancel a session, they'd work on their own odd projects.

Garbage was a similar project begun in 1993, yet only when Shirley Manson ("vocals, guitar") was imported from Scotland the following year did it develop beyond its seminal idea: songs of sonic extravagance that seemed too much for a four-piece band to play, but if all you had was an acoustic guitar, they'd sound like pop songs with memorable melodies and dark lyrics that maybe you shouldn't sing too loudly.

They first saw Manson in the "Suffocate Me" video from her band Angelfish on MTV's "120 Minutes" and tracked her down. "I didn't know who they were," she says. "I told my record company, 'This guy Butch Vig called' and they just about dropped the phone. But I wasn't interested in sessions. I work with people I love, where there's a chemistry and a common outlook. Music is an extension of yourself and I can't just fit in with anybody." So when Angelfish was on tour in the U.S., Manson flew in for some introductory recording.

"She was nervous and we were nervous," says Marker, "and it was a disaster." "But, continues Vig, "she had the balls to come back. The last thing we wanted was somebody we could manipulate. To some of the lyrics she'd go, 'I can't sing this bloody crap!'"

"She challenged our thinking," continues Marker. "If it was up to us, we'd write about drinking beer and driving around in Camaros."

Adds Duke, "When Shirley arrived, Garbage became a band rather than just an idea."

"What did I add? A bad temper?" Manson describes her uncompromising attitude, explaining that growing up, "I was convinced I was the ugliest creature that ever lived, that everybody hated me and the only way to deal with it was to be as unpleasant as possible."

The other band members all grew up in the Midwest, and were drawn to Madison, WI in the 80's because of its cool art scene. Vig and Mark studied film at the University of Wisconsin, and started making music out of an uncontrollable urge for sonic experimentation.

They still live in Madison ("We love it," says Vig) and still base their recordings on rock n' roll's golden rule: there are no rules. An unplanned sample of a digital tape deck in its death throes inspired the melody of one song, and another opens with the sound of Vig accidentally wiring the mixing desk into the air conditioning system. "But," says Erikson, "whatever weird sounds there are have to serve the song. Whatever takes away from it is cut. The song is what's important."