SST Records Producer Glen “SPOT” Lockett Dies at 72

Glen Lockett, the in-house producer and engineer for legendary punk label SST Data who was higher referred to as SPOT, has died, stories former SST co-owner Joe Carducci. He had been on oxygen after his fibrosis impaired his lung perform in late 2021, and three months in the past he was positioned in a hospital following a stroke, Carducci revealed in a Fb publish. Lockett died earlier at this time (March 4) at a healthcare facility in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He was 72.

Because the longtime in-house producer for SST Data, SPOT helmed the boards for basically the crux of ‘80s American punk rock. He produced greater than 100 information, lots of that are bonafide classics within the punk and hardcore world and have gone on to affect artists exterior of the style. Highlights from his physique of labor vary from quite a few Black Flag staples like Broken, My Conflict, and Jealous Once more to Minutemen’s The Punch Line, What Makes a Man Begin Fires?, and Buzz or Howl Beneath the Affect of Warmth. Spot additionally produced Descendents’ Milo Goes to Faculty, Hüsker Dü’s Zen Arcade, Misfits’ Earth A.D. / Wolfs Blood, and Saint Vitus’ self-titled debut, together with further information for these bands and others.

Born Glen Lockett in Los Angeles in 1951, SPOT was raised by his Native American mom and African-American father, the latter of whom was a Tuskegee Airman who flew British Spitfires. He grew up listening to post-bebop jazz, surf rock, Motown, and no matter music he might discover on the AM radio. After studying to play guitar at age 12, SPOT tried his hand at clarinet and even auditioned for Captain Beefheart. It wasn’t till years later, when he supplied to assist with a recording studio construct, that he realized concerning the ins and outs of studio recording. 

Earlier than he turned an integral a part of the SST sound, SPOT was a musician, not a producer. Whereas ready tables at a vegan restaurant, he met Greg Ginn, the longer term co-founder of Black Flag and SST Data, and the 2 began jamming collectively in his band. After witnessing a Black Flag present gone awry, SPOT determined he wished to work the board on their subsequent file, a choice that will end in numerous “head butting” and, finally, 1980’s Jealous Once more. The remainder was historical past.

“[SPOT] spelled his title in all caps with a dot in the midst of the O,” Carducci wrote on Fb. “He began in Hermosa Seashore taking part in and recording jazz and he took the primacy of reside jazz taking part in into recording bands towards prevailing makes an attempt to melt or industrialize a back-to-basics arts motion in sound. When approaching the blending board, SPOT would assume an Elvis-like stance after which, gesturing towards all of the knobs, he would say in a Louis Armstrong-like voice, ‘That is going to be gelatinous!’”