Butch Vig doesn’t have any hobbies. The co-founder of the rock band Garbage, who also produced the iconic Nirvana album Nevermind, among many others, isn’t distracted by building model ships in glass bottles or learning to paint by number. Instead, he remains immersed in music.
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Garbage, which put out an album in 2025, followed that up with a lengthy world tour. Fresh off a plane returning from Australia, Vig now sits in a Los Angeles studio trying to plan for a lively weekend of music in Madison, Wisconsin, figuring out where all the puzzle pieces will go.
“This is what I do,” says Vig, who is the music director of the upcoming Joey’s Song benefit on January 9 and 10 (check out a free livestream on the 10th). The night, which will open with an acoustic concert and finish with an electric one on the second night, will raise money for epilepsy research.
Epilepsy has touched Vig’s life in significant ways, he says. He has family members and friends afflicted by it. Indeed, his friend Mike Gomoll’s son Joey died at just six years old after battling the disorder. “He had a very severe form of epilepsy,” Vig says. “It’s a horrible story.”
But dozens of world-class musicians and the greater Madison, Wisconsin community will rally around the cause this weekend. Vig predicts that it will be something of a “wildcard night”, nothing that a lot of unexpected things will happen on stage. “Anything can happen,” he says, happily.
At times, the event, he says, can feel like a chaotic undertaking (think: The Muppet Show). Other times, it feels like a family reunion. Backstage, people are reconnecting during the downtime in their touring schedule. They’re jamming in green rooms.
“I have a bunch of assistants who help me with the show,” Vig says. “They barge into dressing rooms and tell the musicians, ‘You’re on stage in two minutes! Let’s go!’ But there’s something about the chaos that makes it really fun for everyone.”
Artists who will perform this year include John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls and Vicki Peterson of The Bangles. Vig and other members of Garbage will be there, too, along with a slew of other famous names. The benefit is now in its 15th year.
Its success, along with Vig’s, in a way mirrors the continued success of rock music today. Every year, Vig says, he’s asked by journalists (cough, cough) about the state of rock. Is it on life support? Has it taken its last gasp? “No, it is not dead,” Vig assures. “It will never die.”
Rock music is not often found on top-40 radio, however, and that’s okay, Vig adds. Nevertheless, there remains a robust rock culture, a thriving underground community that picks up guitars, plays shows, and, as Vig says, “makes a lot of noise with attitude.”
He adds, “I think at some point one of them [rock bands] is going to burst into the mainstream, much like Nirvana did years ago. Our culture is dominated by pop music. Pop music, since back in the 50s, has dominated the top-40…[but] rock is alive and well.”
One of the reasons that’s true is because of people like Vig, who continue to work, produce, and perform—thank goodness he has no hobbies! He’s one of those anomalous people who bounce back and forth between projects. He wears many hats.
“I love being in bands, I love the chemistry, I love being in that little club with your bandmates,” says Vig, noting that Garbage is already working on new music and may go into the studio in the Fall to track it. This is off the heels of their 2025 album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light.
But before then, it’s the Joey’s Song benefit. This year, the event will be in a 2,500-person venue in Madison, The Sylvee. The event grows every year, right along with its impact. What started in a little coffee house some 15 years ago has become an annual tent-pole event in the chilly college town.
“Everyone is there to collaborate together and play music,” Vig says. “I just got off the phone with Curt Smith of Tears for Fears—we have such an eclectic and fantastic lineup. I’m really psyched for this year.”
Photo by Bo Vig
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