Glen Lockett, the producer and in-house engineer at legendary punk label SST Records, better known as SPOT, has died, former SST co-owner Joe Carducci reports. He had been on oxygen after his fibrosis affected his lung function in late 2021, and three months ago he was admitted to a hospital after a stroke, Carducci revealed in a Facebook post. Lockett died today (March 4) at a health facility in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
As a longtime in-house producer for SST Records, SPOT essentially ran the boards for the crux of 1980s American punk rock. He produced over 100 records, many of which are bona fide classics in the world of punk and music. hardcore and have influenced artists outside of the genre. Highlights of his body of work range from numerous Black Flag staples such as Damaged, my warand jealous again to Minutemen’s the auction, What makes a man start fires?and Buzzing or howling under the influence of heat. Spot also produced Descendents’ milo goes to collegeHüsker Dü’s zen arcadeMisfits’ AD Earth / Wolf Bloodand Saint Vitus’ self-titled debut, along with bonus records for those bands and others.
Born Glen Lockett in Los Angeles in 1951, SPOT was raised by his Native American mother 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 whatever music he could find on AM radio. After learning the guitar at age 12, SPOT tried his hand at the clarinet and even auditioned for Captain Beefheart. It wasn’t until years later, when he offered to help with the construction of a recording studio, that he learned the ins and outs of studio recording.
Before becoming an integral part of the SST sound, SPOT was a musician, not a producer. While waiting tables at a vegan restaurant, he met Greg Ginn, the future co-founder of Black Flag and SST Records, and the two began playing together in his band. After witnessing a Black Flag show gone wrong, SPOT decided that he wanted to work with the board on their next record, a decision that would result in many “headbutts” and eventually into the 1980s. jealous again. The rest was history.
“[SPOT] he wrote his name in all caps with a dot in the middle of the O,” Carducci wrote on Facebook. “He started out in Hermosa Beach playing and recording jazz and brought the primacy of live jazz to recording bands against the prevailing attempts to soften or industrialize a back-to-basics art movement in sound. As he approached the mixer, SPOT would assume an Elvis-like stance and then, gesturing to all the knobs, say in a Louis Armstrong-like voice, ‘This is going to be gelatinous!’”
