Craig Montgomery, Nirvana’s live sound engineer from 1989-1993, recently did an AMA on Nirvana’s Reddit. Below are highlights.
How do you feel about in utero as an album?
Meh. It has a couple good songs on it, but a lot of them were recycled old ideas. Because of everything that had been going on the previous couple years (all the touring, legal and drug troubles) there wasn’t much writing or rehearsing going on.
I don’t like the sound much either.
What was Kurt like on the road? Was he moody or did he ever have an attitude about doing shows?
He was a funny, smart, witty , sarcastic guy, usually fun to be around for sure. Sometimes quiet and needing alone time though.
He lived for playing shows.
Hi Craig, I missed the AMA so you may never see this, but I wanted to throw in that as a longtime Nirvana fan I feel the version of Aneurysm you recorded with them in 1991 (that ended up as a B-side on the Teen Spirit single) is the definitive and “best” version they ever recorded. It’s such a powerful take. Do you remember much about that recording in particular? Thank you so much!
That song worked out well because they had already been playing it live for a while. All the parts were already written, even the vocal! Kind of unusual for that session. Only Aneurysm and Even In His Youth were finished songs at that point.
Might be a little late here, so if this goes unanswered I totally understand ?. Do you still keep in contact with Krist and Dave? When was the last time you talked to them?
Not really. Last time I saw Krist was when the Nirvana exhibit opened at the EMP in Seattle. A few years before that, Dave stopped by my work to see Mike Watt playing and gave me a hug.
I was offered a ticket to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, but I didn’t go. I kind of regret that now, but at the time I felt weird about going.
