Nirvana: News, History & Updates

Nirvana Biography by Greg Prato

Excerpts from Greg’s books for Alternative Nation

KURDT VANDERHOOF [The Lewd/Metal Church guitarist]: We used to throw parties at our “rehearsal barn” every once in a while, and they’d come out. I’d known Krist [Novoselic] for quite a while – Krist and his brother. I don’t really remember meeting Kurt – I met him, but it was very brief. They were the “grunge-y little band that didn’t know what they were doing” type thing. So, when they came out and took over the world, it was like, “What?! It’s not those guys…is it?” I mean that totally in jest.

MARK ARM [Green River and Mudhoney singer/guitarist, the Thrown Ups drummer]: I heard a tape that Jack Endino recorded, that was Kurt and Krist with Dale Crover from the Melvins on drums. I didn’t really think much of it at the time. Jack thought it was great, brought it to Sub Pop, and Bruce and Jon thought it was great, as well. I was really focused on what I wanted to do with Mudhoney. I was really into simple, primitive, aggressive, stripped down rock – and that early Nirvana demo somehow sounded too busy to me then.

BRUCE PAVITT [Sub Pop Records co-founder]: Jon and I did see them at the Central Tavern on a Sunday night – it was the first show they played in Seattle. Jon, myself, and the bartender were the only three people in the room. 8:00 on a Sunday – nobody showed up yet. They were playing with a drummer – I forget his name but he was the guy before Chad Channing [possibly Dave Foster] – and because they were from outside of Seattle, they had a more “suburban vibe” to them. The songs didn’t really stand out that much – but Kurt had a great voice.

KIM THAYIL [Soundgarden guitarist]: We played with them a couple of times – they opened for us. We saw them in Olympia. The cool thing was Ben [Shepherd] was at that gig – it was before Ben was in the band, we still had Hiro. Ben turned up at that show and just kind of laid there in the grass. When Kurt’s vocals were on, he was really good. But there were some problems – I don’t know if it was with his monitors or what, but sometimes the vocals were off. And Krist was the most animated guy in the band – but he wasn’t that animated.

CHAD CHANNING [Nirvana drummer 1988-1990]: We decided we wanted to go ahead and tour, even though we just had the single [“Love Buzz,” released sometime in November 1988 via Sub Pop]. So Bruce and Jonathan, they hooked that up with Bulging Eye. Our first tour with just the single was definitely hit-or-miss. A lot of the shows that we played on that first tour, the bigger towns we definitely had more luck with people knowing who we were. Most of the memories I pull up are from the Bleach tour, rather than the first one. I just remember being very poor. [Laughs]

KIM THAYIL: Bleach got so much damn airplay [amongst Soundgarden in their van, while on tour] – especially through Texas, man. When we did interviews then, people would ask, “What are you listening to?” And everyone said, “The best thing we’ve heard in a long time is the Fugazi debut [1988’s self-titled] and the Nirvana debut.”

CRAIG MONTGOMERY [Nirvana soundman]: A lot of us had that feeling, because people really seemed to connect with Nirvana. Like, all the hipsters were wearing Nirvana shirts. [Laughs] So, it wasn’t just another “indie band.” And it’s not just retrospect either – I had a feeling that Nirvana was really bubbling. Not that it was going to number one and sell multi-platinum, but Nirvana would be a solid kind of thing – that could at least sell a certain amount of records and do theater tours.

The analogy that everyone used at the time was Sonic Youth – Nirvana could be a “Sonic Youth kind of thing.” When it really connected with the kids the way it did, I wasn’t completely surprised. Especially after hearing Nevermind. The recorded version of “Teen Spirit,” it was like, “Wow. This is huge.”

KIM WARNICK [The Fastbacks singer/bassist]: The last time I saw him [Cobain] was at the Crocodile. In Utero [what would turn out to be Nirvana’s last-ever studio album, released on September 21, 1993] wasn’t out, but I remember I was talking to him about it, because I’d heard that they wanted to remix it, because Geffen didn’t like how raw it sounded or something. And he said, “No, we’re putting it out – it’s all fine.” He seemed really in good spirits. But then I didn’t see him for a long time – he kind of went underground.

TAD DOYLE [Tad singer/guitarist]: I remember we were on tour with Soundgarden. I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. Both Kurt Danielson and I thought, “God, this has got to be a mistake.” We didn’t know anything about it – all we heard is that he was dead. It was a day or so before we found out that he was shot. And then we’re like, “Well, did he get shot? Did somebody shoot him?” I remember the night we played that it happened, things just didn’t feel right. I was a good show, but something was missing. There was a weird vibe going on.

We got done with the show, and I believe it was Ben Shepherd or Kim Thayil came into the dressing room, and said, “Hey, I got some really bad news.” He told us, and it was just like walking around in a daze – trying to finish this tour. It was very hard on everybody. I’m sure it was more hard on his family than anything – his wife, kid, mother, father. It was just a sad thing. To this day, I still don’t know what the hell happened. It just seems like a real tragedy.

CHAD CHANNING: As a rule, I try not to [read books about Nirvana or Kurt]. But I’d have to say that I’ve definitely looked through Charles R. Cross’ book [2001’s Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain] more than any others out there. Of all the books that were written, I definitely found his book more interesting. A lot of my friends read these books, and it’s inevitable they’re going to relay information to me about things like that.

RON HEATHMAN [Supersuckers guitarist]: Nirvana redefined what rock music could be. It was one of the last “happy accidents.”

QUOTE SOURCES (CLICK LINK FOR ORDER INFO):
All quotes are from I Love Grunge: Grunge Is Dead Outtakes