Craig Montgomery, Nirvana’s live sound engineer from 1989-1993, recently did an AMA with the Nirvana Reddit. Below are highlights.
Do you think Kurt Cobain killed himself? Being someone in close proximity, what was the first thing that crossed your mind when you heard the news?
Yes, he killed himself. My first thought was “oh no, he finally did it.”
He had expressed suicidal ideation as long as I knew him.
Hey Craig! Thanks for doing this.
I have two questions:
How much more difficult was it to do sound from mid-’92 to the Jan ’93 stadium shows?
And to backpack on that, the São Paulo show was highly coveted by hardcore fans due to the nature of the show. Thankfully, a sizeable portion of it surfaced 3 years ago. Do you have any memories of that particular show and how the meltdown evolved? Do you give up running the faders and just sit back and take it in?
Thanks!
The stadium shows were really enjoyable to mix! Really no more or less difficult than any other show. It’s fun to have that much power at your fingertips!
A few years ago, Jack Endino and I listened back to those Brazil shows and we were laughing about how awful they were. The band were just not into it, for lots of reasons.
It’s kind of a bummer for me during the show because I’ve got this great mix going (according to me) but you can only mix what the band is playing.
Hi Craig. Have you seen Montage of Heck and what did you think of it?
I went to the premiere of Montage Of Heck. I liked it, the director’s idea was to let Kurt’s art speak for itself. It wasn’t supposed to be a documentary.
What were some of your favorite songs? (to mix, etc.)
I liked a lot of Bleach stuff- Blew, Floyd, About a Girl. Then Teen Spirit and Come As You Are. On A Plain was probably my favorite from Nevermind with the harmonies and I always made sure to hit Krist’s little bass break.
