LIVE NIRVANA INTERVIEW ARCHIVE April ??, 1990 - Madison, WI, US

Personnel

Interviewer(s)

Tim Perlich

Interviewee(s)

Kurt Cobain

Krist Novoselic

Chad Channing

Sources

Medium	Publisher	Date of Issue	Title	Transcript
Print	Now	04/12/1990	Guitar Onslaught Nirvana's Promise	Yes

Transcript

Seattle’s Nirvana is barrelling into Toronto with a trailer-load of guitars. Hot on the heels of Sub Pop label-mates Tad, Nirvana's heaving axe slash is every bit as damaging, but the lasting scars are left by the groups pure pop melodicism. A bottom-heavy buzz creeps around monolithic guitar riffs, while the deeply troubled Kurdt Kobain erupt with showers of self-loathing.

“The way we write songs has never been a conscious choice with us,” explains guitarist/vocalist Kobain. “It comes out of laziness. It just happens to be much easier to act pissed off and write angry songs then tried to be nice. Hiding behind a bunch of noisy amplifiers and screaming is an easy front.”

Nirvana are currently hold up in Madison, Wisconsin, where they've been finishing up recording, with the master of obnoxious noise, Butch Vig, producing. If Vig’s track record with full-on scorch groups like Killdozer and the Bastards is any indication, we should get a glimpse of an even darker side of Nirvana. It would now seem that the decision of former Nirvana guitarist, Jason Everman, to jump ship for Soundgarden because Nirvana were “going jangle pop” was a bit hasty.

“I guess you could say we had our musical differences with doctor Jason Everman,” sneers drummer Chad Channing. “That asshole.”

“This ‘jangle pop’ stuff is completely untrue. Jason was just a pussy! As far as the new recording goes, Butch is the greatest. He put pieces of plywood on the floors and the walls of the studio to get an echo chamber effect for the drums, which was kind of neat. We won't be able to tell until we've done the mix if it will surpass our Seattle recordings, but it sounds great so far.”

Now, with the widespread recognition the Seattle-based Sub Pop label has received as a filling station for high octane guitar grunge, its bands are beginning to break free of Sub Pop’s cleverly promoted “Seattle sound” to display more of their individuality.

“Our bass player, Chris Novoselic, and I grew up in the redneck lumbering town of Aberdeen, Washington. I worked as a babysitter and a perfume salesman at K-Mart. While everyone else was playing football, I was changing diapers. I don't think that region had much of an influence on our sound. Any manic-depressive kids who grew up in their bedroom, whether they live in Washington or Manhattan, would probably have the exact same thoughts as we do.

“We're not just a grunge band, as some people seem to think. We can do anything, even Rush covers - we just that good. Actually the only covers we've ever considered doing were songs by Canadian groups like Loverboy, Saga, Anne Murray and even Tesla - are Tesla from Canada?”

© Tim Perlich, 1990