A Review

'I Found My Friends' is Nick Soulsby's second NIRVANA book (see our review of his first book entitled 'Dark Slivers' here). As the title suggests it is ostensibly the history of NIRVANA recounted through "the words of the musicians and producers who played and interacted with them". Does this approach really offer a new insight into the story of the band or is it just another opportunity for the same folks to tell the same stories again?

Understanding the book's context is perhaps the key to its strengths and weaknesses. The author states his inspiration as his fascination with the many bands who played with NIRVANA throughout their short career. In doing so he aims to shine a light both on NIRVANA and the wider musical scene of the time. These bands include NIRVANA's established contemporaries (such as the Butthole Surfers, Buzzcocks, Captain America, Mudhoney, Teenage Fanclub, The Fluid, The Jesus Lizard etc.) but more originally it includes the many more obscure bands who did not hit the big time and subsequently fell off the radar completely. In total the author states he interviewed over 200 musicians, many of whom have never gone on record before. This is an impressive research effort and the author's skill in stitching these interviews together to form a cohesive narrative should not be underestimated. Through their observations as fellow musicians (rather than awestruck fans or folks with a vested interest in how NIRVANA continues to be presented or their part in NIRVANA's history), the interviewees by and large provide a more down-to-earth and intimate portrait of NIRVANA, through their often mundane interactions the band. Whether this adds anything fundamentally new to the lexicon, however, is questionable, but it does at least back up what we have heard before in a new and largely unbiased way. For example, the usual dichotomies are recounted many times in the book by the different observers: for example Cobain could be engaging one minute and withdrawn the next, that the band could play both incredible passion on some occasions and on autopilot on others. Soulsby does also shine a light on some neglected areas of the NIRAVNA story such as the band's struggles in the early years to get noticed, the many drummers before Dave Grohl and some new information is unearthed too, such as the context of the South American shows, the real extent of Cobain's input as producer of Houdini and Cobain's intentions behind Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! It should also be noted that the author does provide balance in terms of his inclusion of less than flattering comments about the band members by some observers. Finally the author does succeed in his aim of helping the reader to appreciate the wider music scene of the Pacific North-West of which NIRVANA was, after all, just one band.

The book does, however, fall down somewhat when it diverges from its original intention to give a voice to the lesser-known bands that played with NIRVANA. Besides commentary from a couple of key folks in the NIRVANA story (such as Tracy Marander, Kevin Kerslake and Adam Kasper) there is no input from NIRVANA's producers, management, crew, key journalists, etc. This is understandable for a number of reasons (eg. access, their willingness to talk, etc) but it does lead to the majority of the book focusing on the years 1987 to 1991 (14 chapters) with 1992 to 1994 being covered in only 6 chapters.

The Verdict:

In summary 'I Found My Friends' is an interesting read and the only place you will find commentary from the vast number of bands and individuals who witnessed NIRVANA's rise and fall. Whilst it supports rather than debunks established truths it does so in an engaging way and does unearth some new facts along the way for the diehard NIRVANA fan. Soulsby does also fulfil his aim of enhancing the readers' understanding and appreciation of the wider music scene of the time. It is a shame that there was not more commentary from producers, management, crew etc. but in fairness perhaps that could or should be another book in its own right.

NOTE: the author maintains a regularly updated and interesting NIRVANA blog which can be found here.