Producer of Nirvana’s most popular album reveals that late musician was open to collaborations, but preferred to record alone and suffered from stomach pain
A mysterious aura was created around Kurt Cobain over the decades. As the success phase of the musician of Nirvana It lasted a short time-he died less than three years after becoming famous-few had a chance to meet him well.
Butch vig It is one of those people. The drummer of Grubby has a long career as a music producer and led the recordings of Snowmind (1991), album that took Cobain, the bassist Krist Novoselic and the drummer Dave Grohl to the stardom.
In an interview with Guitar worldthe studio professional revealed some details about Kurt’s work process. First of all: Although it led the group, the lead singer and guitarist in 1994 was well willing to let his colleagues help in the creative realm.
“He was very open to all kinds of idea. He brought different lyrics of music and showed me. Then he said, ‘I have some melodies here, which one do you like best from?’ And he sang the music in some different versions and I gave him some feedback on it. ”
At the time of recording, Cobain liked to create a comfortable environment. He put candles and a large carpet on the floor, creating a “really cool vibe” in the words of Vig. However, something was unenforceable: Kurt preferred to record his vocals alone, without the presence of bandmates.
“Krist and Dave appeared in the control room and heard from time to time, but Kurt kind of wanted to be alone when he was making his vocals. He didn’t like to use headphones either when he sang, so we set up a well-designed system where he could use the speakers. ”
Kurt Cobain versus the various recording attempts
Like a legitimate punk musician, Kurt Cobain repudiated excess studio trakes. For him, the best recordings emerged in the first or second attempts. Butch Vig describes:
“He made some outlets and said, ‘That’s it, I won’t do it anymore.’ The tricky part was trying to find out how to motivate him to perform really good performances. Sometimes his first or second shot was brilliant, but sometimes needed work. Needed to be more focused. ”
To circumvent this, the producer developed a curious strategy: record everything that was sung by the artist, even vocal warmths. He comments:
“Many times, I was starting to record while he thought it was just a warm -up. So I asked the engineer to move to a new trail and I would say to Kurt: ‘Okay, you’re ready for your first shot.’ If I was lucky, I could get up to four outlets of him. So I would take the best parts of each and ride with it. ”
Excited, despite the stomach problem
Kurt Cobain has faced a number of health problems over the years. In addition to chronic bronchitis and scoliosis, the Nirvana leader suffered from severe stomach pain. There has never been a diagnosis – and his diaries point out that he considered to take his own life for, among other reasons, no longer can stand the ardor and nausea.
Butch Vig says that, in fact, the musician was “very sensitive to certain foods.” The producer describes:
“Sometimes we had dinner and he was sick half an hour later, ended up spending 45 minutes in the bathroom. He was constantly taking Pepto-Bismol and things to relieve some pain. ”
Nevertheless, there was happiness in the SnowRind recording period. Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic were excited about Dave Grohl’s arrival in the band and the signature of a contract with a large label, Geffen.
“They were in Los Angeles, they had just signed with Geffen, they had a little money, so they left and did a little party. I know they used to go to Venice and stayed up all night. After we finished working in the studio at midnight or one in the morning, they would go out and stay away until the sun was born. Sometimes I arrived at the studio at 1 pm and they didn’t show up until 15h because they had slept late. But basically they appeared when they needed to appear. There was no serious party happening in the studio. They were there to work. ”
NIRVANA AND SNOWMIND
Nirvana’s second studio album, Snowmind (1991) has become one of the best-selling records of all time: more than 30 million copies sold throughout the planet. Going beyond, the work was responsible for shaping rock and even pop culture from the early 1990s, with a proposal that went against virtually every excess of the 1980s.
+++ Read more: Why Kurt Cobain made a point of not improving as a musician
+++ Read more: the classic bands that Kurt Cobain said did not enjoy due to macho lyrics
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Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
