“A totally different world”: The band that changed Kurt Cobain’s changed
‘Life-changing’ is an adjective that is banded about fairly regularly in the modern age, attaching itself to everything from a lottery win to a new flavour of crisps. However, for multiple generations of music fans, the songwriting of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana was truly life-changing in every sense of the word. Emerging from Washington’s grassroots grunge scene, Cobain became one of the definitive rock voices of the 1990s, and his repertoire still connects with fans today, over 30 years since his tragic death.
Nirvana defined a generation with the release of their sophomore record Nevermind in 1991, breaking the grassroots sounds of Washington grunge into the musical mainstream of America. With that classic album, the band became one of the biggest rock outfits of the decade, amassing legions of fans around the world and crafting pioneering sounds that still endure today. However, the extensive history of Cobain and Nirvana stretches back much further than the release of Nevermind.
After all, Nirvana was a product of the grunge movement, which blossomed in the American Northwest during the mid-1980s. A reaction against the attitudes of mainstream arena rock at the time, grunge adopted a staunch DIY ethos, influenced by the punk and hardcore scenes that had preceded it. Pioneering groups like Melvins or Green River – who eventually morphed into Pearl Jam and Mudhoney – laid the sonic foundations for the scene and represented a colossal influence on the young Kurt Cobain as a result.
Cobain himself hailed from Aberdeen, Washington, a small coastal city around 100 miles southwest of Seattle. The songwriter struggled to find anything to relate to during his adolescence in Aberdeen, a social outcast without an outlet for his endlessly creative mind. “I always wanted to experience the street life because my teenage life in Aberdeen was so boring,” the songwriter shared in a 1992 interview with Spin.
Despite his dreams of escaping Aberdeen and connecting with the streets, Cobain’s plans didn’t really work out. “I was never really independent enough to do it,” he added. “I applied for food stamps, lived under the bridge, and built a fort at the cedar mill.” Before too long, the songwriter relocated to Olympia, Washington, where he immediately became entrenched in the city’s blossoming music scene.
Olympia has long boasted an incredible music scene. It became particularly notable during the early 1990s as a haven for the riot grrrl movement, which produced legendary groups like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, both of which Kurt Cobain adored. However, one band in particular changed Cobain’s life when he escaped his hometown.
“Until I met the Melvins, my life was really boring,” he revealed.
Hailing from Montesano, Washington, the sludge metal stylings of Melvins was utterly instrumental in the development of grunge, so it should come as no shock that Cobain was a disciple of Buzz Osborne’s outfit. “All of a sudden, I found a totally different world. I started getting into music and finally seeing shows and doing the things I always wanted to do while I was in high school,” Cobain explained.
In turn, Melvins were instrumental in the success of Nirvana, with Osborne introducing Cobain and Krist Novoselic to drummer Dave Grohl, who joined the ranks of the group following Bleach. Throughout his existence, Cobain always remained indebted to the sounds and attitudes of Melvins, as did countless other alt-rock and grunge acts of the era.
