The “most innovative punk band in Seattle”, according to Kurt Cobain
There’s an argument that the key to great music is not the place itself, but the people within it. Music history often talks about the legacy of certain cities as though New York invented indie or England invented punk, as if these sounds simply rose out of the ground.
But that obviously can’t be the case. Sure, landscape certainly plays a part. The harshness of a big city often lends itself to louder, grittier music, while quieter natural surroundings can inspire more delicate folk sounds. Politics also plays a huge role, as the rise of punk, for example, coincided with economic struggles and growing class inequality in certain countries.
At the end of the day, though, it all comes down to human hands and minds. While musicians can be inspired by the space around them, it’s always humanity and human nature that shine through the most.
So the argument morphs. I think it’s less about the city and more about the scene. It’s not so much about the actualities of a place, but the people who live there, the other artists, and the people that musicians are mixing with and working with.
Time and time again, great bands emerge from small, unexpected places and then speak in interviews about how incredible the people there were. In the 1970s, The B-52s were a perfect example, as the Athens scene in Georgia surrounded them with artists who encouraged their oddness. Today, smaller UK cities like Sheffield and Leeds offer further proof, with bustling, exciting music scenes removed from the pressure of London, full of artists supporting one another and helping each other refine their vision.
Nirvana might just be the best evidence of that. Quickly becoming the leaders of a new rock world as they spearheaded the grunge movement, the band always made it clear that they were nothing if not a product of Seattle.
It’s strange because in the grand scheme of things, they didn’t stay there that long. But as they cut their teeth in the Seattle scene, the lessons they learnt and the bands they encountered there forever influenced the group, as Kurt Cobain said, if there was one essential ingredient to their work, it was The Wipers – another band from the same scene.
“They’re the most innovative punk rock band who started the ‘Seattle sound’ like 15 years too early,” Cobain explained, as it wasn’t like The Wipers were necessarily their peers. But in a way, they were, as their legacy lingered in the city. When Nirvana started up there, the ghost was vital as Cobain added, “We learnt everything from The Wipers. They were playing a mixture of punk and hard rock at a time when nobody cared.”
It’s not just that the band influenced their actual sonics, but The Wipers gave them the same attitude that seems to make every smaller scene so great. It was an attitude and passion that couldn’t care less for the big league industry, prompting Nirvana’s sharp vision that would eventually see them break into it regardless.
