The punk band who inspired Nirvana’s ethos: “A different perspective about things”
Aside from leading the grunge movement, Nirvana borrowed the kind of alternative, anarchic mindset borrowed from the punk ethos of the 1970s, spearheading a subculture branded heavily by frontman Kurt Cobain and his own personal struggles. If the previous era’s rock and punk were lively entities surging against the grain, grunge was its docile cousin, slugging along with far more fatigue but no less damage.
While many of the grunge sensibilities Nirvana pioneered seemed much heavier and darker than the previous rock surge, much of it came from Cobain’s mind and his ability to adorn music with a brush of unfiltered authenticity. Though many of his inspirations stemmed from his tragic life and upbringing, his ability to inject such realism into music established grunge as a fresh force despite hinging on the edge and rawness of earlier pioneers.
Throughout their music, Cobain channelled his disillusionment with people and society, using his voice and music to speak about the messages and topics that hit home. Even when sexism remained at every corner, Cobain used his platform to challenge it, exposing the industry’s pitfalls and urging others to change what he deemed unacceptable.
While dismissing the work of others is a relatively common occurrence across all facets of the industry, Cobain’s remarks often reflected his own values, making his dissatisfaction appear as a real manifestation of his own standards and persona as opposed to merely a stunt to stir controversy. As he explained when discussing Led Zeppelin, “It took me so many years to realise that a lot of it had to do with sexism. I was just starting to understand what really was pissing me off so much those last couple years of high school.”
This dedication to honesty and authenticity made Nirvana one of the more cutthroat groups, less due to his willingness to never pander to any façade but more because their “realness” seemed genuine, especially with the band’s natural ability to call out pretence the moment they saw it. This ethos categorised many previous movements, but emerging from punk gave them an attitude that exuded naturally in their worldview and perspectives.
Discussing this ethos during an interview with Sounds in 1990, Krist Novoselic reflected on the power of attitudes that came from punk bands like Flipper and how it became a defining aspect of Nirvana’s musicianship. “Alternative music I always thought of as the counterculture – with punk rock, with bands like Flipper – and usually people who listened had a different perspective about things,” he started, “They considered most of the world to be just a bunch of imbeciles – which they are. But now you have alternative bands at such a large scale it’s not really counterculture any more.”
He also explained how this mindset infiltrated his everyday life, especially when he observes those around him in each and every setting and finds himself growing frustrated or amused by the vast expanse of fakeness around him. For this reason, he feels “prejudiced” towards people because of the things they view as “a big deal” when nothing means that much—”unless it’s love.” While others appear wrapped up in their own worlds, pressured by jobs, deadlines, and other restrictive circumstances, he fails to understand the intensity of some people’s values.
In this way, Nirvana remained one of the most original bands in history, each member placing immeasurable worth on staying true and disregarding anything that seemed corrupted by forgery. As a result, their music presented their realities in their most authentic state, ensuring that the grunge movement remained as powerful a force of expression as the previous punk movement.
