New York City. Summer. 1989.
John interviews Nirvana in a hot and claustrophobic flat - an on-the-road crash pad they’re sharing with label mates, Tad.
The (then) four-piece are on tour with their recently released album, Bleach, and play at Maxwells, Hoboken, the night before the interview takes place - a performance John recounts as oozing intense raw power with an instinctively cataclysmic and captivating ending, despite playing to a crowd of just 10 people.
In this interview, a young Kurt Cobain talks about the creative process, the intensity needed to reach the peak of his songs on stage, and hints at a song he’s just written - a song believed to have gone on to become ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.
For an intimate account of this interview and gig, read John’s full article here.
This episode contains swearing.