Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has revealed the band was “living in squalor” before Nirvana found success with Nevermind.
The drummer joined the band in 1990, and shortly after his arrival, they began to work on their second album. However, when he agreed to join Nirvana, there were no expectations for them to become a great success despite signing with Geffen Records. Yet, Nevermind took them stratospheric and made them more famous than they ever predicted.
During a reflective new episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast, Grohl, bassist Krist Novoselic and In Utero producer Steve Albini looked back on their time with Nirvana. In the conversation, Grohl explains how his life gradually changed as they became more successful and discussed his humble beginnings.
“It’s about the experiences that just kind of led, one after another, going from three kids that were basically living or touring out of a van to then becoming a huge band,” the Foo Fighters founder reflected, revealing he was only around 21 when he joined the band.
Grohl continued: “Before we made the record Nevermind, we were pretty much living in squalor. I was living with Kurt in this tiny little apartment and there were just corn dog sticks and cigarettes all over the place. I would have done anything to have my own apartment and to be able to do that through making music.”
The podcast host then claimed Geffen Records had only printed 50,000 copies of Nevermind, and when it became an unexpected hit, they halted production on albums by other artists to allow them to cater to the demand for Nirvana.
Meanwhile, Nirvana recently released the previously unheard live versions of In Utero tracks ‘Pennyroyal Tea’ and ‘Scentless Apprentice’.
‘Pennyroyal Tea’ was recorded in Los Angeles in 1993, meanwhile, ‘Scentless Apprentice’ is taken from a 1994 concert in Seattle. Both of these full shows have been reconstructed from the stereo soundboard tapes Jack Endino for a new box set edition of In Utero to celebrate its 30th anniversary. The project is set for release on October 27th.
