From the time that 'Nevermind' came out in September of 1991 to the time that Nirvana was over, it was really just a few years, and a lot happened in those few years.
Two of my biggest musical inspirations are Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell.
Bands like Nirvana had theatrical sensibilities, playing with image, challenging assumptions people were making about them, the apex being Kurt Cobain in a dress to make a point.
I've always gravitated towards those ultimate lines in songs, the line you grab on to. That line in 'Smells Like Teen Spirit,' 'Here we are now/Entertain us' - the irony, the antagonism; that's always stuck with me.
And if I'm honest about it, I was obsessed with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. This is like '92, right in the throes of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam and Nirvana. I think I probably wanted to be Kurt Cobain.
My song 'Nevermind' was named after Nirvana's album, so when I had to choose a cover for my Spotify Singles session, choosing 'Like A Stone' by Audioslave was the natural next choice, as I grew up constantly listening to the song.
I grew up listening to a lot of emo music, a lot of rock music, a lot of rap music, a lot of trap music, funk, everything.
I saw Frances Bean at a Blink 182 show. And she was with a guy who looked just like Kurt Cobain.
A lot of what attracted people to Nirvana was that they were like the people you went to high school with.
That was a time when I did love music, I couldn't get enough of what was going on. Maybe it was Nirvana that brought me back. I guess it was a comfort because something that sounded so right - and non-commercial - had become so influential, so immediately.
Everybody got away from what Pearl Jam are supposed to be.
In January of 1995, my family and I moved to Seattle. Pearl Jam did the first of their live radio broadcasts, Monkey Wrench Radio, along with many other Seattle musicians.
I love Nirvana, Weezer and a lot of pop punk stuff - Blink-182, I loved.
Being in Nirvana was amazing an experience that will never happen again for me. And I look on them as some of the best and worst times of my life.
I was on the pro-Nirvana, anti-Pearl Jam bandwagon.
I don't wanna be Courtney Love - I wanna be Kurt Cobain.
I remember the first time I saw the 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video. I will never forget that day. I just wanted to see Kurt Cobain's face. I had a feeling he was very cute. But, I couldn't see his face. When I finally did see him, he was even cuter than I imagined!
My wife is from Seattle.
Nirvana was like that- Nirvana was like the only band to come out of that- it was like the same thing, Seattle was like this whole scene and it was like this big scene that was thrust upon America.
Every place has its own punk flavor, but they all borrowed ideas from SoCal. It's still a vibrant scene creeping into every crevasse of youth culture. When you hear grunge, you think of the '90s, but when you hear L.A. punk, it's timeless.
Looking back on the production of 'Nevermind,' I'm embarrassed by it now. It's closer to a Motley Crue record than it is a punk rock record.
The first album that I bought was the Nirvana 'MTV Unplugged in New York' album.
I feel like I have an affiliation with the '90s. I feel like a lot of things going on in fashion and pop culture were loud and outlandish.
Oh, I grew up in Seattle.
I don't think of Kurt as 'Kurt Cobain from Nirvana'. I think of him as 'Kurt'. It's something that comes back all the time. Almost every day.
