Month: December 2023

Having been obsessed with the 90s for the majority of my life thought it was only fair to choose a track from that decade. I have decided to go with the track ‘Drain You’ by Nirvana. Nirvana was the band that got me into music, and more importantly, into playing guitar which is another reason I thought it was a fitting choice.

When asked what his favourite composition he had written was, Cobain cited ‘Drain You’ as one of his favourites, telling David Fricke in a 1993 Rolling Stone interview that he thought it was as good, if not better than “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” “I love the lyrics, and I never get tired of playing it,” he said. “Maybe if it was as big as ‘Teen Spirit’, I wouldn’t like it as much.” (Fricke Kurt Cobain, the Rolling Stone interview: Success doesn’t suck 1993) I would have to agree with this statement as I have always regarded it as one of the most underrated and unique songs in their catalogue.

The song kicks off with Kurt strumming his clean jangly guitar unaccompanied while singing, “One baby to another says I’m lucky to have met you.” After the song’s opening vocal line, there is a significant volume increase with the arrival of loud distorted guitars alongside a powerful combination of drums and bass. The huge guitar tone heard throughout the majority of the song can be attributed to the sound direction of Butch Vig pushing Kurt to do several dozen overdubs.

According to Vig ”Drain You probably has the record for most guitar overdubs on nevermind”. He wasn’t happy with the original cut of the track so he made Kurt go back and overdub an additional 5 tracks of the rhythm guitar (for a total of 11), two tracks of the mesa boogie, two of the fender bassman and one additional track Butch described as the ‘super grunge’ track which was a pedal into the bassman (on top of clean tracks recorded with a vox ac30). Vig also stated that the guitar tracks are not always equal in volume but at points in the song they come up and are blended/panned to give it what he describes as an ‘orchestral sound’. (Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind 2005)

When micing Kurt’s guitar amps in the studio, Butch used an SM57, an AKG 414, a Neumann U87 and sometimes the Sennheiser 421. Usually multiple microphones at once placed at different angles and positions to capture a wide variety of tones. This allowed him to blend these different microphone signals during the mixing process. (Staff MacProVideo.com 2023)

Structurally, ‘Drain You’ adheres to a conventional verse-chorus pattern but deviates with its unique pre-chorus build-ups and psychedelia inspired breakdown. When recording the vocals on the record Butch and Kurt had different ideas with the way they wanted the vocals to sound, Kurt wanting a more raw approach without any overdubs. Butch has been quoted saying ‘there’s a problem with the track it didn’t record properly or that its out of tune’ to trick Kurt into recording more vocal takes. (Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind 2005)

Like with most Nirvana songs, the lyrics are generally left up to interpretation by the listener. In the biography ‘Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana’, the author Michael Azerrad described ‘Drain You’ as “a love song, or rather a song about love,” in which the babies in the lyrics “represent two people reduced to a state of perfect innocence by their love”. Kurt told the author that the lyrics made him think of “two brat kids who are in the same hospital bed”. (Azerrad Come as you are: The story of Nirvana 1993) The visual elements within the song foreshadowed the medical imagery that would appear prominently on Nirvana’s next album In Utero.

During the middle section, a sort of Sonic Youth esque ‘freeform freakout’ as described by Butch (Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind 2005). Kurt brought in a bunch of squeaky toys to accompany the section along with using his voice to make sound effects that sound like steam. The sound engineer Andy Wallace ran them through some delay and reverb units to create a seriously ‘trippy’ environment. This section of the song sets it apart from most Nirvana tracks, being a pivotal moment in the song the section introduces a shift in dynamics and tone, adding depth and complexity to the overall composition.

The breakdown begins with a sudden decrease in volume and intensity. The drums adopt a more subdued rhythm, emphasising restraint riding on the toms, accompanied by modulated guitar strums and trippy foley effects. Compared to the preceding high-energy chorus this is a drastic switch-up in tone overall. As the song continues, there’s a buildup of feedback and distortion, adding an eerie dissonant texture to the sound before a lead chromatic riff comes in as Kurt lets out a haunting screech and the song comes full circle back to the verses.

This scream is a staple of the live performances, best exemplified in their Paris 94′ show on the french tv program ‘Nulle Part Ailleurs’. During the performance, Kurt’s guitar suddenly cuts out in the middle of the breakdown leading him to angrily throw his guitar onto the floor before letting out a blood-curdling scream as the band comes back in. This is by far my favourite performance of the song.

When compared with some of Nirvana’s more mainstream hits like ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ or ‘Come As You Are’. ‘Drain You’ embraces a much darker, more experimental side of the band. The way the song was recorded with its intricate layers of guitars and experimental middle (trippy) section, really captures Nirvana’s boldness and Butch Vig’s skillful touch. During the ’90s grunge scene, ‘Drain You is a shining example on how the band weren’t afraid to take risks and try new things. Its complex sound and deep themes make sure it’s remembered as a key piece of music history and as a shining example of the band’s creativity and an unforgettable part of their music collection.

Azerrad, Michael. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Broadway Books, 2001.

Cross R., Charles; Berkenstadt, Jim (February 22, 2012). Classic Rock Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind. New York City: Schirmer Trade Books. ISBN 978-0-85712-768-6.

Fricke, David. “Drain You.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Nov. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drain_You#:~:text=Cobain%20cited%20%22Drain%20You%22%20as,playing%20it%2C%22%20he%20said.

Fricke, David. “Kurt Cobain, the Rolling Stone Interview: Success Doesn’t Suck.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2023, www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kurt-cobain-the-rolling-stone-interview-success-doesnt-suck-97194/.

Vig, Butch. “Nirvana – Butch Vig – Nevermind Mixes.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 Apr. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGPrN3854MM.

“Butch Vig Shares the Guitar Recording Secrets of Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters and More.” Guitar.Com | All Things Guitar, guitar.com/features/interviews/butch-vig-guitar-recording-secrets-nirvana-the-smashing-pumpkins-foo-fighters/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023.

Terry Shand and Geoff Kempin,. Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind. Eagle Vision, 2005.

Staff, MPV. MacProVideo.Com, macprovideo.com/article/audio-hardware/nirvana-s-gear-in-the-nevermind-era. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.

Over the past 9 weeks of friday classes, I have learnt plenty. By being placed in a new uncomfortable environment I have been able to study completely new music genres and production techniques. On top of this, I have had to pay special attention to tracks and artists I am already familiar with, analysing them on a deeper level that I would likely not have done on my own without being pushed to do so.

Within our first week, we were tasked with answering the question that was: What is music production? This was a heavily intriguing start to the course and gave me a brief glimpse into the classes for the future while also preparing me for the blogs I was going to write in the coming weeks.

During week two we delved into analysing songs for the first time. With my choice to analyse ‘Blue Hawaiian’ by Pavement, i gained a newfound love for the track. When discussing other tracks I had analysed such as ‘Orange Peeler’ and ‘Bloom’ I realised there were multiple released versions of each, including demos and re-recordings that I would’ve unlikely known about if I wasn’t tasked with actively listening and analysing each.

Later on we looked into the African record label ‘Hakuna Kulala’, exploring culture and how it can relate to the music in different areas of the world. I was able to relate to my classmate Orlando when we both chose to research the artist ‘Adomaa’ for our weekly blog. Admiring her wilful combination of her gospel background fusion with her jazz and r&b influences to create some songs that I genuinely enjoyed.

As the course has progressed i have looked into more obscure niche genres that I hadn’t really even heard of before such as breakcore, industrial and noise. This exposed me to a wider spectrum of music, expanding my appreciation for music and my knowledge on the subject. By researching them I discovered unique sounds, innovative techniques, and unconventional approaches to music production that could possibly inspire my own work.

For example when Brian Eno utilised tape loops extensively in his early ambient works like “Music For Airports.” He would record segments of music on tape loops, allowing them to play and overlap, creating layered and evolving sounds and textures. Although not physically possible for me to do, I can recreate such effects on ableton for my electronic music production project.

Throughout these past weeks, writing the blog posts has made me a lot more confident in myself and my ability to write creatively and reference my work, perhaps even some ideas and certainly some techniques for music production for my other assignments.