siqsou

93 was a bad year in general for kurt's relationships, everything was crumbling as a result of his drug addiction and deteriorating mental health. close friends were estranged as he grew more and more closed off. this led to a lot of unnecessary fights and disputes, such as what happened with the royalties. i'm sure there was a lot more going on behind the scenes but i'm not gonna speculate on that further.

dave and kurt seemed to really butt heads toward the end. in addition to the royalties dispute, kurt also was threatening to remove dave as nirvana's drummer. michael azerrad, who had befriended kurt at that time through interviewing him for "come as you are", wrote in a new york times article in 2021 that, "Once, I stopped by Kurt’s hotel room when he started yelling that he wanted to fire Dave, unquestionably one of the great rock drummers, for being an unsubtle and unspontaneous musician." all while dave was in the next room, which azerrad tried to point out only for kurt to proclaim that he didn't care and continue on. azerrad also mentioned how dave had brought up to his biographer that, "on a flight from Seattle to Los Angeles he had overheard Kurt bad-mouthing his drumming two rows back." he wanted to quit after the last show they were scheduled for but was talked out of it last minute.

tensions were very high between them and it started showing up in little ways. i was able to spot two different instances of them being blatantly passive aggressive to each other. once during unplugged and the other during an interview in new york.

during unplugged, as they're leading into "man who sold the world" and kurt brings up how he'll be guaranteed to mess the song up, dave is clearly heard saying "yeah like he only screw's one up." it could just be jesting or playful banter about how kurt messes up songs during concerts but idk, something feels off about the way dave says it. like it's a jab more than anything. it's also notable that dave did not like being told to play the brushes during "about a girl", which is in part dave being dave but also feels significant given what i mentioned before so it's worth bringing up.

as for the interview. in 93 after the release of in utero, nirvana was interviewed in new york for mtv. it's an awkward interview that was recorded for the sake of jotting down answers later for an article that was being written, but there's a notable tension between everyone in that room the entire time. kurt brings up the MTV interview in 92 where dave talks about not being able to play "rape me" to MTV themselves and laughs about it, all while dave half heartedly jokes along. could just be typical dave being baby brothered but idk it just feels like something that would've gotten a little bit of a greater reaction in any other circumstance. it was a silly moment, why does it feel sullen? there's also a point where they talk about being passive aggressive people, bringing up the amount of bitching kurt had done in "come as you are" where dave subtly points to krist and himself with a smile. later on when discussing the royalties split, dave rubs his fingers together in reference to the money. a sore spot still seemingly. little things like that throughout. other than the boring droll of the interviewer, it's what makes me cringe the most throughout the whole thing.