On April 5, 1994, 30 years ago, Nirvana singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain tragically ended his life, creating shock waves across the globe. On the occasion of this sad anniversary, John Kastner, one of the rare Montrealers to have known him, agreed to share his memories with The duty. Reached at his home in Los Angeles, Mr. Kastner looks back on the journey of Doughboys, the group with which he not only shared the stage with Nirvana, but also the backstage.
“The first time we met them was in Europe in the late 80s. We were finishing a tour and ended up in London at the end. That night Kurt had destroyed all of his equipment on stage and I remember helping their tour agent put the amplifier cabinets back in their cases…they were banged up. »
For John, this anecdote that occurred on December 3, 1989 is a significant personal event. But for Nirvana aficionados, this show has another symbolism: three songs that were recorded there are immortalized on the live album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah. That evening, Cobain reduced his guitar to kindling. It’s the last evening of a shaky and trying first European tour. Nirvana has just given 35 shows in as many evenings in around ten foreign countries.
During this famous evening at the Astoria Hall in London, the tension accumulated during these difficult weeks culminates in a perfect storm; chaotic, but liberating. Kurt gives all he has left of an energy fueled by unease. Some observers say this is when Nirvana first attracted international attention.
1991, the explosion of grunge
Doughboys toured in conditions identical to those described above before achieving success during the first half of the 90s. They are one of the rare Canadian groups to directly experience the explosion of grunge, the last great revolution of rock history.
“We didn’t even think it was possible to be on television,” admits John Kastner. “We were all young people from the KISS generation of the mid-70s who had discovered punk rock then hardcore and who then formed groups. All we wanted to do was perform. “No one could predict the atomic explosion that would follow the release of Nevermind by Nirvana, in September 1991.
In fact, just a few months before NevermindThe reality is different…
March 1991, snowstorm in Calgary. Two alternative rock bands that are on exactly the same level are set to perform the first of four planned shows in Alberta and British Columbia. “They had just recorded Nevermind, but the record had not yet been released. Dave [Grohl] was still relatively new to the band,” John recalls.
“The snowstorm meant that there were barely 40 people at the Westward Club concert. [Les promoteurs] had rented hotel rooms for the musicians, but also another for the party. So after the show we all went there to spend the evening and stayed up until the sun came up. I remember asking Kurt, “Who’s the band Screaming Trees we’re opening for in Vancouver?” » He told me that their singer was the best I was going to hear in my life. It was Mark Lanegan. »
Sure enough, a few days later, Nirvana and Doughboys warmed up the room for Screaming Trees at the Commodore in Vancouver. “Kurt saw our merchandise, the t-shirts and everything we had for sale and he said to me, ‘Are you thinking of a boy band with all this, or what?’ “He refused to put their sales table next to ours and sent a guy from their team to sell t-shirts outside the room.”
Six months later, Nirvana was catapulted into the musical stratosphere.
A last concert in Montreal in 1993
Doughboys was also propelled by the popularity of grunge. The Montrealers obtained a contract with the major A&M records which led to the release of the album Crushin 1993. Riding on the success of his song shine in rotation at MTV, Doughboys toured with Buzzcocks, pioneers of British punk. They have around fifty dates across the United States, from October to December.
On November 11, the tour stops in Boston. “That was the last time we saw Kurt,” John remembers. Nirvana was also on tour in Eastern North America during this period, in full promotion of the album In utero. Even just 10 days earlier, on November 2, Kurt and his musicians gave their last concert in Montreal, at the Auditorium de Verdun. Their route then takes them to Massachusetts and by chance they are on break that evening.
“They came to our show. MTV was there too and they had the idea of interviewing everyone. Kurt went outside the venue to chat with the fans. It was reported in some books because it was rare for him to do that. It created a lot of emotions. After the show, we were all backstage for the MTV interview, but I got tired of it and pushed myself. Then Kurt got disgusted and left too. Only Jonathan remained [Cummins, guitariste de Doughboys]Krist [Novoselic, de Nirvana] and Tony, the bassist for the Buzzcocks. Jonathan and Krist were being stupid, they loved doing stupid things together,” says the singer. This memorable and uncomfortable interview can be found on YouTube.
A week later, on November 18, Nirvana recorded their now legendary show Unplugged in New York. The Doughboys and Buzzcocks tour ends in December. 1994 arrives. Nirvana performs around twenty shows at the start of the year.
Until its ultimate, the 1er March, in Munich. Ironically, on April 5, 1994, the day Kurt Cobain died, Nirvana was scheduled to perform with Buzzcocks in London.
As for Doughboys, a tribute album is in the works and John Kastner is working on a vinyl reissue of Crush. We’ll hear about them again soon.