Longtime Nirvana Sound Engineer Craig Montgomery Shares Stories About the Band: “There Was Lots of Laughing. Those Guys Were Hilarious”
When you talk with longtime Seattle-based sound engineer Craig Montgomery a few things become clear quickly. He’s a sweet fellow, gentle-hearted. He’s not out for fame, fortune, or any of those two ugly cousins. Instead, he cares about music, his friends, and the truth of his memories. This is all significant when one considers who Montgomery worked closely with during much of his time in the Emerald City in the ‘90s—Nirvana.
Montgomery began working with the legendary grunge band after the group released its debut LP, Bleach, and he worked with them through the Nevermind release up until In Utero. Montgomery, like others who worked with the famed label Sub Pop at the time, worked quickly, focused, and got along with bands Mudhoney and TAD at the time.
American Songwriter caught up with Montgomery to talk to him about a slew of topics, from his initial meetings with Nirvana and touring across the country in a van to working with them during the height of their popularity as well as what it was like when frontman Kurt Cobain was with his then-wife Courtney Love, and much more. Montgomery will be hopping back on the boards and doing sound at the upcoming 30th-anniversary celebration of Nevermind on December 12 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.