Everyone’s gearing up for a Nirvana frenzy as we approach the 20-year anniversary of In Utero and Sub Pop have added to the fray by releasing their initial contract with the seminal grunge outfit, showing that the iconic label spent a paltry $600 to sign one of the biggest bands of all time back in January of 1989.
The contract shows that the Seattle label agreed to advance the trio $600 for their first year, with an option to extend for a second year “if all obligations agreed to by both artist and label in this contract are met.” Sub Pop released the document via Tumblr, along with a note reading, “Six hundred bucks well spent — not that we had it at the time.”
Dave Grohl has weighed in on the anniversary too, telling Xfm that the re-release of In Utero has had quite the impact on him:
“I recognize myself back then and I remember what it was like to be in the band but it’s hard to believe that that much time has gone by. A lot has happened in those 20 years, when I think about In Utero and what the world was like, what my life was like back then, it’s strange.
“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. I look back at this album and looking at the packaging and the old pictures and listening to songs that I haven’t heard in 20 years, all of these rarities and demos, it’s kind of a trip.”
Yesterday the surviving members of the outfit released the uber-creepy director’s cut of Heart-Shaped Box, one of the approximately 76,456 extras and rarities set for the In Utero deluxe reissue, which is slated for release on 24th September in the US.
(Via Ultimate Guitar)
