The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds
The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds
The Vinyl Guide
Ep566: Chad Channing - Love Buzz, Bleach & Early Nirvana
1 hour 9 minutes Posted Sep 28, 2026 at 8:12 am.
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Original Nirvana drummer Chad Channing shares stories from the Bleach era, Love Buzz single & other collectables, getting knocked out by Chris's bass and digging through his rare vinyl.

Topics Include:

  • Chad's prized find: an original Australian Dirty Deeds from a rummage sale
  • Hunting a Bill Evans record, and why jazz demands clean vinyl
  • Dad played LA jazz bass; Mom once sang with Chet Baker
  • How jazz quietly shaped his "drummer for the song" philosophy
  • Describing his drumming style in one word: adaptive
  • Nirvana's only instruction when he joined: powerful but simple
  • Coming from a math rock band with 13-part songs
  • The one time Kurt openly praised his drumming: In Bloom
  • How "About a Girl" got its name from Chad
  • Kurt finishing Bleach lyrics in a notebook while driving to the studio
  • Shelved songs, lost tapes, and Chad's forgotten cassette in the box set
  • Owning Love Buzz single #3; Kurt had #1, Chris #2
  • His blank-label Bleach test pressing, housed in a homemade cover
  • Nate authenticates Chad's Australian Waterfront blue vinyl live on air
  • The ultra-rare purple Waterfront pressing and why most were destroyed
  • Swirled Sub Pop variants, and why he's never played some
  • Knocked out by Chris's bass at the Bleach cover photo show
  • Tracy Marander's undeveloped rolls of never-seen Nirvana photos
  • Sub Pop steering early decisions while the band went along
  • Packed European shows: the moment they realized something big was happening
  • The Blew EP and its gynecologist-chair cover he never chose
  • Hiding under the drum riser with Kurt as bottles flew
  • Stuck alone in a broken Manchester elevator for half an hour
  • His European tour posters, including the coveted Lush show poster
  • Could his beat-up distortion pedal be Kurt's missing Astoria pedal?
  • A gifted Mustang, his kit at MoPOP, and heirlooms for his kids
  • Smart Studios sessions, and Dave Grohl keeping his drum parts
  • Here She Comes Now, Sappy, and becoming a Nirvana fan afterward
  • MS, a childhood leg injury, and a memoir about 73 moves

The wonderful photo by Rosetta Greek 

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