Inside the Chaotic, Riotous Shoot for Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ Video
On August 17, 1991, Kurt Cobain, Chris Novoselic, and Dave Grohl arrived at GMT Studios in Culver City, California, to shoot a music video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The track was earmarked as the first single from Nirvana’s major-label debut album, Nevermind. Loosely inspired by the Ramones’ Rock And Roll High School and the teen rebellion film Over The Edge, Cobain had meticulously storyboarded every single shot to evoke an anarchic “pep rally from Hell.”
Directing Chaos and Mounting Tensions
Geffen tapped Samuel Bayer, a recent graduate from New York’s School Of Visual Arts, to direct the shoot. It was Bayer’s first gig in the music industry, a reality that quickly frustrated Dave Grohl. Armed with a loud bullhorn, the director tried to instruct the extras to look bored and complacent during the verses before tearing the place to shreds by the end of the song.
Instead, the crowd went completely out of control by the first chorus, prompting Bayer to scream at the top of his lungs for everyone to calm down and be cool or get kicked out. Meanwhile, tensions escalated on set. Cobain had wanted to direct the video himself, and as he drank mouthfuls of Jim Beam whiskey between takes, his frustration grew more palpable.
A Beautiful Riot
Sensing the mounting irritability, the band began egging the extras on because they didn’t like making the video either. At the end of the evening, Cobain encouraged the crowd to leave the bleachers and thrash around the band like a real punk rock show. The director lost control completely as chaos ensued.
“I’m like, ‘Okay, you guys want to destroy the set? Go, destroy the set,'” Bayer recalled to Rolling Stone in 2010. When the kids flooded the floor under his lighting, Bayer realized it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, thinking that God was on his side, and captured the riot that became the final minute of the video. In the edit suite, Cobain added a final touch against the director’s wishes: a close-up of his own face leering into the camera.
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