181. Dave Mudie (Courtney Barnett) on Nirvana 'Nevermind' (1991)

Dave Mudie, the deft powerhouse drummer who has been the engine room of Courtney Barnett's CB3 since 2012, joins me to talk about the album that changed music for him - and the rest of the world - Nirvana's iconic album Nevermind. We talk about how a love for Nirvana united Dave, Courtney and bassist Boanes Sloane when they first played together in country-psych band Immigrant Union, the influence of Dave Grohl on his playing in songs like Pedestrian at Best and Depreston, being gifted a bottle of scotch by Grohl at a gig, running after a Krist Novoselic lookalike by mistake, the unique perks of the power trio formate that Nirvana, Led Zeppelin and the CB3 all used to their advantage - and what Dave, Boanes and Courtney have been playing in the tour bus while traversing the globe for the past few years. We also delve into how producer Butch Vig used the ghost of John Lennon to convince Kurt Cobain to embrace more refined production, why Cobain later disavowed many aspects of the album, the track that almost didn't make it on the album due to human error, how the record label underestimated the demand for the album, and whether an album like Nevermind could have the same impact on the direction of music today. My Favorite Album is a podcast unpacking the great works of pop music. Each episode features a different songwriter or musician discussing their favorite album of all time - their history with it, the making of the album, individual songs and the album's influence on their own music. Jeremy Dylan is a filmmaker, journalist and photographer from Sydney, Australia who has worked in the music industry since 2007. He directed the the feature music documentary Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts (out now!) and the feature film Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins, in addition to many commercials and music videos. If you've got any feedback or suggestions, drop us a line at [email protected].