Recognize this album cover? Of course you do. Nirvana’s Nevermind is easily regarded as one of the most identifiable album covers to exist. Robert Fisher, the art director for Nirvana, helped create this iconic photo. He has been posting his collection of original and never-before-seen Nirvana artifacts on Instagram, @nirvanabucket.
The page serves as an online museum, and on it you can find everything from promotional flyers to original CD artwork samples. Robert Fisher often fills his captions with stories from his experience working with the band, and particularly working with Kurt Cobain. For example, along with posting the original photo scan of Kurt’s painting featured on the Incesticide cover, Robert explained the directions Kurt gave him. It’s an interesting look behind the scenes of one of the world’s most influential bands.
What led you to make the Instagram account?
“I knew I had a bunch of things saved from my time working with them, so I figured I would start an account just for Nirvana stuff. I want it to be a place where fans and collectors can learn a few things or share knowledge. There are some hardcore collectors out there that really know their history about the band. Call themselves Nirds!”
Collecting was actually something Robert enjoyed doing when he was younger. “As a kid I was really into collecting music ephemera for my bedroom walls. A friend and I would skate around and dumpster dive behind record stores and score some amazing things that I couldn’t believe they would throw out. All that promotional music memorabilia had a special place in my heart. I still have most of it from Led Zeppelin store displays and posters to stacks of punk rock flyers from the 80s.” Luckily for those eager to know more about Nirvana, Robert continued this habit and saved all the samples he was sent while working as the band’s art director at Geffen Records.
In addition to posting his own memorabilia, Robert has been really happy interacting with fans. They often send Robert pictures of their collections to ask questions or just share their memories. Going through his own collection and reliving memories has been very enjoyable for Robert as well, and he even claims to have learned a few new things from the fans he has talked to on Instagram.
Robert especially enjoys sharing samples that were never released. According to him, fans tend to like looking at the unreleased or early compositions because they get a chance to see other possible versions of their favorite album art. “I had these printed samples of a VHS box for Smells Like Teen Spirit. I put them up on @nirvanabucket and everyone was freaking out saying they’ve never seen them before. Turns out it was printed but never released. Which I had totally forgotten about.”
The Instagram is full of cool stories from an insider’s perspective, so take a peek if you want to explore the iconic history of Nirvana from Robert’s unique point of view. Or if you just want to become a more knowledgeable Nird.
