Cellist Kera Schaley has played in several bands over the years, but she is best known for a gig that lasted two days.
In 1993, Schaley recorded cello parts on two songs from Nirvana 's In Utero , "All Apologies" and "Dumb," as well as Dave Grohl , "Marigold." She rarely commented on her experience working on the album, but in a recent interview with Rolling Stone Music Now she spoke about it.
In the conversation, Schaley says she received the call to play on In Utero because she was dating producer Steve Albini at the time, so she was the first obvious call when Kurt Cobain expressed interest in recruiting a cellist for the album.
“I was only there for two days. It was just me, Kurt, and Steve in the studio. Steve and I went in first so I could listen to the songs, because I hadn't heard them yet. I figured out the parts really quickly. I showed him what I had in mind for 'Dumb,' and he said, 'Yeah, that's good. Can you mirror what I'm playing on that guitar line too?' I don't remember if I tuned the cello down a half step or not, but Kurt joked, 'Yeah, all rock songs are in E, so we tune down a half step to sound a little different.' [Laughs] I was used to people having little money and needing to record super fast. So, it took me about three takes to get it right. I kept saying, 'I'm sorry.' And he would laugh.”
“The funny thing about 'All Apologies' is that Steve kept trying to convince him not to put cello on it… Isn’t that funny?” Schaley said. “He kept saying he shouldn’t put cello on it. And I think he was being sarcastic and I thought, ‘That’s the joy of multitrack recording, I can record and you can take it out.’ But Kurt and I won in the end, so I got to play that one and that one was really improvised.”
“I think I only heard it once and then I had some ideas and started doing things. And I think they just kept the jam part, where I just played along. And later, he loved the deep sound, like the really deep, moaning sound of the low notes (…) And I have some noisy parts there. I also like to make noise on the cello. And if you hear some screeching sounds at the end, that’s me.”
Later, Schaley discusses an insult Courtney Love Michael Azerrad 's Nirvana biography , Come As You Are . “She doesn’t say my name, but she makes all these references, and all my friends texted me saying, ‘Look what she said about you.’ I thought it was pretty gross for someone who calls herself a feminist. So I sent her a joke letter, making fun of her for it. She called me in the middle of the night once, and I was honestly pretty drunk, but her way of apologizing was to say, ‘Sorry you thought I was talking about you.’ [laughs]”
