LIVE NIRVANA INTERVIEW ARCHIVE January 28, 1990 - Seattle, WA, US
Personnel
- Interviewer(s)
- Bill Reid
- Interviewee(s)
- Kurt Cobain
- Krist Novoselic
- Chad Channing
Sources
| Publisher | Title | Transcript |
|---|---|---|
| KITS Radio | Independent Hour | TBC |
| KNDD Radio | TBC | Yes |
Transcript
TBC
Transcript
Bill: Well here we are in San Francisco with Nirvana…
Kurt: [laughs] Yeah.
Bill: Yeah, good to see you guys.
Krist: Yeah it's a great town.
Bill: Uh huh.
Krist: So we were hanging out on Haight Ashbury, beat up some Dead Heads! [laughs]
Bill: [laughs] That was… for any Dead Heads listening, that was Chris over there. Where are you guys from?
Kurt: From Seattle, Washington.
Bill: Yeah? Your record, I think… what… you're on Sub Pop!
Kurt: We're on Sub Pop.
Krist: We're Sub Pop recording artists.
Kurt: [laughs]
Bill: Sub Pop recording artists now, right! How did you hook up with Sub Pop?
Kurt: We recorded a demo in Seattle at Reciprocal and, sure enough, Jon Poneman, head honcho of Sub Pop Records, called us up about a week after that. We started negotiating, put out a single…
Krist: You can't buy the single if you want it anyway, so what does it matter?! Since it's like a limited… "Sub Pop limited edition single!"
Bill: The tough part about Sub Pop is that sometimes you can't get ahold of their stuff 'cause they make so many collectors singles and things…
Kurt: Right.
Krist: Yeah.
Bill: So you just rented out… you can call Reciprocal and buy some time there?
Kurt: Yeah, sure.
Bill: Did you work with Jack End-Ino?
Kurt: Uh huh.
Krist: Endino.
Bill: Endino?
Krist: Jack Endino.
Chad: Yeah, he's the one that records us.
Bill: So the stuff I've heard is what Jack has produced?
Kurt: Yeah.
Chad: Yeah, yeah. He's the one that originally recorded the demo that Kurt was talking about. He got off on it and then gave it to the head honcho.
Bill: Who else… Jack has worked with Soundgarden and who else?
Kurt: Mudhoney, The Fluid, TAD…
Krist: He's in England right now, recording Blue Cheer!
Kurt: Yeah.
Bill: Seriously?
Kurt: He is!
Krist: And he's recording… while he's over there, he's going to Holland and he's gonna record a band called Love Slug.
Bill: You mention… you mention Blue Cheer, that's one of my favourite old '60s bands! Do you guys listen to a lot of Blue Cheer?
Krist: Sure!
Chad: They're right on!
Bill: They are! They're cool!
Krist: Vincebus Eruptum. They're from San Francisco.
Bill: Yeah, they are.
Krist: Eruptis? Eruptum?
Kurt: Eruptum.
Krist: Eruptum, yeah.
Bill: Yeah, they play taverns and stuff here in San Francisco, it's crazy!
Krist: Wow.
Bill: So who else have you guys been listening to?
Krist: The Vaselines, they're from Scotland.
Kurt: Young Marble Giants…
Krist: The Smithereens…
Kurt: Shonen Knife…
Bill: Shonen Knife, seriously? Chad, why don't you explain what Shonen Knife is? 'Cause I'm not sure how many people really know…
Chad: Well, like the meaning of the name perhaps? Well, Shonen Knife…
Bill: The band!
Kurt: The band themselves.
Chad: Oh! Well, they're 3 girls, 3 Japanese girls, that take time off from their different jobs and stuff, 'cause they all work and stuff, and they claim that their band and their music is their hobby or something. It's just like what they do for a hobby, but they seem to be getting more and more into what they're playing and stuff. In fact, they're supposed to be coming out with a new album real soon and hopefully they're negotiating to try and get it released over here again, 'cause they were having a bit of trouble with that, but they recently played in LA and they had a huge turn-out, so I think they'll probably have no problem with it. I dunno, I first heard of them in '84, I believe it was, when I got this cassette and I just went, "Ah, that looks really interesting!" 'cause it was written in Japanese, "Shonen Knife" and I've always been into Japanese things, so I looked at it and said, "Wow! I've got to get this!" So I picked it up and I put it in and it's just like the most perfect, beautiful, Barbie Doll, bubblegum, candy rock I've ever heard!
Bill: Yeah?
Chad: It's just amazing! It's great!
Bill: Are you guys doing any Shonen Knife covers?
Kurt: We want to.
Chad: Yeah.
Kurt: We do Vaselines covers. We do 1 Vaselines cover, but heck that's a good idea! What do you wanna do?
Chad: Oh boy, I don't know, there's so many groovy tunes that they do!
Bill: So, the records that I have from you guys… I've got Bleach, which is Sub Pop domestic, and I've got Blew, which is on Tupelo, it's an import EP…
Kurt: It's a promo EP for our last tour.
Bill: Oh, really? That's why it didn't come out in the States?
Kurt: Yeah. Well, actually it is available in the States, but not too many of them got here.
Krist: Yeah.
Bill: Now let's…
Krist: It's out of print now, too. It was just…
Bill: It's already out of print?!
Krist: Yeah, it was just like a promotional… "a promotional vehicle to help the band on it's European tour!"
Chad: We didn't even get one!
Krist: Who wants to hear you own record anyway?
Bill: Well, it'd be nice to have in the collection!
Krist: I know! I know! [laughs]
Bill: I mean, you want to be able to play it for your mom, don't you?!
Krist: Yeah, I gave one to my little sister, she likes it. My mom doesn't really care for it, she goes, "I don't know, Chris… I… I… I just don't like it." I'm like, "Okay, Mom. Well, you like Julio Iglesias…"
Bill: Yeah, it's like when my mom listens to me on the radio and I've got… I'm playing stuff like The Butthole Surfers and stuff… and for some reason she can't get into that either!
Kurt: "No, I don't get it! I just don't understand, there's a big generation gap going on!"
Bill: Yeah?
Krist: Yeah, rock 'n' roll is mainstream now, man!
Kurt: Well, like I was talking about the generation gap, I don't get it, this is the first time in rock 'n' roll history where parents and children listen to the same stuff! You know, this is the first time it's happened in 30 years, it's amazing! And that's not rock 'n' roll, you're supposed to be…
Bill: Rock 'n' roll has always been to me something that your parents ought to hate!
Kurt: Yeah!
Bill: You know, every generation, I thought, needed their own music that their parents hated.
Krist: "Hi, I'm Chris Novoselic from Nirvana, here's my card!"
© Bill Reid, 1990