LIVE NIRVANA INTERVIEW ARCHIVE June 26, 1992 - Roskilde, DK
Personnel
- Interviewer(s)
- Vanessa Warwick
- Interviewee(s)
- Kurt Cobain
- Krist Novoselic
- Dave Grohl
Sources
| Publisher | Title | Transcript |
|---|---|---|
| MTV Europe | Headbanger's Ball | Yes |
Transcript
MTV: OK, Nirvana have joined me on the Headbanger's Ball from Roskilde in Denmark, and I'm very pleased to welcome the guys to Headbanger's Ball on MTV Europe for the first time. So, errr, hi guys! Welcome!
Kurt Cobain: Hi.
Krist Novoselic: Hey, where's Riki Rachtman anyway? Who do you thinking you are? Riki Rachtman-o? Boris Badenov and Natasha…
MTV: [Laughing] OK now, in just about a year, you guys have gone from kinda like the underground stage to the world stage. Have you had any time to enjoy your success?
KN: Well, all the world's a stage…
KC: Nothing but misery and heartache…
KN: Only pain, suffering and death.
Dave Grohl: I wish I just would've blown my head off and gone straight to hell… it's awful.
MTV: No but, seriously, you've been on tour a lot and that's a very gruelling routine…
KN: We don't tour that much anymore, we take it easy now. We wear the pants in this family… we wear the skirt in this family, because I came from a family with a really dominant mother.
KC: Hey you heavy-metal boys, shave your hair and wear a dress!
KN: Weeeee!
MTV: Do you ever feel now that you're suffering from the kinda Guns 'n' Roses syndrome, where people want to take more interest in, like, the gossip and the hype surrounding you, rather than the music?
KN: That is just so bad, I mean… Rona Barrett, remember her? She was a big writer for, like, The Weekly World News or something like that…
KC: Oh yeah… Wasn't that just in America, though?
KN: I think it was just in America, ya… Y'know, that's just like the Merv Griffith syndrome, right? I mean, jeepers creepers… I don't know, that's just like soap opera, right? That's just like The Days Of Our Lives… The Days Of Nirvana… [turning to Dave] y'know Dave, I'm gonna have to leave you because I'm going out with Kurt now…
KC: Ha ha ha!
KN: And that's really happening in this band! That's some dirt on this band!
KN: We want people to come to our shows and just forget about their problems… I mean, it's not at all… I mean, it's always good to have a dialog sparked up, but to be some kind of leader… something like… leaders really suck, and ideologies really suck. I mean, you have to be responsible for yourself. And… [laughs] long-winded diatribes… whatever, I don't know!
MTV: Now, we've got the new video for Lithium on the way, ummm, how much do you think that video has contributed to your success?
KC: The Lithium video?
MTV: No, just video in general…
KC: Ohhh, a lot in the States, because MTV is a really big, popular thing in the States. I realise that it's not that popular in Europe but, ummm, it has a lot to do with making or breaking a band in the States. So… we owe everything to MTV in the States.
KN: That's right!
MTV: All your videos have been really different and not a cliché in sight, really…
KN: [Nodding] Thank you.
MTV: That is a medium that is difficult for a band to have control over, because you don't really… y'know, the video is in the hands of the director, kinda thing…
KN: [Pointing at Kurt] Not with Kurt Cobain around!
KC: Yeah, I'm a little Napoleon!
KN: He's a little Napoleon, right! [laughs]
MTV: Do they really come out as per how you wanted them to represent the song, kinda thing?
KC: Well, yeah! I mean, not with Krist Novoselic around! [smiles]
KN: Yeah, that's right! As I stomp my foot on the ground, assertively… and raise a lot of dust. I stomp the ground like a rooster and I peck the ground like a chicken!
MTV: [Laughing] Yes, this is very serious stuff! And, very quickly, ummm, you've done a lot of touring, you've seen lots of different parts of the world and lots of different cultures, do you think that may have some effect on your song-writing in the future? That you've absorbed some more influences, kinda thing…
KC: Maybe, maybe not. Yes, no, maybe so. I don't know. I'm all confused.
KN: You're a poet and you don't know it! Hey! It's nice to see the world, we've been to so many places and seen a lot. I mean, we were in, like, west Belfast the other day and that was really wild… Singapore…
KC: That was one of the best shows we've ever had, in Belfast! It was amazing! The reception was incredible!
MTV: Are you able to write on the road, or is it something that you'd rather have a break after the tour and then go back to writing?
KC: Ummm, we hardly ever write on tour. Hardly ever. [shakes head]
MTV: Well, thank you very much for talking to me! It's been most interesting! And right now, on the Headbanger's Ball, we are going to see your new video for Lithium.
© Vanessa Warwick/MTV Networks, 1993