LIVE NIRVANA INTERVIEW ARCHIVE October 22, 1992 - Seattle, WA, US
Personnel
- Interviewer(s)
- Mark Goodier
- Interviewee(s)
- Krist Novoselic
Sources
| Publisher | Title | Transcript |
|---|---|---|
| BBC Radio 1 | Evening Session | Yes |
Transcript
Mark Goodier: OK, we have a transatlantic line linked-up to Krist Novoselic’s house, umm, hopefully he's on the phone - Hello?!
Krist Novoselic: Hey, how are you doin'?
MG: I'm good! I'm good and nice to talk with you! The last time you came in here was, I think, after a rather spectacular first launch into orbit of Nevermind. You've had time to sort of calm down and appraise things since then, I guess?
KN: Yeah, just kinda stand back and look at the wreckage…
MG: [laughs]
KN: …assess the damage.
MG: [laughs] Have you had a chance, actually, to put it in perspective now then?
KN: I guess there's all kinds of perspectives you could put it at… It's just, I dunno… At the end of the day, we made a record and a lot of people bought it and it's just down to the music. I mean, all the touring and all the promotion and publicity, that's all just like extra-curricular activities.
MG: I suppose, in the year you’ve been playing the old album, you know, you must be quite pleased now to be playing some new tracks, like you did at Reading?
KN: Yeah, we're sneaking those in. We don't do it as much as we'd like to because there's a lot of bootlegging going on…
MG: [laughs]
KN: We just don't… you know, I guess now that Nirvana bootlegs are really… there's a glut of them and the price is going down…
MG: Yeah…
KN: … due to our strategy, kinda not playing new songs.
MG: So, do you have a… I mean… what is you view on bootlegs? Are they not just something that a fan would buy? Does it really harm your record sales?
KN: No, I'm not worried about the record sales, I just feel a little exploited, you know? A lot of times, somebody’s taken it upon themselves to name the songs. And a lot of material we don't want released because we don't think it’s up to par, like, if they get ahold of some outtakes from the studio. I mean, it’s our music and they're just stealing our music!
MG: Yeah… I mean, if you think about it, if there was a Rembrandt painting that he'd only done half of and somebody flogged it out the backdoor, it’s the same kind of thing really…
KN: Umm hmm.
MG: Did you enjoy Reading?
KN: Oh yeah, I had a great time! That was the second year in a row and I… I just had a great time! [laughs]
MG: Was it as good as the first time?
KN: Well, it was a different experience. I mean, there's different people around there… and we were headlining…
MG: Mmm.
KN… and the first time was our first big festival like that, so we were apprehensive and excited. The second time, it was a little bit old… it wasn’t old hat, but we’d played a few festivals this previous summer and we were used to playing bigger…
MG: In comparison to the gigs that you do in the States, it is kind of a small thing, really, isn't it?
KN: We don't do that big gigs in the States. I mean, we played here in Seattle, our home town gig, and there was like maybe 9,000 people. Now, that's a big gig, see, I'm maybe out of perspective but, I mean, we don't play in front of 40,000 people in the United States - no way!
MG: I mean, you sound very relaxed. You seem to have done a good job of normalizing your life.
KN: Yeah. It just goes back to perspective, you know, this isn't gonna last forever. I dunno, you've got to have a certain level of humility in everything you do.
MG: Mmm.
KN: And, I dunno, I've been getting recognized a lot lately…
MG: Do you like that?
KN: No, not really, not when I want to do something, when I want to go to a bookstore… or yesterday, I went to go get my motorcycle license and people recognized me at the Department of Licensing. I was, like, “Oh, man! I don't wanna deal with this! I wanna get my license, you know!”
MG: [laughs] Now you know how Michael Jackson feels!
KN: Oh, yeah! He probably doesn't even drive!
MG: [laughs] He probably hovers just above the ground.
KN: He hovers, that's right! He's some kind of like entity, or something…
MG: But it's kind of easier for you because Kurt gets, you know, all the sort of publicity. He has to deal with that kind of negative vibe there as well.
KN: Yeah, I haven't had any of that. Yeah, he gets his fair share of that stuff. I mean, it's weird. It's just like the press wants a story and the story about the three losers from log- lumber town got old, so they had to get another story out, you know?
MG: The great thing about what you've achieved so far, is that you did it all on your own terms - you dared to just do what you wanted to do and not comply with what anybody else would require of you. Now, of course, you have this huge success and there are millions of people who want the next Nirvana album to be as good and as exciting as Nevermind. Doubtless, you want it to be as exciting, but we hear rumors of it being, you know, kind of more left-field and that kind of thing - is that the truth?
KN: There's gonna be some rockin' songs on there! We've pretty much got all the material… And we're just gonna forget about everything else and make the record we want to make, you know? Because people would smell a rat, if we were to make another Nevermind. It'd be like, “Oh, these guys, they just want more money” and then we’d have to live with that for the rest of our lives. It's just… I dunno if it’s humility or what, but… I mean, we have the songs written and now part of it is the production should, like, match what we want to convey in the songs, you know? I don't think it’s gonna be totally left… it’s gonna be left of Nevermind, that's for sure…
MG: Mmm.
KN: … but it's gonna be kinda like the pendulum swinging back towards Bleach… a lot more raw and a lot more aggressive.
MG: You don't need any more money anyway!
KN: Uhh, [laughs] after taxes, I dunno about that…
MG: [laughs] So what is the schedule then? Is this record going to be out, what, Springtime next year?
KN: Yeah, around that, early Spring. We're putting out a compilation record - it’s gonna be out in the middle of this December - of like old stuff, even stuff we did for your show...
MG: Oh, really? The session? That's brilliant!
KN: Yeah, a few songs off of that… and a few songs from Peel… and a few songs from our original demo we recorded in 1988… and Sliver and Dive… and an outtake from Bleach…
MG: That's great!
KN: Yeah, yeah! So, we're looking forward to that. We're getting that cookin’!
MG: Will you tour again in the near future?
KN: Yeah, we're playing in Buenos Aires in Argentina on October 30th, so if anybody wants to fly down there…
MG: What, are you buying the tickets?
KN: Sure!
MG: [laughs] That's a very nice offer!
KN: Yeah.
MG: [laughs] Don’t call us, call Krist in Seattle!
KN: That's right.
MG: And, umm, what about the UK, though, seriously?
KN: Uhh, there's no plans right now… no plans at all.
MG: OK. Well, we need you back here, anyway, at some point…
KN: We like coming back to the UK. We were always well received over there, back in ‘89 and ‘90. So, there's a place in our hearts for…
MG: Excellent! Well, thank you for your time!
KN: Well, thanks a lot, Mark!
MG: This is our Nirvana week, so we have part 2 of the Reading concert to put out on Thursday night and masses of Nirvana goodies to give away tomorrow night, and thank you for being part of it!
KN: Hey, you're welcome!
MG: Talk to you soon!
KN: Bye!
© Mark Goodier, 1992