Krist Novoselic returns as the bassist for the latest album from seminal punk band Flipper.
Listen to ‘Be Good Child’ MP3
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Few bands have ever hit the rock world with the impact of Nirvana. When their latest LP, Nevermind, was released late last year, few expected the disc to do much more than establish the band as a strong “cult” contender. But almost instantly, thanks to the immediate response to the album’s debut single, Smells Like Teen Spirit, the disc rocketed to the very top of the charts, shooting past the million sales plateau in the process. Not bad for a hard rockin’ trio from Seattle, whose previous disc, Bleach, had sold barely a tenth the number of copies as their current effort. But success hasn’t changed guitarist/vocalist Kurt Kobain, bassist Chris Novoselic and drummer David Grohl. In fact, when we recently caught up with them, you’d have had a hard time believing that this was one of the hottest rock bands in the world. To Nirvana, stardom doesn’t mean big cars, flashy clothes and tons of groupies; rather, it means simply being able to get on stage and do what they do best night in and night out.
Hit Parader: Do you find that your longtime fans react a little differently to you now?
Kurt Kobain: I don’t think we’ve really noticed too much of that. It’s not something we spend too much time thinking about. None of the fans we’ve talked to have said anything like that. Most of them are very happy for us, and they all seem to like the album. I know there is a temptation for people to think a band will change when they go from a small indie label to a major; even I thought that was true. But I don’t think it has been true for us. A few fans have noted that our sound has changed a bit, but that’s about it.
HP: In what ways do you feel your sound has changed from Bleach to Nevermind?
KK: First off, I don’t want to give the impression that any change there’s been has happened because we’ve gone on to a bigger label. That’s not true at all. I don’t think there’s really been that much of a change. Some people who were really into the last album, or who’ve seen us live over the years, say that this album is more commercial in some ways. Well, that’s just part of what we are. We’ve always liked some pop music, even if it wasn’t very commercial. There’s always been an element of that in this band. Maybe it’s been brought more to the front this time.
David Grohl: A lot of fans who listen to both albums don’t realize that Bleach was recorded two years before we began work on Nevermind, and a band does go through some changes during a time period like that - it’s only natural. But there’s also that opinion that if a band like ours is on a major label then we must have sold out and gone totally away from what we originally stood for musically. That’s not the case here.
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A recent article in Rolling Stone features Chad Channing’s new band Before Cars, where he also talks about songwriting and his days with Nirvana.
“In terms of songwriting, there may be similarities people might see with Nirvana — there is almost bound to be,” Channing says. “Maybe that’s why Kurt thought some of my songs might fit in the first place. But that never transpired. After Bleach, Kurt told me he wouldn’t mind having some help with the songwriting. I said, ‘Yay!’ That’s just what I wanted to do. Then I slowly realized that was not going to happen. It sort of killed my aspirations.”
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Krist Novoselic recently showed support for an alternate voting system to possibly be implemented in British Columbia.
Novoselic spoke at a rally on May 1st at the University of British Columbia, commenting on his transition from musician to political activist.
“Where there’d be a lot of enthusiasm for people who would want to participate in a benefit concert, or they’d want to testify at the local council meeting, there wasn’t a lot of enthusiasm for voting, which is basically the interface between the citizen and their government,” Novoselic said. “I was on-line, in 1996 and 1997, and I was browsing on-line and did some searches and I discovered proportional voting, preferential ballot, rank-choice voting, single transferable vote, and that there was a history of it in the United States and in Canada.”
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A recent announcement on Nirvana’s official MySpace page confirms that Nirvana’s 1992 performance at the Reading Festival will eventually be released, though a date has not yet been set.
“Some of you may have read a story in a UK publication, about the 1992 Reading Festival show being released on DVD in May. This is not true! Save your hard earned cash! This is an illegal bootleg, not produced from the original masters, or sanctioned by the band/estate.”
“The official Nirvana ‘Live At Reading’ DVD (to be announced in a future posting) will include restored video with pristine visual quality, re-mastered audio from the original audio masters in TRUE 5.1 surround sound, and a wealth of exclusive bonus features.”
“We will deliver you a package worthy of this landmark concert that will put any inferior bootlegs to shame.”
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Killers frontman Brandon Flowers recently shared some insight with UK’s NME Magazine regarding his aggravation towards bands like Nirvana and Led Zeppelin.
“We’ve been embraced in Britain in a way that I’ll never understand, and it’s such a wonderful thing,” Flowers says. “But over here [in America], people are still so obsessed with Led Zeppelin and Nirvana, those sorts of bands, that nobody else is allowed [to grow].”
“It’s not just us; there are a lot of great bands that have been held down or confined by the influence of these people that we’ve put up on pedestals. I’m tired of it, you know? I just want to knock them all off! And people don’t like that attitude. It’s almost like they don’t believe that it’s possible that anybody else can be the real deal.”
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One of Kurt Cobain’s final interviews is featured in the latest issue of Kerrang magazine. The issue includes a Kurt Cobain special, as well as a celebration of the life of the former Nirvana frontman with five classic Kerrang! posters!
More info is available at the Kerrang website.
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There are rumors that Kurt Cobain’s daughter Frances Bean could be the next face of Chanel for 2008. The 15 year old is featured in photos from a recent shoot for Harper’s Bazaar. The featured photos depict Frances as the leading role of various musicals, including Evita, Grease, and Beauty and the Beast.
“These people are fascinated by me, but I haven’t done anything,” she says. “If you’re a big Nirvana fan, a big Hole fan, then I understand why you would want to get to know me, but I’m not my parents.”
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Ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl has announced he will make a presidential bid for the United States election in 2008. The latest issue of Harp Magazine interviews Grohl to reveal why he should be considered as an independant candidate.
“There’s this redneck image of America that’s been cultivated over the last eight years by our redneck president. America has blue states, red states and all kinds of divisions, but we need someone to bring them all together—and that person is me. Every night when I’m on tour, I bring my message to thousands and thousands of people. There’s 10 thousand people that woke up this morning and felt like America is the right place to be because at our show last night they were spilling beer all over themselves and tongue kissing for two hours. What other candidate can do that?”
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The Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee is planning a benefit concert to honor the late Nirvana frontman. The “Lounge Acts” show will help raise money for various causes in Cobain’s name. The committie is based out of Kurt Cobain’s hometown in Aberdeen, Washington. This will be the second year for the event.
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