Ex-NIRVANA Bassist: KURT COBAIN Should Never Have Killed Himself

In the September 30 issue of NME, there is a rare interview with former NIRVANA bassist Krist Novoselic as part of the U.K. publication's coverage of the "Nevermind" 15th anniversary. Here are some excerpts from the interview which is mostly about the legendary album:

NME: What memories immediately come to mind when you hear the word "Nevermind"?

Krist: "Well, making the record was pretty neat. We were living in Los Angeles, in north Hollywood, in a part-furnished apartment, and having as much fun as possible. We'd work from like noon, and then we'd go to Venice Beach at night to see the sun come up. About half the songs we put together in the months preceding the recording, and the other half were songs that had been around for a while. So we had the material down and we were playing live shows and playing well."

NME: How often do you listen to "Nevermind" now?

Krist: "Well, I watched the 'Heart-Shaped Box' video just the other night. That's a heavy trip, man. There was some heavy allegory there. That's open to interpretation, which is as far as I'm gonna go with that, but ... I listened to 'Nevermind' not so long ago, and it's a really good record. It moves right along, it's got diversity, it's hard rock and pop music and it's got the big choruses. I'm really proud of it. I'm really proud of the bass playing. Things that I put there that I feel helped make that sound."

NME: What are your feelings about Kurt [Cobain] after all this time?

Krist: "It's heartbreaking. He should never have done that. You can't blame anybody for something like that, it was dysfunction and it's just too bad. I think he should have hung in there and things would have got better for him. He could have done anything he wanted to do. He was a great, great painter, he was a sculptor, he was a songwriter — he was a bona fide artist. It really is tragic."

Krist Novoselic is currently active in politics, mostly advocating for electoral reform (a topic he wrote a book about in 2004). He also hosts a Saturday night radio show.

(Thanks: The Internet Nirvana Fan Club)