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"I walked right up to him and grabbed him and stuck my tongue in his mouth, kissing him. I just wanted to make him feel better. At the end of it all, I told him, 'It's going to be ok. It's not so bad. Ok?'"
-Krist about his and Kurt's snog on their 1992 SNL appearance, on which Krist also kissed Dave (2001, Heavier Than Heaven, pgs 227-228)
22 May 2020
"I looked at Krist and Kurt as soulmates. The two had such a beautiful, unspoken understanding of each other. Those two guys, together, totally defined the Nirvana aesthetic. Every quirk, all the strange things that came from Nirvana came from Krist and Kurt. I think [growing up in] Aberdeen, their experiences together in those formative years, had a lot to do with that."
-Dave, 24 Sept. 2013, Rolling Stone Magazine
tags:
"If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us-leave us the fuck alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records."
-Kurt, 1992, in the liner notes for Incesticide
"Homo-sex rules! You're not a man till you've sucked a cock. You're not. Only a man knows what another man likes."
-Krist, 21 Sept 1991, backstage
"Krist was one of the only people who could make Kurt laugh. They shared a sense of humor. Krist could make Kurt start laughing, rolling and crying on the floor. Of course, I never understood what the fuck they were talking about."
-Dave, Rolling Stone, 13 Sept. 2001
"I've had the reputation of being a homosexual every since I was 14. It was really cool, because I found a couple of gay friends in Aberdeen-which is almost impossible. How I could ever come across a gay person in Aberdeen is amazing! But I had some really good friends that way. I got beat up a lot, of course, because of my association with them.
People just thought I was weird at first, just some fucked-up kid. But once I got the gay tag, it gave me the freedom to be able to be a freak and let people know that they should just stay away from me. Instead of having to explain to someone that they should just stay the fuck away from me-I'm gay, so I can't even be touched. It made for quite a few scary experiences in alleys walking home from school, though."
-Kurt, The Advocate, 9 Feb 1993
"We were at our best when we were playing. We liked to rehearse, we liked to make songs, and play together. That's what we did best, that's when we were happy. I have dreams about Kurt. I'm so happy to see him in a dream, like, 'Oh my god, it's so good to see you.' Then we're always like, 'Okay, let's go play.' We're always going to go play music."
-Krist, Young Turks Interview 2014
Audience member: So, 22 years ago, you guys were on SNL--in dresses--and there was a man-on-man kiss. That was revolutionary.
Dave: You know, I'm glad that some people think that. [audience laughter] I'm not kidding! You know one of the things we wanted to represent--we were the antithesis of a lot of that, like, bullshit heavy metal, that homophobic jock rock, because we truly grew up in an underground community where everybody was different and everybody was cool and that's what was so great about it. I mean, you know, I used to get fucking chased around my neighborhood in Virginia, with people calling me a "fag!", because I listened to punk rock. So then I was like, 'I'm in the biggest fuckin' band in the world!' [flips the bird]
[audience cheers]
AM: Thank you, and how do you think things have changed in the 22 years since then? I mean, it's big-time changes.
Dave: Like, musically?
AM: Musically, sociologically, everything.
Dave: Well, that was such a great time in the 90s, in the early 90s, because there seemed to be like this rebirth of idealism, or something, people were--they didn't feel so restricted any more. They didn't feel so compartmentalized, it was more cool. It was ok to be weird, you know. And it was ok to sound like a band in a garage. And it still is! That was a really exciting time.
I mean, I have kids. I have two daughters. And they're great, they're super fun. And I look at them and I can't wait till they fucking dye their hair blue! I can't wait till they start doing all the stupid shit I did when I was young, because I feel like you have to really try to experience everything before you decide--before you really become, you know, the person that you are.
-Bottle Rock Napa Valley 2013
tags:
- date of story:1992,
- date of story:band era,
- date of story:pre-band era,
- date:post-band era,
- decade of story:1980s,
- decade of story:1990s,
- decade:2010s,
- event:snl 92,
- media:quote,
- media:tv & video,
- person:dave,
- topic:activism,
- topic:being a black sheep,
- topic:cross-dressing,
- topic:gender-nonconformity,
- topic:homophobia,
- topic:kissing,
- topic:music & bands,
- topic:nirvana,
- type:factual
"Well, when we played that No on 9 benefit in Portland, I said something about Guns N' Roses. Nothing nasty-I think I said, "And now, for our next song, "Sweet Child o' Mine.'" But some kid jumped onstage and said, "Hey, man, Guns N' Roses plays awesome music, and Nirvana plays awesome music. Let's just get along and work things out, man!"
And I just couldn't help but say, "No, kid, you're really wrong. Those people are total sexist jerks, and the reason we're playing this show is to fight homophobia in a real small way. The guy is a fucking sexist and a racist and a homophobe, and you can't be on his side and be on our side. I'm sorry that I have to divide this up like this, but it's something you can't ignore. And besides they can't write good music." [Laughs]"
-Kurt, The Advocate 1993
"Yeah, things flipped day and night, so you had these hair metal bands and they had these really soft features and fluffy hair, but had this macho bravado. And so then grunge rock came out and we had like, facial hair and flannel shirts, but we had a feminine sensibility."
-Krist on the difference between metal and grunge, 7 Oct 2015 FOX Business Network Interview
An African-American fan approached and asked for an autograph. "Hey, man, I love your record," the guy said. Kurt had been asked for his autograph a hundred times that day, but this was the only time he responded with a smile. Kurt told [Amy] Finnerty, "No one black has ever said they liked my record before."
-Excerpt from Heavier Than Heaven (Cross, 2001, pg 226)