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"Chris and Dave have had to pick up a lot of Kurt's slack. Chris and Dave were close before, but now they're inseparable."
-Nils Bernstein, Nirvana's fanmail organizer, 16 Apr 1992, Rolling Stone magazine
"He's [Krist's] fantastic. I mean, he's highly underrated, or at least overshadowed as a musician, but he's such a huge part of Nirvana. I think Dave once said, "I've played in so many shows, you know how many Krist played in? All of 'em." And that's really true.
And I know from stories that Krist told me, you know, like, even in the early days, Krist was doing a lot of the load-ins. Krist was very protective of Kurt. It was very much a Sam and Frodo kind of a thing. Krist really fostered Kurt's ability to do what he did. And I think that you really need these two elements."
-Earnie Bailey, Nirvana's guitar tech, 13 Jun 2020, Daniel Sarkissian interview
tags:
- date of story:band era,
- date:post-band era,
- decade of story:1990s,
- decade:2020s,
- media:quote,
- media:tv & video,
- pairing:krist/kurt,
- person:dave,
- person:earnie bailey,
- person:krist,
- person:kurt,
- topic:art & artists,
- topic:friendship,
- topic:nirvana,
- topic:protectiveness,
- topic:soulmates,
- topic:supportiveness,
- topic:tours & road trips,
- type:factual
"Friendship is one of the biggest things I can think of. Relationships are more important than anything else. I think everyone should go all the way in trying to strengthen their personal relationships. For me, it's very important to have friends who understand your needs and who'll help you in difficult times. The value of friendship is immense, and it should be thought of that way."
-Kurt, November 1991, Blast Magazine (Italy)
collected in Cobain On Cobain by Nick Soulsby
"I remember one time during their [Nirvana's] 1992 Australian tour and we were in the tour bus. Everyone was drinking wine and Dave Grohl took out a notebook. Dave Grohl had a diary or journal of some sort, whatever it was, and during that tour he wrote in it everyday. He might have written in it afterward, too, but I wouldn't know.
Dave started writing and Krist Novoselic asked him what he was doing. Dave ignored him and Kurt Cobain became curious, too. Kurt grabbed the journal and picked a random page from it and read it out loud. This journal entry described Kurt Cobain in somewhat interesting detail.
Dave called Kurt Cobain his best friend and said getting that call from Kurt and Krist was the best day of his life. The journal entry also said Kurt Cobain saved his life because he felt very confused, or lost, while in Scream and contemplated life-threatening situations, if you know what I mean.
Kurt Cobain gave the book back to Dave Grohl, took another sip of wine, and hugged him. He told Dave Grohl that he is his best friend and asked him to never leave the band no matter what, because he couldn't do this [the band] without him. Krist shook his head in agreement. Dave Grohl said he would die before that happened and they smiled. Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, and Dave Grohl had a group hug.
I laughed hysterically at them with warmth in my heart. The next day Kurt Cobain said it was just the wine talking, but I know he meant what he said. You can't fake a moment like that."
-Youri Lenquette, 1995
Archivist's note: I'm gonna fucking cry
tags:
- date of story:1992,
- date of story:band era,
- date:post-band era,
- decade of story:1990s,
- decade:1990s,
- media:dave's diary,
- media:quote,
- pairing:dave/kurt,
- pairing:krist/kurt/dave,
- person:dave,
- person:krist,
- person:kurt,
- person:youri lenquette,
- topic:death & suicide,
- topic:depression & mental illness,
- topic:friendship,
- topic:group hug,
- topic:intimacy & affection,
- topic:love,
- topic:nirvana,
- topic:protectiveness,
- topic:supportiveness,
- topic:tours & road trips,
- type:factual
Novoselic: Jazz drug [referring to heroin]. Then you’re inclined for medication. I can see how it was attractive. You know, people medicating themselves …. And then there’s this whole whirlwind.
Hughes: About that stomach ailment that he was cursed with?
Novoselic: It was weird. It was real, I mean it was real. I remember he would throw up so much he couldn’t throw up any more. I took him to doctors, specialists.
Hughes: You would think that some of those specialists could have hit on something.
Novoselic: I don’t know what it was. I don’t know what, that’s a mystery. You’d think they’d find something. I think it was just the crap food. Here’s the deal, like, we don’t have a lot of money, OK. So we go to like AM/PM, in Olympia. Right behind the lottery office there was an AM/PM there. And it was like, OK at least I got a hot dog. We’re hungry, right. He gets a fucking ice-cream cone. And I’m like, “No wonder your stomach hurts. Why are you eating ice cream?” And then he looks at me and gets all pissed off , like I’m telling him what to do. But I’m the dude who drove him to the frickin’ hospital, or hanging out with him while he’s puking his guts, and trying to help him. So it’s just like, you know, “Oh, don’t do heroin.” And I’d get the same look. You know what I mean? So where the heck am I going to go? What am I going to do? What can I say? “You eat this greasy hot dog instead of the ice cream cone.”
-14 Oct 2008, Interviewed by John Hughes for the Washington State Heritage Center
tags:
Interviewer: Your house containing everything you own catches fire. After saving loved ones and pets, you have time to save one item. What would it be?
Dave: "Probably this letter I got from Kurt in 1992. That sounds terribly melodramatic, but it's true. I lose everything: passports, wallets, car keys, credit cards, but that letter is absolutely irreplaceable. He wrote it to me when everything was going nuts. We were all living in different places- he was in Los Angeles, I was in Virginia and Krist was in Seattle- and some decisions were being made without me. I got really bummed out and Kurt sent me this letter about my role and stature in the band. It was all, 'I love you like a brother.' It was just before we did 'In Utero' and it said, 'I can't wait to get back in the studio and make a record so we can whittle ourselves back down to a comfortable level,' Which of course never really happened."
Melody Maker (sometime between 1997-2000)
tags:
"I can't think of one show that I ever played with that band where we walked offstage and said, 'That was great.' Never one. Only two times did I get any reassurance from Kurt. Once when I joined the band, in 1990, we were drunk at some disco in England, and Kurt came up and said, 'I'm so glad you're in this band. I'm so glad you're down-to-earth.' I was like, 'Wow!' The next time was in late '93 or early '94 when I came home and turned on my message machine and had a message from Kurt that said, 'Y'know, I was just sitting here listening to 'In Utero', and your drumming is so awesome. You did such a great job!' I was like, 'Wow!' Those two things were spread out by about four years [laughs]."
-Dave, Rolling Stone 2005
tags:
"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)
"Kurt heard that, and kissed me on the face, as he was in a bath. He was so excited. He was like, 'I heard you recorded some stuff with Barrett [Jones].' I was like, 'Yeah.' He was like, 'Let me hear it.' I was too afraid to be in the same room as he listened to it."
-Dave, on showing Kurt his demo tapes, including Alone + Easy Target (Nov. 2014, Sonic Highways, HBO)
