Nirvana, Meat Puppet, & Sublime Alums Go 'Space Country' In Seattle
Jan 28, 2002, 10:55 am PT
Just over two years after his last appearance with a band (the one-off No-WTO Combo, which played Seattle in 1999), former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic is back with a brand new outfit, Eyes Adrift.
The band, which features Novoselic on bass, the Meat Puppets' Curt Kirkwood on guitar/vocals, and Sublime/Long Beach Dub Allstars' drummer Bud Gaugh, headlined a show at Seattle's I-Spy club last Friday (Jan. 25), the second stop on a 12-day tour that began Thursday (Jan. 24) in Astoria, Ore.
Novoselic and Kirkwood last worked together on Nirvana's Unplugged in New York show and CD. After running into each other on Kirkwood's last solo tour, the two decided to collaborate again. Gaugh, who also saw one of Kirkwood's solo shows, expressed an interest in joining the endeavor, and the three musicians hunkered down in Austin last December, recording tracks for an album.
The band's nine-song set stuck to the Meat Puppets' alt-country terrain, one fan describing it as "space country." Most of the music had a laid-back feel. "What I Said," for instance, had Kirkwood dreamily delivering lines like "Silence is better than nothing" against a warm musical backing. Other times, as on the closer, "Pasted," Kirkwood's guitar spun off into effects-laden noodling while Novoselic and Gaugh dug out a solid rhythmic groove.
The biggest surprise came when Novoselic sang lead on a few songs, bringing cheers from the crowd. Instead of the off-key warbling that appeared on Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings," Novoselic's voice was surprisingly sweet, his songs having a decidedly pop feel. "Enquiring Minds" dealt with "blood-sucking vampires" in the media and referenced the murder of Jon-Benet Ramsey; another was a lively countrified tune about his dogs.
Though the band currently is without a record label ("It's bliss time!" says Kirkwood), Eyes Adrift plans to complete their album following the tour and hopes to release it this year.
Upcoming Eyes Adrift shows include:
Jan. 28, Slims, San Francisco
Jan. 29, Harlows, Sacramento
Jan. 30, Troubadour, Los Angeles
Jan. 31, Galaxy, Santa Ana, Calif.
Feb. 2, Nita's Hideaway, Phoenix, Ariz.
Feb. 3, Launchpad, Albuquerque, N.M.
Feb. 5, Trees, DallasFeb. 6, Fitzgerald's, Houston
Feb. 7, Emos, Austin, Texas
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Kurt Cobain's Mother: Singer 'Despised' Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic
Dec 20, 2001, 12:25 pm PT
Wendy Frandenburg Cobain O'Connor, mother of late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, has released an open letter of her own in what is becoming a puzzling battle over Nirvana's estate.
Following former Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl's letter to fans bashing Courtney Love and her business tactics last week (allstar, Dec. 13), Love (allstar, Dec. 17) and now O'Connor have retaliated.
"As the mother of Kurt Cobain and a woman who has two daughters to support, I am shocked and disgusted at the behavior of Krist Novoselic, David Grohl, and their 'managers' and lawyers," said O'Connor in a statement released Wednesday (Dec. 19).
"I know that Nirvana was never a partnership of any sort," she continued. "I know that in the last year of his life, my son despised his band mates and told me many times he no longer wanted to play with them or have anything to do with them … Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl never wrote a Nirvana song in their lives. For them to have formed an equal partnership is ridiculous beyond comprehension."
O'Connor goes on to call Novoselic, Grohl, attorney Jill Berliner, and former Nirvana managers Gary Gersh and John Silva various names, including "liars and crooks," "criminals," and "bandits."
O'Connor vehemently stands by Love in her pursuit to dissolve Nirvana, LLC (a limited liability company set up to handle Nirvana's estate) -- a company she says "never should have been formed" -- and Love's suit to stop the release of the proposed Nirvana box set (allstar, Oct. 2) if it will earn Grohl, Novoselic, or their handlers any more money.
"My son died tragically and I believe his death could have been prevented by proper medical care and he was denied help by selfish and criminal behavior of the people who so callously revise their personal histories today," she said. "My family has suffered hugely and been ripped off for a fortune.
"It's never been in my nature to take advantage of my son's stunning success, but I know that my son would want me to stand up for him and his family in this moment of what I can only describe as total betrayal."
Representatives for Gersh and Silva, as well as Grohl and Novoselic, had no comment on the letter at press time.
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Ex-Nirvana Members Ask Court To Declare Courtney Love 'Incapacitated'
Dec 13, 2001, 11:20 am PT
The battle between ex-Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic and Kurt Cobain widow Courtney Love over control of the '90s grunge act is heating up in Seattle.
Grohl and Novoselic filed a counterclaim in Kings County, Wash., Superior Court on Wednesday (Dec. 12) seeking to overturn a previous June injunction allowing Love to block the release of the proposed Nirvana box set until the two sides can settle their differences over control of the band and its estate (Nirvana, LLC) (allstar, June 28). [Love sued Grohl, Novoselic, and Geffen for, among other things, all rights to Nirvana's recordings, in October (allstar, Oct. 2).]
Grohl and Novoselic are also asking the court to declare that "Love, under the terms of the LLC Agreement, has become incapacitated and that her rights to vote should be assigned to a designated representative." In addition to the counterclaim, Grohl and Novoselic -- long silent publicly on that matter -- have lashed out against Love in a letter addressed to fans and released to the media. The letter blames Love for holding up the box set, blaming the Hole/Bastard singer's "own ambitious agenda" and "blind self-interest" for the stall.
The letter reads, in part, "[Love's] actions are only about the revitalization of her career motivated solely by her blind self-interest. She couldn't care less about Nirvana fans. She is suing Nirvana's music as a bargaining chip to increase leverage for her personal gain, without any regard for the Nirvana legacy. Our music is just a pawn in her endless legal battles and her obsessive need for publicity and attention."
In response to the letter and the idea that [Love] is using Nirvana to revitalize her own career, O. Yale Lewis, Love's attorney, called the notion "truly preposterous." "I think that her career is getting stronger as an actress, a musician, and a political and social activist," Lewis told allstar. "It was surprising that they would raise that in their letter because I think the comparison between their independent careers and her independent career does not favor them."
Grohl and Novoselic's counterclaim, citing tortious interference with contract, breach of contract/fiduciary duty, abuse of process, trademark infringement, and declaratory relief, calls Love "irrational, mercurial, self-centered, unmanageable, inconsistent, and unpredictable" in her professional dealings.
At the center of the battle is a song called "You Know You're Right," a reportedly genius work that was recorded just months before Cobain's suicide in 1994. Love filed a complaint in May seeking to halt the song's inclusion in the box set, citing an aversion to the marketing strategies (i.e., an alleged exploitation of Cobain's death) behind the song.
"Love now claims she wants to protect the legacy of Cobain and Nirvana by withholding approval of the public release of Nirvana sound recordings, including Nirvana's previously unreleased recording of the Cobain-authored song 'You Know You're Right,'" reads the counterclaim. "Yet, Love felt no such protectiveness when it came to her own career, exploiting the cache surrounding Cobain's death for her own benefit by performing the song on MTV after introducing it as Cobain's last song."
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Courtney Love Sues Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, & Geffen Records
Oct 2, 2001, 11:05 am PT
Courtney Love has added yet another lawsuit to her bevy of legal actions currently keeping her legal team busy.
The latest suit, filed on Friday (Sept. 28) in Los Angeles Superior Court, is against former Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, Nirvana L.L.C. (a limited liability company made up of Love, Grohl, and Novoselic), and Geffen Records for breach of contract, declaratory relief regarding rescission, and declaratory relief regarding assignment.
The suit was filed on behalf of the estate of Love's former husband, the late Kurt Cobain, and on behalf of their only child, Frances Bean Cobain, now 9. Love and her daughter are the principal beneficiaries of Cobain.
Love claims that Nirvana's contract with Geffen, now part of Universal Music Group (UMG), was "terminated and all rights granted to Geffen under the agreement were rescinded." However, Love claims that, "Since the rescission, Grohl and Novoselic have committed breaches of their fiduciary duties owed to Love, including, but not limited to, threatening to destroy existing Nirvana studio recordings, and threatening to authorize the release to UMG, without Love's consent, of a boxed set of songs written by Kurt Cobain and recorded by Cobain, Novoselic, and Grohl."
Love recently told L.A. alternative station KROQ that it's not that she does not want the Nirvana box set to be released, she just doesn't want Interscope and the band's former "evil managers" to make money from the release. The label was hoping to put out the box set in time for the tenth anniversary of the release of Nirvana's 1991 masterpiece, Nevermind, on Sept. 11.
The suit goes on to say that UMG/Interscope "gave notice that Nirvana was in breach of contract for failing to deliver the boxed set by June 30, 2001."
Among the ways Geffen allegedly breached the contract, according to the suit, are by improperly assigning the recording company's obligations to Interscope, without plaintiff's consent, knowing that Interscope did not have the same commitment to rock and specific expertise which Geffen had originally promised (in the original 1991 recording contract); improper requiring of a joint recording; improper coupling of a master; improper use of a master for promotional purposes; improper editing and remixing of a master; distributing an unauthorized derivative work that distorted and devalued the master; and failing to properly account for and pay royalties in excess of $3.1 million, as set forth in the audit report.
The "derivative work" the suit is referring to is a song titled "Monstersound" by German dance act Balloon, which Love claims features a sample of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that was "completely unauthorized." The single has since been recalled, and according the suit, Geffen's defense was that the riff used was "replay," not a sample.
Love is looking for an order declaring the agreement has indeed been rescinded, restitution in an amount to be determined at trial, and for all of the rights to Nirvana's master recordings, master videos, and other materials. She is also seeking to restrain Grohl, Novoselic, and Geffen from releasing and/or distributing Nirvana's music.