Krist Novoselic interview

Croatian TV - 2/27/94

TV interview with Krist


D: Here with us is a man who needs no introduction but since it's a tradition on our show, we'll ask him to introduce himself.

K: Hi, Damir.

D: No, I wanted you to say your name.

K: My name, oh yeah... Krste (it's pronounced curse-teh, it's a pretty common name in Croatia)

D: And... (He wants Krist to say his last name, but obviously, Krist didn't get it)

K: ... and... Damir

D: (laughs) Well, OK, Krste and Damir are here tonight. Lets start from this concert you just played, you're probably tired.

K: Not really, actually, I feel better... blood... rushing... whole day on the road, it's a bit boring, buses and planes... and then you play for hour and a half and it's pretty late right now... past midnight, and now we're in the hotel, talking. Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle. (laughs)

D: You played this concert in Slovenia, which means really close to Croatia, and there was a lot of people from Croatia here, was it a special feeling to play here?

K: Well, yeah, I was a little nervous, my knees were shaking, but I was really happy that we played here in Ljubjana and I'd be even happier if we played in Zagreb or Zadar or Split or something, but maybe some other time. (Zagreb and Split are two biggest cities in Croatia, and Zadar is the city where Krist's family is from)

D: Tell me, crowd reactions were great...

K: Yeah, they were great, they were wild

D: Is crowd like that everywhere you play, or do you think they were wilder here?

K: Well, maybe it was a little wilder but not much, you know, they're all young and they came to a rock concert...

D: You, besides playing bass in band, also started writing, I read somewhere that you have a little column in a Croatian fan-zine, Arkzin. (that's an underground fan-zine that deals with music, politics and some other stuff)

K: Oh, yeah, I write for Arkzin, I forgot that. I write in English, then my friend translates that. Well, it's fun, I have my own computer, I like writing, I really enjoy it.

D: I'm glad to hear that. Maybe one day, when you stop playing, you could be a writer.

K: Yeah, maybe, when I retire, I don't know...

D: Are you gonna write about other bands, like they write about you now?

K: I won't write about music at all, no way, those are the worst journalists. (laughs)

D: Tell me, how did you, by that I mean the whole band, not just you, take... I mean, how do you feel about all those articles they wrote about you in different papers that were just terrible...

K: I don't know, at least we're not boring... they need something to write about, some story, something to attract people... they have to sell those papers so they write lots of stuff, they don't care what they write as long as they sell the papers.

D: So, it looks like you're not mad, you see it as...

K: Well, sometimes we get mad, the important thing is, we know what's the truth and what's not, and why they wrote something good or bad about us. You know, we always expect what they wrote to be all good, good, good. There should be some critics, but sometimes it goes way beyond that, it's just crap... it's...how can I put that... "gossip" (he really said gossip in English, he couldn't find a word for that in Croatian)

D: Yeah, "gossip", right... (It's pretty obvious that guy has no idea what gossip means)

K: Yeah, gossip

D: Oh yeah, I'd like to ask you about your second guitar players, I forgot his name, is he just in the band for this tour or he's gonna stay after?

K: Well, right now, he's just for this tour. Now that we play for bigger audiences, we want our sound to be louder, so we asked him to play with us. Pat Smear, he played in an LA punk-rock band, The Germs. The important thing is, he's a great guy and a great guitar player. So now we're louder, it's easier to play now. When there's only three of us out there you have to turn your amp all the way up... and he help us a lot... umm... helps a lot.

D: Great, really, the concert was above all expectations, I have to say that, and you could really hear how much Pat helps you, you made a good choice by taking him, and I see that you practiced with him a lot.

K: Yeah, yeah, he remembers everything, he gets all guitar parts pretty fast, he's like that.

Thanks to Igor Bratic for the transcript and translation