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Home / Entertainment

Frances Bean Cobain: 'I don't really like Nirvana that much'

Daily Mail
8 Apr, 2015 10:15 PM4 mins to read

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Frances Bean Cobain isn't the biggest Nirvana fan around. Photo/Getty

Frances Bean Cobain isn't the biggest Nirvana fan around. Photo/Getty

Frances Bean Cobain has admitted she's not a big fan of her dad's music in a candid new interview.

Speaking to Rolling Stone about the documentary her documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the front man's daughter revealed she's not really into Nirvana.

"I don't really like Nirvana that much," she said. "Sorry, promotional people, Universal.

"I'm more into Mercury Rev, Oasis, Brian Jonestown Massacre," she revealed to the music mag. "The grunge scene is not what I'm interested in."

Frances Bean with her parents Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love in 1993. Photo/Getty
Frances Bean with her parents Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love in 1993. Photo/Getty
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However she does recognise her late father's genius, and admitted some of his songs still bring her to tears.

"Territorial P*ssings is a f***ing great song. And Dumb, I cry every time I hear that song. It's a stripped-down version of Kurt's perception of himself; of himself on drugs, off drugs, feeling inadequate to be titled the voice of a generation."

The 22-year-old, who lost her dad to suicide when she was just 20 months old, said it wasn't awkward for her as a child not being a huge fan of his music.

"I would have felt more awkward if I'd been a fan," she said. "I was around 15 when I realized he was inescapable. Even if I was in a car and had the radio on, there's my dad. He's larger than life. and our culture is obsessed with dead musicians. We love to put them on a pedestal.

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"If Kurt had just been another guy who abandoned his family in the most awful way possible ... but he wasn't. He inspired people to put him on a pedestal, to become St Kurt. He became even bigger after he died than he was when he was alive. You don't think it could have gotten any bigger. But it did."

In the revealing interview, Frances also divulges why she thought her father shot himself exactly 21 years ago today, aged just 27.

"Kurt got to the point where he eventually had to sacrifice every bit of who he was to his art, because the world demanded it of him. I think that was one of the main triggers as to why he felt he didn't want to be here and everyone would be happier without him.

"There is, with any great artist, a little manic-ness and insanity. So many people are content to settle. My dad was exceptionally ambitious. But he had a lot thrown on him, exceeding his ambition. He wanted his band to be successful. But he didn't want to be the f***ing voice of a generation.

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"In reality, if he had lived, I would have had a dad. And that would have been an incredible experience."

While serving as an executive producer on the acclaimed documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, Frances said she told writer director Brett Morgen she didn't want to focus on the romanticism or mythology of her father.

"Even though Kurt died in the most horrific way possible, there is this mythology and romanticism that surrounds him, because he's 27 forever," she said. "The shelf life of an artist or musician isn't particularly long. Kurt has gotten to icon status because he will never age. He will always be that relevant in that time and always be beautiful."

The visual artist also revealed that her fathers ex bandmates Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear get the "KC Jeebies" when they see her, partially because she sounds just like Kurt.

"His speaking voice is sort of similar to mine. It's sort of a monotone," she said. "The depth to it is similar to the way I speak. I don't know what the fuck that is. I wasn't even talking when he was around.

"It's very weird how genes are. Dave, Krist and Pat came over to a house where I was living. It was the first time they had been together in a long time. And they had what I call the 'KC Jeebies,' which is when they see me, they see Kurt. They look at me, and you can see they're looking at a ghost. They were all getting the KC Jeebies hardcore.

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"Dave said, 'She is so much like Kurt'. They were all talking amongst themselves, rehashing old stories I'd heard a million times. I was sitting in a chair, chain-smoking, looking down like this," she said, pretending to look bored.

"And they went, 'You are doing exactly what your father would have done'.

But I was glad they came over," she smiled. "It was a cool experience, like having a Nirvana reunion minus one. Except for his spawn."

- Daily Mail

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