Frances Bean Cobain on Life After Kurt’s Death: An Exclusive Q&A

Do you remember the first time you heard a Nirvana record – and knowing that was your father? I’ve talked to Sean Lennon about this. He had a few more years with his dad that you did. But for him, the records were a road into understanding his father after he was gone.
I don’t really like Nirvana that much [grins]. Sorry, promotional people, Universal. I’m more into Mercury Rev, Oasis, Brian Jonestown Massacre [laughs]. The grunge scene is not what I’m interested in. But “Territorial Pissings” [on Nevermind] is a fucking great song. And “Dumb” [on In Utero] – 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 irony is that he wrote it before Nirvana made Nevermind.
I know. It was projection, to something. There’s no way anyone can wrap their minds around that.

Did you feel awkward as a teenager, not being that interested in the music Kurt made?
No. I would have felt more awkward if I’d been a fan. 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. 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.

After the first screening I attended, there was a guy who said Montage of Heck was a very interesting film about people he didn’t like.
[Laughs] That’s a pretty good description.

I found it interesting that the way Morgen told Kurt’s story didn’t evoke any sympathy for that viewer – that Kurt’s art did not resonate with him. All he saw was a personality he didn’t like.
That is an interesting perspective. For me, the film provided a lot more factual information about my father – not just tall tales that were misconstrued, misremembered, rehashed, retold 10 different ways. It was factual evidence of who my father was as a child, as a teenager, as a man, as a husband, as an artist. It explored every single aspect of who he was as a human being.

What was it like hearing his voice?
I’ve been hearing his voice forever, through his music.

He wanted his band to be successful. But he didn’t want to be the fucking voice of a generation.

I was thinking more of his speaking voice.
His speaking voice is sort of similar to mine. It’s sort of a monotone. 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.

Don’t mistake the power of genes.
It’s very weird how genes are. Dave [Grohl], Krist [Novoselic] and Pat [Smear] came over to a house where I was living. It was the first time [the ex-Nirvana members] had been together in a long time. And they had what I call the “K. C. 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 K. C. Jeebies hardcore. 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 [affects total boredom]. And they went, “You are doing exactly what your father would have done.”

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

What do you want to do next, now that this film is coming out? In being one of the executive producers, you’re stepping into the public at almost the same age your father was when he made Nirvana’s first album. The timing is . . .I like to think of it as poetic.
Coincidental, yeah. Oddly enough, being 22, it’s the first year a fire has been lit under my ass – not because of the documentary, just personally. I have this motivation and ambition that I didn’t have before: “I want to go paint this painting.” The hardest part of doing anything creatively is just getting up and doing. Once I get out of bed and get into my art room, I start painting. I’m there. And I’m doing it.