Filming has completed on a new movie about punk legends
The Germs entitled "What We Do Is Secret". The former
Nirvana guitarist and founding member of The Germs Pat
Smear helped a great deal with the movie:
"With the aid of ex-Germs guitarist Pat Smear, [Darby] Crash's
family and others close to the late '70s/early '80s Hollywood
punk scene, [director Rodger] Grossman first began assembling what
would become 'What We Do Is Secret' nearly 10 years ago. But the
director admits the extended process was a blessing in disguise,
as he conducted 'thousands of hours of original interviews', and
was able to find an actor he feels did a masterful job capturing
Crash on film -- Shane West, who is best known as Dr. Ray Barnett
on E.R. 'We actually formed a band for this movie, so the band
practiced every day for months, to get to the point where they
could play like the Germs,' Crossman says. 'So Shane was in the
band rehearsal space every day. He's a singer and a guitarist,
he has his own punk band, so for him, it was pretty easy to get
the music end of things. Pat Smear was in the band room with them,
and taught them how to play.' " Read the full story here,
courtesy of Greg Prato and Billboard (VNU eMedia). Read more here.
Director and photographer Anton Corbijn will soon be releasing a DVD
which includes all of the music videos he directed as well as various
interviews, commentaries and promos. The Nirvana video he directed,
Heart-Shaped Box is included on the DVD which is schedule for
a September 13, 2005 release. You can pre-order it here.
Courtney Love has been ordered back into rehab after she admitted
to violating her probation. Read more here.
Story about Kurt Cobain.
August 16, 2005
Important survey! I have just put up a new poll to help determine what
the most popular songs off the 2004 Nirvana box set ("With The Lights Out")
are. In addition, the poll lists some of the most wanted unreleased
recordings to give you a chance to vote for the one you would most like
to hear. The results of the poll will be used as an attempt to influence
the decision making process involved with the next Nirvana release. Please
take the time to vote as it will give the parties involved a chance to
see what the fans want with respect to unreleased recordings, and what
the most popular songs off the box set are. Thanks in advance for your vote!
Voting has ended! Thanks for voting!
August 11, 2005
Pat Smear recently spoke of his time in Nirvana:
"Guitarist PAT SMEAR insists the time he spent touring with NIRVANA
is the best thing that has ever happened to him - even though his
stint with the iconic rockers was cut short after KURT COBAIN's suicide
in 1994. Smear, who made his name with punk rockers THE GERMS, was
surprised when Cobain asked him to bolster his band's live sound,
because they had only met a handful of times. But he instantly clicked
with the SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT rockers onstage and still treasures
the memories he has of hitting the road with Cobain, bassist KRIST
NOVOSELIC and drummer DAVE GROHL during the group's tragic last tour.
He says, 'Kurt called me and said, 'You're in.' I knew COURTNEY (LOVE)
well, but I'd only met him a couple of times, like at clubs, or I went
over to see the baby (FRANCES BEAN) when she was born. He wasn't more
than an acquaintance. It all felt natural like it had been going on forever ...
I was on the bus with Kurt, and Krist and Dave were on the other bus.
I didn't really become close to Krist and Dave until after Kurt died.
Our bus was the smoking bus; their bus was the non-smoking bus. When
Frances would come along, we'd have to turn it into the nursery bus!
For me it wasn't a dark period. It was the highlight of my life.' "
Story courtesy of contactmusic.com. In other Pat Smear news, he also
commented on an incident involving Eddie Van Halen:
"Guitarist PAT SMEAR was horrified when his hero EDDIE VAN HALEN appeared
in a drunken stupor backstage at one of NIRVANA's gigs - as the ageing
rocker made a total fool of himself. Smear was dumbstruck when the JUMP
rocker drunkenly dropped to his knees and begged KURT COBAIN to let him
join the Nirvana on stage for a number. After being refused, Van Halen
lost even more of his dignity when he turned to Smear and demanding to
play on 'the Mexican's guitar' - Smear is part Cherokee and part black.
Smear says, 'He was just being a freak. Like all of us, he got too f**ked
up in public once and embarrassed himself.' " Also courtesy of contactmusic.com
The latest issue of Rolling Stone (#980, August 11, 2005) features a Jimi
Hendrix cover story written by Charles R. Cross - the author of the ultimate
Kurt Cobain biography, Heavier Than Heaven. The story is an excerpt
from the brand new Hendrix bio by Cross which was published on August 3.
You can read an excerpt from the Rolling Stone piece here.
To order the Hendrix book, click here.
eye weekly put up an interesting review of Last Days. Read it
here.
There's another review here and
here.
Courtney Love has been accused of taking drugs while on probation,
which has prompted a judge to order her to appear in court soon.
Read more here
or here.
Scott sent me this: There's a play on at the Edinburgh Fringe
(in Scotland) this year called Sleepwalk. It's a muscial comedy drama presented by
Red Chair Players (West). Here's the gist of it from a local paper (The Metro):
"Kurt Cobain's suicide was a personal tragedy, but also cast a dark shadow
over a generation; if being rich, gifted and publicly adored wasn't enough
to keep Cobain alive, what hope was there for rest of us? It's a question
that William Mastrosimone tackles head-on in Sleepwalk, a musical comedy
drama ideally suited to teenage audiences, but with enough latent profundity
to make it relevant to all ages. Presented by the Red Chair Players (West), Sleepwalk
takes place in the waking dream of Dillon (Jake Pippin), a teen who has overdosed on
pills and despair, and finds himself meeting up in some twilight netherworld with a
suicidal rock star clearly modelled on Cobain. The following hour takes
Dillon through dialogues with his conscience, a Zen master, Dillon's
girlfriend, his inner child and his base instincts, envisaged as a muscleman
who raps like Eminem."
According to reports in Colombia, Shakira's next album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2
(I'm not making this up!), might include a cover of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen
Spirit. The album is scheduled to be released in mid-November this year. It
will be an album in English only as opposed to her June album which was in Spanish.
Sam Bayer who directed Nirvana's legendary video for Smells Like Teen Spirit
says that his new Green Day video is the highlight of his career so far. Read more
here.
August 3, 2005
The September 2005 issue of Q Magazine features Kurt Cobain on
the cover and a feature on Kurt's last days. "The definitive account
of Kurt Cobain's final slide into self-destruction. The last tour,
the last interview, the last days." I am not sure if this is
new or just a rehash of old articles.
Photographer and musician Steve Gullick is selling original prints
of some of his stunning Nirvana photos. Any photo listed on his website
is available to buy in the form of an original photographic print and
each picture will be hand printed by Steve. Visit his website
for more info.
Archive of past months news and website updates:
1999:
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2003:
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2004:
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2005:
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Nov ]