Why Dave Grohl Didn't Work With Krist Novoselic Again After Nirvana

By Michael Angulia | Published: Apr 23, 2026 4:33 PM EDT

Zane interviewing Grohl. Photo courtesy DKC

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl just appeared on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music to discuss their forthcoming album "Your Favorite Toy", and inevitably the conversation turned to his former band Nirvana.

The show shared some excerpts from the interview including this part where Dave was asked why he didn't continue working with Krist Novoselic again after Nirvana.

Zane Lowe: Did it ever cross your mind or did you ever have conversations with Krist [Novoselic] about this given that you and Pat continued in some capacity and whilst you remained friends with him, he did not come along the musical journey with you.

Dave Grohl: You know, we never had like a deeper longer conversation about it. But after Nirvana ended, I think that we all wound up in places that felt, I don't want to say comfortable, but safe. And so when I went into the studio and recorded that stuff by myself, I felt safe there, you know. And I can't speak for Krist, but I think at that time it was like we were just trying to get our feet back on the ground. For me, that's something that I thought, okay well music is the thing that's going to rescue me. And for Krist, I think that some maybe some sort of stability or security maybe backing backing off a little bit. That might have been what he felt he needed to do. But we didn't really ever have that deeper longer conversation. And Pat, the funniest thing is like, I didn't think Pat would be our guitar player. I just sent him a tape. I sent him one of the early cassettes. And he was like, oh my god, it's so poppy. And I'm like, is it? Okay, is that a good thing? And to Pat, that is a great thing. And I was like, and I had already started jamming with Nate and William and I was like, hey if you want to play guitar... I didn't expect that he would, you know. And then he decided that he would jam with us. And it was great.

In another exchange Dave was asked about coming back together with his Nirvana bandmates and reflects on their time with Kurt Cobain

Dave Grohl: It's such a weird thing to feel afraid to play songs. And for a long time it's like I was even afraid just to sit down at a drum set and play the opening riff to "Smells Like Teen Spirit". And so it just seemed sort of forbidden, you know. And so the few times that Krist and Pat and I have gotten together to do it, it's a trip. I mean it's like a time warp. It's like a time capsule. And the noise that the three of us make together, you don't really get that noise anywhere else. And so when you're in the room and it happens, the way that Krist strums his bass lines, the bass that he uses, the equipment he uses, his sense of feel and time, it's like all of those things combined with Pat like with that crazy Germs Pat Smear guitar thing. And then some loud ass drums, it's like when it happens, you're just like, oh f**k, I remember this. Sh*t, I haven't heard this in 35 years. Oh my god. And it's a really beautiful sound and a beautiful feeling.

Zane Lowe: Was Kurt deep down through all of the fight, was he built for those things? Would he have seen a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction or an anniversary or something that you think he would have got to a place where he'd have been like, yeah man, f**k it, lean in.

Dave Grohl: That is a really good question. I always go back to when we flew to New York to talk to record companies to sign a deal before "Nevermind" came out. And we sat down in this high-rise major label office with this like super powerful executive who was sitting behind a giant oak desk and listening to the song on stun volume and then me and Krist and Kurt on the other side of the desk in these low chairs, it looked like we were being punished at school or something. And the song ends and he says, okay, what do you guys want? And Kurt says, we want to be the biggest band in the world. And I was like, I think we all laughed. I don't know if he was kidding. To this day, I think about it. I'm like considering where we were from and our our whole musical timeline existence, it's like, well first of all, that's impossible because it was 1990 and you know all these pop stars were on top of the charts. It was kind of like, oh you know, it's funny or maybe it's irony or I don't know whatever. But there was part of me that was like, the songs that he wrote, I think he wrote them to be heard. It got a lot more complicated after so many people sort of joined the party, but I I think that maybe most songwriters when they write songs, it's like you want them to be heard or you want them to be felt or you want not that it's necessarily validation, but you want someone to to feel what you feel. Just as a listener wants to feel what the artist feels. It's like maybe it's empathy. It's just this feeling of like, I want everyone to feel this thing that I feel. I hope someone else, maybe one other person in the world will feel the way I feel. Or understand the way I feel. So I don't know what the exact intention was, but I do know that Kurt was one of the greatest songwriters of all time and it was inevitable. Like what happened, those songs, it was inevitable that his songs would be recognized as some of the greatest songs of all time.

Watch the full interview below or anytime on demand with an Apple Music subscription here.