In the Room with Nirvana and Soundgarden: The Krist Novoselic, Kim Thayil and Jack Endino Interview 

I can see Krist being the guy that goes up to a kid wearing a Nirvana shirt and saying "hey man, nice shirt" and then just walk away.

Rick, you're singlehandedly creating an archive that will be gold in future years. You've managed to get musicians who are famously difficult with interviewers to feel comfortable and open up. I mean Sting? Maynard? Kim Thayil? All we can do is thank you for what you're doing.

I've always felt like Krist doesn't really understand how great of a musician he is. Such a clever, groovy, iconoc bassist! He elevated any song Nirvana wrote.

That close up on Krist saying "it shouldn't had happen". Damn. This interview will stay forever in my collection. Thank you Rick.

I like how Krist and Kim will be like: "Was that in '88 or '89?" and Jack Endino is like: "It was Christmas Eve of 1988, we recorded from noon until six. It was snowy. You were wearing tan chinos and deck shoes. We had to stop once because you broke a bass string. There was a stray cat hanging around outside and Kurt gave it the last of his tuna fish sandwich"...

Krist Novoselic?!?! I thought Maynard was huge, in reality it was, but I don’t ever see Krist Novoselic doing interviews. Congrats Rick, you’re doing incredible things and have become an amazing interviewer.

“Chris [Cornell] wanted to try singing.” That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time 🤣 What a treat - thanx Rick! 👍

Jack Endino is a fucking national treasure. His contributions to heavy music would fill a phone book. And he seems like the chillest, most egoless individual. AND he’s wearing a Ptolemaic Terrascope tee-shirt which is just the biggest nerd-flex in history.

0:00 The early years 16:50 Soundgarden gets signed 21:54 Nirvana’s songwriting process 32:49 Soundgarden’s songwriting process 47:52 Dave Grohl joins Nirvana 58:14 Soundgarden on tour 1:03:44 Smells Like Teen Spirit I 1:16:36 Black Hole Sun 1:25:41 Smells Like Teen Spirit II 1:28:09 Superunknown 1:34:30 Third Secret

"He's a TV addict." I like how Krist talks about Kurt in the present tense.

Watching Kim nod his head to Dive like it's the first time he heard it...guy is a total legend, man

I remember seeing an interview with Krist a long time ago after Nirvana ended (RIP Kurt) where he commented on how so many young fans would approach him and thank him. When he would ask them “Why are you thanking me?” their responses were universal: “Because Nirvana saved my life”. In 1991, mine was a life on the brink. I was in a total free fall and was going to end up either dead or in prison. And then Nirvana came along. This rock band is the only reason why I have my life and freedom today. Thank you Kurt and Krist.

Everytime Kris mentions Kurt in any interview his face lights up then suddenly turns solemn. You can see that Kurt truly is his brother. He was the guy that Kurt gave a demo to form Nirvana with after the Fecal Matter stint. His bass playing live is what made Nirvana sound so fucking tremendous along with Dave's drumming. RIP Kurt and Chris

Hey, MTV, this is the kind of content a true “music television” channel should have. Rick, thank you so very much. Fantastic interview.

It's so cool listening to this and hearing him mention Hiro. I actually work, or worked with Hiro, he recently retired from our lab where he was our Chief Inorganics Chemist. Absolutely cool, friendly and wonderful guy. His last day was last Halloween and we all dressed up as 90s rock stars. Awesome interview.

This is gold. PURE GOLD. This is the type of conversation that I dreamed of hearing back in the mid-90's. What an amazing time to be alive. Thank you Rick.

I like how Krist is the same after all of these years. He’s visibly aged but yeah he comes across as the same fun loving member of Nirvana that I remember seeing in all the earlier band interviews. Truly a golden soul!

This is absolutely legendary. Rick, you are now a legend too!

Krist giving Kim a comforting slap on the back at the start of Black Hole Sun. You can feel the pain swimming just under the surface when these guys hear their friends singing and reaching out from the past.

I think this is the most I’ve ever heard Kim Thayil talk. For 35 years he’s been this enigmatic wizard.

I love how Krist Novoselic looks like the neighbour you would borrow a lawnmower from. Much respect for that man.

These two guys were part of maybe the two most important bands of the 90s and look at them! Humble and talking about music from their souls. This is gold.

I think this interview has a lot of hints as to why Kris doesn't do interviews very often. The way he talks about the period after Nevermind and checking pawn shops for left handed guitars really shows how personal all that was to him. That being said, I really loved Kris' reaction to listening to the songs and the way he was moving to them. You can definitely see his quirky somewhat playful personality that you would always see from him in live performances. He truly enjoyed the music they made. I really enjoyed Kim's and Jack's parts of this interview as well, but it was great to get some insight into Kris Novoselic's mind and to see his reaction to the music.

Gen X-er here. This was really touching in many spots. It nearly brought me to tears. I remember being young and competitive like these guys were back then, but I've grown along with them, and the love they have for each other and for their bandmates that have regrettably passed is so palpable. I'd give each of them a hug and a pat on the back and a beer if I could. They helped bring so much to so many, and bore so much of the pain we couldn't see that came along with it . They took the huge swings and hit them way out of the park. Love you guys!

Krist's offhand comment about checking pawn shops for left handed guitars for years after Nirvana ended really hit hard.

Rick you're rescuing the rock scene. As a 26-year-old guy and a Grunge lover, I greeeatly appreciate your work on this

People like Jack are unsung heros... we praise "rock stars" be it's people like him who really made this happen. Thank you for the peak behind the curtain and giving real heroes their do.

I lived in Seattle in the '80s and was around some of these guys and the music scene back then. What struck me about this interview is that the way they talk around one another now is the way they always talked. It was a community of folks that then is subsequently identified by others as a "scene," but it's really just a local community network of artists (there were painters, photographers and many others that were also part of all this). Seattle has changed drastically in recent times - a gentrified sheen hangs over the air, like all the large cities - but these people are still there, still doing as they always did.

Jack Endino has such a phenomenal speaking voice. I could listen to that guy read the phone book.

You interviewed Krist???? wha, and Kim was in the room too.....and Jack Endino??? Dude, you smashed that interview!! Fascinating!!

OK, there is absolutely no reason why there shouldn’t be like five more hours to this presentation. I could listen to these guys talk and tell stories stories for days and days. Absolute gold.

When Krist said "Should never happened" talking about what Kurt dealt at the time, it was a punch in the gut.

Wow, Kim seems like he’s such a sincere and genuine human being.

Oh my gosh, where do I start. Guy on the left recorded some of the biggest bands ever before they were famous, and all those bands rewrote music history and changed music for ever. The guy in the middle was in a band whose singer was probably one of the greatest singers of all time. The guy on the right was in nirvana, the band who took over the world and changed music forever. Amazing seeing these guys together, what a great interview. Thank you.

When Rick put on `Smells Like Teen Spirit' at first the "spirit' in the room was rather joyous and maybe mixed with nostalgia, then you can see and feel it that there is so much mixed emotions from ALL of that history and loss and the absence of the man behind that mic. and the other old friend (Cornell) as well. It was rather somber and yet almost a necessary ice breaker of sorts to touch on that yet move on to all the great memories as well. I have no doubt that this conversation was therapeutic to everyone there. This was also WAY better than any documentary or film in capturing that period when all these young guys were doing all this locally as a community with none of that LA or NY celebrity drama crap. I never really thought about that aspect before but it's true. These people really were like a massive extended family or village of musicians that were making the music they wanted to for themselves despite whatever the industry was looking for at the time. Even though I am from the area and their generation I wasn't really culturally aware of the local music scene at the time. So I didn't really discover these guys until the rest of the world did. I regret that. It would be wonderful to have memories of this scene from up close and personal in the moment before it all exploded into the mainstream. Well, at least I got to be alive during this period in history to experience all this from the `70s to now. I am very blessed.

Rick Beato is heading into next level. Music press take note…

I could listen to these guys for hundreds of hours. That scene where Krist is patting Kim on the back for Black Hole Sun... I really teared up. I love them.

Krist is so intelligent. love his sense of humor. sometimes he says things that are so dry, it’s easy to miss it in the moment.

Nirvana and Soundgarden have and will always be two of my favourite bands, so to see this video and hear them discuss things that I've never heard them talk about before was truly awesome.

It's so weird to think that Chris Cornell just started off as "hey the drummer wants to try to sing some songs" and turns out to be one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time...

Watch any interview of Krist over the years and try to find him acting differently... You won't, the man just seems a genuine down to earth guy. After all these years he's the same guy. What a man!

Also HUGE thanks Krist for mentioning The Tragically Hip. It is a huge thing for Hip/Nirvana fans to know that they shared a stage at one time in the early life of both bands and it's really, really great to hear him mention it unprompted just as a part of the Butch Vig/Smart Studios adventure. I know you'll never see this but Krist, you're the fucking best and this is a killer interview for old folks like me to hear from all 3 of you in a real nice casual but still serious way if that makes sense. Great job Rick, you're very good about letting the subjects of your interviews speak if they're on a roll while still steering the conversation well.

0:40:01 Oh man... the look on Kim's face listening to Chris singing. You can see the pain. In that moment Chris is alive and eternal, for all of us... and yet it is bittersweet because we know he's not here. R.I.P. Chris Cornell, no one sings like you anymore. ❤️

Krist is very humble. Nirvana bass lines are very interesting and creative. I was very impressed when I tried to learn several Nirvana songs. I think he deserves a bass deep dive by Rick ☀️

Seeing the pain in Krist's eyes really hit me hard. You can tell how much he's struggling with the mix of emotions from that time.

25:20 - Krist's mental recall on that murky verbalization at the beginning of Dive! We almost learn what the heck it is. That mysterious birthcry out of the primordial ooze of Dive

Beyond Kurt and Dave's undeniable talents, it's my belief that Krist is the unsung hero of Nirvana’s sound and memorable stage presence.

Love how Rick doesn’t constantly barge in on the interesting conversations these guys have and just lets them talk, unlike a lot of other interviewers.

I absolutely love Krist, he seems so real and genuine and whenever he talks about Kurt it seems to cut to his heart. I don't think he was ever the same after Kurt died. They were so incredibly close from High School on and it's so sad he lost his best friend to something Krist could never help Kurt with, he was lost way to early, his life was just starting.

Nice work, Rick! I was a Seattle native, during this period. My band shared a practice room with Alice in Chains, at a place called "The Music Bank", in Ballard, a suburb of Seattle. It was such a trip down memory lane, to hear these guys again. I remember it all! Thank you, for this. I was never a rock star but I was part of something incredible. It was cool to remember how special it all was.

I love these origin stories. I’m a few years younger than these guys but in the late 80’s, early 90’s, every sizable town had a music scene like this. Playing in 3 different bands, starving, couch surfing and putting everything on the line to “make it”. My scene was Denver. It’s no wonder that music exploded with so many incredible bands in the 90’s. People got fed up with pop and hair metal and Seattle led the way out of that. I’m still playing and became a touring drummer, but those days were the best of my life.

My ONLY complaint is that this interview was not 4 hours long. Literally got misty eyed listening to these guys go so in depth on songs that shaped my youth. You are a fucking LEGEND RICK! Thank you for these 🤘🏽🔥🙏🏼

Krist loves his friends - every time a name is mentioned his face shows his emotion - Andy Wood, Chris Cornell, Kurt Cobain - at every mention of their names, you can see his reflection on each friend. This interview was a human and spiritual experience - one of your best ever Rick! Great work!

I feel that Kim went under the radar of what people consider the great guitar legends. Just came here to say thank you for the music. You're one of my greats. 🤘

As a 23 year old grungehead these guys are my heros, underrated musicians. Thank you so much for this Mr. Beato!

For many years whenever i watch interviews with Krist talking about Kurt and Nirvana he usually always looked so sad and depressed (obviously) but this is the first time I’ve seen him happy. Especially when you would play those songs for him. You can just see him light up and that makes me so happy to see

I don’t know anyone of these people personally but God, Rick makes it easy to feel like we could belong in that interview. Thank you.

I've watched hundreds of rock and music documentaries histories and interviews and stories if not thousands..this is one of my favorites I've ever seen .. hearing these stories right from the guys along w the producers experience parallel to it is a very dynamic aspect of this that really tells a larger story of a bigger picture.. absolutely fantastic work my friend 👊i grew up watching all of them and idolize both bands to this day...bands so great they changed the culture along with the music 🎶

All these years later, I still get chills when I hear the beginning of Black Hole Sun. The best grunge song I tro of all time.

Only 10mins in, but I know where my next hour and a half will be spent. How epic is this? What continues to amaze me is how relaxed and candid EVERYONE you interview is. You’ve shown your chops and earned the trust my brother, and the payoff is incredible. Thank you, Rick.

Krist literally seems like he's wearing an incredibly good old man costume. His voice and mannerisms are so young

Such a great interview. First CD I ever bought Was Nirvana nevermind. And being a teenager in the 90s all these bands are what I know from my childhood and teenage years and I love all of them. Killer interviews

I graduated HS in ‘90. Nirvana, Soundgarden, AIC, Pearl Jam were the soundtrack of my youth. As a music fan we were blessed. When I look at the influence they had on me it’s immeasurable. I felt the loss when Kurt, Layne, and Chris passed. Terrific interview, these guys are just so genuine.

I found this interview quite moving as a massive Soundgarden fan particularly and a teenager of the 90s. Rick has a perfect interviewing style which disarms his guests. They trust him. They know he's a good faith actor and has great knowledge and appreciation of music in general. It was humbling to hear two legends talking about their bands and origins like you might hear one of your mates chatting about their band back in the day. The main difference is their two bands became Soundgarden and Nirvana. Both Krist and Kim have now both lost their lead singer and good friend to suicide. You could sense their shared history and I'd say the loss of both Chris and Kurt has gilded their friendship even more. The moment when Krist patted Kim on the back when the opening chords of Black Hole Sun came on was just beautiful. Their mutual respect and love was really clear. Rick thank you for doing what you are doing. These legends clearly respect you as does everyone on this channel. 👏

Krist is so right when he says these songs had a profound impact on us for the rest of our lives, I don't think there's been 1 single day where I haven't thought about Kurt or have a nirvana song in my head, even if it's only a few seconds a day. It's really amazing

Rick, I am really glad I watched this. I live in Tacoma and just started learning how to play the guitar. I moved my family up to Tacoma in 93 and have been here ever since. I love Tacoma we moved up here for swimming, because my oldest son was a national raked swimmer. I did not realize how much Tacoma was in Nirvana or I should say influenced this area. I really want to let you know how much this meant to me because I have been such a fan of both groups. and even more now that I understand more about music and music theory and learning cord progressions and how to build them. And in closing just want to let you know how much you have helped me, I so wish I would of started earlier in life, but at 73 I will use the remaining part of my life to learn more . All I can say is thank you.

Rick, you are a legend. Very happy you get to sit down with musicians of this magnitude and share stories and ideas!

People don’t realize how much of an impact Kim had on the 90’s “grundge” scene. Drop D was a hugeee reason it was so special. Kim is such a vast ocean of history. Wonderful guy, and amazing musician.

Rick's channel is literally music television and I love it. I would die to see Rick interview them Radiohead boys.

As a drummer of a teenage rockband, trying to get signed, the comment, "Kurt scrubbed toilets to record that demo" hit home. The love musicians have for their art is priceless. That's dedication. Listening to this interview and reminiscing 40 years later as a fan I'm so appreciative to have them tell their stories.

Wow, this is intense. Imagine Kurt and Chris sitting there... So nice to see Krist smiling again. Nirvana and Soundgarden were the biggest musical impacts for me as a young teen and the reason for becoming a musician myself. Great interview!!

What a treasure of an interview. Would love to just hear the stories from these guys all day long. The influence musically they have and this was an awesome interview.

I was never a Nirvana fan, but I was a huge Soundgarden fan. After this interview, I will honestly go back and give Nirvana another listen with a much different perspective. Kim fawning over Nirvana is enough to make me open up my mind...30 years later.

Many Seattle musicians were customers of ours back then. Cornell, Novoselic, Abbruzzese, Matt Cameron and others. One common trait in every Seattle band was putting the music first. They were all stunned by their success. So many great people and bands playing every night back then. 👏🏻👏🏻

Best interview I've seen in years. Also, the 3rd Secret album is freaking amazing. Easily my favorite album of the year

i love seeing them all together like this makes me happy

It was so funny seeing Rick's face as Kim talks about how they almost kept possibly the greatest rock singer of all time behind the drums. Also, was there no end to the talents of Chris Cornell?

Man, Krist looks like the sweetest grandpa. Yet he carries with him the wildest stories and history itself! Amazing guys. Thank you do much for these interviews, Rick!

It is incredible to me how humble all of these guys are. Thank you for giving us this platform, Rick! It was great getting to hear from all of them.

I love the look on Rick's face as he's hearing these guys articulate how the last, great rock music movement occurred from the architects that constructed it. It's the same look I have on my face right now. Total enchantment. Thank you Rick for everything you do for rock music.

Soundgarden’s music timing always intrigued me and made them stand apart from other Grunge era bands. After hearing that Cornell was a drummer who loved odd time signatures, it makes sense why they would write such complex songs. The rhythm section wrote the songs. Great and insightful interview, Rick. That was great when they start playing Black Hole Sun, Kim looked like he was about to cry upon hearing his old dead friend, then Krist gives him a back slap and rub like he was telling him that only he knew how he felt and he was okay. Heavy.

Rockin the APC hat! Perfect tie in to the previous interview. You're really killing it lately Rick!!!! That Maynard interview might have been the most divulgent I've ever seen him. He must respect you! 😂

Learning Soundgarden songs, and I can attest they are definitely more difficult & complex than they sound.

Thankyou Uncle Rick - the interview was so candid and so awesome!

I love how the interview opens up about 25 minutes in. The initial awkwardness drops away and it's as close as we'll ever get to riffing about old times with legends at the pub. You handled it really well and coaxed everyone out of their shell. This must have been such a blast to do. I'm so pleased for you - and thank you!

This video was longer than most Hollywood movies, and was 1000x more entertaining. Thank you for this! Gonna go back into my corner and feel ancient now 😁.

Great interview. I was attending the Art Institute of Seattle in 92-94 and our group ran into these guys all the time in Bell Town, Pioneer Square and at Candle Box. What a great time to be in Seattle. Thank you

I was born a bit too late to experience grunge first hand, but when I discovered the bands in 98 (I was 13 back then), their music changed my life. I wanted to become a singer, a musician. Kurt was my first real idol, but I also loved all the other bands. Especially "In utero" had such a lasting impact on me. It was the first noise rock album I ever heard and I immediately fell in love with the amazing drum sound and the heavily distorted guitars. I'm not a nostalgic person and I do like modern music (especially electronic stuff), but I kinda miss rock music as a cultural factor. Maybe it's just not the right time for rock, I hope it will come back in a new, reimagined form. Just like the Seattle scene reimagined rock music back then.

No one will read this, but I'm just dropping in to say how excellent this interview/chat session was. Super interesting and and everyone seemed SO relaxed and into it, unlike so many other interviews. Major kudos to Rick, Kim, Krist and Jack.

You can tell that Rick is genuinely excited that his heroes are in the room with him. I love it

25:48 As a 54 year old man who has listened to hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours of Soundgarden, AIC, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam, and Nirvanna in my life, and who has watched Rick's uploads for several years now, I literally felt like I was in that room with those guys. ...and let me just say, I didn't miss a beat. I'm not in the biz, but I know that music inside and out, and it fecking jams.

Such a heart warming interview Rick. I think it's safe to say you've done some of the best musical interviews of all time.

I'm gonna cry. Soundgarden and Nirvana were basically my two favorite bands from when I was a teenager. I have so many memories attached to their songs. Songs are containers for our memories and a lot of memories are getting opened up for me right now.

You knocked this one way out of the park Rick. Never ever would I have imagined to experience so much insight from these fine individuals in this single sit down session. Absolutely smashing! Cheers to you Rick.

I’m just seeing this now but thank god for Rick Beato who’s preserving this history with these interviews and getting these guys perspectives on their experiences as a band and individually. Such a huge boon for us people trying to make music and share our soul with others, trying to “make it” , knowing what the experience can be like even when everything is seemingly going right for a band from the outside perspective as a fan, you never realize the suffering or tension that can be going on behind the scenes and it humanizes them in a way I truly appreciate and relate to. Thank you for this awesome interview I can’t believe I’m only seeing it just now!

It was really nice to hear Faith No More getting major props. Literally a week ago I had Angel Dust full album pop up and I listened to the entire thing three times. Music from this time period is just on a different level. Impossible to explain unless you were there.

I have to point out how sound pleasant is to hear Jack speaking. The timbre of his voice and clean pronunciation is just delightful. I am not an English native speaker, but I can appreciate the music of his speech, if it makes sense what I am trying to say.

Maaan the one-string guitar story told by Kim about Black hole sun's intro just gave me chills... It's incredible how things were actually done to think that it was because they couldn't play guitar with slide hahaha man it just makes it even greater. Complete genius events

In the 90's, this holy union of Nirvana // Soundgarden would break the news and charts.

1.9 million views but only 56 thousand likes? It's not that hard to click the thumbs up. Great interview Rick.