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Image via Mxdwn
Courtney Love spoke with Brett Morgan, the director of upcoming documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck (which airs May 4 on HBO) in a recent interview for V Magazine. She was (as always) remarkably candid on her relationship with the Nirvana legend, and what the process of reliving his life and passing has been like. We picked out a few of our favorite quotes below—the full interview will be published in V‘s summer issue, on stands May 7.
On why she decided to do the documentary
“No one knew Kurt was funny. And that’s ridiculous. He was ridiculously funny.”
On how she and Kurt met
“It was at the Satyricon in Portland, Oregon. I sometimes lie and say which bands were playing but I actually don’t remember. But Nirvana was obviously playing. He was cute, he was attractive, and he was funny… Everyone always writes that the song that was playing was Living Colour, but that wasn’t it. It was “Dear Friend” by Flying Color. He had this guy named Jason in his band and I noticed that Jason had big Soundgarden hair and looked very Seattle, not Aberdeen. People don’t distinguish between the two—they always think Kurt and I are from Seattle and neither of us are.
“He had this guy named Jason who came from Seattle and I noticed him turn the guy’s guitar all the way down on the Fender Twin they were playing through and I cackled at him about it after the set and I was like, “So you just have him up there because he looks like he’s in Soundgarden?” And he tackled me onto the floor. We had this physical attraction that was instant. That was in 1989 and my band was a ways off. So when my band came together, I just started chasing him around, man.”
On managing money and success
“But in 1994 if you said, “Will you do a Versace campaign?” I would have told you to go to hell. No way! A big day for me was going to Urban Outfitters and spending a thousand dollars and maybe getting a Chanel lip liner. That was my idea of luxury.”
“We were so in love, if this doesn’t sound corny, that we didn’t really care about all that other stuff and that includes me. And I’m pretty materialistic.”
On watching the documentary
“It fucked me up. I remembered the sexual relationship, which, as you know, is the core of any good marriage. It almost rendered other intimacies meaningless. I remembered how much I love him, and it made me really think about a few other people I don’t want to name, but a few other people I’ve been in love with […] Neither of us really liked the whole ‘Courtney is the bad guy’ thing. He fucking hated it as much as I did because it shamed him, it emasculated him, and it made him look weak.
“It kind of fucked me up, and to be honest with you, I don’t have a boyfriend right now, so I’m single. [The film] made me really evaluate what, at the age of 50, I want out of a relationship. He’s a hard act to follow. I love him and I always will.”
On her own success
“I don’t mind promoting this film with you, but I don’t love living in the 22 years ago, because I don’t. But it is who I was, and Kurt is a part of who I am. In terms of mythology, he will always define me. If I marry the guy who owns Google tomorrow, Kurt will define me.”
Related: Courtney Love Says She Wrote The Note Found In Kurt Cobain’s Wallet
Related: Courtney Love Will Not Have Creative Control Over The Authorized Kurt Cobain Documentary
