Former Nirvana bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic relived their rock heyday during a recent studio session when they performed Smells Like Teen Spirit for the first time in 18 years.
Foo Fighters frontman Grohl recruited his old pal to record a new song for his group's latest album, Wasting Light, in December (10). The track was produced by another Nirvana collaborator, Butch Vig, while guitarist Pat Smear, who joined the Nevermind rockers on tour in 1993, was also invited into the studio as a Foo Fighters regular.
The jam session occurred on the eve of a planned secret show in California shortly before Christmas (10) and Grohl admits the reunion was a "strange" experience.
He tells Entertainment Weekly, "I just thought, 'What a trip, to sit with Krist and Butch and Pat in the studio together.' Because that was never supposed to happen again. It was pretty huge.
"The day we finished the record, we had this club gig to do. It was in this little bar down the street, a surprise show. I invited Krist to come down and play a song. We wanted to play Marigold, which was the B-side of the Heart-Shaped Box single, and it was the only Nirvana song I sang. I said, 'Krist, for the encore, I'll play drums, you play bass, Pat plays guitar, we'll do that song. And that'll be the first time we've been together onstage since Nirvana ended.'
"So we go to the studio that day to practise. We run though the song once and then Krist says, 'Hey you guys want to do some mouldy oldies?' Me and Pat look at each other and go, 'OK, what do you want to do?' He says, 'Let's do 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.'
"I hadn't played that song in 18-years. I haven't even played the drum beat to that song in 18 years. And we played it. And there's only one person in the studio, who was Scott, the studio manager. Halfway through the song he opens up the door and he looks in, and watches for a minute and closes the door again.
"We ended the song and look at each other like, 'That was strange.' We walked out and Scott looked at us and said, 'Yeah, it sounded pretty good. You guys should keep that.'"
Nirvana disbanded in 1994 following frontman Kurt Cobain's suicide.