Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic once pulled off the ultimate rock star cliche by throwing a TV out a hotel window — but he did it in the sweetest way possible.
The Breeders guitarist Kelley Deal recalls Novoselic enlisting her help to pull off the stunt when her band were supporting Nirvana on tour in the early 1990s.
But she says he went out of his way to make sure nobody got hurt and even asked for permission from hotel staff before he did it.
Deal tells the Guardian: "I did actually throw a television through a hotel window once. On tour with Nirvana, Krist Novoselic said he’d been thinking about it and I said, 'Let’s do it!'
"He called down to the front desk, got permission, paid for the TV and asked security to make sure nobody was below. This is the kind of sweet band they were.
"Then we shoved it through the window. It was fun, but the funniest bit was all the planning and anticipation."
Deal was answering questions submitted to the Guardian by fans. Asked about The Breeders being tapped to have their hit Cannonball used in a money-spinning Levi's advert, she says: "We got offered a lot of stuff.
"A shampoo advert with a chick in the shower? No thanks. I’m wearing Levi’s now, but we didn’t like the cut of the video we were shown. Generally we say yes to any horror movie that wants our songs and probably no to everything else."
In the end, Scottish band Stiltskin's track Inside got the Levi's ad.
Recalling the making of Cannonball's masterpiece music video, directed by Spike Jonze and edited by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Deal adds: "I love the fast-moving Polaroids and the bowling ball in the aquarium. He is a sweet man and did a bunch of stuff, and Kim Gordon’s editing and assistance had a lot to do with the look and dynamics."
