Krist Novoselic spoke candidly about the fear he once felt when he was asked to play with Paul McCartney.
Novoselic received the most ambitious offer yet when Dave Grohl planned the collaboration to record the single "Cut Me Some Slack" for his "Sound City" documentary project. The track was successfully released in 2012.
However, the process was not easy for Novoselic, especially after he learned he would record it alongside The Beatles member.
Why Krist Novoselic Feared Playing With Paul McCartney
Novoselic shared his thoughts in a recent interview with Bass Player and opened up about the time he was tapped to work with McCartney, Grohl, and Pat Smear for the track.
According to the musician, the offer was like asking him to do karate with Bruce Lee and do some sparring with Muhammad Ali. But despite his repeated prayers not to make him play bass guitar, he was still asked to do so in the end.
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When they started recording, McCartney was playing a cigar-box guitar while Smear and Grohl were responsible for the guitar and drums, respectively.
Despite having A-listers, Novoselic said it was not working for them until he realized they were playing in D. After adjusting, they finally "felt it."
"I did the old grunge trick and I drop-tuned my bass to D. I played some riffs and boom! Paul got into it, Pat was feeling it, and Dave laid down some serious grooves," he recalled. "Then Paul shot me a riff and I shot him a riff, and everything started clicking perfectly."
How They Reborn Nirvana As Sirvana
On Dec. 12, 2012, McCartney, Novoselic, Grohl, and Smear joined The Concert for Sandy Relief and performed their recorded Nirvana track.
The supergroup then received the resurrection name, "Sirvana," a nod to the "Sir" in Paul McCartney's name after he was appointed as a knight of the British Empire.
"We had the old band back together, and we had this cool left-handed guitarist, who was actually Paul McCartney, and he was doing vocals," Novoselic said. "I had to pinch myself. We ended up winning a Grammy for that song, too."
Aside from the "Sound City" collaboration track, the supergroup also performed other songs at the event, including "The End," "Carry That Weight," "Golden Slumbers," "Helter Skelter," "Get Back," and "Long Tall Sally."
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