The Monarch Drinks With Bruce Pavitt

By the time we’re cracking open fortune cookies, Bruce Pavitt and I find ourselves talking about Kurt Cobain and the idea of seclusion. That someone like Kurt, beautiful and stirring, at the height of world fame, needed the confidence and compassion of an inner circle of people to talk with. Kurt never seemed to have that—for whatever reason—says Bruce, solemnness to his voice.

It is the end of a fascinating conversation, with me mostly listening to the stories Bruce has about the genesis of the record label he founded—Sub Pop—his first record player, his forthcoming two books—one about a week in Europe with a crumbling Nirvana, the other a collection of his writings about Independent rock groups—and the idea of being relentless in the pursuit of your own aspirations.