Dave Grohl

By Josh Tyrangiel

Emancipation broke out last week when COURTNEY LOVE settled her lawsuits with the Universal Music Group. The label let Love out of her contract, and she agreed to let UMG release previously unheard songs by Nirvana, the band comprising her late husband Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and DAVE GROHL. Grohl heads the band Foo Fighters, whose new album, One by One, will be out on Oct. 22; he spoke with TIME's Josh Tyrangiel.

YOU, KRIST AND COURTNEY FINALLY SETTLED YOUR DIFFERENCES OVER THE RIGHTS TO NIRVANA'S MUSIC. WHAT TOOK SO LONG? Legal stuff, mostly. It was a matter of negotiation, and we live in different places and have different lives and didn't always see eye to eye. But the passage of time helped. Most people would expect negotiating with Courtney to be a complete nightmare, like World Wrestling Entertainment or something. But I didn't have to do too much. Thankfully my time was occupied with other things.

WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU GUYS HAVE AGREED TO RELEASE? There'll be a Nirvana Greatest Hits out Nov. 12 with a song called You Know You're Right on it. It was the last song we ever recorded, a few months before Kurt died. We had a weekend to spare and went into a studio around the corner from my house. After the band was done we really didn't know what to do with it. Now it's surfaced.

WHY DO YOU THINK THERE'S STILL SO MUCH INTEREST IN KURT COBAIN EIGHT YEARS AFTER HIS SUICIDE? When something ends as Nirvana did, and as Kurt's life did, it's inevitable that people are left with a question mark. People are still wondering why and what happened, and they're looking for some sort of insight.

YOU'RE THE ONLY ROCK STAR I'VE EVER HEARD OF WHO LIVES IN SUBURBAN VIRGINIA. THE ROCK-STAR PARTIES MUST BE KIND OF LONELY, NO? It's pretty much me, a Budweiser and a bong.

YOUR BAND EXCLUDED, WHO'S THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW? I'd have to say the Hives. Those guys have a lead singer whose charisma rivals Mick Jagger's and have songs like the Kinks'. And they carry everything off with a lot of attitude.

WHICH IS THE BIGGER MUSICIAN LIE: "MY SONGS ARE LIKE MY CHILDREN" OR "THESE GUYS ARE LIKE MY BROTHERS"? "These guys are like my brothers." Every songwriter definitely feels like the songs they write are close to them, but I don't think they necessarily feel that way about their bandmates. That said, my bandmates are like family.