Entertainment

Tough Love

If the world of rock ’n’ roll has seemed a little quiet recently, it’s probably because Courtney Love has been keeping a low profile. The past few years have been erratic, even for her. In 2010, she embarked on a messy and ultimately unsuccessful reunion of Hole. In 2011, she settled out of court with fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir for a reported $430,000 after she claimed Love had defamed her on Twitter. And last year, she accused former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl of trying to seduce Frances Bean Cobain, before offering a hasty apology.

But things are about to get louder, because Love is getting ready to return to public life. Earlier this week, she played a low-key show of mostly Hole songs to a packed house at Warsaw in Greenpoint. The set was part of a short tour she’s undertaken to try out her new solo act. Love, 48, spoke to The Post about her forthcoming memoir and why she wants to try her hand at directing:

You’ve been very quiet lately. Everything OK?

I’m really good. I’m really impressed that the Queens of the Stone Age record is No. 1. I think that’s great. I don’t much like [founding member] Josh [Homme], but I like them. The last time I was in a room with Josh, we chased each other around the room with broken beer bottles. I think it was at the Bowery Ballroom. He was just a real ass. Whatever. [Singer] Brody Dalle kind of sat there and instigated the whole thing and sat there smirking.

That sounds quite Benny Hill-ish.

It was scary. It was the only time I’ve ever been arrested. [She was arrested that night for allegedly attacking a fan.] It was St. Patty’s Day in 2004. I really wasn’t well — I was ingesting a lot of bad drugs. I couldn’t sing; I had no voice. And then Brody Dalle came backstage with Josh, and we just got into it. It was kind of a drunken brawl. I wasn’t drunk, ’cause I don’t drink. He was drunk; I was on something else. He said [something] that was an old chestnut. But whatever. I’ve talked to Brody a few times since and asked her to sing on “Nobody’s Daughter” [Hole’s 2010 comeback album].

Is this tour going to lead to an album at some point?

Yeah, but it’s not gonna be out until January because I’m looking at a lot of record deals. It’s not like the old days, though. It’s not like, “We’re giving you millions of dollars and tons of videos.” You have to scrap.

Are you still working on your memoir?

I have to turn it in this month. I’ve done the Kurt [Cobain] chapter, the Michael Stipe chapter and the Frances [Bean Cobain] chapter. There are lots of other details I need to add. I have a co-writer and I’ve written the majority of it. Sometimes it’s cathartic, and sometimes it’s boring. That’s when I feel it’s not as good as [Patti Smith’s] “Just Kids” because she wrote that herself. I would have preferred to write the whole thing myself.

You used to get spotted around the city a lot at shows and parties, but not so much anymore. What do you do with your time?

I’m actually thinking of going to NYU to take a finance course and a lens course, so I can think about directing. I have a really good script, but I don’t want to do it unless I really know how to work a camera. I’m bad at composition and drumming. Those are two things I’m really bad at. And I’m keeping a low profile on social media. I don’t want to get in any more trouble from stupid social media I don’t understand. Anyone cool doesn’t really have Facebook anyway.