Krist Novoselic

Krist Novoselic

Krist Anthony Novoselic was born on May 16, 1965, in Compton, California. He is best known for his work in the grunge band Nirvana. He is a Croatian-American. He later moved to Gardena, California, and then once more to Arberdeen, Washington. There he picked up an interest in music.

His younger brother, Robert, befriended Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. As Cobain entered the Novoselic home, he heard loud music coming from upstairs. Cobain and the older Novoselic became friends and shared musical interests. Kurt gave Krist a demo tape entitled Fecal Matter. Fecal Matter disbanded the next year in 1986. The pair then met Aaron Buckhard, and then the first incarnation of Nirvana was born. Shortly after, Buckhard was replaced by Melvin's drummer Dale Crover.

The original pair then met Chad Channing, and he became the drummer. "Bleach" was unveiled in 1989 by Sub-Pop Records. The album was filled with Cobain's painful lyrics, Novoselic's poppy bass lines, and Channing's powerful drums. The cost to record "Bleach:" $606.17 and a sandwich. Soon they became college-radio favorites and were booked internationally. In 1990, Nirvana released a single, "Sliver/Dive." Meanwhile, Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins showed Cobain and Novoselic to Dave Grohl, of the Washington D.C. band Scream. Since Scream disbanded the next year, Dave Grohl became their drummer. Channing was fired with no hard feelings on either side.

In 1991, the trio recorded "Nevermind," which became a huge success. It features key tracks "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "In Bloom," "Come As You Are," and "Polly." Even today, "Nevermind" tops the charts. "1992" came with a collection of rarities and B-sides. It was a minor success.

Nirvana once again rocked the charts with "In Utero" (Latin for "In The Womb"). The name was derived by Courtney Love (Cobain's wife)'s poetry. It features "Dumb," "Heart-Shaped Box," and "All Apologies." Wal-Mart, to keep its family friendly image, created a "clean" version, which really just changes one of the songs titles to "Waif Me" and crops some anatomy of the cover.

Nirvana disbanded with Cobain's sudden suicide. To some, "In Utero" was almost a suicide note. Then, Krist formed Sweet 75. It released a self-titled album. In 1999, he formed the No-WTO-Combo. He then joined Eyes Adrift, with former Meat Puppet Curt Kirkwood and former Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh, which stopped in 2003. He wrote his book, "Of Grunge And Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy." He recorded a solo album in 2005, which remains unreleased.

Krist Novoselic is my hero because he inspired me to do the thing that I love: playing bass guitar. He also was a political figure and once ran for lieutenant governor of Washington. Nirvana also was a group that was pro-gay and very con-sexism.