Today is the birthday of "Nirvana," bass player Krist Novoselic.
In honor of this special day, let's delve into some interesting information about Krist Novoselic.
(Photo: Kathy Flynn)
1. He was born on May 16, 1965. His full name is Krist Anthony Novoselic and he was born in California to two Croatian parents who immigrated to the U.S. He has a brother Robert and sister Diana who are three and eight years younger than him.
2. In 1971 his family moved to Aberdeen, Washington in light of rising real estate prices in California but in 1980 his parents sent him to live with relatives in the Croatian city of Zadar for one year after which he returned to Aberdeen.
3. He said that in terms of playing the bass, he was influenced by players such as Paul McCartney, Geezer Butler, John Entwistle, and Gene Simmons.
4. Krist met Kurt Cobain through his brother Robert, and the two became friends mainly based on their shared taste in punk rock music and their love for the local band "The Melvins".
(Photo: tumblr.com)
5. Cobain recorded a number of demo songs with his band "Fecal Matter" which he formed in 1985 on tape and asked Krist to listen to it because he wanted to form a band with him. Only after a few months did Krist listen to the tape and agree to Cobain's offer.
6. First the two formed a cover band called "Sellouts" that played "Creedence Clearwater Revival" songs with Cobain on drums and Krist on guitar and vocals.
7. The two enlisted drummer Aaron Burckhard and began working on materials from Cobain's previous band as well as new materials.
8. The two moved to a different apartment and lost touch with their drummer, so they got in touch with their friend, the Melvines' drummer Dale Crover with whom they first recorded demos as Nirvana in January 1988.
9. After replacing a few drummers, they posted a job ad in a local newspaper in which they found drummer Chad Channing, the three immediately started playing together and their first appearance occurred in May 1988.
10. The trio released their debut album "Bleach" in June 1989 under the label that was the heart of the grunge scene at the time in the Seattle "Sub-Pop". Krist contributed to the writing of the album and inspired Cobain's lyrics.
11. Chad left immediately after the album was released and the two found themselves again looking for a drummer. Buzz Osborne, the guitarist and singer of the Melvins, suggested the two come to a show by a band called "Scream". The two were very impressed with the band's drummer Dave Grohl whose band disbanded a few weeks later.
12. Buzz gave Dave's phone to Krist and he called Dave to invite him to auditions for the band, the result of course is already known and the three became Nirvana's classic lineup.
(Photo: Ed Sirrs)
13. In September 1991 Nirvana's second album and first with Dave was released "Nevermind". The album, recorded at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles, was a phenomenal success against all expectations and was commercially successful worldwide.
14. In 1992 the band played at the MTV music awards event and when Krist started playing the song "Lithuim" he did not hear himself play, he was so upset that threw the bass in the air with the intention of catching it, but he did not appreciate the height and the bass hit him in the face. Primary medical care was given by none other than Brian May.
15. In December 1992, the band released the album "Incesticide" which consisted of b-sides, demos, covers, and radio versions. On this album, Krist contributed to the writing of the songs "Dive", "Hairspray Queen", and "Aneurysm".
16. In September 1993 the band released their third album "In Utero" which reached number one on the Billboard 200. This was the band's last studio album.
17. In November of that year the band held the amazing and special show "MTV Unplugged". At the same show, Krist played acoustic bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and accordion. The show came out a year later as an album and gave the band a Grammy win.
18. In 1994 the three came together to work on the next album but Cobain's many absences led the two to work together on material for the album such as: "Exhausted", "Big Me", "February Stars", and "Butterflies".
19. In April 1994, the band reached the end of the journey when Cobain committed suicide. Krist worked behind the scenes to release a number of Nirvana albums. He released the special package "With the Lights Out" in 2004, a live performance album called "From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah" and the festive album "20th-anniversary album for Nevermind".
20. After "Nirvana", Krist worked with a large number of artists, set up a number of projects, and released individual albums, among them...
21. The band "Sweet 75" with musicians from Venezuela, released a single album bearing the band name in 1997
22. In 1998 he directed his first film "L7: The Beauty Process", an imaginary documentary about "L7".
23. In 1999 he co-founded with Soundgarden's guitarist the one-time punk rock band called "No WTO Combo".
24. In 2002 he released a solo album with the supergroup "Eyes Adrift" which had members Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets), Bud Gaugh (Sublime). In the band, Krist took over for the first time the lead singer position in a large part of the songs.
25. Although after the release of the album, Krist announced that he was leaving the music business, he was still part of a number of ensembles such as: Giants in the Trees, Filthy Friends, Lepidopterist, and more...
26. Krist has collaborated several times with Dave, on a number of albums, gigs, and singles
Among them: "One By One", "Wasting Light" and the tribute album to "Sound City".
27. In 2004 he published his book "Of Grunge and Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy!"
28. In 2007, he began writing articles for the Seattle Weekly blog.
29. In 2009 Krist starred as a newspaper supplier in the film "World's Greatest Dad" starring Robbin Williams.
30. In 2022 he formed the supergroup "3rd Secret" along with drummer Matt Cameron and guitarist Kim Thayil. The band released their debut album on April 2022.
Listen to "3rd Secret" debut album: Spotify, Apple Music.