Krist Anthony Novoselic is a Croatian-American rock musician.
He was the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana.
After Nirvana disbanded following the death of singer Kurt Cobain, Novoselic formed Sweet
75 and Eyes Adrift, releasing one album with each band.
From 2006 to 2009 he played in the punk band Flipper, and in 2011 contributed bass and
accordion to the song "I Should Have Known", on the Foo Fighters' studio album Wasting
Light.
Apart from his musical endeavors, Novoselic has been active politically, including the
creation of the political action committee JAMPAC.
From 2007 through 2010 he wrote a weekly column on music and politics for Seattle Weekly's
website.
Since 2008 he has been board chair of the electoral reform organization FairVote.
Biography Early life
Novoselic was born to Croatian immigrants Krsto and Maria Novoselić in Compton, California.
He lived there for one year before his parents moved to the Croatian neighborhood of San
Pedro, where he remained for most of his childhood.
Novoselic has a younger brother Robert, born in 1968.
His sister Diana was born in 1973.
His family moved to Aberdeen, Washington in 1979, because of rising property prices in
California.
In 1980, his parents sent him to live with relatives in Zadar, Croatia, then part of
SFR Yugoslavia.
He returned to Aberdeen in 1981.
Novoselic was already interested in bands such as Led Zeppelin, Devo, Black Sabbath,
Van Halen and Aerosmith.
He also enjoyed rock bands like Zabranjeno Pušenje, Prljavo kazalište and Azra.
While in Yugoslavia, he picked up an interest in punk rock, and discovered bands such as
the Sex Pistols and the Ramones.
He has cited Paul McCartney, Geezer Butler, John Entwistle, and Gene Simmons as the fundamental
influences of his bass playing.
Sometime later, Novoselic's brother Robert introduced him to his friend Kurt Cobain,
who had noticed loud music coming from upstairs.
Robert told Cobain that it was his older brother, who listened to punk rock.
Cobain eventually befriended the elder Novoselic, as the pair ended up sharing similar musical
tastes, including a fondness for local band The Melvins.
The two had several mutual friends and began hanging out shortly thereafter.
At one point, Cobain gave Novoselic a demo tape of his former band Fecal Matter, and
asked him to form a band together.
After several months, Novoselic finally listened to the tape, liked it, and agreed to start
a band with Cobain.
Nirvana
Cobain and Novoselic's first band lasted barely a few weeks before it disbanded, leaving the
pair to move on.
However, the duo eventually discovered that the Melvins could pull $80 a night for one
show.
Inspired, Cobain and Novoselic started a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover band, in which Cobain
played drums and Novoselic sang and played guitar.
That band was short-lived as well.
Some months later, Cobain and Novoselic met drummer Aaron Burckhard.
While the new band never used the name, it was the first incarnation of Nirvana.
Burckhard lasted only a few months and Melvins drummer Dale Crover filled in until Novoselic
and Cobain met Chad Channing.
The trio recorded their debut album Bleach, released in 1989.
Channing left the band in 1990 and was briefly replaced by Crover and Mudhoney drummer Dan
Peters.
Later in 1990, Melvins singer-guitarist Buzz Osborne encouraged Novoselic and Cobain to
check out a punk band called Scream.
The pair were impressed by their drummer, Dave Grohl.
A few weeks later, Scream disbanded, and Grohl placed a call to Osborne for advice.
Osborne gave him Novoselic's phone number, and Novoselic invited Grohl up to Seattle.
Grohl passed the audition and joined Nirvana.
A few months later, in the spring of 1991, the band recorded their major label debut,
Nevermind, which launched the band as a worldwide phenomenon with their hit single "Smells Like
Teen Spirit".
Nirvana ended abruptly in April 1994 following Cobain's death.
For most of the rest of that year, Novoselic retreated from the spotlight.
Novoselic and Cobain had been virtually inseparable for almost a decade, and the loss of his close
friend was especially hard on him.
One of a few public appearances came that September at the MTV Video Music Awards, where
the video for Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" was awarded for Best Alternative Video.
Novoselic took the opportunity to pay tribute to his bandmate and best friend, Kurt Cobain.
Post-Nirvana The following year, Novoselic continued to
dabble in musical endeavors.
He was offered the position of playing bass in a new band, the Foo Fighters, with friend
and former bandmate Dave Grohl but both decided against it, because they believed people would
think of Foo Fighters as a new incarnation of Nirvana.
Novoselic instead formed the band Sweet 75 in 1995, releasing a single self-titled album
in 1997.
In 2002 he performed uncredited background vocals on The Foo Fighters song "Walking a
Line", written as a tribute to Cobain, during the One by One album sessions.
The track is included on the One by One bonus DVD, as well as being a bonus track to the
album.
In 1998, Novoselic directed his first movie, L7: The Beauty Process, a pseudo-documentary
that utilizes concert footage taped in 1997 in three American cities.
In 1999, he joined Jello Biafra and Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil in the No WTO Combo.
He then joined former Meat Puppets front man Curt Kirkwood and former Sublime drummer Bud
Gaugh to form Eyes Adrift, which disbanded in 2003.
This band was significant as it was the first official release in his career where he sang
lead vocals.
He also took a highly active role in the song writing process, co-writing several songs
with Kirkwood.
Following the end of Eyes Adrift, Novoselic announced, that he was quitting the music
business, noting that he disliked the process of building up publicity for new records.
However, in recent years, Novoselic has occasionally worked on music for a possible solo album,
noting, "Right now, I'm just doing it for myself, and that's what it's all about."
In November 2006, it was announced, that Novoselic would join Flipper, replacing Bruno DeSmartas
on bass, for a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
He was a full-time member of the band and had been working on their new album.
On September 22, 2008, because of responsibilities at home, Novoselic announced his departure
from the band.
As a result, the band canceled the remainder of the tour.
Rachel Thoele then replaced Novoselic.
In 2009, he played a newspaper vendor in the movie World's Greatest Dad starring Robin
Williams.
In October 2010, Dave Grohl, former Nirvana band mate of Novoselic, announced live on
BBC radio, that Novoselic will be joining the Foo Fighters on their next album as a
bassist and accordionist which was released in 2011: Wasting Light.
Novoselic also played bass on children's music artist Caspar Babypants' 2010 album This Is
Fun!, for a cover of the Nirvana song "Sliver".
Performance and recording with Foo Fighters Novoselic's first experience with the Foo
Fighters was participating in the encore of their show on August 29, 1997 at Memorial
Stadium as part of the Bumbershoot festival, where he played bass for the band's covers
of "Purple Rain" and "Communication Breakdown".
In January 2002 he performed backing vocals for a non-album track titled "Walking a Line",
later released on a special edition of the band's album One by One.
Later, during the encore of the Foo Fighters' secret show at Paladino's in Tarzana,California
on December 22, 2010, the band, with Grohl on drums was joined onstage by Novoselic and
the band's live guitarist Pat Smear for a version of Nirvana's "Marigold" a 1992 Grohl
original, which was also a B-side on Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box", the first single from
In Utero.
Novoselic also recorded bass and accordion on the song "I Should Have Known", appearing
on the Foo Fighters' 7th studio album called Wasting Light, released on April 12, 2011.
Political and social activism
In 1992, the Washington state legislature attempted to pass a bill called the Erotic
Music Law.
The law would allow courts to declare certain albums "erotic" by their content, and would
make it illegal to sell those albums to those under the age of 18.
A lobbying group called the Washington Music Industry Coalition formed as a response to
the bill.
Novoselic and Nirvana actively campaigned against the bill and performed a benefit concert
for the lobbying group in September 1992.
In 1995, the Erotic Music Law was reintroduced to the Washington State Legislature as the
Matters Harmful to Minors bill.
Noting that the music industry had serious clout in Seattle given the success of the
scene, Novoselic proposed creating a political action committee, which was named JAMPAC.
Over the next several years, JAMPAC fought a number of different issues, including the
Teen Dance Ordinance, a 1985 law that severely limited the ability of minors to attend shows.
With JAMPAC, Novoselic began to turn his focus more and more towards politics.
Novoselic remains active in politics as an elected State Committeeman, making appearances
to advocate electoral reform and running the website.
He considered a 2004 run for Lieutenant Governor of Washington as a Democrat, challenging an
incumbent of the same party, but ultimately decided against it.
He also joined the board of FairVote, then the Center for Voting and Democracy, and was
appointed chair in January 2008.
Novoselic's first book, Of Grunge and Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy, was published
in October 2004.
It covers Novoselic's musical past, including Nirvana's rise to a world wide phenomenon
of the early 1990s.
It also covers his interest in politics, his support of electoral reform, and his belief
in the need to return to grassroots movements and clean up politics overall.
He supported Democratic Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election, and in
the primary.
In 2007 he made a donation to libertarian Republican Congressman Ron Paul.
He withdrew from the campaign for county clerk of Wahkiakum County.
He was running under the "Grange Party".
He is a member of The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.
However, the Grange is not actually a political party.
He was running in order to protest Washington state's system, in which a candidate can claim
any party as their own without consent or support from the party.
Novoselic continues to support political reform, even looking at social networks such as Facebook
and Twitter, as major factors in shaping the political future.
He explained his support for fair voting reforms on CSPAN's Washington Journal in 2012.
Personal life Novoselic has been married twice.
His first wife was Shelli Dilley; he met her in high school, and they began dating in 1985.
They were married in December 1989; they divorced in late 1999.
In early 2004, Novoselic married artist Darbury Stenderu.
He is a vegetarian.
He resides near Deep River, Washington, in rural Wahkiakum County, Washington.
Novoselic wrote a blog for the Seattle Weekly website from 2007 to 2010.
He attends Lower Columbia College and is studying for a pre-law degree.
Notes
References
External links Krist Novoselic w/ Flipper
Krist Novoselic at the Internet Movie Database Novoselic.com – a website dedicated to Krist