Finding Peace After Nirvana

Even if Kurt Cobain hadn’t committed suicide in the spring of 1994, Krist Novoselic might still be sitting on this late afternoon in a spare office at Geffen Records in West Hollywood and talking about the first album from his new band, Sweet 75.

“Nirvana was pretty much finished,” says the band’s former bassist, looking back on the last days of the seminal rock group that he and his buddy Cobain formed in Aberdeen, Wash., to combat the alienation they had felt in high school.

“Kurt even talked about it in some interviews, but the writers never seemed to pick up on it. They probably just couldn’t imagine anyone walking away from anything that was so successful.”

What Novoselic--whose new band’s debut album will be released next Tuesday--leaves unsaid is whether he thinks Cobain might still be alive if the band had called it quits, thus relieving some of the pressures that rock stardom seemed to place on the brilliant young singer-songwriter.

In interviews shortly before Cobain’s death, Novoselic also spoke about the turmoil of being in such a high-profile group and wondered how long he could hold out. But most people thought the complaints of both Cobain and Novoselic were just rock ‘n’ roll image building.

Yet, Novoselic’s comments were genuine. Like Cobain, he had trouble adjusting to all the attention that came to the band. Where Cobain turned to heroin for escape, Novoselic relied on alcohol.

Little did anyone know that the worst was still to come for both musicians.

In the weeks after Cobain shot himself in the head, Novoselic says he grew more dependent on alcohol. He even recalls passing out in an alley in downtown Seattle and being recognized by someone who took him home.

Not only had Novoselic lost a friend, but he felt himself more in the spotlight than ever after Cobain’s death.

“I had to build a big fence around my house because there were a lot of people coming around . . . especially reporters,” he says. “What happened to me was intensely personal and it was hard trying to make sense of it.

“I’d read things that were written about Nirvana and Kurt and a lot of it was way off. I felt most people were just exploitative and I didn’t want to contribute to any of it.”

Novoselic, 32, credits his wife, Shelli, with helping to pull him out of the emotional tailspin.

“I knew I had [to change] or I would lose my marriage,” he continues, referring to his drinking. “It was an ultimatum and it worked.”

It’s not easy for the soft-spoken Novoselic to talk about all this, but the background helps explain some of the sense of celebration and rebirth in Sweet 75’s music.

Where former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl’s music in Foo Fighters has a certain kinship with the Nirvana sound, Sweet 75 is a dramatic departure.

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One reason is that Novoselic’s new musical partner, a singer-songwriter who calls herself Yva Las Vegas, brings a wide range of influences to the music--from Janis Joplin and Chrissie Hynde to Patti Smith and Nina Hagen.

While intense and melodic, Sweet 75’s songs have more of a sense of optimism and inner strength than the music of Nirvana, a band that largely defined ‘90s rock in its dark, grunge image.

The band’s spirit is a shared outlook. Las Vegas--a Venezuela native who has lived in the United States for about half of her 33 years--writes the lyrics, but the pair collaborate on the music. Though he played bass in Nirvana, Novoselic has shifted to guitar in Sweet 75, with Las Vegas handling bass. The current lineup includes Adam Wade on drums.

“Both of us had some big events in our lives,” Novoselic says, sitting in the Geffen office with Las Vegas. “We had kind of reckless lifestyles in our 20s and we have learned a lot. We try to be hopeful. Cynicism is a real turnoff.”

The pair met shortly after Cobain’s death when Las Vegas was hired to sing at Novoselic’s birthday party. He was struck by her voice and energy, so he invited her to the recording studio where he and Grohl had been hanging out. Novoselic was still unsure whether he even wanted to be in another band.

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Novoselic, whose parents were born in Croatia and who has written about conditions there for Spin magazine, used some of this downtime to form a political action committee (Joint Artists and Music Promotions Political Action Committee) to fight censorship laws in the state of Washington. Gradually, however, Grohl began forming the Foo Fighters and Novoselic found his own new direction with Las Vegas.

Being in the studio with someone from Nirvana was naturally intimidating for Las Vegas, even though she had been in various bands--from rock to salsa groups--for most of her adult life.

“All I knew of [Novoselic] was seeing him on the covers of magazines and stuff,” she says. “So, it took me a while in the studio before I was really able to sing in front of him. At first, I’d just sort of hum and fake it.”

The pair moved slowly. Sweet 75 didn’t make its club debut until early 1995. A short tour followed and then a demo tape, which led to the making of the album.

“I’ve always been impressed by Krist’s devotion to music,” says Ray Farrell, a Geffen Records artists & repertoire executive who has known Novoselic since before Nirvana signed with the label in 1990. “There was a lot about Nirvana that was overwhelming and he worked hard to retain his purity. I think that carries over into Sweet 75.”

With the album finally ready, the spirit of the music carries over to Novoselic’s outlook for the band. He even sees the success of Grohl’s Foo Fighters, whose debut album was released in 1995, as opening a door.

“I think it took a lot of courage for him to put out a record so soon after Nirvana and it was good,” Novoselic says. “We benefit from that. I’m also looking forward to people discovering Yva. As time goes on, I think there is going to be a lot less attention on me and a lot more on her. I never set out to be a front person. I just wanted to make music and it feels good doing it again.”