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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2019)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2019 Novoselić fi nds post-Nirvana nirvana on his quiet farm By MICHAEL RIETMULDER Seattle Times GRAYS RIVER, Wash. — “This is what I look like when I fl y,” says Krist Novoselić, leaning back in his chair. The Nirvana bassist and licensed pilot had already logged roughly 700 miles in his twin-engine plane by the time he sits down in the old creamery he con- verted into a studio near his Wahkiakum County farm. Not exactly aviators and a bomber jacket, his fl ying attire of a blue button-up and beige slacks that hang above a pair of Vans is more business-casual-skater than “Top Gun.” Novoselić caught the fl y- ing bug roughly 20 years ago — about as long as he’s made rural Deep River his full-time home — when another Washington state rocker, Queensrÿche’s Chris DeGarmo, gave him an air- borne lift from Seattle to Astoria. It’s a handy means of transportation, espe- cially living in the pasto- ral southwest Washington county along the Colum- bia River where it’s eas- ier for Novoselić, a famous guy who’s not big on self- ies, to lead a normal life, he says. Here, in what might be the greenest pocket of the Evergreen State about 70 miles south of his home- town Aberdeen, the 54-year- old seems to have found his post-Nirvana nirvana, grow- ing cherry tomatoes and keeping a horse, alpaca and a goat named “Vespasian.” These days, fl ying is just one of the accordi- on-squeezing farmer, elec- tion-reform activist, Grange master and recent college graduate’s myriad pursuits — not to mention his band Giants in the Trees. “I’m privileged,” Novoselić says of his abil- ity to chase his disparate passions. “I just try to take Rebekah Welch/Seattle Times Krist Novoselić plays accordion with his band, Giants in the Trees, opening for the Foo Fighters in a 2018 concert at Safeco Field. advantage of it; try to live a good life and try to be responsible, healthy and open-minded.” Novoselić’s studio, where Giants in the Trees recorded its versatile soph- omore album “Volume 2,” isn’t far from the Grays River Grange, a frater- nal organization, com- posed largely of farmers, that Novoselić says works for the public good, main- taining a local cemetery and several parks, and running a farmers market. A mem- ber since 2004, Novoselić serves as the local Grange master, an elected position, leading the biweekly meet- ings and, along with his wife, Darbury Stenderu, helping to prepare the pot- luck-style premeeting feasts, according to Giants guitarist and fellow Granger Ray Prestegard. Prestegard, who lives on a century-old family farm, describes Novoselić as an “old-school farmer” who is always working on some- thing — building fences, fi xing up abandoned cars — and regularly arrives at band practice with “a little bit of dirt on his boots.” Indeed, Novoselić’s eyes light up faster discussing some of his latest handiwork than last year’s big Safeco Field show with the Foo Fight- ers. “Did you see the kiosk at the park?” Novoselić asks excitedly. “Go to the cov- ered bridge. I painted it.” While some of his ven- tures, like those cherry toma- toes he planted this year, require a bit more premed- itation, others have come on a whim. Several years ago, Novoselić’s nephew was heading off to community college in Longview when his rock-star uncle impul- sively hopped in the car and enrolled himself. In 2016, Novoselić earned his bac- calaureate in social sci- ences through Washington State University’s online program. “I went on tour with (Dave Grohl-corralled supergroup) Sound City Players and I recorded with Paul McCartney, and I’d have to study. I couldn’t go out or anything,” Novoselić says. Two decades earlier, the guy working his way up to college-level math was in front of 50,000 screaming fans at England’s Reading Fest delivering one of the most famous performances in a generation of rock his- tory at the height of Nirva- na’s fame. “For the most part, that kinda goes away,” says Prestegard of the local cog- nizance of his bandmate’s fame. “He’s well-respected in this area. Well-respected within the Grange … by hardworking people, by farmers — by people who have never listened to a Nir- vana song in their entire life.” Novoselić joined the Grange after attending the organization’s centennial celebration, intrigued by the way the meetings were run, but even more so by the peo- ple — some of whom helped establish the community in the 1930s and 1940s. He’s since become an “armchair Grange historian,” he says, pointing to the shelf full of Grange books behind him that he’s read. The rural Renaissance man likens the sense of community and involve- ment with the Grange to the one he found growing up in the punk-rock scene, with its network of bands, clubs and fanzines. He enjoys meet- ing people from all walks of life and political leanings through his various endeav- ors, be it the Grange, music or his work with FairVote, a nonpartisan group champi- oning electoral reforms that Novoselić believes would curb gerrymandering and push American politics back toward the middle. “There’s something about the humanity of that I fi nd really compelling,” Novoselić says of those face-to-face connections with people across the polit- ical spectrum. “I used to be really cynical and that was part of the whole Nir- vana thing. One thing led to another and maybe I’m not as cynical as I used to be. Though I am very skeptical, I’m not very cynical. I’m just more laid-back now.” WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
