Sweet 75

Sweet 75 was Krist’s first band after Nirvana, a partnership with Venezuelan-born singer and songwriter Yva Las Vegas. Krist switched to guitar, mostly a 12-string, and Yva sang and played bass. The music mixed rock with Venezuelan folk, lounge and blues. They released one album, Sweet 75, on DGC in 1997. A second album was recorded in part but never came out.

A birthday party

The two met at Krist’s 29th birthday party in May 1994, only weeks after Kurt Cobain’s death. Yva had spent about ten years as a street singer, first in Venice, California, and then at Pike Place Market, and she was hired to sing at the party (Rolling Stone, Seattle Times). Krist was taken with her voice and brought her into the studio where he and Dave Grohl had been spending time. They started on her songs, then his riffs got her lyrics, and a band took shape (Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times).

The name comes from a poem by Theodore Roethke in which he thanks an editor for paying him $75 (Seattle Times). Yva called it “Letter to A Lady Editor” in 1996, but the poem is usually titled “Reply to a Lady Editor.”

Getting started (1995 to 1996)

Sweet 75 kept a low profile at first. Its first club show came in early 1995 at RCKCNDY in Seattle, opening for Tad (Los Angeles Times, Life After Nirvana For Krist Novoselic). In November 1995 they went out on a van tour of college towns with Sky Cries Mary. By spring 1996 former Ministry drummer Bill Rieflin had joined, the band had played about 20 shows, and Krist was talking about it as “neo grunge” with Yva’s Latin roots running through it (Seattle Times). Krist later said Geffen told them not to hurry, and he called the label “a nurturing mother” (Rolling Stone).

The album (1997)

Sweet 75 was produced by Paul Fox and finished in early 1997 (Deseret News/New York Times). DGC released it on August 26, 1997 (Los Angeles Times). Rieflin is the drummer on the record, and the guests include Herb Alpert, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Anisa Romero of Sky Cries Mary. By release time Rieflin had been replaced by Adam Wade, formerly of Shudder to Think, and the band had toured with Dinosaur Jr. (Wikipedia, Los Angeles Times). “Lay Me Down” was issued as a single in Australia.

Commercially the record went nowhere. It didn’t make the Billboard 200 in its first week, and Krist said the reaction he heard most was that it “wasn’t what I expected at all” (Rolling Stone). He didn’t seem to mind. He told the Los Angeles Times he hoped the attention would shift from him to Yva, since being a front man had never been his goal (Los Angeles Times). Our archive has several reviews and interviews from that year, including Sweet 75 avoids Nirvana stereotypes on new CD and Review of Sweet 75’s S/T CD.

After the album (1998 to 2000)

In 1998 Sweet 75 was off the road and working in the studio, and Krist was also busy with the film-and-music project Sunshine Cake (Online Chat with Krist). Gina Mainwal was drumming with Sweet 75 by late 1999. That December she, Krist, Kim Thayil and Jello Biafra played as the No WTO Combo (HistoryLink). The usual account, taken from Dave Thompson’s Alternative Rock, goes like this. Wade left in October 1997 and the band stopped for a while. It came back with Rieflin, made demos for a second album and split again in mid-1999 as Sunshine Cake took more of Krist’s and Rieflin’s time. After more work on the album was reported in 2000, the band broke up for good that August over “creative differences” (Wikipedia). That timeline doesn’t fit perfectly with Mainwal playing drums in December 1999, so treat the exact dates with care. None of the later material has been officially released.

Members

  • Yva Las Vegas: vocals, bass, guitar, cuatro
  • Krist Novoselic: guitar, bass, accordion
  • Drummers over the years: Bobi Lore (early shows), Bill Rieflin (by 1996, on the album, and again in 1998), Adam Wade (1997), Gina Mainwal (1999)

A correction

The earlier version of this page reproduced a 1997 label bio which said that Yva and Krist had both attended San Pedro High School in California. Yva did move to San Pedro from Venezuela as a teenager (Seattle Times). Krist did not go to high school there. His family moved from the Los Angeles area to Aberdeen in 1979, and he graduated from Aberdeen High School in 1984 (Washington State Legacy Project). See Younger Years.

More Sweet 75 on this site

Last updated October 2026.