Kurt Cobain met bassist Chris Novoselic while in high school but they solidified their friendship while hanging out with mutual pals in The Melvins (via Loudwire). Before meeting Novoselic, Cobain had a short-lived band called Fecal Matter with Melvins drummer, Dale Crover (via NME). He even began toying with the spelling of his own name, interchanging k’s and c’s and interjecting d’s. He’s signed his name as Kurdt Kobain and other variations over the years. Chris, of Croatian ancestry who actually lived in the country for a time, occasionally spells his name Krist and with an accent on Novoselić to honor his heritage (via The Plitvice Times).

Cobain and Novoselic originally started jamming together as a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover band to appease their local Aberdeen, Washington audiences and aptly dubbed themselves: The Sellouts. The band only lasted for a few rehearsals but reformed with new drummer, Aaron Burckhard, who is considered by most as the first official Nirvana drummer (via HuffPost). But while the early incarnation of the band that would make history was finding its footing by covering tracks like Shocking Blue’s “Love Buzz” and writing music that would appear on later albums, they were nameless.

Recordings of the band rehearsing and performing as Skid Row, not to be confused with the glam metal band of the same name, have been preserved (via YouTube). While they developed fans with this lineup, they continuously tinkered with other names such as Ted Ed Fred, Throat Oyster, Pen Cap Chew, Windowpane, and the very thematically-similar Bliss.

By January 1, 1989, the band was a four-piece (with additional guitarist Jason Everman and drummer Chad Channing) and signed to Sub Pop under the name Nirvana (via Billboard).

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