Schemel grew up in Marysville, Washington. When she was eleven she started playing drums. She started her first band, Sybil, with her brother when she was fifteen. Kurt Cobain liked the band. In 1987, she joined a punk band called Doll Squad. The band broke up in 1989. After drummer Chad Channing left Nirvana, Kurt Cobain considered choosing Schemel as a replacement. Then Dave Grohl auditioned and Cobain chose him as the drummer instead.