Dave Grohl is the most prolific rock star of the last 30 years. Somehow, we’re still getting to know him. He spoke with CraigSJ
Photo: Ari Marcopoulos I meet Dave Grohl the day after a mid-September Foo Fighters gig that almost didn’t happen. A lingering fog had left the band’s private jets stranded on the JFK tarmac for almost four hours; Live Nation asked the members to record a video to play inside Syracuse’s St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater, which seats more than 17,000, announcing the show had been canceled. Moments before Grohl made the call, he got the all clear from the pilot. Foo Fighters raced into St.
When I first joined the band, I played them some things I had recorded in Virginia in between Scream tours. So they knew I recorded things by myself, but they were these little sonic experiments. I was just smoking weed, and I didn’t have anything else to do.
After Nevermind, Nirvana joined with producer Steve Albini for In Utero. Compared with the previous record, it’s confrontational and abrasive. There was pressure from the label about sanding down rough edges. That had to be awkward for a band that never had to listen to outside input about its music.
Do you ever struggle with what to keep to yourself with regard to Kurt — a friend who’s no longer with us, who made such an impact that people want to know every last detail? I’m sure you’ve heard it said a zillion times over the years that the first Foo Fighters album is kind of a George Harrison All Things Must Pass situation. The biggest band in the world shatters, and you land on your feet with a great album. Do you listen to that self-titled record much?It doesn’t sound like much else from 1995.
In your memoir, you say you chose Sound City to record Nevermind in part because it had the advantage of being close enough to the Geffen Records offices for them to make sure you weren’t “pulling another great rock-and-roll swindle, à la the Sex Pistols .” Please talk about that point. Pat and I, coming from Nirvana — that was a really difficult transition to make because when Nirvana ended, I don’t think anybody wanted to make music ever again. Just the thought of sitting at a drum stool broke my heart without Kurt being there. I had a fucking dream about him again two nights ago. I have these recurring dreams about him. In the dreams, the band gets back together, and we do it again. It’s a trip. Krist and Pat and I have a different connection to those songs than anyone else.
We started making the record in the fall of ’96. We booked a studio outside of Seattle called Bear Creek. We had a producer, Gil Norton. He’s English, famous for working on the Pixies’ records. We’d written some songs, and we were doing preproduction. I had never worked with Gil before, but it was soon clear he does not fuck around in the studio. He was a taskmaster, a whip-cracking, ass-kicking, do-it-50-times-to-get-it-right kind of producer. I was into it. But it was hard.
Sunny Day Real Estate reunited and worked on a fifth album at your studio a few years ago. The album never materialized. Goldsmith came out and said you shoulder some responsibility for the album not coming together. He walked the statement back but still sort of implicated you, as the owner of the studio, in the sessions not working out.
Your memoir starts off detailing some of the toll that being a front man has taken on your body. Have you considered slowing down? Or is that what this year is? The plan was to do this quick, compact tour, but you’ve ended up doing arena dates with a lot of breathing room between them. Are you easing up or just playing a tricky year by ear?
You’re a self-taught guitarist and singer and drummer. I’m curious about transference between those skills. The other day, I was listening to Wasting Light, where you’re really shredding. Some of those riffs almost look like percussion patterns. I thought about this as I rewatched the Buddy Guy episode recently. How, in your work in film and television, the intention might be to create a record of music history for future generations.
Today I was talking to my mother about how I’m so out of touch with the pulse of the culture. I said, “Hey, did you watch the Emmys?” She goes, “Yeah.” I said, “How was it?” She goes, “It’s fun to see what the people wore, but I haven’t watched any of the shows.” Then I realized I haven’t watched television in like five fucking years. Even if I were to watch a show, I’d have no fucking clue what’s going on. My memory’s full.
I can definitely tell you that Krist is not pro-fascist. Krist is one of the most compassionate, loving, and smart people that I know. I can assure you that Novoselic is not a Trump lover.
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