Dave Grohl slides his lanky frame into his new ’Vette and fires it up. He allows himself a huge grin as the engine lets out a fat belch and settles into a steady growl. The vehicle is a cream white 1968 Coupe, to be precise, with a T-roof and retractable headlamps and a black leather interior, and you don’t have to tease him about it because he’s already taken plenty of shit since he bought the “pimp-mobile” a few weeks ago. “Everybody says it’s either a penis extension or a sign of midlife crisis,” he says, “and I’m too young for a midlife crisis, so…” He’s 26 years old, but given the sort of life he’s been leading lately—as drummer for the monstrously successful Nirvana and now as singer/guitarist with his new band, the Foo Fighters—it’s almost surprising he hasn’t hit critical mass. But while Grohl is ambivalent about his own considerable star power and uncomfortable with the trappings of celebrity, it doesn’t seem to have stopped him from helping create some of the most exuberantly catchy punk anthems of the decade.
Despite overheated expectations surrounding the Foo FightersΓÇöwhich include guitarist Pat Smear (former Germ, and Nirvana sideman), bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith (both of the now-defunct Sunny Day Real Estate)ΓÇöGrohl is determined to steer wide of the media spotlight, imposing a near-total press blackout. ItΓÇÖs a decision based largely on his experience as part of the reluctant grunge trailblazers who became the most hyped and scrutinized rock outfit in recent memory. ΓÇ£The whole thing just kind of freaks me out,ΓÇ¥ he acknowledges, ΓÇ£especially coming from a band with all of that baggage. IΓÇÖm sure a lot of the reason most people are going to want to do interviews with us is to kind of get inside a member of The Band That Self-Destructed, and find some explanation.ΓÇ¥ Still, the Foo FightersΓÇÖ decision to strong-arm the media doesnΓÇÖt seem to have dampened the presses breathless myth-makingΓÇösample headline from the Toronto Star: ΓÇ£Foo Fighters Prove There Is Life After Death.ΓÇ¥
Without benefit of prerelease promotion or advertising, the Foo Fighters’ debut album became the subject of considerable anticipation last spring, fed in part by bootlegs circulating throughout the tight-knit Seattle music community. “I’d give tapes to everybody,” Grohl admits. “Kids would come up and say [forlornly] ‘Nirvana was my favorite band,’ and I’d say, ‘Well … here, have this.’” Nearly two months before the album’s official release date, radio stations in Los Angeles and Seattle began airing unfinished tracks. Capitol Records promptly issued a cease-and-desist order, but not before the phone lines lit up in a frenzy of requests. Ultimately, Grohl is forced to concede, “There’s really not much you can do. If you don’t want anyone to come to your shows then don’t make a record, don’t be in a band. Stay in the basement.”
Even a tour of duty with one of the biggest rock bands in history didnΓÇÖt quite prepare Grohl for the challenge of fronting his own outfit. ΓÇ£Sitting down playing the drums, you can duck back and hide, and theyΓÇÖre just so loud that you donΓÇÖt really feel like itΓÇÖs you,ΓÇ¥ he says, indirectly offering a possible motivation for the savage backbeat powering NirvanaΓÇÖs intensity. Of the Foo Fighters freshman tour, in which they travelled America opening for Mike Watt, Grohl says, ΓÇ£It was so incredibly refreshing to go out and do something where youΓÇÖre frightened, really scared to do it. Every once in a while, in the middle of a set, my stomach would turn and IΓÇÖd have a little panic attack.ΓÇ¥
Grohl is adamant that the Foo Fighters is a team effort. ΓÇ£My biggest fear is that this will be seen as a solo project,ΓÇ¥ he says. ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs ridiculous because, I mean, I donΓÇÖt have the charisma of Bono or Steven Tyler or whoever, and by no means do I want to be considered Front Guy. ThatΓÇÖs like my worst nightmare.ΓÇ¥ But feeding the nightmare and the mediaΓÇÖs intense focus on Grohl is the fact that the album, actually recorded before the group was assembled, is the work of a virtuoso one-man bandΓÇöGrohl sings and plays every instrument. He and coproducer Barrett Jones pumped the thing out in a five-day recording blitz back in October. Though most critics were astonished by GrohlΓÇÖs unknown songwriting ability, the Foo Fighters album was really just another in a series of tapes heΓÇÖs been making since junior high. Initially, it was just meant to be a creative outlet, a chance ΓÇ£to be able to do your own thing without making this big deal,ΓÇ¥ he says. ΓÇ£I never took it so seriously that I thought, Wow, IΓÇÖm gonna start a rock band and be the singer-guy and make jokes between songs and smile for the camera.ΓÇ¥ But it didnΓÇÖt take long for music-industry honchos to sniff out the demo. ΓÇ£All of the sudden I had like four record companies calling me,ΓÇ¥ says Grohl. ΓÇ£It was crazy.ΓÇ¥ In the end, he finagled a distribution deal with Capitol that gives his own label, Roswell Records, ultimate control over the material and the bulk of the profits.
After signing up Smear, Grohl reeled in Goldsmith and Mendel just as Sunny Day Real Estate called it quits. Goldsmith, who calls Grohl ΓÇ£one of my favorite drummers of all time,ΓÇ¥ says thing got off to a rocky start. ΓÇ£I really didnΓÇÖt feel comfortable playing drums for Dave, I felt really weird and inadequate and stuff. I sat down with him and I was like, ΓÇÿThis means everything to me, but I donΓÇÖt feel like I have what it takes,ΓÇÖ and he goes, ΓÇÿWell, if you quit, I quit.ΓÇÖ He was unconditionally supportive. He basically just threw me into the water and told me to start swimming.ΓÇ¥ The Foo Fighters first show was, says Grohl, ΓÇ£a keg party in this guyΓÇÖs bedroom. It was all our friends and everyone was drunk so they couldnΓÇÖt be too judgmental.ΓÇ¥ After a few more local outings, the band joined Mike Watt for a US tour. Following a temporary derailment in June when Goldsmith popped his left elbow out of joint trying to hurdle a concrete post in a Taco Bell parking lot, the Foo Fighters took the show on the road again this summerΓÇöthis time headlining. Determined to keep things low-key, they eschewed the de riguer tour bus for a no-frills van, and stuck to medium-sized venues. Going over a sample rider in preparation for the tour, Grohl seems astonished by the perks some bands require. ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs fucking ridiculous! Pat likes Perrier and I just like Coca Cola and Budweiser in a can. IΓÇÖm pretty simple about stuff. IΓÇÖm terribly boring.ΓÇ¥
Grohl does make a single concession to wigged-out rock stardom: He’s something of a UFO enthusiast. “I really believe there’s something being kept from us,” he says intensely. “I mean, there’s obviously something going on, whether it’s the military testing their own craft or it’s something else …” Out on the narrow deck of his completely unassuming ranch-style house in suburban Seattle, he gazes into the sinister forest of tall pines and lights a cigarette. “I used to sit on my porch and stare at the skies and fucking pray I would see a UFO,” he says. “But who knows? The idea that there’s something other than the five billion people on this planet is kind of entertaining.” Grohl’s fellow Foo Fighters are somewhat more down to earth. “I just don’t really worry about the unknown that much,” Smear shrugs, cracking an embarrassed smile. “It’s amusing,” says Mendel “but personally I’m not a big believer.” Goldsmith’s only space link is a flawless talent for the moonwalk, but he insists, “Moonwalking is boring. I can do this float thing, like in a circle. It’s the coolest.”
ΓÇ£IΓÇÖm sure the album is going to be scrutinized and compared to Nirvana,ΓÇ¥ Grohl sighs with resignation, ΓÇ£and sure, there are some similarities. I learned so much about songwriting from Kurt.ΓÇ¥ The influence is apparent in that grunge alchemy of irresistible hooks and ferocious guitar-driven punk aggression, typified by ΓÇ£IΓÇÖll Stick Around.ΓÇ¥ But where Nirvana often worked to formula, GrohlΓÇÖs songwriting is remarkably complex and varied in tone, ranging from the almost elegiac ΓÇ£ExhaustedΓÇ¥ to the dreamy psychedelia of ΓÇ£FloatyΓÇ¥ to the goof-ass lounge rocker ΓÇ£For all the Cows.ΓÇ¥ And GrohlΓÇÖs surprisingly self-assured vocals lack even a trace of CobainΓÇÖs trademark contempt. Even in a wail of muted frustration like ΓÇ£Alone and Easy Target,ΓÇ¥ Grohl drops a heaping spoonful of sugar into the mix, singing with disarming sincerity beneath the crash of guitars.
If the Foo Fighters manage to wipe that smart-ass smirk off the face of nineties Punk rock and sweeten grunge’s embittered medicine, it may only be because they really, really enjoy playing music together. “All of us came from dysfunctional band experiences,” Grohl explains. This time around, however, the warm fuzzies appear to have set in. “It’s kind of a snuggly-kittens-in-a-box­type feeling.” says Goldsmith, and you can feel the connection between them at work when Grohl inquires about the status of “Nate’s broken wing” and emphasizes the band’s responsibility to “nurse him back to health.” Or when Smear starts kneading Grohl’s shoulders. Or when Goldsmith throws his good arm around Mendel’s neck or plants a big wet kiss on Smear’s face. “The main concern is just the fact that we’re doing it together and that we care about each other,” Goldsmith practically gurgles. If there’s a hint of sarcasm there, it’s only designed to hide the fact that he actually means it. “Everybody’s really honest and open and affectionate and supportive. It’s, like, the perfect thing.”
HYPERLINKS:
foo fighter n. [foo (a nonsense word used in the comic strip Smokey Stover) + fighter] USAF. Any unidentifiable light encountered by aircrews during combat operations in WWII and presumed to be a German secret weapon.
IΓÇÖll stick around
Grohl is anxious to clear up the misconception surrounding the song ΓÇ£IΓÇÖll Stick Around,ΓÇ¥ with its endlessly repeated primal-scream chorus, ΓÇ£I donΓÇÖt owe you anything!ΓÇ¥ Grohl calls it ΓÇ£the most negative song IΓÇÖve ever written in my life,ΓÇ¥ and admits, ΓÇ£itΓÇÖs about someone I really dislike.ΓÇ¥ But the media, notably Melody Maker and Entertainment Weekly, have wrongly concluded the song is about Cobain. Says Grohl, ΓÇ£It would fucking break my heart if anyone was under the impression that it was about Kurt.ΓÇ¥ He declines to name his intended target, but consensus among Seattle music insiders is that the neatly dismissive lyrics (IΓÇÖve been around all the pawns youΓÇÖve gagged and bound) could only be aimed at his former band memberΓÇÖs surviving widow.
UFO
Most likely, itΓÇÖs the combination of gazing into spotlights and spending too much time on eerie desert highways under the influence of illegal substances. But musicians in every genre from arena rock (Rush, Boston) to funk (George Clinton, Sun Ra) to New Wave (Bowie, Devo and Gary NumanΓÇöa cover of whose song ΓÇ£Down in the ParkΓÇ¥ the Foo Fighters perform live) have been diehard space-cases.
