In short
Dave Grohl discusses his rock career and creative process, focusing on how his early DIY recording and DC punk scene shaped his musicianship, and how Foo Fighters’ 12th album Your Favorite Toy was assembled from a large bank of demos recorded at home.
Guest backgrounds
No guest is named in the transcript; the host interviews Grohl. Grohl is the sole featured figure.
Key claims
Grohl’s “magic” is the many lives he’s lived through rock—Scream (DC hardcore), Nirvana (drummer), and Foo Fighters (founder/primary songwriter). He credits multitracking and early cassette-only releases (Pocket Watch) for learning to “make it sound like a band” alone. He says punk’s musicality plus classic rock energy can produce bands like Fugazi. For Your Favorite Toy, he claims the band chose songs that “sequenced” together from demos, then recorded quickly by tracking in limited space.
Notable examples
Pocket Watch cassette story “Skeeter Thompson” (spoken-word over instrumental); Amsterdam touring on standby flights; Don Ziantara’s analog DC recording rooms; a live DC show with Fugazi/faith and ignition connections; writing lyrics quickly with less self-editing.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VODave Grohl's Early Career
1:52 to 3:41
Learn about Dave Grohl's early days and his journey through bands like Scream and Nirvana.
“Being a small business owner isn't just a career, it's a calling.”
The Pocket Watch Album
5:21 to 7:20
Dave Grohl shares the story behind his first solo project, Pocket Watch.
“And I'd take the cassette and put it in that and just sort of like bounce that way.”
Music Scene in D.C.
7:20 to 9:18
Grohl discusses the vibrant music scene in Washington D.C. during the 90s.
“And the DC scene was amazing because it was very independent and the ambition was really pure.”
Learning to Record
9:18 to 11:05
Dave shares his early experiences with recording and the learning process.
“And you give me a drum set and something's going to break.”
Collaboration in Scream
11:05 to 13:00
Grohl reflects on collaboration and dynamics within the band Scream.
“And we sat down, and I don't remember what it was.”
The Art of Live Recording
13:00 to 14:04
Learn about the impact of recording live performances on music energy.
“But beyond that, it's the energy of what's happening between those people in that moment.”
Amsterdam Adventures and Punk Culture
14:04 to 18:10
Discover the early touring experiences of Dave Grohl and the punk rock community.
“hard to imagine just to put a pin on it though hold on real quick okay is this pus it's link.”
Musical Inspirations and the Spark of Punk
18:11 to 22:41
Learn about the influences that shaped Grohl's passion for music and punk rock.
“The drummer, Phil Rudd, he's just breaking through snares and putting new snares up.”
The Evolution of Punk and Community
22:42 to 23:34
Explore the changing landscape of punk rock music and the sense of community it fosters.
“But I could hear Earl from The Bad Brains.”
The Future of Music and Youth Culture
24:35 to 28:03
Delve into Grohl's perspective on the current music scene and the passion of young musicians.
“23-year-old Elizabeth Plunkett heads off for a night away with friends.”
Show all 23 chapters
Inspiring Moments at a Local Punk Show
28:03 to 32:20
Dave shares an inspiring experience watching a local punk band, highlighting the vibrancy of youth music culture.
“And his band was playing at this place that is a skate shop that sort of packs up and pushes everything to the side so that they can have punk rock shows at night.”
The Creative Process Behind Foo Fighters' New Record
32:21 to 36:34
Dave discusses the creative process behind the latest Foo Fighters album and how it evolved.
“That's kind of, I mean, not necessarily that, I don't know if something like that inspired this record, but the new record, Foo Fighters record, I understand, did come from you just writing a bunch of songs.”
The Joy of Performance and Cooking
36:35 to 41:16
Dave compares the excitement of performing music to the joy of cooking for others, emphasizing connection and creativity.
“Imagine going on a jog for three hours and singing glory, glory, hallelujah the whole time.”
Reflections on Nirvana and Musical Legacy
41:17 to 42:00
Dave reflects on his time with Nirvana and the lasting connections formed through that experience.
“That being said, I would rather fucking rock the house than run the kitchen.”
Reflections on Nirvana and Friendship
42:00 to 43:20
Dave Grohl shares his emotional journey after Nirvana and the bonds formed with bandmates.
“But from afar, it's always seemed like that way too.”
Anecdotes from the Music Scene
43:20 to 45:00
Grohl recounts experiences with music legends and the thrill of performing.
“Chris has such a gigantic heart and such an amazing, brilliant, amazing mind.”
Unexpected Influences in Music
45:00 to 46:40
Discussion on the surprising musical influences of band members.
Writing Through Experiences
49:50 to 55:20
Grohl discusses his songwriting process and the importance of authenticity.
“I've also read, I know kind of earlier on, you mentioned like lyrics would really just be a last minute.”
Collaborative Creativity
55:20 to 56:00
Exploring Grohl's collaboration with new band members and their music creation.
Collaborating with an Incredible Drummer
56:00 to 57:29
Dave Grohl shares insights about collaborating with a talented drummer and the creative process behind their music.
“I almost didn't know if that should go on the record.”
Creating 'Window' with His Daughter
57:30 to 59:09
Grohl discusses the inspiration and recording of the song 'Window' with his daughter, Harper.
“I wanted to record something with Harper.”
The Meaning Behind 'Window'
59:10 to 1:01:24
Grohl reflects on the unexpected depth and interpretations of the lyrics in 'Window'.
“And I always had this idea, like, have you ever been in a hotel where, like, the window washer, all of a sudden you hear something go, and you look outside the window and there's a guy.”
Discussing David Briggs and Recording
1:01:25 to 1:02:29
Grohl talks about his meeting with producer David Briggs and the raw recording techniques they considered.
“And I think that was Briggs who did that one.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:10Justin Richmond:The magic of Dave Grohl isn't just that he's one of rock music's great raconteurs, or that he's one of the greatest drummers and frontmen in the last 30 plus years. It lies instead in the sheer number of lives he's gotten to live within rock and roll. I mean, just think about his trajectory. Grohl starts out as a drummer of one of DC's great, if not underrated, hardcore bands, Scream, mingling with Ian McKay and all the other amazing Discord artists from that time. Then he joins Nirvana, where he more than makes his mark as a drummer for one of the most consequential bands since The Beatles, not only changing music forever, but also becoming an indelible part of the story of Seattle's music scene.
0:47Justin Richmond:That, forget about grunge and sub-pop for a second, goes all the way back to Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones. And then if that weren't enough, Grohl launches one of the most successful acts of the post-Nirvana boom, Foo Fighters, which he does literally single-handedly in Prince or Stevie Wonder-like fashion, right in recording every song on the debut himself, except for some guitar work by Greg Dooley from The Great Afghan Wigs. And then when it's time to fill out the band, he gets to pull in guys like Nate Mendel from Sunday Day Real Estate and Pat Smear from The Germs and Nirvana, and all the other really talented and interesting guys that have joined the group over the years.
1:21Justin Richmond:It's almost an embarrassment of riches, But thank God Dave Grohl realizes it and relishes the opportunity to tell stories from his remarkable career. When sitting down with Grohl at the Foo Fighter studio to talk about their 12th album, Your Favorite Toy, we talked about all of it, including how their new album came together. But we started with a story that I've always wanted to ask him about. It's from a song from his first solo project he called Late, from an album called Pocket Watch, that to this day has only ever seen a cassette release. This is Broken Record. Real musicians, real conversations.
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3:38Justin Richmond:Here's my interview with Dave Grohl. Head over to youtube.com slash broken record podcast if you want to see the video. Walking through here, it's like a hall of you and Barry Manilow. Amazing. There's so many little gems as you walk through. One of the things I was like, well, I'll start with it just because so I don't forget it is the Pocket Watch album. Oh, my God. True story of Skeeter Thompson. Actual true story. That is a true story. that was when I first started recording stuff on my own in a studio my friend Barrett Jones that was actually the first person I ever recorded with when I was 14 years old he had a like a four track studio in the laundry room of his parents house and through friends of friends we wound up recording um our first demo this punk band I was in called Freak Baby and we we recorded four songs in his laundry room.
4:38The drums were in his bedroom and the vocals were in the bathroom and whatever. Over time, we became really close friends. And he upgraded to an eight-track and still had a studio in his house. But it was around then that I realized, oh, if there's eight tracks, I could lay down a drum track and then put a bass over it and then put some guitars over it and then put a vocal on it and it'll sound like a band even though it's just one person yeah i kind of understood multi-tracking from when i was really little i had two cassette decks and i would record a drum thing on this one cassette in the on a boom box and then i'd take and the drums were pots and pans and then i would put that in the stereo and hit record on this one hit play on the drum thing play guitar along with it and then I'd have this cassette that would have drums and guitar on it.
5:37And I'd take the cassette and put it in that and just sort of like bounce that way.
5:41Justin Richmond:Yeah, Beatles style, I guess. Yeah, so I understood like the concept of multitracking. But then I thought like, oh wow, this is like an eight track studio. And my friend Barrett, I would always say like, hey, do you have any tape left at the end of that reel? Yeah, I'll probably have like a couple minutes. And I would go in really quickly so as to not waste his time. I usually had everything worked out in my head and I would just blast a drum track really quick Put two guitars on it a bass on it and then bring it home and listen to it and that's when I realized like oh my god I could like I couldn't write songs and record them and make it sound like a band even though I didn't necessarily like the way I Sang yeah, I didn't think I was a great guitar player, but it was this fun experiment So I was recording a songwriter at that point.
6:29Justin Richmond:I mean did you write songs for like in your spare time for fun? I mean, I was writing songs about my dog when I was 11 years old. And, you know, I had journals and stuff. And I was, you know, a complicated teenager writing all of this shit that I consider poetry. But it was just not. And so I was just starting to kind of explore this new way of expressing myself. Or just like a new, to me, it was almost like a puzzle. Like a game. Just seeing how far I could take it. I only had eight tracks to deal with. So I couldn't do this. But anyway, so a song like that was just something recorded for fun.
7:06And that Pocket Watch cassette was the first time I released music on my own. But it was a cassette-only release. I don't know how many they made.
7:14Justin Richmond:It's only ever come out on cassette, right? Yeah, it was a friend of ours. So this is in Washington, D.C. in the early 90s. Everybody had a record label, right? Yeah. And the DC scene was amazing because it was very independent and the ambition was really pure. It was to create good music, to create art, to be shared, but also to foster this community and scene. It wasn't a huge scene, but it was a really strong and connected scene of friends and really creative people. so a girl named jenny toomey she was the one with the simple machines uh label that one was simple machines yeah but at the same time i was in nirvana i'm like why would i want to complicate my musical experience by putting out something like the story of skeeter thompson the bass player of scream which is just an instrumental with a spoken word over it it's a true story but it's ridiculous um while i'm in this other band with one of the greatest songwriters of all time and i get to just bang away at the drums behind um this amazing songwriter and um and it's pure and it's beautiful and it and it was powerful and sounded good so all of the things that i do now they were like my little side project thing that if i needed to blow off steam i would just record things on my own but never never wanted to you know it's the famous drummer joke what's the last thing the drummer said before he got kicked out of the band hey guys i have a song that i think we should play like that's i knew that yeah yeah i lived that did you did it happen scream ever like were you ever trying to contribute scream was like scream was very collaborative in that the guys in the band they were older than me they're you know eight ten years older than me but they'd grown up with each other they were best friends through high school and stuff so franz the guitarist was a great guitar player is a great guitar player and a great songwriter pete was and it is a great singer um and a great lyricist songwriter you know at the time when scream before i joined the band there were one band in washington dc that was far more kind of musical and rock and roll than a lot of the other bands in town yeah and that's one of the things i loved about them like i loved the bad brains i loved you know the dead kennedys and minor threat and all of the early hardcore but but i loved foghat too you know like i loved zeppelin i was a rock and roll kid from the suburbs scream were sort of that band that put all those things together but when we would collaborate we really did have that thing when a specific group of people get together and play it makes a specific sound yeah and so that connection not only musically but as people as friends was really strong those are great records and you're drumming on those are i mean it's like in your book you tell a great story about skeeter basically chaining you to the drum set and make you play a groove over and over like can or something you know like yeah basically i mean before i joined scream i was like a wild horse i was just reckless and of course i wanted to have tempo.
10:39I wanted to have feel. But I was like a hyperactive child. And you give me a drum set and something's going to break. And it's going to maybe be faster than it should. And I'm probably going to fill up those empty spaces with things that only I love. So basically Skeeter sat me down when I first joined the band. And he said, we're going to smoke a joint. And we're going to play this one riff for half an hour. And you're not going to do a drum fill. I was like, yeah, okay, great. And we sat down, and I don't remember what it was. It was a simple groove. And almost like an itch that I needed to scratch, within 30 seconds, I blasted some drum fill.
11:20And he looked at me and kind of winked like, no, you can't do that. You got to stay on it. And he broke me like a horse. Broke you like a horse. I'm telling you. And it really worked. It was my one valuable drum lesson was from a bass player. Well, of course. Right? I mean, fucking of course. Now I know. Yeah. but back then I was like, wait, what just happened? That's so funny, man.
11:42Justin Richmond:But you listen to those records, you're like, oh, yeah. You can hear that you're an unchanged maniac in some way, or you were at one point, because the power is there. It's like the fucking power is there, but then there is a restraint and a groove on those records. Have you ever been to, you probably haven't, the engineer producer that made most of the DC records is a man named Don Ziantara. So Don Z, he was like the first person to record the Bad Brains. He was the first person to record all of the Discord stuff, all of that stuff. It was in a room about a fifth the size of this room, this tiny room.
12:23You know, they're recording analog to tape. I don't know what machine he had, but it was not only like spatial restriction. The basement of a house in Arlington, residential neighborhood. And when you listen to like some of those Fugazi recordings where you've got that incredible band tracking live in a space the size of like a bath towel and you listen to it, it sounds so huge. And one of the reasons why it sounds so huge is because it's the combination and energy of those people in that moment. So sonically, like the sonic element has a lot to do with it. But beyond that, it's the energy of what's happening between those people in that moment.
13:05And that's kind of how we would record. Yeah. You know, I mean, it's the same thing. Like when we recorded the one picture we took from the studio. There's only one picture? I swear to God, there's maybe three pictures. like one of them is the three of us in the control room that was the drum setup for recording never mind the reason why it worked is because when we recorded live you know those songs we just we'd count in and we'd do it we'd do a couple takes and then we didn't have a lot of time so we had to move on to the we're only there for 12 days or whatever it was anyway so that's a really important part of the process that that lends to the the energy of a song yeah you know that picture
13:46Justin Richmond:brings joy to my heart because i look like that simple like mic set up for like that's the perfect you know it's just that's fucking perfect well it was also that room and it was also this board and so which is a long way from the boom box dubbing yeah exactly if i had this when i was 11 i would be fucking beethoven or something you know some sort of be a lot further along yeah hard to imagine just to put a pin on it though hold on real quick okay is this pus it's link. You were sort of diminishing yourself at the song. It's kind of a vulgar story. Fuck it. It's great. It's hilarious. So we were in Amsterdam.
14:25That's exactly how the song begins. Whenever Scream would tour Europe, I think I was like 18 years old the first time I went. Amsterdam was our home base. Not only for obvious reasons, but because we had a good friend there, a guy named Toss. He had an apartment. And so we would go there to prepare for a tour. We'd go there and we'd start rounding up equipment because there's no way we could fly our backline equipment. We had no money. We'd fly standby on this airline called Martin Air. It was amazing. You could fly out of BWI for$99 out of BWI and you could reserve a standby ticket, which is weird because usually if you fly standby, you sit and wait and cross your fingers.
15:09Martin Air was a Dutch airline. And Martin Air, they would tell you whether you're on the flight or not, like two days before the flight. So you basically reserve a seat for 99 bucks. So we would all work our jobs at home. I worked in a furniture warehouse. Pete worked at the Washington Post delivering papers. And we'd get 99 bucks and we'd get our tickets and get over to Amsterdam. But have nothing. And we would sleep on Toss's floor. We'd sort of try to pick up odd jobs to make a little bit of money. And how did you know Toss? Scream knew Toss, I think, from the first time before I joined the band.
15:40And they toured Europe in maybe like 1983 or 85 or something. But so, yeah, they just met Toss. Punk scene, everyone. Yeah, I mean, that was sort of like that network and community those days. People helped each other out. There was always a floor to crash on. And if you didn't have a guitar, there was always one that someone would lend. So Skeeter, one day, as I was sitting on the couch listening to Toss' amazing record collection, Skeeter walks up to me with his dick in his hand.
16:14and I think he was afraid that he had maybe contracted a nasty problem yeah I'm sorry Skeeter I don't want to call Skeeter out and he said does that look like puss to you and I said nah I think it's lint and so it's so perfectly delivered on a song well here's the thing it's I mean I'm never short for words first of all I never have been and I didn't know what to sing over this crazy like metal instrumental thing that I had done. Yeah. So I decided just to tell a story. And that was the story. But if you're long-winded, you figured out a way to be really concise and economical. It's all about the timing.
16:50It's the timing. It's perfect.
16:52Justin Richmond:It was perfect. And then I saw the classic Cheech and Chong. It's Dave. Oh, my God. And I'm like, maybe that must be. I remember listening to Cheech and Chong records when I was in like sixth grade. it's weird life kind of changed around like 10 or 11 years old where you know i had beatles records and i'd kiss records and i had rush records and pre-punk rock i was listening to cheech and shang records which are amazing and uh day's not here that comic that's upstairs and all those bits on those records are so funny and then i went to a movie theater with my friend larry hinkle he's my best friend we went one night to a midnight movie and we saw acdc's let there be rock tour movie which is a acdc performance in i think paris from maybe 79 yeah it was just before bon scott the original singer passed away and their performance was so moving it was so pat was the first time i'd seen a per and it was in a movie theater with a concert pa in the theaters Me and Larry and like three other people in the back who were smoking weed.
18:04And watching this ACDC performance, it was like their life depended on it. Angus Young is running, sweating, getting oxygen because he's going so hard. The drummer, Phil Rudd, he's just breaking through snares and putting new snares up. And it was like, it was the first time I felt in my body that I wanted to explode. As much as I loved the complexity and the beauty and the melody of like the Beatles and things like that This just made me want to fucking tear the movie theater down And that sort of like set this spark in me and it wasn't long after that that I discovered punk rock music and I was like I'm home.
18:45Okay, great. I found the thing that unlocks the thing. Yeah, I got the key now. Yeah So what am I gonna do?
18:51Justin Richmond:It's amazing how closely related those things are because you know after a certain point by the time I got into punk rock it was like verboten to like you know like god forbid you listen to like a Ted Nugent record or something you know but then you and then you like watch an interview with like Henry Rollins he's like he fucking loves Ted Nugent I've had long debates actually it's funny Ian's an old friend and he was you know he's honestly one of my heroes in life he's such an incredible person incredible man his truth and integrity and purity and creativity and the way he lives is like he's he's a righteous dude he's amazing to this day incredible guy to this day so we've had long conversations about ted nugent i'm like are you really ian he's like yeah man like i guess he and henry went to go see him play he's like here's this guy he jumps out on stage with this guitar it's loud as shit he's wearing a loincloth and he's screaming his fucking brains out his hair is out to here He goes, yeah, Ted Nugent.
19:48And so last year for Ian's birthday, I got him a cameo from Ted Nugent. No fucking way. Yeah. And it blew Ian's mind. I don't even think Ian knew what cameo was. And of course, like you have to sort of prompt the cameo. Say, it's my friend Ian's birthday. He's a struggling musician and an avid bowhunter or whatever. Oh, yeah, I went there. He's an actor. He was just like, how did you do that? How does this? I'm like, Ian, it's like an app. You just play that. He's like, blue is mine. He was super into it. Guy was not, apparently.
20:27Justin Richmond:I would like to imagine at some point Ted Nugent realized that was really full. Well, you know what's funny? Actually, recently, I could say this now because Ian acknowledged it the other day. You know about the Albini Fugazi record that came out recently? Yeah. It's phenomenal. It's testament to how Steve Albini could take something to an entirely different place. I've never heard Fugazi sound like that. That record is a masterpiece and it's so incredibly powerful. And everybody had heard, it was rumored that they made a record with Albini. But anyway, so when it came out on Bandcamp, it was like$9.99,$10 or whatever.
21:06And you could donate money to a charity that was Albini's favorite charity. So I buy the record and then I donate a bunch of money to the charity. But then you can also write a message to the band. And I said, thank you for finally releasing these Albini sessions. currently listening to your album from my monster truck as I shoot flaming arrows at targets. Love, Ted Nugent. And I'm like, he's going to see this. It took about three weeks and I just got the text the other day. He's like, hey, Nuge, thanks for the donation. I texted back, I said, God bless America. But right, so no, I mean, both of these things can be true.
21:57These two things can coexist. Yeah, you know, I think one of the complications in a lot of that punk rock List of ethos do that makes whatever it was like can't do this can't do that can't do this One of the things of course like there were there were elements of that music where I was really inspired emotionally personally Politically all of those things especially at that time in the 80s Like I mean we're here. We are again, but still like seems quaint almost now So the world needs punk rock now more than ever. I think it's coming back. I feel like the guitar is coming back.
22:34Justin Richmond:I fucking hope so. The fucking world needs loud guitars. But there was also the musicality. When I learned how to play the drums, it was literally sitting on a floor in front of a couch playing on pillows. But I could hear Earl from The Bad Brains. I could hear the difference between him and John Bonham and Jeff Nelson from Minor Threat and Stuart Copeland. And so there was something about the musicality in all of their individual feel that I was like, that to me was the challenge. Like, don't just go up there and like scream shit. Like, go up there and like push it, push it as far as you can.
23:12And even in writing a song, don't just stop there. Like, keep going. Sometimes it should stop there. But like a lot of the musicality, I think, came from those early rock and roll records, classic rock or then the energy and the intention of punk rock. You put those two things together and you have a Fugazi record. Yeah. You know?
23:34Justin Richmond:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll be back with more from Dave Grohl. Being a small business owner isn't just a career, it's a calling. Chase for Business knows how much heart and effort go into building something of your own. That's why they make your business growth their priority. The team at Chase takes the time to understand your mission, where you are now and where you want to go. Their broad range of solutions is designed with you in mind, so you can bring your ideas to life. From banking to payment acceptance to credit cards, you can conveniently manage all your business finances all in one place with their digital tools.
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25:09Justin Richmond:it's a good time to bring up you you guys are gonna go out on the road and you guys have some incredible openers i mean to the point to your point of like the world needs punk rock like guys have some great openers and i feel like mannequin pussy d spitz uh i don't know if i'm saying that right but d spitz i'm gonna speak german or whatever but there we go whatever you can figure it out just a little band called queens of the stone age queens of the stone age there we go i know i feel like it does feel like you know when i was thinking back about your career it's it's so it's like incredible like you're in dc and there's that scene it's ian mackay and you got bands like scream and then you come out to la and there's like you know a whole la thing and then you go up to seattle and there's that of course and then you get out of there you're starting the foo fighters and it's like oh nate from fucking something you did real estate or and then at some point it's like oh no no use for a name like let's grab chris and it's like there used to just be such a like a wherever every town had this incredible network of musicians and it felt like that was like splintered for a long time but it feels, I'm hoping slowly it's coming back, I mean that's one of the things that's sort of amazing I mean you kind of caught the last train out of NAMM or helicopter out of NAMM in that sense you kind of were, like you got to have that and work from that and it just sort of went away which was...
26:22Well it's a trip because I think there was like sort of necessity in connectivity you know those punk rock scenes first of all the thing that i really loved about it back then that there was like there was this regional element to music it's like if you if a band was coming from minneapolis you're like oh they've got that minneapolis thing decreutson or husker do or whatever stuff like that or southern california the sst record stuff yeah you're like oh it's an sst record all right here we go like what's this gonna be it's gonna be weird it's gonna be heavy It's going to be loud. And then over time, as things became more interconnected, it's not that that that regional aspect or element of the music disappeared.
27:09Things just sort of spread faster and quicker. But the community, I still feel like there is community in music. and it's funny because i still i do feel like there's community in underground music as much as i feel like there's community in like bigger skip broader scale like pop yeah things like that because i i feel like musicians should stick together right if you put two musicians in a room in front of a board and we're talking about albums and stuff or just music you're gonna find common ground you know i probably have an easier time speaking with a musician than i would like um a lawyer or a football player or something like that so i do think that there is there is this this common ground community in most musicians now with the interconnectivity of everything it's just it's a different world yeah but i do think and you know i watch someone like my daughter Violet or my daughter Harper they're both musical and they both reside in this really awesome place with their friends who and a lot of them are you know tons of musicians like there's drummers and there's guitar players and this guy has a studio and this band's playing a show actually oh my god recently I went and saw Max's band Max is 16 17 years old he and my daughter Harper are like this.
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28:37And his band was playing at this place that is a skate shop that sort of packs up and pushes everything to the side so that they can have punk rock shows at night. There's no door charged, but you can donate if you want. And so I went to go see Max's band. They're all probably around 17, 18 years old. It was a three piece. I didn't know what to expect. Max is a great drummer. I walk in, there's maybe 30 or 40 people there. And all the kids from the bands are watching everybody else's band which to me that's like that's that's that's the thing yeah they start setting up and this singer guitar player guy i don't remember his name he unzips this duffel bag and he pulls out this line of pedals that looks like almost like like christmas lights he's it was like 19 pedals he pulls out and they're all and he's all tangled up and he's like putting it for him like oh my god here we go and they get everything set up and then he just goes
29:43crazy sonic youth i think he's playing like a jaguar or something like that and now all of a sudden it's like hendrix at woodstock i'm like oh my god what is happening right now and then he just goes bling and all of a sudden it's like it's giving like dinosaur or junior melodies and chords. I'm like, oh my God, this is great. The other two aren't even in the club yet. Then he's playing this song. And I'm standing by the front door. The two of them walk into the front door, into the place, through the front door. They get on their instruments and they just start going.
30:23For like five minutes. I'm just like, now it's like swans. Now I'm just like, oh my God, this is insane. So eventually it's total chaos and it's beautiful and the guitar player he gets his guitar there's maybe 40 people there in a really small room he gets his guitar and he's pulling it through the crowd on the well first he's handing his guitar to everybody everybody's playing it he's pulling it through the crowd by like the guitar on the floor he's just running so now the audience is split in two and there's this like like the red sea there's this aisle where he's just running back and forth dragging his guitar around it's the most insane beautiful chaotic feedback and it's like he's making music it's just chaos and i'm like oh my god like now it's the nation of ulysses now i'm just like oh my god this is i'm am i 18 again this is insane back and forth back and forth and those guys are and then all of a sudden i'm looking around like where the fuck did that guy go and the front door opens up and he comes running through that he had run around the block as the guitars on the ground going and then the show ends in the most climactic i was so inspired but i was also reassured because i'm like great it still exists yeah so there's moments where you think like maybe it's gone maybe that thing that you feel at that age yeah independence you know identity you're in this place you're not a little kid anymore you get to decide who you want to be if you're lucky yeah and you've got this community of people that are like living they're like let's do this with each other and for each other yeah oh it was so
32:10Justin Richmond:great does that you see something like that too does it does it still do you leave there like fuck it i want to go to this i'm gonna just pick up my guitar and go nuts like yeah yeah i was like I can't wait to go home and write some songs. Wow. You know, like, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Totally inspiring. That's kind of, I mean, not necessarily that, I don't know if something like that inspired this record, but the new record, Foo Fighters record, I understand, did come from you just writing a bunch of songs. Well, see, it's weird because we've made a bunch of records. Yeah. And we've moved in different directions, like almost on each record.
32:46If you listen to the first record, it's like there's weenie beanie and that's my version of a ministry song you know and then there's like big me and that's my version of a fucking you know candy commercial or a silly kinks song or something and then a song like i'll stick around or this is a call like that's more sort of like that's that's my screen that's like the scream part of my heart right that that's there and then the second record there's like really beautiful moment february stars very sort of like big sort of emotional anthemic kind of vibes and then the third record it's like there's elements like ain't it the life it's almost like a fucking eagle song or i don't know it's weird because that's what i'm saying like you push you know and you want to see how where you can go with what you've got yeah right so then over time you have this like really wide playing field dynamic where it's like okay is this like a sleepy acoustic thing well fuck we've done that is this like some noisy ass like screaming ass punk rock song fuck we've done that man is this like you know some orchestral weird you know zeppelin presence wannabe thing we kind of did that you know and so you wind up in a place where you can't over analyze or overthink things because it will over complicate stuff you just go with what you feel at the moment yeah right and so as we were making these songs i had this bank of demos that i'd made was like 40 or 50 things just instrumentals because still i'll walk upstairs put down a drum track put some guitars on it just like another story about skeeter thompson i have an instrumental and i'm like what am i going to do with this and so i have this bank of like 50 of them it's almost looking in the pantry and you have 60 different ingredients pick 10 of those ingredients and see what you can cook up that's can't use them all yeah and some don't work with each other so what you do and so that's
34:51Justin Richmond:basically what happens so how do you filter it do you pick like a your first couple of favorites and start to see what kind of works with those? Or you just pick 20 and start to whittle? Well, what happened was I was lying there in bed in the middle of the night just listening to these demos like, okay, that's kind of cool. That bridge is good. Ooh, I like the pattern on that. Blah, blah, blah. And I'm just going down, random sequence. That's kind of cool. I like that. Blah, blah, blah. And then randomly, there were 10 songs in a row that were just like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. just sequenced already like that basically yeah and i was like oh wait a minute why would i want to throw stay away to the heaven in the middle of rock for light you know what i mean like it's like what then you can't and i literally texted everybody five o 'clock in the morning and i was like okay i think this is what we should do and let's start tomorrow at 10 o 'clock in the morning jesus and we just blasted it out elan was done in what a week he was done in about seven days wow he would do three songs a day and just blast through it but it was recorded in my house and again limited space like we couldn't fit the whole band in the room even just sitting down or standing up it was like this room is too small it's small it's going back to the discord so it was like okay alan you come in and then nate are you available at one and so literally like tracking uh in order to have enough space for each person to play it's amazing and it was just blasting through it but that was the thing it was just sort of this gut feeling of energy like like right now that's how we feel like let's go blast shit yeah you know we were out there doing all these smaller gigs in clubs and theaters surprise gigs for fun mostly really just to sort of like you know bring elan in closer and get tighter in those small shows it's like you get tight quick and in those small shows we really celebrated like all of these older songs we hadn't played in a long time but it was like god damn that feels good i'm 57 years old and it still feels good to to scream bloody fucking murder over some squealing ass feedback and hard-hitting drums so yeah and you can still fucking do it like relentlessly it seems like because you don't stop nothing's breaking you broke your leg you kept going physical the other day and the guy's like um okay do you exercise i'm like no he goes okay he takes all my stuff he's like well you're you're in pretty good shape i'm like yeah i run around screaming my fucking ass off for three hours, you know, four days a week or whatever.
37:38That's my favorite exercise. Imagine going on a jog for three hours and singing glory, glory, hallelujah the whole time. And you come back with some fucking washboard abs. I should start doing that. Yeah. But so when I look at a lot of our favorite musicians who have had these long storied careers talking, you know, McCartney and Joe Walsh and Mick Jagger and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. They don't slow down. Yeah. They almost ramp up. Yeah. And you're like, how could that possibly be? And I don't think that it's a ticking clock. I think it's the heart grows and the gratitude and the appreciation as time goes on really grows.
38:27but you're like i can't believe i'm still fucking doing this i don't know what else i would do but like i'm just really i feel really grateful wow that like we're here because it could be worried just like talking about shit well this is the fucking best thank you i have to go get a fucking passport in 45 minutes so that i can go and do this somewhere really far away yeah for the next year and a half of my life and thank god like it's great because it could go the other way It could be, I've done it.
38:58Justin Richmond:It could be jaded or it could go that direction. A thousand percent. It just doesn't. But it's not for you for some reason. No. And I've always thought the core intention, which you sort of find when you first start playing music, it's like, I just want to fucking play music. Yeah. Like you can't imagine it becoming the thing that you do for the rest of your life. It's just an itch. And it's like in your heart. And that thing doesn't, that doesn't go away. Yeah. I mean, there was a time once, you know, when Nirvana ended where I'm like, I don't know if I want to do music anymore. Like, that hurts.
39:29And I'm like, no, what am I talking about? Like, that's the thing that always saved my life. Like, yeah, I have to do it.
39:36Justin Richmond:Was there any part of you considering something? Like, was there anything you were? Yeah. I mean, yeah. You know, I didn't know what it was. Yeah. But time went by where I was just like, God, what do I do? like i can't if i sit behind the drums it makes me sad if i listen to music it makes me sad then i wrote songs yeah and like when i was a kid with those stupid journals i wrote my way through it and so i think that's what happens you know that part of it yeah is you sort of write your way through life yeah while at the same time it's like the only other thing that I love as much as music as an activity is like cooking I really love cooking amazing and I love cooking for people because there's it's it's a similar interaction in that I'm gonna prepare something for you and I really want it to be so good that you enjoy it and you come back for seconds it's in your recipe is your song and the cook itself is the process and the serving is the concert and the second plate is the encore like it's it's a very similar reward yeah when you do that for a large group of people for friends when you do that for people that don't have food when And to be able to have a simple, human, loving, empathetic, caring interaction with someone else through a plate of food or a song, that's the best thing in the world.
41:17That being said, I would rather fucking rock the house than run the kitchen. For fucking sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cooking for 500 people, much less fun than playing for 500 people. 500.
41:31Justin Richmond:that's easy well because you brought that up there's um i saw i saw a clip one time of of chris novicellich yeah saying i don't i don't know even who asked was just like something popped up there was like you know people ask me like am i like sometimes jealous that dave like has all this success now with like and it's just and it's like no like this motherfucker just like put in the work you want you look at dave he's just he's putting in the fucking work like he's just doing And you're like, so how could I be? I'm like, I'm proud or something. And it's just like from afar, I mean, he has a more internal view of that.
42:02Justin Richmond:But from afar, it's always seemed like that way too. Almost like you brought up McCartney, like leaving the Beatles. What do I do? Like just put a band together, Wings. Let's go play colleges across Europe. Like, okay, let's go figure it out. Yeah. I mean, you know, the Nirvana experience was, I don't even know what the word is for it. It was just something else. Yeah. in all the best and worst ways and um when you go through something like that with like a small group of people you're forever connected by that you know we're we're a big we're just we're a big family all of the the people that were there yeah and um and we all do love each other right When Nirvana ended, I kind of knew what...
42:56Well, at first it was hard for me to get through it. And then I realized that music is the thing that's going to get me through it. Have you ever met Chris Novacellich? One time when I was 15, passing a record store.
43:10Justin Richmond:And I didn't know he was... I'm 6 '6". He was fucking taller than me. He was taller than me. I'm like, what the fuck is Chris Novacellich? We did SNL one time with Charles Barkley. Yes. He was taller than Charles Barkley. Yeah, fucking insane. Insane. Chris has such a gigantic heart and such an amazing, brilliant, amazing mind. And Chris sees the world through an entirely different lens than anyone you've ever met in the most beautiful way. He's an artist and he's a writer. And he's still, he's the same. The first day I ever met him, he has not changed. And so the experience that we had together in Nirvana, like we'll be connected by that forever.
44:00And just as we all continue to move forward in life and live life, it's like we're still beautiful, loving friends. And whenever I see him, like it's a trip. I mean, it's like hugging a tree, you know, he's really big. but when you give that hug it's like that's real shit you know yeah like the kind that you really feel yeah so um yeah he's amazing yeah it's incredible that you still get to play with like
44:27Justin Richmond:pat too you know and now nate how many years that's been you know it's like pat seems like i've never got to meet pat but again going back to people you get to pull from these things like you get pat from the germs like what the fuck you know the funniest thing so we went back to i agree it's a dream that's a dream it's a dream what the fuck like the decline of western civilization that live record soundtrack thing was uh like the first punk rock record i ever bought wow and to think that and the germs are big on that record and so to think that i get to spend the rest of my life with the guy that inspired me to do this thing it's amazing yeah and you don't think that all the time but you there you do have moments sometimes where you're like like zoinks this is this is it's amazing it doesn't always work that way you know like no it doesn't and um i don't know what i'd do without him he's just like last time we played in dc we played at the club the black cat in dc small place holds maybe like five six hundred people and in true dc fashion we get there and we're set up upstairs and i start seeing like all of my old heroes brendan from fugazi shows up i'm like hey joe from fugazi show hey man alec mckay ian's younger brother who was in faith and ignition and all these amazing bands faith to be honest there's a band called faith they were kind of my favorite dc band so i look at alec and i'm like oh my god like this is i'm starstruck yeah i'd hate for him to know this but i just am yeah and we're sitting there talking we were talking about i think brendan's daughter had a band with alex daughter and we're just talking about the local music scene and all of a sudden he puts on a staff security shirt and i'm like what are you were you doing security and he goes yeah yeah i'm gonna be up um i'm gonna be up like front of the stage by the barrier and i'm like really i think he mostly only wanted to do it so he could stand in front of pat smear who was his hero yes pat was in the germs yeah and that must have felt the world away at that point too by the way like you know dc to la early 80s yeah with that or set late 70s early i'm like who do you think pat's favorite band is favorite artist of all time number one can i can't get a decade that that felt like 80s?
46:5390s? 80s, 90s? Yeah. Group? You're just not going to get it. I'm not? Okay. No.
46:58Justin Richmond:I'm going to throw some just... Fuck it. Guns and Roses. I don't know. Right. So you would think it would be like maybe some rock and roll. Yeah. Maybe like some glitter from the 70s. Right. Maybe some punk rock. Maybe some prog. He's well versed in Yes and Genesis. Oh yeah. EOP. All that stuff. Like... Number one. Mariah Carey. I love Mariah Carey. He loves Mariah Carey? Yes. I gotta talk to Pat. I love Mariah Carey. You guys could have a big, long podcast thing about it. I'm sure. I'm a fuck. He worked. Well, you know Mariah. I love Mariah, dude. Just saying. I tried to go to the music cast things.
47:36I'm like, I fucking love Mariah. So you think like, you know, Pat saw the Sex Pistols at Winterland or wherever it was. And, you know, like Pat is OG. And so you think like, you look at his history and his past and all those things. Mariah, number one. Does he say, dude, why? Why does he love Mariah? Ask Pat. I will. I mean, we're not so loved. It's the next episode. I'm telling you. Yeah, yeah. To be continued, I'm gonna - It's a trip, yes.
47:57Justin Richmond:I'm gonna do a deep dive with Pat and Mariah. Yeah. She's my favorite. One of my favorites. She's unbelievable. One of my favorite singers. Just ridiculous. It's like Ian McKay with Ted Nugent. Yeah. Wait, how's that? Well, even more bizarre in a way. I don't know. Ian McKay with Ted Nugent. Just because the politics is pretty fast and pretty funny. We're coming right back with more Dave Grohl. Being a small business owner isn't just a career, it's a calling. Chase for Business knows how much heart and effort go into building something of your own. That's why they make your business growth their priority.
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49:48Justin Richmond:You talked about like writing your way through things. I've also read, I know kind of earlier on, you mentioned like lyrics would really just be a last minute. Oh yeah. They sometimes still are. Yeah. Okay. I was going to say that's not always true, but it's sometimes true. And how'd that shake out on this one? Do you actually just sit and write still like journal, like teenager, like when you were a teenager or early adult? Or is it? Yes and no. not like i used to sometimes if i have an idea um or a crazy dream i'll write that down it's still the part of the process that i like the least second guessing self-editing um unsure if it's clear unsure if it's vague and um both my parents were writers so i still have this like ptsd of living under the giant red pen that's just gonna go nope nope nope nope nope so i remember once we were making a record in my house in virginia this is i think the third record nothing left to lose and small basement studio and everyone's downstairs waiting for me the track is recorded but i have to sing and i'm like upstairs in my bedroom blank page just like come on dave like anything you know just writer's block and i'm like just gotta be something and i come down into the kitchen and i think nate was there and he says uh he says are you are you done are you ready i'm like no man i'm kind of stuck i'm not i'm not there yet and he says to me dude not every song has to be imagined by john lennon you know that right so he kind of gave me this pass and i'm like oh yeah you're right yeah pressure's off like weight is lifted wow great i can just i can write something and it could mean nothing to me could mean everything to you yeah or something that means everything to me could mean nothing to you yeah so then it sort of loosens the reins in that that i don't want to spend a month writing a bridge i really want it to happen right and to have that immediacy so there are times where i'm like shit hold on give me 10 minutes and i go and i go in and do it and it sounds good and it works i'm like great and you already have the melody yeah like i've got the pattern and melody and whatever and it's not until months later as the song's mixed and finished that i listen and i'm like wow like i know what i was saying when i wasn't trying to say anything at all like it's almost you know it's it's the it's the subliminal yeah it's not like this part of the cortex it's like back here yeah and sometimes it's just happening so i like that i like the you know the restriction of i like the pressure of my guy sitting on the couch like can I get out of here before traffic you know that kind of thing and I'm just like great all right let's go because otherwise I might manipulate something into something else meaning less or being it's more pure in that way maybe because it's coming from a subconscious level thousand percent under I'm not really a lyric person I try not I sometimes it's years before I even understand know what a course even a course is actually saying or like the words of a course it's gotten me in trouble doing this because sometimes people people don't know what that song's about no i don't i don't even know the words to be honest with you but i don't often ask about lyrics but child actor oh yeah was something i was like well what the that's interesting and actors have come up like stacked actors yeah it was always a fascinating song to me yeah for many reasons but also it's like it seems like that's been a you know the child actor thing was inspired by someone all i wanted was for that person to like hey man like you can be you with me right like you don't have to you don't have to put on the thing yeah like you just relax like to be you you know yeah and feeling like sometimes you meet someone and there's almost this someone who's trying to be the person that you want instead of the person that they want to be right yeah and it has to do with sort of like that that validation yeah you that you're searching for some sort of acknowledgement or validation from others.
54:15When really, you have to have it here first. So it's like, turn the cameras off, right? It's not out there. It's actually in here. That one I wrote really quickly, actually. That one happened pretty fast. I mean, it's a simple song. It's not crazy or anything like that. But the intention and the idea and the concept and the feeling was real in that song. at some point in life you have to be able to sit and be like okay you know and you work really hard to get there but you have to be able to turn all of that shit off yeah and so that was basically it and i you know i was really excited and we were and then we recorded it and i'm like it's just going turn the cameras off i say it a hundred times turn the can i'm screaming my fucking balls off turn the cameras off and i'm really looking forward to doing it live because in that one moment i hope that everyone puts their fucking phones down yeah actually watches the fucking gig yeah listens to the music yes that's my interpretation someone else might feel differently
55:19Justin Richmond:and that's just the way it is yeah after that great build-up moment it goes into my which i think because i listen it's so hard when i'm doing the album's not out yet so i don't i've only i've only been able to listen to it a handful of times yeah so it's hard like i fell in love the first three songs and i had a hard time getting past the first three a few days ago i finally discovered the last song on the record which was like oh yeah i'm like now i'm just playing that song over and over i always want to call it friend of a friend it's not friend of a friend asking asking for a friend yeah amazing song amazing the asking for a friend thing that's funny because that happened before we really started making this record that that song is like i don't know six seven months ago it was just as alan joined the band we had jammed a little bit but i was like you know what come to the house yeah let's record something yeah he's a incredible studio drummer the guy can he has he's got like a photographic musical memory you play him a riff you play him a song one time and he goes in and the first take is perfect you're like great but to be able to vibe and create with him right i wanted to see what it felt like yeah you know it's almost like like we were on a date let's see if we vibe here let's see what happens you it was times impeccable and and his his uh his taste and his composition and he's he's like a fully formed musician he's amazing and a phenomenal drummer it's insane so it was wild it was like not only are we gonna like go out and rip up stages from here to sydney australia but we're gonna do this together and so we you know we started vibing like that and so that song like I mean, to me, that's bordering on our Magnus Opus side of big, long, structured, heavy, like, wow, rhythmic kind of things.
57:11I almost didn't know if that should go on the record. Because we recorded it and released it. And then I'm like, I don't know if this fits with the other short, simple blasts of something like Spitshine or something like Child Actor or something like Of All People. Like, does this thing fit in? can you tag something that well i'm not going to compare it to anything because i'll get in trouble because but to me like it's like one of my favorite albums of all time is an justice for all by metallica and it does not sound like injustice for all but that's about to me it's like i listened to that arrangement then i don't know how metallica writes songs i don't know how they arrange their shit but um but to me i was like okay we've got different time signatures we've got like different sections we've got sort of overlapping melodies we've got this bridge it's double time i'm screaming there's a guitar solo it's much different than the other songs on the record different than like way different than window or you know it's like well yeah and window is the funniest thing you know window that song this is a great example of not overthinking shit my daughter harper plays the bass she plays all the instruments but like she really loves playing the bass.
58:21Her heroes, Kim Gordon, Kim Deal. I wanted to record something with Harper. And I came up with this riff.
58:31Bass is just like almost like a weird T-Rex vibe. That kind of vibe, right? I'm like, hey, I wrote this thing. Let's record together. And we did. And I had that riff. And I was like, she loves the Breeders. Two favorite bands, probably Breeders and Ween. She's the biggest ween fan in the world. So to me, it's like that. There's those moments that sort of have these sort of breeders elements. I saw your face out there in the window. So I just did it like as this fun exercise with Harper. And then I came back to it. I'm like, well, yeah, I'll just, I'll write something. And I always had this idea, like, have you ever been in a hotel where, like, the window washer, all of a sudden you hear something go, and you look outside the window and there's a guy.
59:21there you know like washing the windows yeah what a weird gig terrified couldn't there's not enough money in the world but what this guy this guy's he's looking in it's at everyone's most intimate moments he just is yeah you fucking know it yeah sometimes people never notice him but he's offering this service you know that guy is there to bring in the light Yeah. He wants you to see everything clearly through a wonderful, nice clean window.
59:51Justin Richmond:Yeah. Most people never consider that. Was that thought kicking around? Actually, you know what's crazy? The drummer of the faith, my favorite DC band, his name is Igor Hansen, I think, became a window washer and he wrote a book about it. I digress. Maybe that must be where that came from. Bring it all together. I don't know. Because where else is that? Why is that? I don't fucking know. Odd thing to be kicking around your head to just come out in a burst of video right. Right. So then we record it and I'm like, oh, it's kind of cool and funny. And then also we start playing it for people and everyone's like, I love this song.
1:00:25And I'm like, do you? It's hard for me to, like I remember when we recorded Best of You right here. Wow. And we recorded it and I'm like, eh. And then our manager, John Silva, we're playing the record. He goes, what about that song where you say Best of You a hundred times? and I'm like I don't know is that any good he's like I like it I was like I didn't think it was that special you played that back and you didn't no I mean I know like we completed the task we got it to a place where like yeah that's cool but I didn't really think anybody else would feel it wow whatever so that was like the window song and then everyone's like yay window I'm like really it's cool it's a cool song and then people are finding meaning like that there's a line that says um pleased to finally meet you swinging from the ceiling watch you hang around until someone lets you down yeah everyone's like that's so that's so heartbreaking watch someone hang around until someone lets them down i'm like no i was just talking about the fucking thing that's the thing is standing on yeah yeah one day it'll hit you with that you know you know one thing that actually it's funny to do interviews and talk about music or the music that you just made yeah it's really sometimes that's the first time you think like oh yeah that's what i is that what i did i don't
1:01:47Justin Richmond:know what i did like it's out like you can't even yeah yeah yeah you guys also almost worked with david briggs right neil's long time yeah we met with him did you meet with i was gonna ask did you ever meet with him yeah i didn't go because he's like a rough character or what you know we went to benihana or something like that and talked about records he was really cool i mean And around that time, Neil had made the Ragged Glory record. And I think that was Briggs who did that one. But right, so we knew Briggs was very familiar with the idea of recording a raw fucking band live to capture those moments.
1:02:26And that's kind of what we wanted to do. Briggs was really cool. We met with a couple different people. Ultimately, it was like... You got the right one. We got Butch.
1:02:37Justin Richmond:Fascinating to think of a world where it was Briggs. I know. Could have gone a whole other direction. Thousand questions, thousand things we could talk about, but I want to let you go, man. This has been amazing to sit with you here in your place. I'm glad you came. Yeah, man. Where Led Zeppelin II hangs above the live room. Did you make your way all the way down the hallways? I didn't want to go stupid shit in those hallways. But I went like halfway down. No, there's some like, you wind up in like Tenacious D territory, like around that corner. I'm going to keep going then. Yeah, there's some funny shit in there.
1:03:08Well, I'm glad you came. Thank you, man. Really appreciate you. You have to come back. I will. Listen. You got to come back and do that Pat Smear interview. If you guys can make it happen. The Mariah episode. I'll do it.
1:03:17Justin Richmond:I'll do that shit next week. Gabby's on it. All right. Love it. Thank you. Man, thank you. Appreciate you. Yeah, of course. In the episode description, you'll find a link to a playlist featuring our favorite songs from Dave Grohl's career. Be sure to check out youtube.com slash brokenrecordpodcast to see all our video interviews. And be sure to follow us on Instagram at The Broken Record Pod. Broken Record is produced and edited by Leah Rose with marketing help from Eric Sandler and Jordan McMillan. Our engineer is Ben Talliday. Broken Record is a production of Pushkin Industries. If you love this show and others from Pushkin, consider subscribing to Pushkin Plus.
1:03:53Justin Richmond:Pushkin Plus is a podcast subscription that offers bonus content and ad-free listening for$4.99 a month. Look for Pushkin Plus on Apple Podcast subscriptions. And if you like this show, please remember to share, rate and review us on your podcast app. Our theme music's by Kenny Beats. I'm Justin Richmond.
1:04:1623-year-old Elizabeth Plunkett heads off for a night away with friends. It's the summer of 1976, the best summer we've had for years. Just hours later, she is kidnapped by two men in British Bay. These are two career criminals wanted for rape in Britain. They are Ireland's first serial killers. While both men confessed to Elizabeth's murder, no one is ever convicted. How could this happen? We're being denied any sort of justice. Listen to Bad Women Presents Stolen Sister, wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.
From the publisher
The magic of Dave Grohl isn't just that he's one of rock music's great raconteurs, or one of its greatest drummers and frontmen of the last thirty-plus years. It's the sheer number of lives he's gotten to live within rock and roll.
Dave started out drumming for Scream, one of DC's great, underrated hardcore bands, running in the same circles as Ian MacKaye and the Dischord crowd. Then he joined Nirvana and more than made his mark in one of the most consequential bands since the Beatles, and an indelible piece of Seattle's music story dates all the way back to Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones.
And then, as if that weren't enough: Foo Fighters. Which Dave Grohl essentially built by himself — Prince and Stevie Wonder-style — writing and recording nearly every note on the debut alone, save for some guitar from Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs.
On today's episode Justin Richmond sits down with Dave at the Foo Fighters' studio to talk about their twelfth album, Your Favorite Toy. But they start somewhere unexpected talking about a song from a cassette-only solo record in 1992 he made under the pseudonym "Late!"
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Dave Grohl HERE.
Time-coded chapters:
(02:20) Recording first album, Pocketwatch
(05:58) Formation & collaborative spirit of Scream and the DC hardcore scene
(09:53) The Power of Live Recording
(20:07) Community in Music Today
(28:04) The Creative Process Behind Foo Fighters' New Album
(34:04) The Enduring Passion for Music
(36:15) Writing Through Life's Challenges
(37:48) Cooking as a Parallel to Music
(43:39) The Surprising Influences of Musicians
(48:42) Exploring Themes in New Music
(53:22) The Evolution of Musical Style
(57:21) Reflecting on Musical Journeys
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