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Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl: "Sometimes I dream of nirvana"

2021-02-02T14:13:41.036Z


Dave Grohl was a nirvana drummer and has had great success with the Foo Fighters for 25 years. Here he tells how you survive in rock'n'roll, what really makes touring and why he sometimes dreams of Kurt Cobain.


SPIEGEL:

Mr. Grohl, your new album is called »Medicine At Midnight« - was it influenced by the pandemic?

Dave Grohl:

No, all the songs were composed in 2019, before Corona.

Otherwise I could have called it "Vaccine At Midnight"

(laughs)

.

Nevertheless, many of the lyrics can be applied amazingly well to the current situation.

To person

Photo: 

Danny Clinch

David Eric Grohl

, born on January 14, 1969, grew up in Springfield (Virginia) and toured Europe with the punk band Scream at the age of 17 before joining Nirvana in Seattle and playing drums on "Nevermind" in 1991.

After the death of singer Kurt Cobain in 1994, Grohl founded the Foo Fighters, recorded the debut album single-handedly and only then looked for musicians.

Grohl lives with his family near Los Angeles.

SPIEGEL:

What medicine is it about?

Grohl:

"Medicine At Midnight" is about the feeling that something is missing, that one is not satisfied.

The song came to my mind one evening when I couldn't sleep: Was I missing a drink, a good book, should I run around the block again?

I'm an

insomniac

, a restless one, I have too much energy.

There is no answer to the question of which medicine makes me sleep.

Icon: enlarge

Nirvana, shortly before her breakthrough with »Nevermind«: Dave Grohl (from left) with Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic

Photo: 

Future Image / imago images

SPIEGEL:

You have achieved a lot in your life.

And are you still dissatisfied?

Grohl:

I am grateful for a lot.

But I don't just want to spend a day, I want to create something good.

This setting keeps my engine running.

That only increased after Kurt's death and the end of nirvana.

That's when I realized how damn short life is.

You have to use every day.

24 hours is not enough for me, that's why I don't like to sleep.

Pure waste of time.

Who knows how much time you have?

I always have new projects in mind.

If you've been on tour for a year and a half and then come home, you don't even want to look at your guitar, let alone play it.

You put them in the corner.

But you still want to use your creative muscles.

I always find new ways, such as directing or writing scripts.

SPIEGEL:

Slash

said

in a SPIEGEL interview that he was often in a bad mood after the tour ended.

At home he got bored, the daily routine was missing - and then he turned to heroin.

"On tour everything is organized as tightly as in the military."

Grohl:

Slash is my direct neighbor

(laughs)

.

I can understand that well.

Outsiders imagine tour life to be incredibly exciting, excessive and glamorous.

But mostly everything is tightly organized like in the military.

You always know when to be where: 3.30 p.m. meeting in the hotel lobby, 5 p.m. sound check, at 9 p.m. on stage.

You feel like you're on autopilot.

This is the only way it can work, otherwise there would be chaos.

At home you suddenly have a lot of time and don't know what to do.

Some musicians paint pictures to distract themselves or just resort to drugs.

We all know deep down that music is the only thing we really want.

SPIEGEL:

You're a guitarist, drummer, singer and songwriter, plus a music and film producer, documentary filmmaker and director.

Do you want too much?

Grohl:

I don't think I'm over-ambitious.

I spoke to Queen's Brian May a while ago.

Before that I had sent him a demo song and asked if he found it too pretentious or even too pompous.

He said: There is no such thing as "too pompous" in a skirt.

Okay, he's with Queen

(laughs)

.

I think you can't be too ambitious either.

Just do it!

The rest often arises.

There's nothing bad about ambition, it pushes you.

SPIEGEL:

In addition to all the rock star hype, you are also the father of three daughters.

Your mother raised you and your sister Lisa alone.

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Grohl:

Yes, my parents separated when I was six.

Mom used to be a teacher and she's so

fucking cool

.

We often went to the cinema together, she took me to jazz clubs, supported me in everything and had to work hard to get us through, at times with three jobs.

That shaped me.

I also want to be a friend and positive influence to my kids.

They should grow up happy, feel loved and know that they can develop freely.

SPIEGEL:

Last summer you and your daughter Violet were on stage with the Adele song "When We Were Young".

What do your kids think of rock and roll?

“Rock won't die.

The torch is carried on. "

Grohl:

My kids are musically far more talented than I was at their age.

They don't watch shows like the "MTV Music Awards" with all the new pop and rap artists, it's not rock'n'roll enough for them!

My daughters and their friends play in bands, with guitars, drums.

They cover Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and David Bowie.

Three days ago they performed in a restaurant and sang "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" in the version of The Mamas & The Papas, a hippie song from the late sixties, then "Starman" by Bowie.

SPIEGEL:

So Rock isn't dead yet?

Grohl:

At 52 now I look like Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings", the old, gray wizard.

But I watch this young generation and I think a new generation is growing up that will appreciate handmade rock music again.

For me music is like a wild garden in which very different plants sprout.

You have to let it grow.

Rock won't die.

The torch is carried on.

SPIEGEL:

You said the biggest day of your life was June 7, 2008, when you rocked with the Foo Fighters at the sold-out Wembley Stadium in London.

Grohl:

That alone was mad enough.

But then Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, my teenage heroes, stepped out on stage to jam with us.

I thought I was in a movie.

We played the Led Zeppelin classic "Rock And Roll", then I switched to drums on "Ramble On" and let our drummer Taylor Hawkins sing.

A unique experience.

SPIEGEL:

How did the campaign come about?

Grohl:

When I invited Jimmy to our show, I was really inhibited and when I called, I mumbled: How about we play "Rock And Roll" together?

And he's very cool: Okay, see you at the sound check.

I could hardly believe it.

At the gig behind the drum kit, with this great view of the stadium and two of the greatest living legends of rock right in front of me, I really thought I was dreaming.

SPIEGEL:

What goal have you set for 2021?

Grohl:

To offer people new music.

Nobody can go on tour at the moment, live shows are not possible, so the fans should at least be able to hear our new songs and - in the best case - draw strength from them, draw hope or just have fun with them.

That's why I write songs.

I want to move people, encourage them to sing along.

It doesn't have to be in a large arena, you can also do it alone in the kitchen with a bottle of wine.

If I can do that, it will feel like a Wembley stadium for me.

"I don't know which was harder: getting famous or staying famous."

SPIEGEL:

On March 1, 1994, Nirvana performed with Kurt Cobain for the last time in Munich.

How do you remember it?

Grohl:

We opened the show with “My Girl's Best Friend”, a song by The Cars, “Heart Shaped Box” was the last encore.

The whole tour was problematic.

Kurt was in poor health, his voice sounded hoarse, he struggled through the program.

A difficult time for us as a band.

I don't know which was harder: getting famous or staying famous.

We didn't want any of that, it felt strange.

When the band literally exploded with »Nevermind« in 1991, it was a completely different feeling than in 1994. After the Munich concert, it was clear to us that we urgently needed a break.

Nobody suspected that Kurt would soon no longer be with us.

SPIEGEL:

Do you still think of him often?

Grohl:

I do.

We became best friends.

Sometimes I dream of nirvana.

I imagine that we have to go on stage because there are fans waiting for us.

Again and again I painfully realize that Kurt, who wrote all these wonderful songs, is no longer there.

SPIEGEL:

Addictive drugs ruined Kurt Cobain.

Did you also use drugs in the great grunge era?

Grohl:

I stopped when I was 20.

That was probably the most important decision.

I never used hard drugs, but smoked marijuana ("pot") and occasionally took psychedelic substances, hallucinogens.

I still drink alcohol today and smoke too.

But not exaggerated.

And even before I joined Nirvana, I'd lost good friends to drugs.

SPIEGEL:

Did you survive this experience?

Grohl:

Because I experienced the misery first hand, it was clear to me early on: Survival is the top priority!

The Foo Fighters have stood for survival for 25 years.

I remember one tour with Pearl Jam when I had to cry on the edge of the stage because I realized we must be lucky to be survivors in this crazy circus called rock and roll.

When you lose a musician as a band, it's always tragic, of course.

But if your singer dies it's even worse, because with him the voice of the band dies.

That's why I refuse to sing nirvana songs.

There remain Kurt's songs.

Icon: The mirror

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-02-02

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