Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl recently sat down with Absolute Radio’s Dave Berry for a wide ranging chat on the Breakfast show, where he looked back on the band’s long lasting career. Even after thirty years of chart success, Grohl spoke modestly about their worldwide popularity, saying that for them, "It's just fun to circle the planet, playing rock and roll."
The discussion also covered guitarist Pat Smear’s recovery after breaking his leg. While Grohl once performed using a “throne” during his own injury, he explained that "I don't think he wanted to use the throne." Instead, Smear has stayed in good spirits throughout the process. Grohl laughed, "He was sending me pictures of like tiki bars where he could sort of like prop up on a stool and drink fruity cocktails." He added that things are looking positive ahead of their upcoming shows, saying, "I think by the time we start hitting the road, he'll be up to speed. He'll be good."
Grohl went on to tell a funny story about his childhood love for Star Wars. "Star Wars came out when I was seven years old and I was obsessed," he said. "I wanted a Darth Vader mask so badly but we didn't have any money." Years later, after finding success, he finally bought one for a Halloween party, but quickly ran into an issue. "I quickly realized I can't drink beer through this mask," Grohl joked.
The situation led to a rough next morning. "I would take the whole thing off, chug a beer, put the whole thing back on," he explained, though the mask’s elastic strap caused problems. "The next morning, I woke up and my nose was bruised because the more I drank, I would put the face thing back on and it would like slap me in the face. And so that's why Darth Vader breathed that way."
Talking about how the band has stayed active for so long, Grohl said they "only make records when we feel like it's time to make a record." Even with that approach, he admitted "they're kind of on a consistent cycle though. It's once every three years, pretty much for 30 years." When inspiration comes, "we just start writing stuff and we get in the studio, start playing around. And then once it sounds like it's an album, then it happens pretty quickly."
Looking ahead, Grohl spoke about their huge upcoming show at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium and shared that he reached out to Paul McCartney. "When I first found out we were doing that gig, I let him know," he said. McCartney responded right away, telling him, "He was like, ‘oh, you're going to have a blast. It'll be amazing.’ Yeah, Liverpool's awesome. That place is great."
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