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UCK YOU! I was in Nirvana!" says Dave Grohl. "The most influential band of the '90s!"
What's this? Certainly not the sort of thing that you'd expect from the man routinely referred to as the nicest guy in rock.
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"That's a joke I'll pull every once in a while," he explains. "Just to see peoples horrified reactions, you know?"
It's a Sunday afternoon in mid-September and the Foo Fighters are shooting a video for resolve, the third single from their fifth album, In Your honour. On a Los Angeles soundstage mocked up to look like a beach, the band has been repeatedly miming along to the song for the past three hours. During a break from filming, Grohl chats with his wife, Jordyn, while drummer Taylor Hawkins absentmindedly tickles his kit. Guitarist Chris Shiflett and placid bassist Nate Mendel stand around waiting to take their places for the next take. Grohl walks past to fetch a bottle of water and gestures towards the hive of inactivity. "Fucking exciting, huh?"
Since becoming Nirvana's drummer in 1990, excitement is not something that has been in short supply for Dave Grohl. Over the course of his 10 years with the Foo Fighters he has become the complete frontman, knowing exactly how to deliver the goods both on and offstage. Because of his unfailing affability and self-deprecating charm it's easy to think of Grohl as an open book, but that would be wrong. His bandmates, while unanimous in describing him as thoroughly decent, also agree that he is a very private man. "He's got a good heart and he cares about people and treats them with respect...except for me sometimes," says Hawkins with a grin. "But, yeah, Dave holds his cards close to his chest."
"He lets people in as much as he want to," adds Shiflett.
"I know a thousand people but I think maybe two of them know me," says Grohl. "I remember reading this horoscope when I was 12 or 13 years old that said you have to be careful not to alienate everyone because there's a great chance that you'll wind up completely alone later in life. I have a tendency to do that. I can be cordial and polite and somewhat open to most people, but I don't want everyone to know me."
THREE DAYS LATER Grohl is fiddling around with his front gate, unsuccessfully trying to fix the mechanism that allows him to open it without leaving the house. I n the scorching afternoon heat he wears black jeans and matching slip-on Vans shoes, shirt off to reveal the tattoos on his chest and arms. With shoulder-length hair and full beard, he could easily be mistaken for the gardener, or possibly a local layabout who's sneaked on to the premises looking for magic mushrooms.
"You're early!" he shouts. " Come on up."
The provisional design for the Resolve CD's packaging sits on the counter in Grohl's kitchen awaiting his approval. " I don't like it! Change it!" he jokes, before making himself a cup of strong black coffee. Three years ago Grohl bought this spacious two-bedroom villa overlooking the San Fernando Valley for $2 million, though it has since tripled in value. Encino, the area where he lives, lies 15 miles to the North-West of Hollywood's celebrity haunts. It isn't the most fashionable of addresses, but Grohl likes the good-quality diners, delis and distance from the grandiose epicentre of America's entertainment industry. "It's where the porn stars and rock stars come to die," he says of his neighbourhood, noting that former Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio takes his morning walks nearby.
A bookcase in Grohl's lounge holds a few MTV awards, five Grammys - four for the Foo Fighters, one for Nirvana - and two bowling trophies (Best Style and Team high Score) won at a friends 40th birthday part. Many of the pictures on the walls are of him and his wife, some taken at their wedding held here just over two years ago. A swimming pool and serious barbeque area dominate the front lawn, while a tennis court with basketball hoop ("I've got a bit of game") can be found to the side. It's a comfortable set-up, though one totally free of hilariously bad art or other touches of ostentatious interior décor. " I have a motorcycle, I have a car, I have a studio and I have a house," is how Grohl accounts for where his money goes. A more rigorous enquiry into the state of his finances is met with a smile. " I'm doing OK, he says." leading the way through his dining room and out the back door, Grohl settles in a wrought iron chair beside a fountain, "My zen garden," he says insincerely.
Have you ever done an interview where Nirvana or Courtney love hasn't been mentioned?
It's funny, that disappeared for a while. The first three years it was there, every interview. Then it went away for, like, five years. Last couple of years it came back, I think only because of anniversaries. Tenth anniversary of Kurt's death, 10th anniversary of Nevermind...I can understand that. It's a big part of my history.
It never seemed like a particularly happy time for you.
No, it wasn't. I was so young. In '91, when Nevermind came out, I was 22. Had I grown up with these people, it may have been a little more solid, but I met them and eight months later it blows up into this thing. All of that happened in the course of not even three years,
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