I wake up every day and can’t believe I get to live this life
On their latest album, Foo Fighters tackle disco, family and a sense of impending Armageddon. ALEX GREEN finds out more from frontman Dave Grohl
‘IF THIS was to be our last album I would consider it an exclamation point,” says rock star Dave Grohl. “Some people might consider it a question mark. But for me it would be a drop-the-mic moment for the band.”
The 52-year-old drummerturned-frontman is talking about Medicine At Midnight, Foo Fighters’ recently released 10th album.
Of course, this is not the veteran outfit’s final release – or at least we hope it isn’t. Instead, it is a celebration of 25 years’ hard touring and 10 albums of anthemic rock.
For their latest outing, Dave and co have incorporated the music of their youth. It is the music that makes them want to move – Little Richard, Elvis, Sly And The Family Stone, even Let’s Dance-era David Bowie and disco. While this may seem surprising to some, it made total sense to the band.
“Knowing it was our 25th anniversary and our 10th album, I thought it would be a good idea to really start the party now,” an ever-enthusiastic Dave explains.
The Foos, as they’re affectionately known by fans, began work on the record in late 2019, decamping to an expansive 1940s house in a Los Angeles suburb.
Sessions progressed quickly, despite vague mumblings about the property being haunted – untouched guitars would suddenly detune, mixing desks would reset themselves overnight.as the process went on, the band realised they were writing songs that were more upbeat, more disco even, although they retained their trademark stadium-ready rock sound. Dave says that during the process he kept the festival crowd in mind.
The bubblegum choruses of “na na nas” on Making
A Fire and the soaring riffs of
Holding Poison sound ready-made for the live circuit. But as well as delaying the album, the pandemic also ensured these songs will remain purely for home listening, at least for now.
“I felt like it was time for us to be the DJ at the biggest party we have ever had,” Dave chuckles. “And of course that didn’t happen.
“We have stumbled into real luck over the last 25 years. It is not often that we have just hit a brick wall.
“We have kept the forward motion for a long time. This is the first time in the band’s career that we had to just turn the key and shut it down. That felt strange.”
Dave spent lockdown in Hawaii with his wife, Jordyn Blum, and their three daughters. What was meant to be a short holiday before the band jetted off on a world tour turned into a months-long break. Dave was grounded for the first time in some 30 years.
“I felt really fortunate to have a lot of time with my family, making sure that everybody is healthy and safe,” he says.
“I have been on the road for 30 years, so having 12 months of being at home was something new to me.
“And I have got to be honest, I was really into it. People would ask me, ‘Don’t you miss being on tour?’ Of course I felt obligated to say, ‘Yes, that is the love of my life.’ But deep down I really was happy with being immobile for a little while.”
Medicine At Midnight is unique among the Foo Fighters’ back catalogue because of its special guest – Dave’s eldest daughter, Violet, 14, who sings backing vocals on Making A Fire.
After school, Violet would do her homework while the band worked on the album in their LA residence.
One day, the band’s producer, Greg Kurstin, asked her if she wanted to lay down some backing vocals. She nailed it in two takes.
Living up to his reputation as the nicest guy in rock, Dave is the doting father about it.
“She was singing along to Amy Winehouse in perfect pitch and perfect cadence and inflection when she was four or five years old,” he gushes. “So I knew she had it in her and over time she has really grown to become a musician.”
Despite its feelgood vibe, politics is baked into Medicine At Midnight. Dave was raised in a political family – his father, James, was a journalist and political consultant, his mother, Virginia, a public school teacher. He grew up in
Washington DC, within spitting distance of the Pentagon and White House.
Waiting On A War, the album’s most overtly political track, expresses the sense of impending Armageddon he felt as a boy – and feels again now living in an America reshaped by Donald Trump.
“We’re digging ourselves out of a hole right now,” he offers when asked about the state of his nation.
Dave has always been clear on his political views. The Foos performed their hit Times Like These during a special concert on the day of Joe Biden’s inauguration, with Dave dedicating their performance to his mother and “all of our unshakeable teachers that continue to enlighten our nation’s kids every day”.
It was, unsurprisingly, an emotional experience. “Having them ask us to play a song I wrote 18 years ago about a time in my life where I was at a crossroads, not sure which way to go, but felt the need for some kind of rebirth – I felt like I needed to start again.
“That is what Times Like These is about. It is not a political song but it does apply to what is going on in America right now.”
Instead of performing live in Washington DC, Dave watched himself perform from his home in Hawaii (the song was pre-recorded due to Covid-19 measures).
“I would have loved to have been there,” he sighs. “Instead I was in Hawaii on the couch in a tie-dye T-shirt, drinking a beer, watching my band perform at the inauguration. It was surreal!
“But (it was) also a very emotional moment. I was incredibly honoured to be involved in a moment like that. To me it seemed like a turning point... Thank goodness.”
“It’s funny,” he says in closing. “I sometimes liken it to seeing your life flash before your eyes as it is happening.
“I just have to pinch myself and roll with it. I wake up every day, no matter how good a day or bad a day, and can’t believe I get to live this life. It never wears thin.”
■ Medicine At Midnight by
Foo Fighters is out now.