Nirvana were undeniably one of the most iconic three-piece band’s of all time, with each member contributing their own personal attitude and playing style to the grunge empire. Kurt’s brooding, generation-defining lyricism and raucous guitar playing, Krist’s percussive and heavy bass stylings combined with Dave’s ridiculously energetic drumming made for a forest fire of musical greatness that stands up to this day – it’s hard to envision the band without those key ingredients.
In a recent interview with CBS, Dave Grohl opened up about why he halted from contributing songwriting ideas during the band’s recording process, despite going on to become one of rock’s most prolific songwriters.
Like all of us, it’s hard to believe Dave Grohl has ever experienced self-doubt, but when it came to initially writing and recording, the rock-monolith simply didn’t believe he was good enough.
“When I recorded what became the first Foo Fighters record [in 1995], I didn’t think it was a record. I just wanted to get up and go out and play something, even if nobody ever heard it.
“Long before then, I had been recording songs on my own, and never letting anybody hear them because I didn’t really think they were that good.”
Grohl continued, saying that being in Nirvana with Kurt Cobain, “one of the greatest songwriters of our generation” dissuaded him from offering up ideas.
“I didn’t like my voice, I didn’t think I was a songwriter, and I was in a band with one of the greatest songwriters of our generation. I didn’t really want to rock the boat.
Never to take things too seriously, Grohl jokingly added that he feared he’d be booted from the band for butting in during the songwriting process, being the drummer.
“That’s the famous joke: What’s the last thing the drummer said before he got kicked out of the band? ‘Hey guys, I’ve got some songs I think we should play.’ So I just kind of kept it to myself.
You can watch the interview here:
https://twitter.com/CBSSunday/status/1015640260443889664
Later in the interview, he discussed how difficult it was to listen to music after Kurt’s death, noting that it often “broke his heart” just turning on the radio.
“But there was someone who we knew from Seattle. After Kurt died he wrote me this card: ‘I know you don’t feel it now, but someday the music is going to come back, and it’s going to heal you.'”
“[I was] just lost. I went through a really dark period where I couldn’t really even listen to the radio because it broke my heart just to hear music.”
Watch Foo Fighters’ ‘Big Me’:
