We’ve seen Dave Grohl’s directing at work today on Foo Fighters’ brand new clip for ‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’, taken from the band’s upcoming album Concrete and Gold, which also sees him starring alongside his two daughters.
But in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Grohl reveals that he’s actually in the process of making his own feature length film – he just has no idea how long it’ll take to hit screens, as this pesky rock band thing he does keeps getting in the way.
“Last year, I was approached to make a feature film and I was a little hesitant at first, and then I got into it,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I started working on production and getting into casting with these big names. And at first, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it. And once my heart clicked, I just dive head first into whatever it is. And I really got into the script and visualizing this story, but I didn’t have time to do it.
“Someday, I’m going to wind up doing it,” he adds, revealing that the script is now back at the rewrite stage. “But the Foo Fighters always get in the way.
“I can see myself doing more and more of it as the years come. That film’s still in rewrites and once we get the rewrite happening, I’m sure that the casting will kick in and pull our teams together. But I like my day job. I really enjoy my day job.”
We’re not surprised he’s too busy, considering the band is also launching its own rock festival this year with QOTSA and Liam Gallagher on the bill, treating fans to ridiculous three-and-a-half hour sets after Lollapalooza, and Rick-rolling fans with none other than Rick Astley himself.
Dave Grohl is still working on his movie, but also directed Foo Fighters new clip
Grohl also discussed his directing work on the new clip, and whether he’d be taking that job on full-time going forward, to make sure their clips match up to the vision he has for his songs.
“Not necessarily,” he said. “I think there’s a seamless connection that happens when the person that’s written the song ends up visualizing it, which makes things a lot easier. For years, we’ve accepted treatments from video directors where there’ll be a song about me having my heart broken and the treatment is like BMX bikes flying through the mud.
“Like, what the fuck? So when you start receiving treatments from different directors, it’s really hard to find that connection sometimes. Sometimes it works, and it turns out great,” he added. “But, you know – I also don’t charge the band any money. I guess we’re saving something there. Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll give the kids a massive salary, and then I’ll just take their money. That’s what I should have done.”
Grohl is of course referring to his two daughters, who he says helped give him ideas for the new video. And as he talks more about the video, it’s clear he has a passion for being behind the camera.
“With a lot of my favorite directors and favorite films or videos, the effects are on screen, which gives it a little bit more of a realist effect,” Grohl says, talking about the decision to build a set rather than using CGI. “If you’re too literal with something, it loses that bizarre element. Something like a theater set would have more of a dreamlike quality than something thrown together in a computer in CGI.
“It’s a very simple video, but it’s beautiful in its scope and its color. A lot of other videos that I’ve made, there’s usually some sort of narrative or sequence of events that I map out from lyric to lyric. So before we even edit, I’ve storyboarded everything and broken it down to the second, so you know how the succession of shots is to build. And this one’s a little bit looser. There’s a sequence of events, but I think it’s more emotional than something that’s really cut together as if it’s a sitcom or something like that.”
While we may have to wait a while to see Grohl directed an entire film, we can check out his directorial efforts on ‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’ above.
