Josh Freese has opened up about his infamous firing from Foo Fighters.
Freese left the band last year, taking to social media in May to deliver a comical list of the top 10 possible reasons for his surprise dismissal.
Among the highlights, Freese joked that he “once whistled ‘My Hero’ for a week solid on tour,” “could only name one Fugazi song,” and “never even once tried growing a beard.”
The drummer also poked fun at his own playing style, suggesting his “metronome-like precision behind the kit [was] deemed ‘soulless'” and that he had demanded every rehearsal begin “with a 20 minute cowbell sound bath.” Another potential issue was simply: “Polyrhythms.”
Freese spent approximately two years with the Foo Fighters after stepping in following Hawkins’ unexpected passing in 2022.
Almost one year on, Freese reflected on his removal in a new interview with Modern Drummer (as per Louder Sound).
“The Foo Fighters are such a big, mainstream band that everything I say gets taken out of context, reposted, and blown out of proportion,” he said. “People created headlines from one quick, simple comment I made on a podcast not long ago, it’s crazy. I’ve got to be careful about what I say about it. But I’ve got a lot to say about it and I’ve been just trying to figure out how and when, to go about really articulating it.
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“I have a couple small theories [as to why I was let go],” he continued, “but I can’t really go into them right now. I did really enjoy the two years I spent with those guys however, and they were good to me… until they weren’t.”
Freese showed there was no bad blood by praising former bandmate Dave Grohl, saying, I loved having Dave as a bandleader.”
“I enjoyed being around those guys,” he added, “they were generous and good to me… and that’s what makes the whole thing even more of a mystery. I think I’m a pretty good read on people, and I did not see that coming. One day it was nothing but laughs, we’re on stage and Dave’s looking at me every night like, ‘You’re killing it, dude!!!’ And then it was just — over.”
Freese landed on his feet following his Foo Fighters exit, rejoining the Nine Inch Nails lineup, hilariously replacing Ilan Rubin who went in the opposite direction right into the Foo Fighters lineup.
