In an interview with Hot Press, FOO FIGHTERS mainmain Dave Grohl talked about Kurt Cobain‘s death and the end of NIRVANA, saying:
“The NIRVANA experience was such a whirlwind. It all happened so quickly – exploded without any warning, and then it just disappeared. Life had changed so much, it was almost like you had to find something to hold onto so that you didn’t get swept away.
He continued: “Once it was over, I couldn’t imagine stepping on stage or sitting down at a drum stool and playing music any more. It would just bring me back to the heartbreaking place of losing Kurt. A long time went by where it felt that music was going to break my heart again. Then I realized that, actually, music was the one thing that was going to heal it. I had been recording music by myself for years without ever playing it for anyone. I thought that going down to the studio at the end of the street would be therapeutic. I didn’t think it would become a band – and I sure as f**k didn’t think it was going to be a band for 20 years.
Dave added: You have to understand – for me, NIRVANA is more than it is for you. It was a really personal experience. I was a kid. Our lives were lifted and then turned upside down. And then our hearts were broken when Kurt died. The whole thing is much more personal than the logo or the t-shirt or the iconic image. I felt I had to do it [start over with the Foo‘s self-titled debut in 1995] – to exorcise something in my soul. The intention of this band from day one has always been to keep the ball rolling: as musicians, as human beings, as friends. To feel like life keeps moving forward. We still feel like that every time we make a record – every time we step on stage. We feel like life is moving forward and that we’re not looking back.”
Focusing on the Foos‘ breakthrough record – 1997’s “The Color and the Shape,” Dave noted:
“I remember making that record while not having a place to live. I was sleeping in my friend’s back room in a sleeping bag. His dog would come in and piss on the sleeping bag every f**king night. The next day I’d go into the studio with [producer] Gil Norton and he’d make me do 30 or 40 takes. It was total f**king chaos. The fact we survived that means we could survive anything. I don’t even like to listen to that record. I love to play the songs live. But I listen back and it just gives me the f**king chills. It’s like, ‘Oh god, that dog was pissing on me every night.'”
