Grohl Quotes & Sayings

I had a little indie label called No Core and Dave Grohl's first band was called, Dain Bramage so I out an album for them and for whatever reason, he's never forgot it and has always been super nice to me since. — Reed Mullin

Ramones or AC/DC are two bands that have managed to keep their signature sound and their signature formula for years and years and album after album after album, without it seeming like a dead-end street. — Dave Grohl

I'd love it if everyone knew one Foo Fighters song. — Dave Grohl

I can tell you who I'd like to work with as far as rock legends. Definitely Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters. Of course Linkin Park. Actually, I already worked with Travis Barker on a couple of things. Gotta let the drummer get some. Possibly Paramore, Hayley Williams. — B.o.B

The best time for gum is just before getting onstage. I need a minty-fresh microphone. — Dave Grohl

A lot of the records you buy, there's nothing you can hold in your hand, it's all 1's and 0's, this digital cloud floating in the ether. but with analog albums, you can hold it in your hand. — Dave Grohl

The late '60s and the '70s, a lot of this really beautiful equipment was being made and installed into studios around the world and the Neve boards were considered like the Cadillacs of recording consoles. They're these really big, behemoth-looking recording desks; they kind of look like they're from the Enterprise in Star Trek or something like that. They're like a grayish color, sort of like an old Army tank with lots of knobs, and to any studio geek or gear enthusiast it's like the coolest toy in the world. — Dave Grohl

CBGB represents a lot to New York City and to underground rock and to new wave and post-punk and whatever. But, you know, it's like tearing down the Jefferson Memorial or something. — Dave Grohl

If I ever felt like I was getting lost in the hurricane that was storming around Nirvana, I'd just go back to Virginia. — Dave Grohl

There weren't a lot of career opportunities in crazy-fast hardcore punk, so you didn't have a lot of ambition, just the love and passion to play music with your friends. — Dave Grohl

I listen to boy band music before I have to fire someone. — Dave Grohl

How come drummers leave their drumsticks on the dashboard of their car? So they can park in the handicapped spaces. — Dave Grohl

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love talked trash about the fact that I hooped. I once stopped to say 'Hi' before a show, and as I walked away, Courtney yelled, 'Go play basketball with Dave Grohl!' — Jeff Ament

A lot of people from my generation of music are so focused on playing things correctly or to perfection that they're stuck in that safe place. — Dave Grohl

It was supposed to be gross, and now it's gorgeous. — Dave Grohl

I love to play music. So why endanger that with something like drugs? — Dave Grohl

People should never be afraid that Foo Fighters are ever going to break up, it's like your grandparents getting divorced - it's not gonna happen. — Dave Grohl

I dropped out of high school and I couldn't go to college 'cause I wasn't smart enough, so I'd resigned myself to loading trucks and playing punk rock on the weekends. — Dave Grohl

When you're young, you're not afraid of what comes next. You're excited by it. — Dave Grohl

There's something about pulling out a real tape from a shelf and looking at it and knowing that 'Everlong' is on it, or 'Best of You' is on it, and it's really special. — Dave Grohl

CBGB was a wild place, ... The first time I ever played there was in 1987, I think, with my hardcore band, Scream. And I remember the craziest [thing] about that club was you could be in
front of the stage and it could be louder than any show you've ever been to in your life. But if you were towards the back of the club at the bar, you could sit and have a conversation with
someone. It was the weirdest thing to me. — Dave Grohl

You will only be great at things you love to do don't pursue a career in something you hate to do. — Dave Grohl

Different boards do different things to the sound that's coming through them. An old Neve desk does embellish it in a way that makes it sound sort of bigger or warmer. It doesn't change the performance but it does enhance the way that it sounds. — Dave Grohl

The secret to my 5 o'clock shadow is a little device called the George Michael 3000 Custom Beard Trimmer and Personal Massager. Just kidding. I actually shave every morning, and thanks to my vast knowledge of Eastern philosophy and mysticism, I will my facial hair to grow to the exact same length each day. Dave Grohl taught me that one. — Reid Scott

I think actually singing the words is more therapeutic than just sitting down to write them, because then you are letting it out, and it's coming from your gut. — Dave Grohl

At 13 years old, I realized I could start my own band. I could write my own song, I could record my own record. I could start my own label. I could release my own record. I could book my own shows. I could write and publish my own fanzine. I could silk-screen my own T-shirt. I could do this all myself. — Dave Grohl

I hate the solo artist aspect of rock-'n'-roll. I don't have enough personality or charisma to be a solo star. — Dave Grohl

As I get older ... I start to realize that life ain't half bad. Each year, I'm amazed that I'm still alive. I don't take any of this for granted, I'm a lucky dude. — Dave Grohl

Cause when you're sequencing a record, you want the listener to stick with it from beginning to end, and in order to do that, you really have to map out the journey from the first song to the last. — Dave Grohl

I like the rock documentaries that make it seem real. Some rock documentaries are meant to make the bands look larger than life. — Dave Grohl

'In Utero' was the first time I'd made an album that reached into the dark side. I remember the conflict and the uncertainty. I remember all those things when I hear 'Pennyroyal Tea.' — Dave Grohl

Some people record onto tape, and then they pay for the tape, and download those onto a hard drive. Initially in a Pro Tools program. Other people go straight into digital, and use no tape at all. — Dave Grohl

I think my biggest musical hero growing up was probably Ian MacKaye. He set a great example for all of us local musicians. Still, to this day, I see him as the best example of a right-on musician. — Dave Grohl

I love to play. And fortunately, I don't know a lot of musicians that suck. I know a bunch of really good ones, and they're always up for playing. — Dave Grohl

I don't want to say that most rock bands live these formulaic biography existences - but they kinda do. There's always a divorce. There's always an OD. There's always a bad business manager. — Dave Grohl

Everybody now thinks that Nashville is the coolest city in America, — Dave Grohl

I love being a drummer but I love being a musician in general and I love the Foo fighters. — Dave Grohl

It's funny; recently I've started to notice people's impersonations of me, and it's basically like a hyperactive child. — Dave Grohl

It's nice when people are happy to hear that you're still alive, rather than feeling like "Oh, finally he's dead?" — Dave Grohl

I've always been a fan of melody and emotional melancholy, whether it was Rites of Spring or Tears for Fears or Neil Young. If I hear a song that has a sweet melody, I'm a sucker for it, whether it's Linkin Park or Little Richard. — Dave Grohl

I believe the history of American music is just as important as anything political because it's changed generations of people. — Dave Grohl

Guilt is cancer. Guilt will confine you, torture you, destroy you as an artist. It's a black wall. It's a thief. — Dave Grohl

I think maybe what happened was the convenience of technology overshadowed the experience of holding an album in your hands, and sitting on your bedroom floor, and staring at a picture of John Lennon or Gene Simmons or Johnny Rotten. That tangible experience can sometimes become an even more emotional experience, because it's really happening. — Dave Grohl

There's always gonna be rock n' roll bands, there's always gonna be kids that love rock n' roll records, and there will always be rock n' roll. — Dave Grohl

Neil Young is my hero, and such a great example. You know what that guy has been doing for the past 40 years? Making music. That's what that guy does. Sometimes you pay attention, sometimes you don't. Sometimes he hands it to you, sometimes he keeps it to himself. He's a good man with a beautiful family and wonderful life. — Dave Grohl

Going out and playing music - that's what I do. I don't do much else. — Dave Grohl

You know, Nirvana used to start rehearsals with the three of us just jamming. For, like, a half an hour, just noise and freeform crap - and usually it was crap. But sometimes things would come from it, and some songs on Nevermind came from that, and 'Heart Shaped Box' and stuff on 'In Utero' just happened that way. — Dave Grohl

I never went to rock concerts when I was a kid. I didn't see any rock & roll bands. I had posters on my wall. I had Beatles records. — Dave Grohl

You know why Foo Fighters have been a band for 20 years? Because I've never really told anybody what I think of them. The last thing you ever want to do is go to therapy with your band. — Dave Grohl

It's a weird thing when you make records. You try to hear it before you make it, so you walk into the studio with this idea of what you expect to happen, and that usually changes. That usually turns into something else, and that's a good thing. — Dave Grohl

When Nirvana became popular, you could very easily slip and get lost during that storm. I fortunately had really heavy anchors - old friends, family. — Dave Grohl

I had long hair since I was 17 years old. It was time for me to let go. I hated being the guy at the wedding in a suit with a ponytail. — Dave Grohl

'Some Kind Of Monster' is such a nightmare for any musician to watch because you're watching a band be honest to each other. Not a good idea, man! — Dave Grohl

I'm big on taking the lady out to dinner. We have some candlelight romance every now and then. And our whole family is within a 6-mile radius. It's disgustingly domestic. I'm big on Costco. — Dave Grohl

From the time that 'Nevermind' came out in September of 1991 to the time that Nirvana was over, it was really just a few years, and a lot happened in those few years. — Dave Grohl

We just do what we always do. We play shows and go home and rest and then play more shows. — Dave Grohl

When I first got famous, Greg Dulli was also just starting to cook with the Afghan Whigs, and because of the MTV awards I met Dave Grohl and Nirvana and all these rock and roll bands. So I had experience with what it was like when people were taking off at that time. — Denis Leary

I've experienced great things, I've experienced great tragedies. I've done almost everything I could possibly ever imagine doing, but I just know that there's more. — Dave Grohl

When you're thirteen and listening to punk, the aggressive nature of music can sway you to the dark side. — Dave Grohl

My first instrument was actually the trombone, but that didn't last long. Soon I was playing guitar in bands from the time I was 11 or 12. — Dave Grohl

I had no idea what I was doing and I faked it and it worked — Dave Grohl

With this record [The Colour and the Shape], I started taking the lyrics more seriously. This is a very personal album. — Dave Grohl

I know a lot of people who wouldn't be comfortable with everything that comes with being in a band as big as Nirvana. The thing that I don't understand is not appreciating that simple gift of being able to play music. — Dave Grohl

I think people should feel encouraged to be themselves. — Dave Grohl

I think the producers or whoever's doing the show are tripping so hard. They must be on acid. They live in this, like, weird grass mound and there's this 'sun' in the sky with this little baby's face that's just, like, bleaaargh-aarghagh. It's just so totally insane. It's such an acid thing, man. For kids! — Dave Grohl

I'm not like a voracious hoarder who has 50,000 albums of vinyl stacked in a storage space in the San Fernando Valley. But I do have albums from the last 40 years of my life. — Dave Grohl

Paul McCartney or Dave Grohl?" He wanted to know what version I'd had in my head as I played "Blackbird." "Paul McCartney. Always." "Big — Vi Keeland

A place like Sound City, which was just a big, beautiful room where you would hit record and capture the sound of the performer - a place like that isn't necessarily in demand anymore. — Dave Grohl

I once received a cape that was made from the little purple bags that Crown Royal Whisky comes in. — Dave Grohl

I'm obsessed with Led Zeppelin and have been since I was a teenager — Dave Grohl

I'm not allergic to fashion. I'm just one of those people who when they put on a suit look like they're going to a funeral or to court. — Dave Grohl

After 10 years, I have been touring for 20, playing basically the same type of music, a four-piece or three-piece type of music with loud, crashing drums and screaming vocals. It gets to the point where you're looking for something new, and you don't want to do something that's way too left-field, for fear that it might seem contrived. — Dave Grohl

I like Dave Grohl, I guess he's a little newer. It makes you shake, it's uppity and spirited. — Ted Nugent

When you're recording to tape, you usually just settle for what you have. There's not a lot of options to manipulate the performance. — Dave Grohl

I always loved writing songs - writing for myself and demo-ing songs, really with no intention of ever letting anyone else hear them. Finally the Foo Fighters stuff happened when I just went to the studio down the street from my house and recorded some stuff in about five or six days, and all these people wanted to release it as an album. I wanted to release it on my own, with no photos and no names on it. — Dave Grohl

Always have the highest bar for yourself. Wake up everyday and no matter how crappy you feel, want to change something for the better. Do something that makes someone happy. Create something that inspires someone. Be someone's light when they are hopeless. — Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl have said a lot of really nice things about me that I don't know I deserve but it's nice of him regardless. — Reed Mullin

I think I'm scared a lot. I'm scared of almost everything. And I'm constantly trying to work my way through each obstacle, whether it's a present, past, or future relationship. — Dave Grohl

Chicago gave me more music than any other city in America. — Dave Grohl

Someone curating songs for you through your computer or being able to hold 10,000 songs on your watch - that convenience is pretty incredible, but so is the emotional impact of holding a Beatles record in your hand and listening to Let It Be. — Dave Grohl

You can make yourself the greatest singer in the world or the best drummer in the world with the aid of technology. — Dave Grohl

When there's so much left to do, why spend your time focusing on things you've already done, counting trophies or telling stories about the good old days? — Dave Grohl

I have crazy claustrophobic dreams, weird elevator dreams where the elevator closes in and all of a sudden I am lying down - oh my God, it's a casket. Just freaky stuff like that. — Dave Grohl

When you're recording to analog tape, it captures performance and you can't necessarily manipulate that in different ways. It is what it is. — Dave Grohl

My mother was a public school teacher in Virginia, and we didn't have any money, we just survived on happiness, on being a happy family. — Dave Grohl

I love Black Sabbath. They made an amazing contribution to music today. Almost every band that made it big in the Nineties owed a debt to them — Dave Grohl

Being in Nirvana was amazing an experience that will never happen again for me. And I look on them as some of the best and worst times of my life. But we're in this band, the Foo Fighters, making music for the love of music. We all came from bands that had disbanded, and we were drawn to each other because we missed playing - we missed getting in the van, loading our equipment, and watching it break down in the middle of a show. And that feeling hasn't gone away. There's nothing I'd rather do than make music. It's the love of my life. — Dave Grohl

A lot of people are promoting records that are just throw-it-agains t-the-wall-see- if-it-sticks meaningless bullshit. Everybody has the responsibility to do the right thing and promote artists that mean something. — Dave Grohl

Don't look at the poster on your wall and think 'I could never do that.' Look at the poster on your wall and think 'I'm gonna do that!' — Dave Grohl

When it comes to making an album I take that very seriously. I am meticulous, overworked. That's my time to put everything under the microscope. — Dave Grohl

When something good comes your way, you better feel fortunate, because it doesn't last forever. — Dave Grohl

Heavy Metal would not exist without Led Zeppelin, and if it did, it would suck. — Dave Grohl

It's not until recently that I could even imagine myself as an adult. But these kids today, they look at me like I'm Neil Young. Nirvana is the band their parents listen to. — Dave Grohl

Sharing music is not a crime. It shouldn't be. There should be a deeper meaning to making music than just selling downloads. — Dave Grohl

Because you have things like 'American Idol' and you've got radio stations that play music made entirely by computers, it's easy to forget there are bands with actual people playing actual instruments that rock. — Dave Grohl

At school where you a dunce or a teacher's pet? All of the above. I was stupid so they thought I was cute. — Dave Grohl

It was that famous joke: What's the last thing the drummer said before he got kicked out of the band? 'Hey, I wrote a song.' — Dave Grohl

Nickelback walks into a bar ... there's no punchline because ruining music isn't funny. — Dave Grohl

When digital technology started becoming the norm, you've got 50, 60, 70 years of recordings on tapes that are just deteriorating. Like, a two-inch reel of recording tape won't last forever. It dissolves. It will disappear. — Dave Grohl

I would love to interview Dave Grohl. I just think he's an amazing musician, and I grew up listening to Nirvana, so I have so many questions about that. — Malin Akerman