Butch Vig
Butch Vig in Madison's Smart Studios recording studio in 2010, recording the Muse song 'Neutron Star Collision'
Background information
Birth name	Bryan David Vig
Also known as	Nevermind Man
Born	(1955-08-02) 2 August 1955 (age 56)
Origin	Viroqua, Wisconsin, U.S.
Genres	Rock, alternative rock, grunge
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, record producer, remixer
Instruments	Drums
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Geffen, A&E, Atlantic
Associated acts	Garbage, Firetown, Spooner

Bryan David Vig, best known as Butch Vig (born on August 2, 1955) is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of diamond-selling album Nevermind by Nirvana.^[1]

A native of Wisconsin, Vig had been based in Madison for much of his career, from studying at the University of Wisconsin, to performing in local bands Spooner and Fire Town, and then to setting up his own recording studio, Smart Studios, in the town.^[2] After becoming well known as a producer, he returned to performing with Garbage, who sold 17 million records over a ten-year period. Vig returned to producing full-time once Garbage was put on hiatus.

Now a resident of the Silverlake district of Los Angeles, Vig is married to his second wife, Beth Halper, a former DreamWorks A & R executive, and they have a daughter, Bo Violet.

In 2012 Butch Vig ranked number nine in NME's Top 50 Greatest Producers Ever.^[3]

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

Butch Vig was born Bryan David Vigorson to Dr. DeVerne and Betty Vigorson, a music teacher,^[4] in Viroqua, Wisconsin.^[2] Vig has two siblings, Chris and Lisa.^[4] Vig acquired the nickname Butch as a child, due to the severe crew cut his father gave him.^[2] Vig studied piano for six years. After seeing The Who perform on The Smothers Brothers, he swapped his piano for a $60 drum kit.^[2]

Moving to Madison, Vig enrolled at the University of Wisconsin to study film direction, where he first met Steve Marker. Vig contributed several soundtrack pieces to low-budget films, including one song on Slumber Party Massacre, a Hollywood B-movie. While in Madison, Vig joined a number of garage pop bands, including Eclipse, and in 1978 formed Spooner with Duke Erikson, Dave Benton, Jeff Walker and Joel Tappero. Spooner founded their own label, Boat Records to issue their own recordings, including their 1979 debut EP, "Cruel School", and releases for around twenty local acts.^[2]

In 1984, Vig and Marker founded Smart Studios in Madison, while still performing drums in Spooner at night and driving a taxi cab during the day. When Spooner lost momentum, Vig formed a band called First Person with Marker and Phil Davis and a side-project called Fire Town featuring Davis and Erikson. Fire Town quickly became Vig's priority, and after their first album were signed to Atlantic Records. Atlantic hired producer Michael Fondelli to work with Fire Town on their second album. While the sessions did not do well, and the resulting record sank, Vig learned a lot of production techniques from the process. Vig also briefly worked with metal band Marseille, recording keyboards for their album Touch The Night.^[5] Fire Town split, and Vig reformed Spooner for a final album before Vig's production work became a full-time career for him.^[2]

Production career[link]

Vig's first high-profile production work was in 1991, when he produced The Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Nirvana's Nevermind. Vig incorporated overdubs and vocal doubletracking, whereas Nirvana's previous album, Bleach (produced by Jack Endino) had a more "lo-fi" sound. Kurt Cobain originally refused to double-track his vocals and guitars but Vig reportedly got him to comply by saying "John Lennon double-tracked". Cobain would later criticize Vig for the album's slickness, although this might be due to Andy Wallace's mixing of the album.^[6] Cobain said that "Butch Vig...recorded the album perfectly," in a 1993 MTV interview. Billy Corgan welcomed Vig's elaborate production on The Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream. This album met with great commercial and critical reception, also breaking another indie band into the mainstream. Vig also produced two critically lauded Sonic Youth's albums, 1992's Dirty^[7] and 1994's Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star.

In 2003, Vig worked with AFI to produce their first major label album with DreamWorks, Sing the Sorrow. Vig worked with Jimmy Eat World on their sixth album, Chase This Light, released in October 2007. He is also working on soundtracks for two new movies. His first production for an English band was 2008's All or Nothing by The Subways. He also worked with Tom Gabel of Against Me! on his solo EP, Heart Burns. Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage, revealed in a Carson Daly interview that Vig would be producing the eighth studio album by Green Day, 2009's 21st Century Breakdown, which later won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Album. Recently, Vig has been partnered in duties by his engineer and mixer Billy Bush who also worked on Garbage's albums and live tours.

Butch Vig composed and produced the soundtrack for the film The Other Side.

In 2009 Vig recorded two new tracks for the long awaited greatest hits release by the Foo Fighters, most notably the single "Wheels" and ultimately produced their April 2011 follow-up, Wasting Light.

In 2010 Vig produced the latest Muse single, "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)," which was featured on the Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack.

Garbage[link]

Vig stated that one of the reasons he started Garbage with Marker and Erikson was to drift away from the all the work he got after Nirvana - "By the time I'd done 'Nevermind,' I'd recorded -- I swear to God -- 1,000 bands that were just guitar-bass-drums. I was reading about all these other records that I was getting excited about -- like Public Enemy using a sampler in the studio -- and I just decided I wanted to do a bit of a U-turn."^[8] Afterwards, they hired Scottish singer Shirley Manson and began composing together.^[1]

Garbage released a string of increasingly successful singles in 1995–1996, including "Stupid Girl" and "Only Happy When It Rains". Their debut album, Garbage, was an unexpected smash, selling over 4 million copies and certified double platinum in the UK, United States and Australia. Garbage won the Breakthrough Artist award at the 1996 MTV Europe Music Awards.^[9] The band then spent two years working on follow-up album, Version 2.0, which topped the charts in the UK upon its 1998 release and the following year was nominated for two Grammy Awards, Album of the Year and Best Rock Album. Version 2.0 went on to match the sales of its predecessor. Garbage followed this up by performing and co-producing the theme song to the nineteenth James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.^[10]

Despite being named one of Rolling Stone's Top 10 Albums of The Year,^[11] Garbage's 2001 third album Beautiful Garbage failed to match the commercial success achieved by its predecessors.^[12] Garbage quietly disbanded in late 2003, but regrouped to complete fourth album Bleed Like Me in 2005, peaking at a career-high #4 in the U.S.^[13] The band cut short their concert tour in support of Bleed Like Me announcing an "indefinite hiatus",^[14] emphasizing that they had not broken up, but wished to pursue personal interests.^[15] In 2006, Vig returned to producing while Manson worked on a solo album (as yet unreleased). Garbage ended their hiatus in 2007,^[16] and released greatest hits retrospective Absolute Garbage. Worldwide, the band have sold over 17 million albums.^[17] The band got back together in 2010 and began recording their new album, Not Your Kind of People, which was released internationally on May 14 2012.

Discography[link]

Production career[link]

Remix work

Butch Vig has remixed songs for the following artists: Against Me!, Ash, Beck, The Cult, Depeche Mode, EMF, Fun Lovin' Criminals, House of Pain, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Alanis Morissette, Nine Inch Nails, Michael Penn, Galexia, M.O.P, U2 as well as his own band Garbage.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Butch Vig

• Butch Vig at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website Garbage
• Butch Vig on Charlie Rose

Krist Anthony Novoselic II ( /ˌnoʊvəˈsɛlɪtʃ/; Croatian: Novoselić; born May 16, 1965) is an American rock musician, best known for being the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana. After Nirvana ended, Novoselic formed Sweet 75 and then Eyes Adrift, releasing one album with each band. From 2006 to 2009 he played in punk band Flipper, also recording an album, and in 2011 contributed bass and accordion to the song "I Should Have Known", from the Foo Fighters' record Wasting Light.

Apart from his musical endeavors, Novoselic has been active politically, including the creation of the political action committee JAMPAC. From November 2007 until September 2010, Novoselic wrote a weekly column on music and politics for Seattle Weekly's website.^[1] Since 2008 he has been board chair of the electoral reform organization FairVote.

Biography[link]

Early life (1965–1986)[link]

Novoselic was born to Croatian^[2][3][4] immigrants Kristo and Marija Novoselić in Compton, California. He lived there for one year before his parents relocated to the Los Angeles Croatian neighborhood of San Pedro,^[5] where he remained for most of his childhood. He has two brothers, Robert Alan Novoselic and Dillon Malloy Novoselic, and in 1973, Novoselic's sister Diana was born. The Novoselic family moved to Aberdeen, Washington in 1979, due to rising property prices in California. In 1980, his parents sent him to live with relatives in Zadar, Croatia, then part of SFR Yugoslavia.^[6] There, Novoselic attended the gymnasium. Novoselic was already interested in bands like Led Zeppelin, Devo, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, and Aerosmith. He also enjoyed rock bands like Zabranjeno Pusenje, Prljavo Kazaliste and Azra. While in Yugoslavia, he picked up an interest in punk rock, and discovered bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones.^[7] He has cited Paul McCartney, Geezer Butler, John Entwistle, and Gene Simmons as the fundamental influences of his bass playing.^[8]

Sometime later, Novoselic's brother Robert introduced him to his friend Kurt Cobain, who had noticed loud music coming from upstairs. Robert told Cobain that it was his older brother, who listened to punk rock. Cobain eventually befriended the elder Novoselic, as the pair ended up sharing similar musical tastes, including a fondness for local band The Melvins. The two had several mutual friends and began hanging out shortly thereafter. At one point, Cobain gave Novoselic a demo tape of his former band Fecal Matter, and asked him to form a band together. After several months, Novoselic finally listened to the tape, liked it, and agreed to start a band with Cobain.

Nirvana (1987–1994)[link]

Cobain and Novoselic's first band lasted barely a few weeks before it disbanded, leaving the pair to move on. However, the duo eventually discovered that the Melvins could pull $80 a night for one show. Inspired, Cobain and Novoselic started a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover band, in which Cobain played drums and Novoselic sang and played guitar. That band was short-lived as well.^[9] Some months later, Cobain and Novoselic met Aaron Burckhard. While the new band never used the name, it was the first incarnation of Nirvana.

Burckhard lasted only a few months and Melvins drummer Dale Crover filled in until Novoselic and Cobain met Chad Channing. The trio recorded their debut album Bleach, released in 1989. Channing left the band in 1990 and was briefly replaced by Crover and Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters.

Later in 1990, Melvins singer-guitarist Buzz Osborne encouraged Novoselic and Cobain to check out a punk band called Scream. The pair were impressed by their drummer, Dave Grohl. A few weeks later, Scream disbanded, and Grohl placed a call to Osborne for advice. Osborne gave him Novoselic's phone number, and Novoselic invited Grohl up to Seattle (from San Francisco, where Scream broke up). Grohl passed the audition and joined Nirvana. A few months later, in the spring of 1991, the band recorded their major label debut, Nevermind, which launched the band as a worldwide phenomenon with their hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Nirvana ended abruptly in April 1994 following Cobain's death. For most of the rest of that year, Novoselic retreated from the spotlight. Novoselic and Cobain had been virtually inseparable for almost a decade, and the loss of his close friend was especially hard on him. One of few public appearances came that September at the MTV Video Music Awards, where the video for Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" was awarded for Best Alternative Video. Novoselic took the opportunity to pay tribute to his bandmate and best friend.

Post-Nirvana (since 1995)[link]

The following year, Novoselic continued to dabble in musical endeavors. He was offered the position of playing bass in a new band, the Foo Fighters, with friend and former bandmate Dave Grohl but both decided against it because they believed people would think of Foo Fighters as a new incarnation of Nirvana. Novoselic instead formed the band Sweet 75 in 1995, releasing a single self-titled album in 1997. In 2002 he performed uncredited background vocals on The Foo Fighters song "Walking a Line", written as a tribute to Cobain, during the One by One album sessions. The track is included on the One by One bonus DVD, as well as being a bonus track to the album.

In 1998, Novoselic directed his first movie, L7: The Beauty Process, a pseudo-documentary that utilizes concert footage taped in 1997 in three American cities. In 1999, he joined Jello Biafra and former Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil in the No WTO Combo. He then joined former Meat Puppets front man Curt Kirkwood and former Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh to form Eyes Adrift, which disbanded in 2003. This band was significant as it was the first official release in his career where he sang lead vocals. He also took a highly active role in the song writing process, co-writing several songs with Kirkwood.

Following the end of Eyes Adrift, Novoselic announced that he was quitting the music business, noting that he disliked the process of building up publicity for new records. However, in recent years, Novoselic has occasionally worked on music for a possible solo album, noting, "Right now, I'm just doing it for myself, and that's what it's all about."^[10]

In November 2006, it was announced that Novoselic would join Flipper, replacing Bruno DeSmartas on bass, for a tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland.^[11] He was a full time member of the band and had been working on their new album.^[12] On September 22, 2008, due to responsibilities at home, Novoselic announced his departure from the band.^[13] As a result, the band canceled the remainder of the tour. Rachel Thoele then replaced Novoselic.^[14] In 2009, he played a newspaper vendor in the movie World's Greatest Dad starring Robin Williams. In October 2010, Dave Grohl, former Nirvana band mate of Novoselic, announced live on BBC radio that Novoselic will be joining the Foo Fighters on their next album as a bassist and accordionist which was released in 2011: Wasting Light.^[15] Novoselic also played bass on children's music artist Caspar Babypants' (a.k.a. Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America's) 2010 album This Is Fun!, for a cover of the Nirvana song "Sliver."^[16][17]

Performance and recording with Foo Fighters[link]

Novoselic's first experience with the Foo Fighters was performing backing vocals for a non-album track titled "Walking a Line," later released on a special edition of the band's album One by One. Later, during the encore of the Foo Fighters' secret show at Paladino's in Tarzana, California on December 22, 2010, the band, with Grohl on drums was joined onstage by Novoselic and the band's live guitarist Pat Smear for a version of Nirvana's "Marigold" a 1992 Grohl original, which was also a b-side on Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box", the first single from In Utero.^[18] Novoselic also recorded bass and accordion on the song "I Should Have Known", appearing on the Foo Fighters' 7th studio album called Wasting Light, released on April 12, 2011.^[19]

Political and social activism[link]

In 1992, the Washington state legislature attempted to pass a bill called the Erotic Music Law. The law would allow courts to declare certain albums "erotic" by their content, and would make it illegal to sell those albums to those under the age of 18. A lobbying group called the Washington Music Industry Coalition formed as a response to the bill. Novoselic and Nirvana actively campaigned against the bill and performed a benefit concert for the lobbying group in September 1992.

In 1995, the Erotic Music Law was reintroduced to the Washington State Legislature as the Matters Harmful to Minors bill. Noting that the music industry had serious clout in Seattle given the success of the scene, Novoselic proposed creating a political action committee, which was named JAMPAC (Joint Artists and Musicians Political Action Committee). Over the next several years, JAMPAC fought a number of different issues, including the Teen Dance Ordinance, a 1985 law that severely limited the ability of minors to attend shows. With JAMPAC, Novoselic began to turn his focus more and more towards politics.

Novoselic remains active in politics as an elected State Committeeman, making appearances to advocate electoral reform (especially instant-runoff voting^[20] and proportional representation) and running the website.^[21] He considered a 2004 run for Lieutenant Governor of Washington (as a Democrat, challenging an incumbent of the same party), but ultimately decided against it. He also joined the board of FairVote, then the Center for Voting and Democracy), and was appointed chair in January 2008.^[22] His first book, Of Grunge and Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy, was published in October 2004. It covers Novoselic's musical past, including Nirvana's rise to a world wide phenomenon of the early 1990s.^[23] It also covers his interest in politics, his support of electoral reform, and his belief in the need to return to grassroots movements and clean up politics overall.

He supported Democratic Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election,^[24] though it was erroneously reported in some media outlets that he had endorsed libertarian Republican Congressman Ron Paul.^[25]

He withdrew from the campaign for county clerk of Wahkiakum County.^[26] He was running under the "Grange Party." He is a member of The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.^[27] However, the Grange is not actually a political party. He was running in order to protest Washington State's system in which a candidate can claim any party as their own (real or fictional) without consent or support from the party.^[28]

Novoselic continues to support political reform, even looking at social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, as major factors in shaping the political future.^[29]

Personal life[link]

Novoselic has been married twice. His first wife was Shelli Dilley; he met her in high school, and they began dating in 1985. They were married in December 1989; they divorced in late 1999. In early 2004, Novoselic married artist Darbury Ayn Stenderu.^[30] He currently resides near Deep River, Washington, in rural Wahkiakum County, Washington.^[31]

He wrote a blog^[32] for the Seattle Weekly website from 2007 to 2010. He currently attends Lower Columbia College and is studying for a law degree.

Quotation[link]

This section is a candidate to be copied to Wikiquote using the Transwiki process.

We proved that alternative music is a viable commodity.^[33]

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Krist Novoselic

• Krist Novoselic's blog at the Daily Weekly
• Krist Novoselic w/ Flipper
• Krist Novoselic at the Internet Movie Database
• Novoselic.com – a website dedicated to Krist Novoselic
• Krist Novoselic on Twitter
• Official forums

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009)

Dave Grohl
Grohl, Milton Keynes National Bowl, July 3, 2011
Background information
Birth name	David Eric Grohl
Also known as	Davy Grolton, Dale Nixon, Late! (pseudonym for his solo album Pocketwatch), and Dr. G (as Tenacious D's drummer) .
Born	(1969-01-14) January 14, 1969 (age 43) Warren, Ohio
Genres	Alternative rock, grunge, post-grunge, hard rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, drums, guitar, bass guitar, piano
Years active	1986–present
Labels	RCA, Capitol, DGC, Dischord
Associated acts	Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Scream, Dain Bramage, Probot, Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Tenacious D, The Muppets, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Notable instruments
Gibson SG Custom Gibson DG-335/Trini Lopez[1] Gibson Firebird[2][3] Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi[4]

David Eric "Dave" Grohl (born January 14, 1969)^[5][6] is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter, who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter and founder of the Foo Fighters, prior to which he was the drummer in the grunge band Nirvana. He is also the drummer and co-founder of the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures. Grohl has additionally written all the music and performed all the instruments for his short-lived side projects Late! and Probot, as well as being involved with Queens of the Stone Age numerous times throughout the past decade. He has performed session work (as a drummer) for a variety of musicians, including Garbage, Killing Joke, Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy, Slash, Juliette Lewis, Tenacious D, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Lemmy Kilmister.

Early life[link]

As a child, Grohl's family relocated from Warren, Ohio, to Springfield, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Three years later, when Grohl was six, his parents divorced,^[7] and Grohl grew up living with his mother.

At the age of twelve, Grohl began learning to play guitar. He quickly grew tired of lessons and instead taught himself, and began playing in bands with friends.^[5][8] A year later, Grohl and his sister spent the summer in Evanston, Illinois, at their cousin Tracy's house. Tracy introduced them to punk rock by taking the pair to shows by a variety of punk bands. His first concert was in 1982 to see Naked Raygun at The Cubby Bear in Chicago when he was 13 years old.^[9] "From then on we were totally punk," Grohl explained. "We went home and bought Maximumrocknroll and tried to figure it all out."^[8]

In Virginia, Grohl attended Thomas Jefferson High School as a freshman and sophomore. He was elected vice president of his freshman class and played bits of songs by bands like the Circle Jerks and Bad Brains over the school intercom before his morning announcements. During his junior year, Grohl and his mother decided that he should transfer to Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria because his marijuana usage was affecting his grades.^[8]

While in high school, Grohl played in several local bands, including a stint on guitar in a band called Freak Baby. While playing in Freak Baby, he taught himself to play drums.^[5] When Freak Baby kicked out its bass player, Grohl decided to switch to drums, and the new band called themselves Mission Impossible.^[8] During his developing years as a drummer, Grohl cited John Bonham as his greatest influence, and eventually had Bonham's three-circle logo tattooed on his wrist.^[10] Mission Impossible later rebranded themselves Fast before breaking up, after which Grohl joined the post-punk-influenced hardcore punk band Dain Bramage.^[11][12]

Many of Grohl's early influences were gained at the 9:30 club, a live music venue in Washington D.C.: "I went to the 9:30 club hundreds of times. I was always so excited to get there, and I was always bummed when it closed. I spent my teenage years at the club and saw some shows that changed my life."^[13]

Musical career[link]

Scream (1986–1990)[link]

Dave Grohl with Scream, 1990.

At the age of seventeen, Grohl auditioned with local DC favorites Scream to fill the vacancy left by the departure of drummer Kent Stax. In order to be lined up for the audition, Grohl had lied about his age, claiming he was 20.^[14] To Grohl's surprise, the band asked him to join. After waffling for a brief period, Grohl accepted the offer. Grohl dropped out of high school in his junior year; he said, "I was seventeen and extremely anxious to see the world, so I did it."^[15] Over the next four years, Grohl toured extensively with the band, recording a couple of live albums (their May 4, 1990 show in Alzey, Germany being released by Tobby Holzinger as Your Choice Live Series Vol.10) and two studio albums, No More Censorship and Fumble, on which Grohl penned and sang vocals on the song "Gods Look Down".

While playing in Scream, Grohl became a fan of Melvins and eventually befriended the band. During a 1990 tour stop on the west coast, The Melvins' Buzz Osborne took a couple of his friends, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, to see the band.^[16]

Nirvana (1990–1994)[link]

A few months later, Scream unexpectedly disbanded following the departure of its bass player. Grohl called Osborne for advice, and the latter gave Grohl's phone number to Krist Novoselic, who invited Grohl to Seattle. Grohl subsequently auditioned for Nirvana, and soon joined them full-time.^[17]

At the time that Grohl joined Nirvana, the band had already recorded several demos for the follow-up to their debut album Bleach, having spent time recording with producer Butch Vig in Wisconsin. Initially, the plan was to release the album on Sub Pop, but the band received a great deal of major label interest based on the demos. Grohl spent the initial months with Nirvana traveling to various major labels as the band shopped for a deal, eventually signing with DGC Records. In the spring of 1991, the band entered the studio to record the album.

Upon its release, Nevermind exceeded all expectations and became a massive success, catapulting the band to worldwide stardom. At the same time, Grohl was struggling with his status in the band. While his drumming style was a significant element in the band's success, Grohl saw himself as just another in a long line of drummers. In his mind, Nirvana was the band that recorded Bleach; his arrival had altered that sound dramatically, and as he saw it, not necessarily in a positive way. Though Grohl had been writing songs for several years, he declined to introduce his songs to the band for fear of damaging their chemistry. Instead, he compiled and recorded them himself, releasing a cassette called Pocketwatch in 1992 on indie label Simple Machines. Rather than using his own name, Grohl released the cassette under the pseudonym "Late!".

In the later years of Nirvana, Grohl's songwriting contributions increased. In Grohl's initial months in Seattle, Cobain overheard him working on a song called "Color Pictures of a Marigold", and the two ended up working on it. Grohl would later record the song for the Pocketwatch cassette. During the sessions for In Utero, he decided to re-record the song, and the band released this version as a B-side on the "Heart-Shaped Box" single, titled simply "Marigold". Grohl also contributed the main guitar riff for "Scentless Apprentice". Cobain conceded in a late 1993 MTV interview that he initially thought the riff was "kind of boneheaded", but was gratified at how the song developed (a process captured in part in a demo on the Nirvana box set With the Lights Out). Cobain noted that he was excited at the possibility of having Novoselic and Grohl contribute more to the band's songwriting.

Prior to their 1994 European tour, the band scheduled session time at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle to work on demos. For most of the three-day session Cobain was absent, so Novoselic and Grohl worked on demos of their own songs. The duo completed several of Grohl's songs, including future Foo Fighters songs "Exhausted", "Big Me", "February Stars", and "Butterflies". On the third day of the session Cobain finally arrived and the band recorded a demo of a song later named "You Know You're Right". It was the band's final studio recording.

Foo Fighters (1994-present)[link]

Following Cobain's death in April 1994, Grohl retreated, unsure of where to go and what to do with himself. In October 1994, Grohl scheduled studio time, again at Robert Lang's Studio, and quickly recorded a fifteen-track demo. With the exception of a single guitar part on "X-Static" played by Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, Grohl performed all of the instruments himself..

At the same time, Grohl wondered if his future might be in drumming for other bands. In November, Grohl took a brief turn with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, including a memorable performance on Saturday Night Live. Petty asked him to join permanently, but Grohl declined. He was also rumored as a possible replacement for Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese and even performed with the band for a song or two at three shows during Pearl Jam's March 1995 Australian tour. However, by then Pearl Jam had already settled on ex- Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons and Grohl had other solo plans in the works.

After passing the demo around, Grohl found himself with considerable major label interest. Nirvana's A&R rep Gary Gersh had subsequently taken over as president of Capitol Records and lured Grohl to sign with the label. Grohl did not want the effort to be considered the start of a solo career so he recruited other band members: former Germs and touring Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear, and two members of the recently disbanded Sunny Day Real Estate, William Goldsmith (drums) and Nate Mendel (bass). Rather than re-record the album, Grohl's demo was given a professional mix by Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock and was released in July 1995 as Foo Fighters' debut album.

During a break between tours, the band entered the studio and recorded a cover of Gary Numan's "Down in the Park". In February 1996, Grohl and his then-wife Jennifer Youngblood made a brief cameo appearance on The X-Files third season episode "Pusher". (The two can be spotted walking in the FBI building, just after the Pusher character has put on his phony pass. Grohl pauses to look at his watch.)

After touring for the self-titled album for more than a year, Grohl returned home and began work on the soundtrack to the 1997 movie Touch. Grohl performed all of the instruments and vocals himself, save for vocals from Veruca Salt singer Louise Post on the title track, keyboards by Barrett Jones (who also co-produced the record) on one track, and vocals and guitar by X's John Doe on "This Loving Thing (Lynn's Song)". Grohl completed the recording in two weeks, and immediately joined Foo Fighters to work on their follow-up.

In the midst of the initial sessions for Foo Fighters' second album, tension emerged between Grohl and Goldsmith. According to Goldsmith, "Dave had me do 96 takes of one song, and I had to do thirteen hours' worth of takes on another one. ... It just seemed that everything I did wasn't good enough for him, or anyone else." Goldsmith also believed that Capitol and producer Gil Norton wanted Grohl to drum on the album.^[18] With the album seemingly complete, Grohl headed home to Virginia with a copy of the rough mixes, and found himself unhappy with the results. Grohl penned a few new songs, recording one of them, "Walking After You", by himself at a studio in Washington, DC. Inspired by the session, Grohl opted to move the band, without Goldsmith's knowledge,^[18] to Los Angeles to re-record most of the album with Grohl behind the kit. After the sessions were complete, Goldsmith officially announced his departure from the band.

Speaking about the tension surrounding the departure of Goldsmith in 2011, Grohl said, "There were a lot of reasons it didn't work out... but there was also a part of me that was like, you know, I don't know if I'm finished playing the drums yet." He would also state, "I wish that I would have handled things differently..."^[19]

Dave Grohl on stage, 2006

The effort was released in May 1997 as the band's second album, The Colour and the Shape, which eventually cemented Foo Fighters as a staple of rock radio. The album spawned several hits, including "Everlong", "My Hero", and "Monkey Wrench". Just prior to the album's release, former Alanis Morissette drummer Taylor Hawkins joined the band on drums. The following September, Smear (a close friend of Jennifer Youngblood) left the band,^[7] citing a need to settle down following a lifetime of touring. Smear was subsequently replaced by Grohl's former Scream bandmate Franz Stahl. (Stahl departed the band prior to recording of Foo Fighters' third album^[7] and was replaced by touring guitarist Chris Shiflett, who later became a full-fledged member during the recording of One by One.)

Grohl's life of non-stop touring and travel continued with Foo Fighters' popularity. During his infrequent pauses he lived in Seattle and Los Angeles before returning to Alexandria, Virginia. It was there that he turned his basement into a recording studio where the 1999 album There Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded.

In 2000, the band recruited Queen guitarist Brian May to add some guitar flourish to a cover of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar", a song which Foo Fighters previously recorded as a b-side. The friendship between the two bands resulted in Grohl and Taylor Hawkins being asked to induct Queen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. Grohl and Hawkins joined May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor to perform "Tie Your Mother Down", with Grohl standing in on vocals for Freddie Mercury. (May later contributed guitar work for the song "Tired of You" on the ensuing Foo Fighters album, as well as on an unreleased Foo Fighters song called "Knucklehead".)

Near the end of 2001, Foo Fighters returned to the studio to work on their fourth album. After four months in the studio, with the sessions finished, Grohl accepted an invitation to join Queens of the Stone Age and helped them to record their 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. (Grohl can be seen drumming for the band in the video for the song "No One Knows".) After a brief tour through North America, Britain and Japan with the band^[7] and feeling rejuvenated by the effort, Grohl recalled the other band members to completely re-record their album at his studio in Virginia. The effort became their fourth album, One by One. While initially pleased with the results, in another 2005 Rolling Stone interview, Dave Grohl admitted to not liking the record: "Four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life. We rushed into it, and we rushed out of it."^[20]

On November 23, 2002, Grohl achieved a historical milestone by replacing himself on the top of the Billboard Modern Rock chart, when "You Know You're Right" by Nirvana was replaced by "All My Life" by Foo Fighters. When "All My Life" ended its run, after a one week respite, "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age took the number one spot. Between October 26, 2002 and March 1, 2003 Grohl was in the number one spot on the Modern Rock charts for 17 of 18 successive weeks, as a member of three different groups.

Grohl and Foo Fighters released their fifth album In Your Honor on June 14, 2005. Prior to starting work on the album, the band spent almost a year relocating Grohl's home-based Virginia studio to a brand new facility, dubbed Studio 606, located in a warehouse near Los Angeles. Featuring collaborations with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Norah Jones, the album was a departure from previous efforts, and included one rock and one acoustic disc.

Foo Fighters's sixth studio album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released on September 25, 2007. It was recorded during a three-month period between March 2007 and June 2007, and its release was preceded by the first single "The Pretender" on September 17. The second single, "Long Road to Ruin", was released on December 3, 2007, followed by the third single, "Let It Die", June 24, 2008.

On November 3, 2009 Foo Fighters released their first Greatest Hits collection, consisting of 16 tracks including a previously unreleased acoustic version of "Everlong" and two new tracks "Wheels" and "Word Forward" which were produced by Nevermind's producer Butch Vig. Grohl has been quoted saying the Greatest Hits is too early and "...can look like an obituary." He does not feel they have written their best hits yet.^[21]

The Foo Fighters' seventh studio album, Wasting Light, was released on April 12, 2011. It is the first Foo Fighters album to reach #1 in the United States.

Other projects[link]

Apart from his main bands, Grohl has been involved in other music projects. In 1992, Grohl played drums on Buzz Osborne's Kiss-styled solo-EP King Buzzo, where he was credited as Dale Nixon, a pseudonym that Greg Ginn adopted to play bass on Black Flag's My War. Grohl also released the music cassette Pocketwatch under the pseudonym Late! on the now defunct indie label, Simple Machines.

In 1993, Grohl was recruited to help recreate the music of The Beatles' early years for the movie Backbeat.^[22] Grohl played drums in an "all-star" lineup that included Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, indie producer Don Fleming, Mike Mills of R.E.M., Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum. A music video was filmed for the song "Money (That's What I Want)" while Grohl was with Nirvana on their 1994 European tour, footage of Grohl was filmed later and included.

Later in 1994, Grohl played drums on two tracks for Mike Watt's Ball-Hog or Tugboat?. In early 1995, Grohl and Foo Fighters played their first US tour opening for Watt, and helped make up Watt's supporting band. Nicknamed the "Ringspiel" tour, Watt's band featured Grohl and William Goldsmith on drums, Eddie Vedder and Pat Smear on guitar, and Watt on bass.

Grohl at the Roskilde Festival in 2005

During the early 2000s, Grohl spent time in his basement studio writing and recording a number of songs for a "metal" project. Over the span of several years, Grohl recruited his favorite metal vocalists from the 1980s, including Lemmy of Motörhead, Conrad "Cronos" Lant from Venom, King Diamond, Scott Weinrich, and Max Cavalera of Sepultura, to perform the vocals for the songs. The project was released in 2004 under the moniker Probot.^[23][24]

Also in 2003, Grohl stepped behind the kit to perform on Killing Joke's second self-titled album. The move surprised some Nirvana fans, given that Nirvana had been accused of stealing the opening riff of "Come as You Are" from Killing Joke's 1984 song "Eighties". However, the controversy failed to create a lasting rift between the bands. Foo Fighters covered Killing Joke's "Requiem" during the late 1990s, and were even joined by Killing Joke singer Jaz Coleman for a performance of the song at a show in New Zealand in 2003.

Grohl lent his drumming skills to other artists during the early 2000s. In 2000, Dave played drums and sang on a track, "Goodbye Lament", from Tony Iommi's album Iommi. In 2001, Grohl performed on Tenacious D's debut album, and appeared in the video for lead single "Tribute" as a demon. He later appeared in the duo's 2006 movie Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny as the devil in the song Beelzeboss, and performed on its soundtrack. In 2002, Grohl helped Chan Marshall of Cat Power on the album You Are Free and played with Queens of the Stone Age on their album Songs for the Deaf. Grohl also toured with the band in support of the album, delaying work on the Foo Fighters' album One by One. In 2004, Grohl drummed on several tracks for Nine Inch Nails' 2005 album With Teeth. He also drummed on the song "Bad Boyfriend" on Garbage's 2005 album Bleed Like Me. Most recently, he recorded all the drums on Juliette and the Licks's 2006 album Four on the Floor^[25] and the song "For Us" from Pete Yorn's 2006 album Nightcrawler. Beyond drumming, Grohl contributed guitar to a cover of Neil Young's "I've Been Waiting For You" on David Bowie's 2002 album Heathen.

In June 2008, Grohl was Paul McCartney's special guest for a concert at the Anfield football stadium in Liverpool, in one of the central events of the English city's year as European Capital of Culture.^[26] Grohl joined McCartney's band singing backup vocals and playing guitar on "Band on the Run" and drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "I Saw Her Standing There".^[27] Grohl also performed with McCartney at the 51st Grammy Awards, again playing drums on "I Saw Her Standing There". Grohl also helped pay tribute to McCartney at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors along with No Doubt, Norah Jones, Steven Tyler, James Taylor, and Mavis Staples. He sang a duet version of "Maybe I'm Amazed" with Norah Jones on Dec. 5 2010.^[28]

Grohl played drums on the tracks 'Run With The Wolves' and 'Stand Up' on The Prodigy's^[29] 2009 album Invaders Must Die.

In July 2009, it was revealed that Grohl was recording with Josh Homme and John Paul Jones as Them Crooked Vultures.^[30] The trio performed their first show together on August 9, 2009 at Metro in Chicago.^[31] The band played their first UK gig on August 26, 2009, with a surprise appearance at Brixton Academy in London, supporting the Arctic Monkeys. The band released their debut album Them Crooked Vultures on November 16, 2009 in the UK and November 17, 2009 in the US. Grohl has recently^[when?] been involved in producing emerging Brit-rock outift A Band Called Bert, notably on the track "It's Over Now".

On February 6, 2010, Grohl performed with his band Them Crooked Vultures the songs "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" and "New Fang" as musical guests on Saturday Night Live. Dave Grohl appeared as an old punk rock drummer reuniting the group "Crisis of Conformity" after 25 years in a skit later on in the episode.^[32]

On October 23, 2010, Grohl performed with Tenacious D at Blizzcon. He appeared as the drummer for the entire concert, and a year later he returned with Foo Fighters and played a another set there, this time as guitarist and vocalist.^[33][34]

Also in 2010, Grohl helped write and performed on drums for "Watch This" with guitarist Slash and Duff McKagan on Slash's self titled album that also included many other famous artists.

In October 2011, Grohl temporarily joined Cage the Elephant as a replacement on tour after drummer Jared Champion's appendix burst.^[35]

Grohl is directing a documentary about Sound City Studios, the Van Nuys studio where Nevermind was recorded that shut down its music operations in 2011.^[36]

Equipment[link]

With Them Crooked Vultures[link]

Drums[link]

DW Jazz Series in Lazer Blue Lacquer with Chrome hardware.

• 5" X 8" Concert tom
• 5" X 10" Concert tom
• 16" X 24" Bass drum
• 9" X 13" Rack tom
• 16" X 16" Floor tom
• 16" X 18" Floor tom
• 16" X 20" Gong Drum
• 6.5" X 14" Aluminum Snare drum

Cymbals[link]

Zildjian

• 15" K Light Hi-hats
• 20" A Custom EFX
• 24" ZHT Ride
• 20" A Custom Crash
• 19" K Custom Hybrid China
• 20" A Custom Rezo Crash

Sticks[link]

Zildjian

• Dave Grohl Artist Series (16 3/4" X 0.600")

Percussion[link]

LP

• LP hi hat tambourine
• LP drum kit tambourine

Drumheads[link]

Remo

• Coated Emperor (on Toms)
• Clear Powerstroke 3 (on Bass)
• Coated Emperor X Black Dot (on Snare)

Hardware[link]

DW 9000 Series including:

• 9000 Floating Rotor Single Pedal
• 9500D 3-Leg Rotating Hi-hat Stand
• 9100AL Air Lift Drum Throne

With Foo Fighters[link]

Guitars[link]

• 2006 Gibson DG335 (x2) - Grohl's main guitars for almost all Foo Fighters shows. The one in "Pelham Blue" is tuned to E standard, while the black one is tuned to drop D.
• 2005 Gibson Firebird Studio - Main guitar used during the In Your Honor era. Pelham Blue and Black models. Used for Stacked Actors, Grohl owns many more Firebirds.
• 1965 Gibson Trini Lopez - Used during the One By One era
• 1967 Gibson Trini Lopez - Used for Walk video, Finished in rare "Pelham Blue".
• 1990 Gibson Les Paul Custom (x2) - Used from 1995–1999, two black, one white.
• 1994 Gibson SG (x4) - Used from 1995–2000, two white, one black, one sunburst.
• 1992 Gibson Explorer (x4) - Used from 1994–2001, three in black, one in white.
• 2002 Ampeg Lucite "Clear" Dan Armstrong (x4) - Main guitar used during the One By One era.^[37]

Amps[link]

• Fender Tonemaster (x2)
• Custom Audio Electronics 100 watt Custom (x2)
• Hiwatt Custom 100
• Mesa Boogie Road King (x2)
• Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier (x2)
• Vox AC-30

Cabinets[link]

• Fender Tonemaster 4x12 (x2)
• Mesa Road King 4x12 (x2)

Effects[link]

• Boss DD3 Delay
• Boss TU2 Tuner (x2)
• MXR Phase 90
• MXR Smart Gate (x2)
• Voodoo Labs PedalPower
• Voodoo Labs Amp Switcher
• Shure UR4 Wireless
• ProCo Rat Distortion

Personal life[link]

Grohl has been married twice. He was first married to photographer Jennifer Youngblood from 1993 to 1997. After their divorce, Grohl had relationships with Winona Ryder, Louise Post from Veruca Salt, and solo artist and Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur. There have also been claims of having a relationship with Christina Aguilera. Grohl has denied this however.^[38]

He then went on to marry Long Island native Jordyn Blum on August 2, 2003, at their home in Los Angeles. Guests included Clive Davis, Jack Black, and former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic. On April 15, 2006, their daughter Violet Maye was born in Los Angeles, being named after Grohl's maternal grandmother. Earlier that year, Foo Fighters bandmate Taylor Hawkins told MTV, "We're going to be touring Europe in January and February, but we've got to be home by March, because Dave and his wife are having a baby," he said, adding, "but I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that." Grohl said that he had been playing music to his unborn child, saying "she 'likes' The Beatles. Doesn't really get down to The Beach Boys. Digs Mozart." On April 17, 2009, Grohl's second child, daughter Harper Willow, was born.^[39]

Grohl has been vocal in his views on drug misuse, contributing to a 2009 anti-drug video for the BBC. "I have never done cocaine, ever in my life. I have never done heroin, I have never done speed," he said in a 2008 interview, adding that he had stopped smoking marijuana and taking acid at the age of 20. In the BBC video he said "I've seen people die. It ain't easy being young, but that stuff doesn't make it any easier".^[40]

In May 2006, Grohl sent a note of support to the two trapped miners in the Beaconsfield mine collapse in Tasmania, Australia. In the initial days following the collapse, one of the men requested an iPod with Foo Fighters album In Your Honor, to be sent down to them through a small hole. Grohl's note read, in part, "Though I'm halfway around the world right now, my heart is with you both, and I want you to know that when you come home, there's two tickets to any Foos show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for yous. Deal?"^[41] In October 2006, one of the miners took up his offer, joining Grohl for a drink after Foo Fighters acoustic concert at the Sydney Opera House.^[42] Grohl wrote an instrumental piece for the meeting, which Grohl pledged he would include on the band's next album.^[43] The song, titled "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners," appears on Foo Fighters' 2007 release Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and features Kaki King.

In August 2009 Grohl was given the key to the city of Warren, Ohio and performed the songs "Everlong", "Times Like These", and "My Hero". A roadway in downtown Warren named "David Grohl Alley" has been dedicated to him with murals by local artists.^[44][45]

In 2000 while on tour with Foo Fighters in Australia, Grohl was arrested by Australian police while driving a scooter for driving under the influence following a concert on the Gold Coast in Queensland. He was fined $400 and had his Australian driving permit revoked for three months. Following the incident Grohl stated: "So, people, I guess if there's anything to learn here, it's: don't drive after a few beers, even if you feel entirely capable like I did."^[46][47]

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Azzerrad, Michael (1993). Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-47199-8. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dave Grohl

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dave Grohl

• Official website (Foo Fighters)
• Dave Grohl at the Internet Movie Database
• Dave Grohl Band Discography
• Courtney Love crazy accusations on what-music.com
• Live Review at ArtistDirect.com