When You Got Nothing...

05/15/2000 2:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Stephen Peters

When it comes to making music, it's usually not too hard to tell which artists are in it for the fame and glory and which ones do it because...well, because they have to.

Anyone who doubts that the Foo Fighters' frontman Dave Grohl falls into the latter category need only look at his non-Foos schedule to be convinced otherwise. "Me and Willie from the Black Eyed Peas have been talkin' about doing something, so that might happen," he says. "And there's a guy in Washington, D.C. named Wino who used to play in a band called the Obsessed, and Saint Vitus. Now he has a band, Spirit Caravan. That's total hard rock, heavy stuff."

Add a recent stint in which the former Nirvana drummer dusted off his sticks to lay down a track with Black Sabbath guitar god Tony Iommi for his new solo record, plus a few more days hunkered down in his Virginia studio to devote time to another side-project dubbed Probot, and one wonders how Grohl and company even found the time to fit in a high-profile opening slot on the current Red Hot Chili Peppers arena tour, which marks a first for the band.

"It's something new for us, and I can't really think of many other bands that we'd do it with," Grohl says, "but it seems like with the Chili Peppers--it's kind of an honor, because they're an institution in their own right, you know? But I think with their new record, their songs are so strong that it's definitely a show that is not only energetic but pretty musical."

Equally musical is There Is Nothing Left To Lose, the third Foos album and in many ways the most adventurous. "While we were making the record, I think I was discovering a lot of classic influences in the band that I hadn't noticed before," Grohl says. "Plus, having no heavy-handed producer in the studio with us, we were very much left to our own devices, free to do whatever we wanted to do. I think that a lot of our personalities came through much more on this album than ever before."

Of course, there was really only one personality in the mix when the Foo Fighters' self-titled debut, which was essentially a Grohl solo album, appeared in 1995. And while Grohl knew he needed more troops to wage a proper sonic war onstage and in the studio with the band, a number of musicians joined and left its ranks before it settled into its current configuration of Grohl, drummer Taylor Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel, and guitarist Chris Shiflett.

"I wish that we could have had the same four characters throughout the whole five years, but I understand why it didn't happen and it's no big deal," Grohl says. "But it also does keep it really interesting. I mean, when a new member is introduced, the sound is altered, albeit usually not enough for anyone to really notice. But yeah, it keeps things fresh, just because it's a whole new perspective and a whole new dynamic every time someone joins.

"I don't think that what we've been through is too unusual--only in that most bands go through it before they release their first record," he adds. "We've had to kind of grow up in public. So, yeah, the sound of the band has definitely changed. It went from a demo tape of one person, to four people and a producer, to three people in a basement studio."

The lineup isn't the only thing about the Foo Fighters that's changed. Grohl agrees that he's grown quite a bit as both a songwriter and singer since the first Foos record. "I do feel a little more comfortable with it," he reveals. "I mean, I don't know many people who say, 'Hey, I love my voice. I like to hear myself sing.' But I've had about four years to get used to it, so I think I'm just getting used to it. And a lot of these songs deserved singing, rather than just balls-out screaming. So, being alone in the basement in our house for four months, the freedom of doing it on our own and being disconnected from anything else gave us the courage--at least gave me the courage--to really try to open up and sing, rather than just tackle the easy route, which would be to scream all the time."

As for longtime fans who worry that the bright lights of a full-blown arena tour might prompt the band to turn a blind eye to its customary 2,000- or 3,000-seat venues on future outings--don't.

"I wouldn't want to be an arena-rock band," Grohl insists. "I really wouldn't. I wouldn't want things to go huge, crazy out of control. And there's a part of us that sabotages it if it seems like it could ever get close to that, because we've been so comfortable this whole time.

"I feel fortunate to have been around for five years," he continues. "A lot of bands don't even make that. So I don't know. I think people see our band as something real, something true. That will run its course eventually, sure. But you know, we've never really been seen as a flash in the pan. And when we came out with our first record, it was important that we do as much touring and make a second record as soon as possible just because we didn't want people to think of us as a side-project. So this whole time we've been trying to prove ourselves to everyone, and I think that effort is recognized and appreciated somehow. I hope."