Friday, February 17th 2012
News: Foo Fighters
Dave Grohl Clarifies Controversial Grammy Remarks, “Fucking Loves” Skrillex
Dave Grohl has reached out to the hive mind in an attempt to clarify his remarks from Grammy night, when the frontman for the Best Rock Album winners (among others) took aim at people who make music on computers. As he’d done at live shows over the past year and beyond, at the Grammys Grohl threw a few backhanded comments about the authenticity of spirit that comes with making music with instruments, the old fashioned way – moments before playing a cross-genre mess of a live remix that included David Guetta, Deadmau5 and, yes, even Chris “I-beat-that-bitch-and-she-still-loves-me” Brown.
Somehow, the internets took none too kindly to that, and the backlash was large enough to warrant a clarifying response – with a taste of backpedaling. Check it out below:
Oh, what a night we had last Sunday at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. The glitz! The Glamour! SEACREST! Where do I begin?? Chillin’ with Lil’ Wayne…meeting Cyndi Lauper’s adorable mother…the complimentary blinking Coldplay bracelet…..much too much to recap. It’s really is still a bit of a blur. But, if there’s one thing that I remember VERY clearly, it was accepting the Grammy for Best Rock Performance…and then saying this:
“To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of music is what’s important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do… It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct, it’s not about what goes on in a computer. It’s about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head].”
Not the Gettysburg Address, but hey……I’m a drummer, remember?
Well, me and my big mouth. Never has a 33 second acceptance rant evoked such caps-lock postboard rage as my lil’ ode to analog recording has. OK….maybe Kanye has me on this one, but….Imma let you finish….just wanted to clarify something…
I love music. I love ALL kinds of music. From Kyuss to Kraftwerk, Pinetop Perkins to Prodigy, Dead Kennedys to Deadmau5…..I love music. Electronic or acoustic, it doesn’t matter to me. The simple act of creating music is a beautiful gift that ALL human beings are blessed with. And the diversity of one musician’s personality to the next is what makes music so exciting and…..human.
That’s exactly what I was referring to. The “human element”. That thing that happens when a song speeds up slightly, or a vocal goes a little sharp. That thing that makes people sound like PEOPLE. Somewhere along the line those things became “bad” things, and with the great advances in digital recording technology over the years they became easily “fixed”. The end result? I my humble opinion…..a lot of music that sounds perfect, but lacks personality. The one thing that makes music so exciting in the first place.
And, unfortunately, some of these great advances have taken the focus off of the actual craft of performance. Look, I am not Yngwie Malmsteen. I am not John Bonham. Hell…I’m not even Josh Groban, for that matter. But I try really fucking hard so that I don’t have to rely on anything but my hands and my heart to play a song. I do the best that I possibly can within my limitations, and accept that it sounds like me. Because that’s what I think is most important. It should be real, right? Everybody wants something real.
I don’t know how to do what Skrillex does (though I fucking love it) but I do know that the reason he is so loved is because he sounds like Skrillex, and that’s badass. We have a different process and a different set of tools, but the “craft” is equally as important, I’m sure. I mean…..if it were that easy, anyone could do it, right? (See what I did there?)
So, don’t give me two Crown Royals and then ask me to make a speech at your wedding, because I might just bust into the advantages of recording to 2 inch tape.
Now, I think I have to go scream at some kids to get off my lawn.
Stay frosty.
Davemau5
Once he feels safe to venture outside without getting pelted with glowsticks and pacifiers, Dave will finish work on his Sound City documentary, with contributing names including Trent Reznor, Joshua Homme, Mick Fleetwood, Tom Petty, Lars Ulrich, Krist Novoselic, Alain Johannes, Chris Goss, Cheap Trick, Corey Taylor, Stephen Pearcy and many, many more.
I took his comments to mean that if you’re an artist like Foo Fighters, it’s best to not overproduce your work. Recording and mixing on analog tape is much harder than mixing it in Pro Tools, but it’s supposed to be.
Sort of like the difference between filming a movie entirely on green screen (i.e., the Star Wars prequels) versus filming a movie using pretty much everything on a real set (like the original Star Wars movies).
We all know what he meant, and a lot of us agreed with it. No need to backpedal, but he’s earned a pass from me.
Auch, this makes the whole thing worse lol
Dave can do no wrong anyways, he deserves respect whether or not you like his music. Cool dude who gave rock back his dignity. F*ck the man was NIRVANA!
YOU DIDN’T NEED TO CLARIFY DAVE – that was the only caps lock I’ll ever do, just to be a smart ass…..
Seriously though, we got it; the original speech.
People ALWAYS (ok, so I lied about the caps lock) take things too seriously, I’ve lived my entire life having to sigh, suck it up, and clarify for those smaller minded people who simply dont get it.
Well done …. rock on, fight the good (foo) fight etc. etc. (and any other cliche you wish to add)
Nice alliteration Dave.
I took it exactly as he delivered it on the Grammy’s – that mainstream music is made electronically, with autotune, no heart, over produced, and perfected………….all aimed at the 8-21 year olds who have a 3 minute attention span. Its what makes money. You’re fine Dave, no sweat.
I agree with what Dave said, but holy shit, is Dave Grohl the only guy who plays rock music? He needs to lie low for a while, he’s too everywhere, and his nice guy shit is starting to wear thin on me, it’s making him out like he’s a Monkee. If you don’t like something, say it, but don’t backpedal WTF is that? Plus IMO, the best work he has ever done is as Kurt Cobain and Josh Homme’s drummer. I need another Foo Fighters record like I need another Chris Brown record. Sorry, I’ve dug Dave for a long time, but he just gets on my fucking nerves now. Go away for a while Dave, or else go see what Josh, JPJ & Alain are doing…your FF shit is getting tired.
”mainstream music is made electronically, with autotune, no heart, over produced, and perfected”
This http://i.imgur.com/VwRca.png is the song Arlandria from the Foo Fighters album (Sasha Frere Jones posted the image during the Grammys). note the shape of the sound file. they MAY have recorded it in a garage, but the record was clearly edited / mastered and compressed to within an inch of its (mediocre) life using computers, (I would assume) the same way that a Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift (or any other pop artist that gives rockists heartburn) song would be.
Also, it is immensely rich for the frontman (and fans) of a stadium rock band who have been recycling the same formula for years to complain about lack of heart. One Beyonce song or a Moodyman a-side has more soul than the Foos last few records.
the heart is in the live show, no Label will release an album that doesn’t meet thier requirements, but the raw heart in a live rock show is the amazingness like the foo fighters, godsmack, or Weezer to name a few, even the heart of a DJ at a rave you can feel it as they switch it up, but the problem with mainstream your Lady Gaga, Beyonce, or Madona is what you get on the CD is exactly what you get in a live show, music with no room for error and a show to go with it,
dont even no why they bother to lip sync, the fans arn’t there to see someone sing they are there see alive music video, to see them dance to the music, why fake it while the CD plays in the background, but a live rock show the grit the errors the emotion thats the heart of true music
Internet backlash? The web is really that enraged?
He should have come back with
“U mad?”
Maybe the haters should just put on Wasting Light again and have a nice cup of stfu. Dave’s as good as a rock frontman/artist gets in music,
I can’t agree with our comrade Alex above, Dave isn’t getting tiresome, its all quality stuff and thats not hard to like. I also think our comrade Alex should find himself another name on here. I kind of have the Alex thing going on, a bit like Chris Brown beats up women, it’s just my thing.
Name changed so as to protect your uniqueness. I dunno man, Dave with the Foo Fighters has always been that Mentos bullshit to me. I know he’s a terrific guy, but I just don’t get into his vibe with the Foos. And to step up on a big award show and say something that many people think, which is enough with all the shrink-wrapping of modern music, only to back pedal later, well, it’s very Mentos of him. Dave’s fathers, Josh Homme and Kurt Cobain, would have told the press to suck it, which is another part of what rock is missing, but not Dave; he’s got to keep selling FF CDs, and selling tickets to 13-year olds with their mother’s permission, so of course he has to do some damage control, as all politicians do…he’s got to feed the monkey man.
Again, the best records Dave Grohl ever played on were ones where he was the drummer. Nevermind, In Utero, Songs for the Deaf and Them Crooked Vultures each dwarf all the shit he does in the Foo Fighters. Wasted Light is more edgy and angular, probably because of his serving as intern at Homme University recently. I know the Foos sell well, but so does Katy Perry. Wasting Light is better than most FF records, but it still couldn’t suit up against the other Dave-drum records I mentioned.
Oooh, he recorded it to tape, wow. What a hipster. He and Butch Vig probably rubbed mustaches about it, and somewhere in Portland, a hipster’s absinthe hangover was cured instantly. BFD.
Dave Grohl a hipster? Seriously?
Those are pretty fair comments, Grohl has been shaped by his peers and theres no doubt Homme is one of those music men who refuse to compromise when it comes to the media circus.
Dave Grohl is a record company dream, he’s got an army of fans that come from legitimate rock circles to 13 year old kids as you describe. Should we turn on an artist for playing the game? I’d say that depends on the content of the music they are making.
Foo Fighters are a bit like Independance day, shit film but so much fun. The no compromise artists definitely have their place in our record collections but so too should those easy listening artists who are still reasonably true to their art.
Many thanks for articulating your reply and also being nice about the name thing.
Kurt Cobain would fucking hate Skrillex and the like. Just saying. Dave Grohl sold out last Sunday night.
Whats selling out? Performing with artists of another genre and appearing at awards ceremonies?
Judge the music, Foo Fighters are one of the few acts still making mainstream media bearable.
He is kind of a sellout for playing here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/17/jon-stewart-obama-foo-fighters_n_1284725.html
Seriously? Politics should stay the fuck away from talented artists like these guys but, I guess some people can be bought off. :/
Fuck the grammy awards.
There are people out there that actually think that Nirvana is better than Foo? Must be the same people that watch Glee… Also, Josh Homme threatens to beat someone up at every concert he performs. All signs point to CHUMP! Every song that he writes sounds relatively the same. His guitar tone is completely overdone. He should think about trying some new settings on his amps and pedals, perhaps that would mould a new song.