The album that changed Dave Grohl’s life: “It made me realise that anyone could make music”
From an early age, Dave Grohl was playing gigs in sweaty basement venues, immersing himself in the hardcore punk rock scene. He was a member of the band Scream in Washington D.C., even dropping out of high school so that he could fully dedicate himself to music.
Yet, a much bigger opportunity would come four years later when Buzz Osbourne suggested Grohl from the Melvins as Nirvana’s new drummer. Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic were both impressed with Grohl’s skills and subsequently recruited him into the band. He would perform on their second album, Nevermind, which shot Nirvana to global stardom. They weren’t just Seattle grunge legends now; they were beloved by listeners all across the world.
Nevermind contained hit tracks like ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, ‘In Bloom’ and ‘Come As You Are’, with Grohl’s drumming receiving considerable praise. With Nirvana, Grohl recorded a collection of EPs, live sessions, and another studio album, In Utero, further cementing the band’s legacy.
When Nirvana ended due to Cobain’s death, Grohl formed Foo Fighters to release the solo music he’d been working on. His new band would take rock by storm, and with songs like ‘The Pretender’ and ‘Everlong’ under their belts, Foo Fighters became one of the most popular live bands of the past few decades.
Grohl has exerted significant influence over modern rock in the years since he emerged as Nirvana’s new drummer, becoming a terrific frontman and multi-instrumentalist. But what started it all? There were several albums that the musician discovered as a child and young adult, which completely changed him. While he cites The Beatles as a very important inspiration, there was one punk record that totally “blew my mind,” he told Q.
He explained that he learnt to play instruments listening to “The Beatles’ greatest hits – the Red and Blue albums,” which set him up as a music lover from a young age. “But the really big one was the Dead Kennedys’ In God We Trust, Inc.,” he explained. “I was 13 and I had just discovered punk. My cousin Tracy had this crazy collection of American and international punk rock – stuff like Discharge and GBH – but In God We Trust, Inc. was the most exciting.”
The Dead Kennedys began their tenure as one of American punk’s most notable bands in 1978, becoming prominent members of the Californian hardcore scene. Their debut album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, emerged in 1980, with In God We Trust, Inc., an eight-song-long EP, releasing the following year.
“It blew my mind because it made me realise that anyone could make music. It was fresh and exciting and confrontational,” Grohl added. “A few weeks later there was a big Rock Against Reagan concert in Washington DC where I lived and the Dead Kennedys were headlining. There must have been 750,000 people there. It was a fuckin’ riot. There were punks fighting with the cops and Jello Biafra looking at the Washington Monument, screaming: ‘The great white Klansman in the sky!’”
“I’m getting chills just thinking about it! The best thing is that record sounds fucking crazy. It’s pure punk rock,” he concluded.
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