Dave Grohl on the “curse” behind Foo Fighters’ sound
Some bands tend to have that one element of their sound that is both their greatest strength and weakness. While there can always be a few weak links that hold even the greatest bands down, chances are it’s those imperfections that turn the group from a decent act into one of the most successful bands in their field. Although Dave Grohl admitted that he wanted to try his hand at becoming a rock star, he admitted that the one thing holding them back was… himself.
Throughout the band’s first few albums, Grohl was the ultimate example of a musical phoenix from the ashes. Despite the fact that most artists wouldn’t pick up a guitar again after losing someone like Kurt Cobain, Grohl was determined to use music as a form of therapy, making songs that would become Foo Fighters classics by making a handful of tunes at a studio near his house.
Since this was all made for fun, the album was never meant to be shared amongst the masses, only for everyone to clamour to it once they found out who was playing all the instruments. While most fans knew the band more as “that guy from Nirvana’s” outfit instead of on their own merits, Grohl carved out his own path, making songs that were a lot more optimistic than the post-grunge coming out around the same time.
Compared to Cobain’s voice, though, Grohl’s timbre is actually remarkably similar. Being responsible for a lot of the backing vocals on many of Nirvana’s greatest tunes, Grohl’s voice has that same kind of gravelly tone that Cobain was always known for, always staying in tune while sounding like a Marshall stack on ten whenever he screams.
While Grohl had no problem listening to his screaming voice, he always thought that his singing was the least important part of Foo Fighters. Despite having one of the most elastic sets of pipes in the business, Grohl believed that he really needed to go through exercises or even undergo an operation to fix his vocal cords.
When discussing the band’s sound, Grohl said that he hated hearing the sound of his voice singing at first, saying, “I think Michael Stipe once said that his sinuses were a God-given gift, and that’s why his voice is so nasally and bizarre as it is. To me, it’s more of a curse. I’d rather have them repaired so I can sing like Luciano Pavarotti.”
Besides the hilarious idea of hearing Grohl sing songs like ‘Nessun Dorma’, Grohl’s signature rasp has always been a strength of the band. When listening to the more introspective songs in their catalogue, like ‘Ain’t It the Life’ or ‘Everlong’, Grohl is practically opening his heart to his audience, giving fans a glimpse of the sensitive person underneath the shaggy hair and power chords before going back to making massive riffs.
All that didn’t stop Grohl from trying to call as little attention to his voice as possible on the band’s first record, intentionally writing nonsense words because he didn’t think he had that much to say. Grohl may have known that he had to live in the shadow of Nirvana in 1995, but half the reason why people remember Foo Fighters as their own separate entity comes from that magic coming from his mouth.
