“Just not real”: Dave Grohl, fame and the song he wrote about hating Los Angeles
There was a time when Dave Grohl could do no wrong. After all, he was the drummer of hardcore heroes Scream, the final piece in the puzzle for Nirvana—allowing them to reach stratospheric heights—and the frontman of Foo Fighters. In addition to this, he was one of the only artists fans could wholeheartedly state practised what he preached.
For decades, Grohl bolstered his musical ability and back catalogue by being the nicest guy in mainstream rock, from calling out Metallica during their Napster controversy to his constant support of up-and-coming bands. He made his name as the nicest guy in the genre, which became a key part of his brand, with him hailed as the most human of the rockstars.
Grohl was in his pomp at the turn of the millennium and the early 2000s, against all the odds. After the tragic suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994, Nirvana ended instantly, throwing the lives and careers of both he and bassist Krist Novoselic into free fall. For a time, it looked as if the heartbroken and depressed Grohl would turn his back on music for good.
It was an existential crisis for the young grunge star, but after a remarkable experience with a Nirvana-loving hitchhiker when travelling Ireland, he realised he could not run from the past anymore. Music was his thing, and he had to return to it. He then worked on what became the first Foo Fighters album, and Roswell Records quickly snapped them up. So began the next chapter of his story. There might have been several bumps in the road for the frontman, to do with lineup changes and romances, but the band’s second album, 1997’s The Colour and the Shape, catapulted them to global fame off the back of alt-rock cornerstones such as ‘Everlong’, ‘Monkey Wrench’ and ‘My Hero’.
It was clear Dave Grohl had metamorphosed from being the drummer of Nirvana, into a songwriting powerhouse in his own right. Fans of the grunge band always knew his skill in this area; after all, he’d written the riff for ‘Scentless Apprentice’ and even sang on ‘Marigold’, but now the rest of the world knew it too. Following the album’s release, the group were figuratively on top of the world, and one of the most revered outfits out there. While they are still immensely popular, they were actually cool back then.
While Grohl and the band expertly handled the dreaded second album with aplomb, following its success was to be an even greater challenge. It was here that Grohl displayed his measure as an artist. Instead of leaning again into the straight-up alt-rock that made the band famous, he enacted change. While it’s still an alt-rock classic, the album tapped into the experimental and explored the softer side of Grohl’s songwriting, as the group placed a focus on melody at the centre of their process.
This sharp change of pace proved to be a masterstroke. The record won the Grammy Award for ‘Best Rock Album’, their first at the ceremony, where they have triumphed numerous times since. In a way, this was the start of Foo Fighters becoming a household name and entering the halls of the musical establishment. Grohl had done so before with Nirvana, but now he was there as his own artist. This was the moment that Grohl truly reached the status he has today.
While the record showed his potency as an artist, and it saw him enter the belly of superstardom outside of Nirvana, ironically, this musical departure from expectation on the 1999 album actually mirrored the contours of his personal life at the time. After nearly a decade in the limelight, Grohl had become sick of the trappings of fame, and could no longer take living in Los Angeles among the A-listers, who he had always hated. He moved back East to his native Virginia to return to the real world. It makes you wonder how he felt accepting the Grammy, and whether it was through gritted teeth.
Notably, the recording process for the album has been celebrated by the band members for its serenity. It was recorded only by Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel and drumming maestro Taylor Hawkins in the basement of Grohl’s home in Alexandra, Virginia. At that point in time, the group were settling into the next phase of their life, their 30s, and were best friends. It was a relaxing experience, where they ate, drank and recorded whenever they felt like it. Spring was in the air, and this peaceful period brought back fond memories for Grohl. They’d been through a whirlwind few years, and now they were taking back control. This was their environment, and the phoney faces of Hollywood were far, far away.
While ‘Stacked Actors’ from the 1991 album is best remembered for packaging his deep-rooted hatred of the Hollywood stars he rubbed shoulders with into song, he also drew upon his “hatred” of the ‘City of Angels’ in the soft acoustic piece, ‘Ain’t it the Life’. However, this cut was much less furious than the aforementioned one, instead celebrating Grohl’s decision to return to his roots, old friends, and the quiet life in Virginia. With lines such as, “Try livin’ a lie / And kickin’ out the same old guise / Wasting time”, Grohl openly accepted that Los Angeles was not for him.
In The Making Of film for the album, Grohl explained: “‘Ain’t It the Life’ I think is the one song that I would love to play on my porch […] Living in Los Angeles for a year and a half, I think it ignited that hatred that I’d had for so long of things that are false, and glamorous, and just not real. Getting back to Virginia was such a nice feeling of community, family, and the D.C. music scene, old friends, and things that I’d never lost but felt like I needed more of in my life. So ‘Ain’t It the Life’ is just kind of about living the quiet, Virginia life.”
While moving out of Los Angeles proved to be consequential for Grohl’s life and career, it makes you wonder why he moved back there, given how much he despised it at the time. I know he met his current wife, Jordyn Blum, in a West Hollywood bar, they’ve had children since, and he’s won several Grammys, bolstering his position in the pantheon of fame and influence, but given his present situation and the sad-looking photos abounding, perhaps another departure is in store. Success is a funny thing, though, it does strange things to people.
