“I’m just waiting”: The band Dave Grohl always wanted to jam with
When Slash left Guns N’ Roses, many people thought he might not continue making music to the same standard. He proved them wrong relatively quickly, as he moved on to work on multiple side projects and finally, in 2010, released a solo album. This record contained songs written by Slash for various artists.
The main people that he wanted to work with were singers. He wrote songs and lyrics with specific people from various genres in mind. This included rock legends such as Iggy Pop and Ozzy Osbourne, as well as superstars from the world of rap and pop like Cypress Hill and Fergie. Everything was quite tightly structured, apart from one song, which he kept loose because he was keen on jamming with Dave Grohl.
A huge part of rock music revolves around improvisation, which means that most big players, regardless of their era, are happy to just start playing a song and see where it leads. Slash was adamant about having a track on his album that reflected this time-hardened tradition, so he reached out to Dave Grohl to see if he was interested in working together. Grohl was quick to accept, and with that, the track ‘Watch This’ was born.
“I wrote the basic parts and I had sort of a loose arrangement, but this was definitely the loosest song of the bunch, and having Dave there, who is such a dynamic drummer – I’d never actually worked with him but I’m very familiar with his drumming – and with Duff there too, they’re both very creative so I knew we could throw this together,” said Slash, “I didn’t want it to be epic, I wanted it to be three minutes long, and it came together very quickly with a very spontaneous, live kind of vibe.”
He continued: “Actually, I tried to get Dave to sing it, but he wouldn’t sing it, so I just said fuck it, we’ll put guitars on it. He was adamant about not singing, he was like, I just wanna play drums, and he’s a fucking phenomenal drummer.”
Slash was so keen on Grohl’s drumming that the two have shared the stage multiple times since. This cements something that a lot of people who have been paying attention are already aware of: Dave Grohl is an incredibly adaptable and exciting musician. Whether he is drumming, singing, or playing the guitar, he seems able to slot himself into a musical outfit and contribute to it.
This versatility has led Dave Grohl to take to the stage with multiple artists. Who could forget Glastonbury 2023, where it became a running joke that Dave Grohl contributed to every band at the festival’s sets? He is one of the best when it comes to jamming, playing live, and sharing the stage with his contemporaries. However, there is still one band that he’s waiting to play with.
“There’s a lot of people I’d love to play with. It’s just fun to jam with people,” he said, “I was playing drums with Tenacious D in the studio the other day, that was great, it’s always fun to play with them. I have my fantasy bands, I’m just waiting for Metallica to call.”
