Josh Freese reveals how Dave Grohl asked him to join Foo Fighters
Josh Freese, who replaced the late Taylor Hawkins in Foo Fighters last year, has detailed how he came to join the band.
Before becoming the Foo Fighters drummer, Freese had already established himself as an acclaimed figure in rock ‘n’ roll. Outside of his work with Dave Grohl’s group, he has also worked with The Offspring, Weezer, Guns N’ Roses, Danny Elfman, Paramore and Lana Del Rey.
The chance to become a full-time member of a band wasn’t something he was yearning for, due to his already hectic schedule. However, when Grohl came calling, Freese found the opportunity too tempting and wasn’t prepared to say no to a chance to play with one of the biggest rock groups on the planet.
By the time Freese was officially announced as the new drummer of Foo Fighters, it was widely assumed for some time that he’d already accepted the position. Now, Freese has explained how everyone around him also believed the same thing, even though he was yet to discuss the possibility with Grohl and even consider the idea.
In a new interview with Rick Beato, Freese recalled: “I was on a walk with my wife and some of our dogs, and I go, ‘Ah, Dave just tried calling me like 20 minutes ago.’ And she’s like, ‘I know why he’s calling you.’ I was like, ‘Easy. I’m not thinking that.’ I swear to God, that’s not why I thought.”
Rather than jump to conclusions, Freese chose to believe Grohl was inviting “all those drummer friends of ours” for a performance at a New Year’s Eve party.
When he eventually phoned Grohl back, they initially discussed respective plans for the festive season before talk turned to Foo Fighters. Freese shared: “I said, ‘Hey, did you go record?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, we recorded a bunch of stuff. And I played drums, and I’m really happy with the way it sounds. … And we had the drummer talk. And we want you to be the guy.’”
The drummer claimed he “felt like someone kind of socked me in the stomach,” before adding, “I didn’t go, ‘Wow, yippee, this is so cool!’ I didn’t get excited like that. It was almost like I got the wind knocked out of me. And I was like, ‘Oh my God.’”
He elaborated: “I was like, ‘Here we go.’ ‘Cause I knew… I’d had time to think about it and all that… there’s sometimes when you go, ‘You know you’ve gotta do this, right?’ It couldn’t have gone down any other way after being asked, and being asked by someone that I’ve respected forever, not just as a songwriter and a singer/guitarist, but as a drummer.”
Freese is fully aware of the pressure that comes from being the drummer in Grohl’s band due to his work in Nirvana, but he sees it as “a source of inspiration and excitement… rather than letting it intimidate me or freak me out.”
He concluded: “If you start going down that path, it could intimidate you and freak you out. ‘My God, I’m Dave Grohl’s drummer!’ But he makes it so comfortable and good and natural, the way we play together. … It’s all good stuff.”
Watch the interview with Beato below.
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