Dave Grohl often worries that the Foo Fighters may one day be classed as a “heritage act”.
The musician founded the band in 1994, with the group going on to release nine albums, including Concrete and Gold, which was launched in mid-September (17).
While the Foo Fighters’ success has spanned two decades, Grohl, 48, does his best to keep the band’s signature sound relevant.
“I still enjoy going to see new bands. I think there’s a whole new generation just waiting to come out,” he told Rolling Stone magazine. “He also still cares about making records – and what’s more, making them good. “I’ve always been afraid of becoming a heritage act. I feel like we have to prove ourselves over and over to be a band worth following.”
For Concrete and Gold, the Foo Fighters enlisted record producer Greg Kurstin. And guitarist Chris Shiflett was pleased to see Kurstin realise some of Grohl’s ideas within the new music, including singles Run and The Sky Is a Neighborhood.
“There’s a lot of stuff on this record that’s been bouncing around in Dave’s head for a long time – the superlayered vocals and countermelodies and all that,” he said, while bassist Nate Mendel added: “It was cool to see Dave let go and have somebody actually produce the record.”
While Grohl’s music has elevated him to international prominence, he also shared during the interview that he’s no longer the only star in his family. His mother Virginia Hanlon Grohl recently published a book titled From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars, in which she interviewed the mums of other famous performers.
“My mother is now fully entrenched in the music industry,” Grohl laughed. “She’ll be like, ‘I can’t talk – I have a conference call with Live Nation!'”