The Foo Fighters frontman insisted he rarely thinks of his group as the “greatest in the world” and is always nervous about strangers listening to what he’s been up to in the recording studio.
He said: “I’ve never entered into the album process thinking, ‘We’re the greatest, most amazing, biggest band in the world.’
“You might convince yourself of that when you’re in a room listening to s**t you’ve just recorded.
“But the second you hit play in front of a roomful of strangers, you turn into a six-year-old kid with his pants down at school. Absolutely. You’re just [fearful].”
Drummer Taylor Hawkins admitted he has been particularly concerned with the new direction the band have taken on their upcoming 10th album.
He told MOJO magazine: “We’ve kind of become the AC/DC of post-grunge or whatever. So, the reaction is going to be interesting. It’s the most pop fantastic album we’ve ever made.
“But I had a hard time making this record because I was like Roger Taylor in the Queen movie. ‘We’re resorting to drum loops?’ I almost feel like Dave like chaos a little bit then likes to control it.”
Meanwhile, Dave admitted he finally completely lost any stage fright after performing Wings’ ‘Band on the Run’ at the White House in 2010 in front of then-President Barack Obama and Sir Paul McCartney.
He said: “I was standing on the side of the stage, waiting to go on, thinking ‘I hope I don’t faint, I hope I don’t puke, I hope I sing in key.’
“And I was so wracked with fear, I realised I was wasting this incredible moment on that fear.
“And I was gonna lose the joy or the magic of just being there in that moment. And then the fear just kinda went away.
“So, now I have no f***ing problem standing up in front of 150,000 people.”