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(Taylor Hawkin's Interview)

As if it's not enough that OC bands are becoming a common sight at the top
of the charts, our musicians have been infiltrating other burgs' bands as
well. When the Foo Fighters' founding drummer, William Goldsmith, left in
February (he's said to be recording soon with the re-formed Sunny Day Real
Estate), Laguna Beach's Taylor Hawkins stepped in as timekeeper right
before the summer-touring season. Though it's not his first excursion in
high-pressure city (he played in Alanis Morissette's touring band), the
pressure is more on him this time. Amid the rumors surrounding Goldsmith's
departure (including that lead singer Dave Grohl recorded over Goldsmith's
parts on The Colour and the Shape), Hawkins' arrival has people wondering
just how difficult it is to be a drummer in a drummer's band (Grohl, if you
recall, was the drummer in that seminal D.C. hardcore band Scream, among
one or two other things). Now, having finished his first season with the
Foo, Hawkins has had some time to reflect on how he spent his summer vacation.

OC Weekly: Did you volunteer to play the female role in the video for
"Everlong," or did you guys pick straws?

Taylor Hawkins: I was coerced into it. They decided if one of the guys in
the band was going to do it, I'd make the prettiest girl.

Was this your first time cross-dressing?

I'd done it for a couple of Halloweens before, but it's not like I sit at
home in women's clothing. I don't know how you [women] do it-the clothes
are really uncomfortable, pantyhose and bras and stuff. I don't know how
you put on lipstick and drink beer without it all coming off or getting all
over the place. It's really high-maintenance to look beautiful.

So you came away with a new perspective or a new appreciation?

Yeah. I mean, whenever I meet a model, I always think there are just
regular girls on the street who look hotter than that. You have to be kind
of weird-looking to be a model.

And even then, they never really look that way; it's all done with
lighting, camera angles, airbrushing. . . .

Yeah, that's why you should never read things like Vogue. It's misleading
"Good news for bad legs" and stuff. It makes you think you're not working
as hard as you should be, like you need to be perfect. That's totally
false. No woman is perfect. I think women with big noses are prettier: they
have more character.

Did working with Alanis Morissette help you with that perspective in any
way?

You know, that was no big deal. I don't know if you know this, but there
are lots of records that come out every year, and only 1 percent of those
do well. I didn't know when I signed up that it would blow up like it did
And then she got this "angry young woman" tag, like she's pissed off all
the time or something. Yes, she has her own ideas about things, and she's
really strong-willed, but she's a nice girl. But that happens with any
band, you know. People tag things, and there's hype, and rarely is it just
based on the merits of the music.

But that didn't affect you. . . .

That's the beauty of being the drummer. With the Foo Fighters, there's no
hype except for how Dave Grohl was in Nirvana. It's mostly, we're just four
of the nerdiest dudes in the world. We're just jokers. [Personality] is an
important part because you have to practically live together.

When William Goldsmith was in the band, he was described as being the free
spirit, [bassist] Nate Mendel was the intellectual of the group, [now
former guitarist] Pat Smear was the flamboyant one, and Dave was the
down-to-earth one. What would you be? Some have described you as the
quintessential blond surfer, but is that just another stereotype because of
where you're from?

Yeah, everyone's always looking for a tag. But that's okay because people
want to know where you're coming from. I haven't surfed in three years, and
I was never that great, anyway, because I was always in the garage, smoking
cigarettes and playing drums. I have a buddy who's a pro surfer, so next to
him, I'm no more than any other kid. I don't know; you'd have to ask
someone outside of us for that perspective. I guess I'm most like Dave.

People sometimes almost refer to you as a clone of Dave, not only in looks,
comparing you both to Skeet Ulrich when you both sported goatees, but also
in terms of drumming style. Dave once said that you guys must have been
separated at birth.

We knew we'd get along. And being in the Foo has changed my drumming style
because I had to adapt. You can really hear the difference. But Dave's
cool. I was a little nervous at first, but I got over that. Any instance
where you're auditioning for something, you're going to be nervous. But no
one can play better than Dave Grohl. He just has this vision in his head.
But that's not why William left. You know Pat Smear left, too, right? He
didn't want to tour anymore; he's never been in a band more than a year,
anyway. We did this thing at the MTV Music Video Awards [in the preceding
show called The Opening Act], where we did two songs, one with Pat, and the
second with Pat walking out with his guitar and handing it to Franz Stahl
[who had played with Grohl in Scream]. It was like passing the torch at the
fuckin' Olympics.

That's quite a revolving door. . . .

It's the revolving door that is the Foo Fighters, Dave said. Franz fits in
perfectly. He's not as flamboyant as Pat-he won't be wearing skirts onstage
or anything-but he's really great. It's the new and improved Foo Fighters
Half of me can't really blame Pat; with touring so much and all, it's like
you have no home. I miss going to the beach, seeing my girlfriend, watching
TV, eating Mexican food at Javier's in Laguna. I'm not complaining, though,
even if it all ended tomorrow and I was back to delivering pizzas again.
Maybe next, Dave won't be in the band. He was just joking the other day
that maybe he should quit next and leave us to carry on the Foo torch. Nah,
that won't happen.

(An article in the NY Post)

ONLY ROCKIN' GROHL BUT ... 

By LISA ROBINSON
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAVE GROHL's former band, Nirvana, is, he says, "the highlight of my life,"
but as the leader of his own platinum group, Foo Fighters, he says he's
living out his rock 'n' roll dreams. 

The hyperactive, workaholic singer-guitarist-drummer-video director played
all the instruments on Foo Fighters' self-titled debut album, and saw its
follow-up ("The Colour and the Shape"), do directly into Billboard's Top
10. 

He's played drums on tour with Tom Petty's band, participated in David
Bowie's 50th birthday concert and was nominated for several MTV Video
Awards for directing one of last year's best video clips, the Foos' "Monkey
Wrench." 

Foo Fighters - Grohl, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins and Franz Stahl (who
replaced recently departed guitarist Pat Smear) - sold out at Roseland
Sunday night and will also open for the Rolling Stones at Giants Stadium
Oct. 16 and 17. In this interview, the very private Grohl talks about life
after Nirvana. 

Lisa Robinson: Everyone says you're a workaholic. True? 

Dave Grohl: I think I've always been relatively hyperactive, When I was a
kid I liked my sugar and now I like my coffee. Black, please, thank you
very much. I never take vacations; I suppose I could stop, tell everyone
I'm burned out, but I don't want to do that. I'm having the time of my
life. I'm 28 years old, I've been lucky enough to be in a successful band
and now I'm doing my own thing with a bunch of really great friends. 

LR: Are you referring to Nirvana as the successful band? Foo Fighters is
extremely successful. 

DG: Well, we're doing well, but when I talk about Nirvana, that's really
the highlight of my life. 

LR: Do you think Nirvana is impossible to top? 

DG: There's no way to top that, and why would you want to have that thing
two times in your life? It's so special to me that I wouldn't want to try
to get to that again. I thought Kurt was a genius, and I still do. I lived
with him in this tiny little apartment in Olympia, Wash., for eight months
when I joined the band, and we spent every day together. He wrote in his
journal every day, and we'd play guitar and practice harmonies and stuff.
But he was pretty quiet; every now and then he'd spit something out of his
mouth that was just the most hilarious thing you've ever heard. Or he'd
say something so absurd that it made sense. I didn't really know him
before I joined the band, and when I joined them, it was definitely
something that I had never experienced in a band before. I was in awe of
the guy. But the kind of mass adulation the band got seemed wrong and
strange. It was something we never expected. 

LR: Did it make you as uncomfortable as it did him? 

DG: Well sometimes, but I think that I made it out of all that with a
pretty level head. I have a great family, I was married at the time (Grohl
is now divorced); my life outside of the band was entirely normal. I think
that's what saved me. But it was weird sometimes - I'd be having lunch with
my mom and my sister and then I'd have to go and play a show at the Cow
Palace in San Francisco. So I'd walk up to the side door, I'd forgotten my
pass, and they wouldn't let me in the show. I had to say, "Hold on, I'm the
drummer in the band." 

LR: Why did Pat Smear leave Foo Fighters last month? 

DG: He told us he wanted to leave the band about five months ago, and I
begged him to stay. He was just kind of over it. He wanted to do TV stuff -
there's a movie coming out about ^his old band_ the Germs, and he's going
to work on that. He also wants to make another album of his own and
probably start another band. When he first joined Nirvana, all his friends
took bets that he'd last a week; this is the longest he's been in a band
since he was in the Germs. It's been 2 years, and I'm flattered. I was a
huge Germs fan, and when he came up to join Nirvana I expected him to be
this fat, bitter junkie from L.A., and when he showed up the room lit up.
He made the last year of Nirvana a lot smoother than it would have been
otherwise. 

LR: That sounds tempered. Did he make a volatile, dramatic situation
possible for you to stay in? 

DG: Anything's possible. Let's leave it at that. 

LR: Do you hate Courtney Love? 

DG: No. 

LR: Do you like her? 

DG: (Silence). Well, you know what, I haven't seen her in a while, but, I
mean, when we see each other we say, "Hey, what's going on? ..." 

LR: Didn't you write a somewhat scathing song ("I'll Stick Around") that
everyone assumed was about her? 

DG: You know what, let's quit talking about this. 

(An interview in Kerrang)

WHY EXACTLY DID PAT SMEAR LEAVE THE BAND?

[Dave]I think Pat left the band because a) he hated flying, and b) he 
wasn't so into touring any more. He'd bee in our band for longer than 
he'd been in any band since the Germs, and making a two-and-a-half-year 
commitment is pretty good. Like, I'm flattered that he lasted longer in 
our band than in any other.

He wanted to do other things. He was just over it, you know. And it 
wasn't a bad thing. He wanted to do TV, and he's gonna work on a movie. 
He's probably going to make an album of his own, maybe start another 
band. Totally understandable.

[Nate]I think it infringed on his Pat-ness. There's a lot of demands in 
being in a band that goes out and tours and works really hard. Pat is 
such an individual, I think that the commitment to working in this kind 
of environment was too constraining for him.

THERE WERE ALL SORTS OF RUMOURS BEING POSTED ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THE 
REASONS BEHIND PAT'S DEPARTURE. ANY TRUTH IN ANY OF THEM?

[Dave]I don't read the Internet. Bathroom wall bullshit.

ONE RUMOUR IS THAT PAT IS JOINING HOLE. ANY COMMENT?

[Dave]Didn't know about that. That's kind of wild.

[Nate]Well, he's a wild card. People should be betting money on it. 
Anything could happen. He wasn't letting us in on any plans that he had, 
if he had any. I hadn't heard that. I'd believe anything, though.

WHOSE DECISION WAS IT TO MAKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT PAT'S DEPARTURE AND 
FRANZ'S ARRIVAL AT THE MTV AWARDS?

[Taylor]Pat's idea. He thought it'd be a cool way to do it.

[Dave]It was very much a surprise. I mean, it was four months ago when 
he first told us. When he first came and said he wanted to leave we were 
like, 'Ohmigod, no, please stay'. And then we realised, you know, 'Well, 
okay...'. He was nice enough to finish all the shows with us until Franz 
was available. It just happened that Franz's first day of availability 
was the MTV awards. It's true!

[Franz]I was only made aware of Pat's leaving two months ago.

[Taylor]Franz was the first and only guy we thought of. At first, we 
were going to try to talk Pat into staying and then we went into denial. 
All that bullshit. I jammed with Franz before I even joined the Foo 
Fighters. I remember asking Dave, out of curiosity, 'How come you never 
asked Franz to join the Foos?', because I knew they'd played in a band 
together and were really tight friends. He told me it was because Franz 
was in Wool when he formed the Foos. Pat saying he wanted to go was a 
surprise to me, cos I'd just joined the band. I was like, 'What did I 
do? I fucked up the whole thing'.

FRANZ - WHAT WAS YOUR INITIAL REACTION WHEN THE FOOS APPROACHED YOU?

[Franz](laughing)I was like, 'Really?!'. I was in Japan playing with 
this punk rock kid named Jay, who comes from this really huge band over 
there called Luncay and who's just done a solo record. I kind of knew 
about it before I went there. But it kept going back and forth. So I 
said 'Here's my number, call me in Japan if anything happens'. And Dave 
called me. I drank half a bottle of Vodka in celebration.

What really freaked me out was the MTV thing. I was expecting to come 
back and start rehearsing for two weeks. Then I get this call: 'We want 
you to come back and do the MTV Awards'. I came straight from Japan to 
LA, then got on another plane to New York, rehearsed for a few hours on 
the one song, and then played the next day. It was only one song, but it 
was still the longest moment of my life.

IS THIS THE LAST LINE UP CHANGE YOU'LL BE MAKING?

[Dave]I sure hope so. Unless I quit... Actually, then we'd just put 
Taylor up front.

DID YOU EVER CONSIDER SPLITTING THE BAND UP?

[Dave]Nope. Never.

AT WHAT POINT DID YOU DECIDED TO HIRE FRANZ?

[Dave]You know, had Franz not been in Wool at the time, he would've been 
the Foo Fighters' guitar player when we started the band. But he was, 
and Pat's awesome and he was a friend, so...

DID THE TWO OF YOU KEEP IN TOUCH AFTER YOU'D LEFT SCREAM?

[Dave]Well there was a time after I left that we didn't talk. But  then 
we started speaking to each other again. We kept in touch, off and on. 
We were both busy. Wool toured like fucking crazy. They came out on the 
road with Nirvana (in July '95).

WHAT DO YOU HOPE FRANZ WILL BRING TO THE BAND?

[Dave]Good looks. Personality. We needed a pygmy albino really bad, so 
that's what we got.

[Nate]Enthusiasm. He plays guitar completely differently from Pat, so 
it'll be interesting to see what happens with that. And he won't be 
barefoot. And there won't be Perrier on the rider any more...

FRANZ - WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO BRING TO THE BAND?

[Franz]Some good fucking guitar playing. Some fun. Friendship. I hope 
songwriting will be part of it, definitely. But I think Dave's already 
got a gazillion songs.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE PLAYING ONSTAGE WITH KRIST NOVOSELIC AT THE BUMBERSHOOT 
IN SEATTLE RECENTLY?

[Dave]It was awesome. It was the only way it could've ever happened, cos 
that was Pat's last show. We all knew that, and Krist kind of knew it. 
It wasn't planned, it was just totally instinctual. There was a tear in 
my eye as well.

[Taylor]For me, that was weird. Playing with Pat, Dave and Krist. I was 
like, 'Wow, I'm in Nirvana right now!'. That was pretty cool. Krist's a 
really sweet guy. The reason that happened was, Nate kept getting hit in 
the face with shit from the audience, so he just didn't feel like 
playing any more. So Krist just jumped up on the bass. Then we played 
some Zeppelin song ('Communication Breakdown'). It was totally fucking 
around.

DAVE - WILL YOU AND KRIST WORK TOGETHER AGAIN?

[Dave]There is very much a chance that we'll work together. We don't 
have plans, but it's not out of the question.

DESCRIBE THE MOOD IN THE BAND RIGHT NOW.

[Franz]Good. I couldn't be happier playing with these guys.

[Taylor]It's totally happy. A new vibe. I mean, we miss Pat and we love 
him, but we're also lucky and happy to have Franz here.

[Nate]Really positive. It sounds really good, everyone's excited to have 
Franz in the band, we've got a funky stage show and the records picking 
up, so that's exciting too.

YOU'LL BE SUPPORTING THE ROLLING STONES IN THE US SHORTLY. LOOKING 
FORWARD TO IT?

[Dave]Yes. Opening for the Rolling Stones will be such a profound moment 
in my life. I remember being 11 years old, playing Rolling Stones songs 
in my neighbourhood garage band. I don't think anyone should have so 
much punk cred as to say no to the Rolling Stones when they ask you to 
open for them. It's an honour. They're one of the last great rock bands.

[Franz]I'm just looking forward to hanging out with Keith Richards.

[Dave]I don't think any of our fans are going to be there. I think we're 
gonna get pelted off. But at least I can tell my friends we're opening 
for the Rolling Stones.

WILL YOU BE PLAYING ANY NEW MATERIAL AT THESE SHOWS?

[Taylor]Newer than the new album? No. Unless we do 'The Colour And The 
Shape' itself. But I think we'll rely on the most popular songs.

[Dave]We're still getting to know these songs with Franz. But we 
actually started writing a new song together a week ago.

GOT A NAME FOR IT?

[Dave]No. But you know, Franz and I wrote songs together in Scream. He's 
an amazing songwriter. And when everyone says 'Monkey Wrench' and a lot 
of the other new songs are Wool rip-offs, it's just because I took a lot 
from Franz's songwriting.

WILL FRANZ BE WRITING WITH YOU?

[Dave]Of course he'll be writing with us. He's great. Now, I'm looking 
forward to our next record more than I ever had been. For a while I was 
thinking, 'God, what are we gonna do for our next record?'. But Taylor 
plays piano and guitar, and writes songs and sings. Nate writes stuff. 
It's just gonna be the freak-out record. And now with Franz, I just know 
that it'll be this big, strong... Rock Opera! We have to do it. It's 
time for our version of the Beatles' 'White Album'. How about the 'Mauve 
Album'? We'd like to do some recording soon, but we're doing so much 
touring we won't really have too much time.

DAVE - GAVIN ROSSDALE WAS EVIDENTLY UPSET AT THE 'BU$H' T-SHIRT YOU'VE 
WORN ONSTAGE. HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO HIM ABOUT IT?

[Dave]We actually had a discussion about it at the MTV Awards, at an 
aftershow party. We had a nice talk. I don't know if either of us 
laughed or cried. I think we were both really freaked out to sit face to 
face and talk to each other. But evreything's okay now.

WHY DID YOU WEAR IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?

[Dave]I... Er, one of the conditions of our treaty is that there's a 
confidentiality clause.

WHAT DOES THE REST OF THE YEAR HOLD IN STORE FOR THE FOO FIGHTERS?

[Franz]Lots of fucking work.

[Dave]Touring, touring, and more touring. Until they tell us to stop.

WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BAND WILL BE IN 12 MONTHS' TIME?

[Nate]On vacation!

[Dave]Finished touring.

<.....A roadie pops his head round the door and informs Mr Grohl that 
his mother is currently signing autographs outside.

'Shut up!' Dave smirks. Then a look of abject horror crosses his face. 
'Mom!' he snorts, heading fo the door.

The new Foo Fighters, then:happy, healthy, unable to control their 
mothers.
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