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When I Was A Teenager, Working Towards Dropping Out Of High School To Starting To Tour With Bands, I'd Drive Around In My Vw Bug Every Morning Before School, Very Stoned Listening Over And Over To Zeppelin. This Song Got To Me Because It Just Seemed Mystical. There Is Something About Those Celtic Tunings That Almost Sounds Eastern. Somehow It Would Sweep Me Up Into My Own Little Trance-like State, Like Sting With Those Shamans In The Amazon. But All I Had Was A Bong And A Led Zeppelin Cassette.

-Dave Grohl

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When I Was A

Dave Grohl

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When I Was A Teenager, Working Towards Dropping Out Of High School To Starting To Tour With Bands, I'd Drive Around In My Vw Bug Every Morning Before School, Very Stoned Listening Over And Over To Zeppelin. This Song Got To Me Because It Just Seemed Mystical. There Is Something About Those Celtic Tunings That Almost Sounds Eastern. Somehow It Would Sweep Me Up Into My Own Little Trance-like State, Like Sting With Those Shamans In The Amazon. But All I Had Was A Bong And A Led Zeppelin Cassette.

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Whenever I Say I Made A Record In The Garage, People Just Assume That I Have, Like, A Lear Jet Parked In There Or Something. But Really There's Old Luggage, A Couple Of Bikes. It's Big Enough To Put One Minivan In. That's It. No Dartboard. I'm So Not Macho.

There's Always Gonna Be Rock N' Roll Bands, There's Always Gonna Be Kids That Love Rock N' Roll Records, And There Will Always Be Rock N' Roll.

The Late '60s And The '70s, A Lot Of This Really Beautiful Equipment Was Being Made And Installed Into Studios Around The World And The Neve Boards Were Considered Like The Cadillacs Of Recording Consoles. They're These Really Big, Behemoth-looking Recording Desks; They Kind Of Look Like They're From The Enterprise In Star Trek Or Something Like That. They're Like A Grayish Color, Sort Of Like An Old Army Tank With Lots Of Knobs, And To Any Studio Geek Or Gear Enthusiast It's Like The Coolest Toy In The World.

If It Weren't For The Beatles, I Would Not Be A Musician.

Nothing's Going To Keep Me From Making Music. If I Were In The Want-ads In The Back Of The Paper Or Playing To Six People At A Coffee Shop, I'd Still Love To Make Music.

You Look Up To Your Heroes And You Shouldn't Be Intimidated By Them; You Should Be Inspired By Them.

I Taught Myself How To Play The Guitar, I Taught Myself How To Play The Drums, And I Kind Of Fake Doing Both Of Them. But Drumming Comes More Natural To Me, And It Just Feels Better.

Develop That Individuality By Working As Hard As You Can At What You Love.

I Dropped Out Of High School And I Couldn't Go To College 'cause I Wasn't Smart Enough, So I'd Resigned Myself To Loading Trucks And Playing Punk Rock On The Weekends.

I'm A Skinny, Geeky, High School Dropout - It Works, Kids! Sensitive Guys Always Get The Girl. You'll Get Laid 10 Times As Much As That Guy On The Football Team 'cause He's On Steroids And He's Gonna Get Fat.

Someone Curating Songs For You Through Your Computer Or Being Able To Hold 10,000 Songs On Your Watch - That Convenience Is Pretty Incredible, But So Is The Emotional Impact Of Holding A Beatles Record In Your Hand And Listening To Let It Be.

A Lot Of People From My Generation Of Music Are So Focused On Playing Things Correctly Or To Perfection That They're Stuck In That Safe Place.

What We Feel Most Comfortable Doing Is Playing Loud, Screaming Rock Songs.

Your Personal History Is A Part Of What Happens With Your Hands And Your Head As You Play Music.

Personal History

And Later, If I Ever Felt That I Was Getting Swept Away By The Craziness Of Being In A Band, Well, I'd Go Back To Virginia.

Chicago Gave Me More Music Than Any Other City In America.

I'd Love It If Everyone Knew One Foo Fighters Song.

When Nirvana Became Popular, You Could Very Easily Slip And Get Lost During That Storm. I Fortunately Had Really Heavy Anchors - Old Friends, Family.

I Never Went To Rock Concerts When I Was A Kid. I Didn't See Any Rock & Roll Bands.

I Think My Biggest Musical Hero Growing Up Was Probably Ian Mackaye He Set A Great Example For All Of Us Local Musicians. Still To This Day I See Him As The Best Example Of A Right-on Musician.

When You're Young, You're Not Afraid Of What Comes Next. You're Excited By It.

Actually, I Didn't Start Sweating Until I Had Children.

I Think I'm Scared A Lot. I'm Scared Of Almost Everything. And I'm Constantly Trying To Work My Way Through Each Obstacle, Whether It's A Present, Past, Or Future Relationship.

Nickelback Walks Into A Bar...there's No Punchline Because Ruining Music Isn't Funny.

I Had A Super Grover Doll Growing Up. Super Grover Was Very Clumsy, He Wasn't Very Good-looking. But In His Own Way He'd Always Save The Day.

No One Is You, And That Is Your Power.

There Are Times When I Feel Like I'm A Traveling Minister. I'm Trying To Go Out And Get Kids To Pick-up Yard Sale Instruments And Change The World.

Cbgb Was A Wild Place, ... The First Time I Ever Played There Was In 1987, I Think, With My Hardcore Band, Scream. And I Remember The Craziest [thing] About That Club Was You Could Be In Front Of The Stage And It Could Be Louder Than Any Show You've Ever Been To In Your Life. But If You Were Towards The Back Of The Club At The Bar, You Could Sit And Have A Conversation With Someone. It Was The Weirdest Thing To Me.

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