During an appearance on SiriusXM, Dave Grohl discussed what distinguishes Nirvana from the Foo Fighters, as well as the creation of ‘In Utero.’
After Krist Novoselic described how they used to record in various locations, including a laundry room and a basement, and create songs through improvisation, Grohl stated:
“I believe that much of this was intended to restore our sense of self-worth or identity. We’re still the same band, and we’re not going to be swayed by all this crazy nonsense, and we felt most at ease doing it that way.”
Drawing A Distinction Between Nirvana’s Music-Making And Foo Fighters’
He then compared being in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, explaining:
“Having been in the Foo Fighters for so long, I think about being in Nirvana, and it was just… When we entered a room to play music, it was so incredibly simple. All of the other complications simply vanished, like putting my drums in the back of my car and driving to Krist’s house, then going to the basement and putting them in there and starting playing. Even though people think of us as a giant band, we continued to make music as we always had.”
A Look Back At Nirvana’s Approach To Music
In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Grohl elaborated on Nirvana’s creative process, saying:
“Normally, when Nirvana made music, there wasn’t much conversation. We wanted everything to appear surreal. We didn’t want a contrived composition. We’d start jamming to songs like ‘Heart-Shaped Box‘. Kurt would play the riff, Krist would pay attention to what he was doing, and I would play along with them. We’d get into this pattern of getting loud, then quiet, then loud. A lot of that quiet-loud effect came from those experimental jams.”
Fans of the rocker frequently draw parallels between his time with Nirvana and Foo Fighters, owing to his prominent roles in both bands. However, during a 2022 appearance on Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar, Dave stated that deciding between two bands would be difficult, and he did not want to favour one over the other.
