Dave Grohl’s Tales of Life and Music

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2022

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At The New Yorker Festival, Dave Grohl talked with Kelefa Sanneh about Grohl’s recent book, “The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music.” Grohl, who was the drummer for Nirvana before becoming the front man of the Foo Fighters, recalled one of his earliest experiences of taking music seriously: harmonizing with his mom to Carly Simon on the car radio. He also talked about what it was like to collaborate with Kurt Cobain, who was known for his capricious genius, and about stepping out from behind the drums to lead his own band. “After Kurt died, I was, like, I’m not playing music anymore—it’s too painful,” he remembered. “And then I eventually realized that if music saved my life, my entire life, this is what’s going to save my life again.” This segment was originally aired November 26, 2021.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:11.4	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Ramnik.
0:14.8	Hi, I'm Kellifacana. I'm a staff writer at The New Yorker Magazine, and on behalf of the New Yorker
0:20.2	Magazine and the New Yorker Festival, and on behalf of the New Yorker magazine and the New Yorker
0:22.4	Festival, thanks for coming out, whether you're with us here. Last fall, a crowd gathered in Brooklyn
0:27.3	to hear from a very special guest. The guy I'm sitting next to has been destroying stages
0:33.9	ever since the 1980s when he was a rambunctious punk kid playing with hardcore bands in the
0:39.4	D.C. area. Rock musician Dave Grohl. It's true. He changed the world with Nirvana and then kept
0:46.0	changing with foo fighters, who were now 10 albums into one of the most epic rock and roll runs
0:52.2	of all time.
0:59.1	Dave Grohl's epic run began as the drummer for Nirvana.
1:07.7	Then after the death of Kurt Cobain,
1:11.3	Grohl became a front man for his own band, Foo Fighters.
1:21.2	On this Labor Day weekend, we wanted to take a break from the news of the world and bring you a conversation from last year's New Yorker Festival. Dave Grohl's recent memoir
1:26.4	is called The Storyteller.
1:28.3	He talked about the book, his early days, and so much more with staff writer Kellifassane.
1:33.6	They were on stage last October at the Skyline Drive-in, out on the Brooklyn waterfront.
1:38.4	And as they talk, you might hear something creaking in the breeze off the East River.
1:42.3	But it's all good.
1:44.9	Please freak out for Dave Grohl.
1:53.2	Awkward.
1:54.8	So Dave, we're here at the New Yorker Festival, and we're here to talk about your literary career,
	...

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