Dave Grohl’s Tales of Life and Music

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

News, David, Books, Arts, Storytelling, Wnyc, New, Remnick, News Commentary, Yorker, Politics

4.2 • 5.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2022

⏱️ 27 minutes

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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.
0:08.6	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour, I'm David Brammeck.
0:14.4	Hi, I'm Kelli Fassana, I'm a staff writer at The New Yorker Magazine and on behalf of
0:19.6	The New Yorker Magazine and The New Yorker Festival, thanks for coming out, whether
0:24.8	you're with us.
0:25.8	We want the crowd gathered in Brooklyn to hear from a special guest.
0:29.9	The guy I'm sitting next to has been destroying stages ever since the 1980s when he was a
0:36.1	rambunctious punk kid playing with hardcore bands in the DC area.
0:40.9	Rock musician Dave Grohl.
0:42.7	It's true, he changed the world with Nirvana and then kept changing with Foo Fighters, who
0:48.1	were now 10 albums into one of the most epic rock and roll runs of all time.
0:56.0	Dave Grohl's epic run began as the drummer for Nirvana.
0:59.8	And then after the death of Kurt Cobain, Grohl became a frontman with his own band called
1:14.4	The Foo Fighters.
1:22.5	On this Thanksgiving weekend, we wanted to take a break from the news of the world and bring
1:26.3	you a conversation from last month's New Yorker Festival.
1:30.1	Dave Grohl's new memoir is called The Storyteller.
1:33.2	He talked about the book, his early days, and everything in between with staff writer
1:37.6	Kelli Fassana.
1:39.4	They were on stage at the skyline driving out on the Brooklyn waterfront.
1:43.7	And you might hear something creaking in the breeze off the East River.
1:49.8	Please freak out for Dave Grohl.
	...

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