Dave Grohl discussed recording Foo Fighters’ The Colour and the Shape with a dog pissing on him every night in a new Hot Press interview.
“I felt I had to do it – to exorcise something in my soul,” he says of starting over with the Foo’s self-titled debut LP from 1995. “The intention of this band from day one has always been to keep the ball rolling: as musicians, as human beings, as friends. To feel like life keeps moving forward. We still feel like that every time we make a record – every time we step on stage. We feel like life is moving forward and that we’re not looking back.”
Grohl was pleasantly surprised Foo Fighters – essentially a solo project – took off. But the real breakthrough was in 1997, with the Colour And The Shape. On the 20th anniversary of the album that yielded such signature hits as ‘Everlong’ and ‘Monkey Wrench’, does he look back and think, ‘Wow that guy really had his shit together?’
“Hah no,” says Grohl, all trace of sadness leaving his voice. “I remember making that record while not having a place to live. I was sleeping in my friend’s back room in a sleeping bag. His dog would come in and piss on the sleeping bag every fucking night. The next day I’d go into the studio with [notorious taskmaster producer] Gil Norton and he’d make me do 30 or 40 takes.
“It was total fucking chaos. The fact we survived that means we could survive anything. I don’t even like to listen to that record. I love to play the songs live. But I listen back and it just gives me the fucking chills. It’s like, ‘Oh god, that dog was pissing on me every night’.”
