Earlier this year, Foo Fighters parted ways with Josh Freese, eventually replacing him with Nine Inch Nails’ longtime drummer Ilan Rubin. Now, in his first interview as a member of the band, Rubin reflected on joining the Foos and what his first few gigs as their new drummer have been like.
Rubin’s remarks came during a joint interview with Dave Grohl and keyboardist Rami Jaffee for the Japanese magazine Rockin’On. The conversation was originally published in Japanese and has since been translated.
“Well, it’s just too awesome (laughs),” Rubin said when asked how he feels about being a Foo Fighter. “In a way, I ended up joining this band by chance, but right now I feel like I’m at home so much. I have so much fun being with everyone, it even feels like we’ve been touring together for years (laughs).”
“I’m having so much fun playing with my new friends in this band,” he added. “What’s more, we’re all so united and bonded, and we’re all so friendly and comfortable to be around. It’s absolutely the best, and I’m just so comfortable.”
When asked whether he’s already learned the band’s full catalog, Rubin said that while he still has a long way to go, he’s made significant progress.
“We happened to have some free time in our schedules, and we had a lot more time than we expected to prepare,” Rubin replied. “During that time, some of the members were spending time with their families or on holiday, but when we all returned, we naturally started playing together, and before we knew it, we’d already practiced quite a few songs. Yeah. Eventually, Dave said, ‘No, let’s stop here.’ (laughs)”
Grohl then chimed in: “Yeah. If you stuff too much space onto your hard drive at once, your PC might explode. (laughs) I have to act as a stopper and make sure to save it properly. (laughs)”
“But in the end, we must have mastered about 40 songs,” Rubin continued. “Then, as you know, Dave isn’t the type to sit still, so we immediately started planning live shows. (laughs) To be honest, I thought, ‘Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves?'”
Rubin went on to reiterate that he genuinely feels like he fits in with the group.
“Even from the first time we stepped onstage at that small venue, we felt so natural, and after our first show, I had this feeling that it’s only going to get better from here, and it really has.”
