There's poetry in being the band that can sell out Wembley but also makes a record in a garage. I don't like doing what people expect me to do.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the balance between commercial success and authentic creativity.
Dave Grohl expresses the duality of success in the music industry, emphasizing that while it's impressive to sell out major venues like Wembley, true artistry often lies in the unrefined, raw process of creating music in a simple garage. He values the freedom to create without being confined by societal expectations or norms, celebrating both high-profile achievements and grassroots creativity.
In practice
In a speech at a music festival about the creative process.
There's a reason why the Foo Fighters don't blast out Nirvana songs every night: because we have a lot of respect for them. You know, that's hallowed ground. We have to be careful. We have to tread lightly. We have talked about it before, but the opportunity hasn't really come up, or it just hasn't felt right.
I think my biggest musical hero growing up was probably Ian MacKaye. He set a great example for all of us local musicians. Still, to this day, I see him as the best example of a right-on musician.
Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most important thing for people to do.
That’s one of the great things about music. You can sing a song to 85,000 people and they’ll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons.
As I get older... I start to realize that life ain't half bad. Each year, I'm amazed that I'm still alive. I don't take any of this for granted, I'm a lucky dude.
When I listen to music these days, and I hear Pro Tools and drums that sound like a machine - it kinda sucks the life out of music.
I have wanted . . . to commit a murder myself. I recognized this as the desire of the artist to express himself! . . . But-incongruous as it may seem to some-I was restrained and hampered by my innate sense of justice. The innocent must not suffer.
I was wearing black clothes almost from the beginning. I feel comfortable in black. I felt like black looked good onstage, that it was attractive, so I started wearing it all the time.
Whether I make them or not, there are always sounds to be heard and all of them are excellent.
'Rent' was the show that made me want to write. Or that showed me you're allowed to write.
Writing is simply something you must do. It's rather like virtue in that it is its own reward.
Looking up in the sky, I saw the stars were brighter now. They made a pattern I had never noticed before- a gleaming constellation that looked a lot like a girls figure- a girl with a bow, running across the sky. "Let the world honor you, my Huntress. Live forever in the stars.
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