DAVE GROHL On FOO FIGHTERS' 'Medicine At Midnight': 'This Album Is Unlike Anything We've Done Before'

Earlier this week, Dave Grohl spoke to Planet Rock DJ Danny Bowes about the upcoming FOO FIGHTERS album, "Medicine At Midnight". Regarding FOO FIGHTERS' musical approach this time around, Dave said (see video below): "I started thinking about the direction that we should take for the next record. And I looked at our back catalog, and I thought, okay, we've covered a lot of territory in 25 years. We've made acoustic albums; we've made noisy rock records; we've made sort of midtempo singalongs. And you look back, and you can use it as reference, but you don't necessarily wanna revisit these places that you've already been. And so of all the things that we've done, I thought the one album we haven't made yet is sort of a groove-oriented party album. I mean, if you were to hear the rest of the record, a lot of it is rooted in these grooves that come from SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE and disco and two-step shuffle sort of thing. As a drummer, I always think about that as a foundation, because that can really create the aesthetic or the vibe of an album. So I thought, okay, a lot of our favorite rock and roll bands over the years have that one record that's a rock and roll record that you can really dance to — whether it's THE ROLLING STONES' 'Tattoo You' or David Bowie's 'Let's Dance' or a POWER STATION record; things like that. I thought, 'We haven't really done that yet.' A lot of our albums are really driving and sometimes kind of morose and melancholy, introspective. I was, like, 'Fuck that! Let's have a party. Let's make that record where you can bounce around.'"

On the topic of why FOO FIGHTERS chose "Shame Shame" as the first single from "Medicine At Midnight", Grohl said: "It's hard to decide which song you present to the people first. You usually want something that will represent the direction or the tone of the album, but you don't necessarily wanna do something that's immediately recognizable as your band; you want something that sort of shows some kind of movement or progress or whatever it is. And when we recorded this song — it was maybe in the middle of the session — it was clear that we hadn't done something like this before, and it inspired us to keep moving in that direction for the rest of the record. I thought if it were up to me, this would be the first thing that the audience would hear. 'Cause this album is unlike anything we've done before. Though it's still the band, and it's still recognizable as the FOO FIGHTERS in some aspects, it's definitely sonically and tonally different than something we've done before."

"Medicine At Midnight" will be released on February 5, 2021 via Roswell Records/RCA Records. On Saturday, November 14 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time, FOO FIGHTERS will be regrouping to mount a full-on rock invasion of your living room, when they play a full set streamed live from the Roxy in Hollywood for any and all who buy a ticket for $15 at this location. If you can't be in front of a TV, tablet, phone, laptop etc. at exactly that time, don't worry: ticket buyers will have access to replay the full stream for 48 hours from the start of the show.

FOO FIGHTERS' Roxy streaming concert event is brought to you in part by the good people at Coors Light, and will feature innovative new technology custom created for this one-of-a-kind FOO FIGHTERS show: Beer's Eye View. For 25 years, Coors Light has been on stage — and in hand — with FOO FIGHTERS. Now for the first time, Beer's Eye View will take fans behind the scenes backstage, into the thick of the action onstage, and to the best seat in the house (the VIB a.k.a. Very Important Beer section) — all from the unique perspective of a live "Can Cam" attached to Dave Grohl's own Coors Light.

A portion of proceeds from FOO FIGHTERS' Roxy streaming show will go to Sweet Relief. Founded in 1993 by Victoria Williams, Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians and music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. Sweet Relief is providing immediate assistance to anyone in the music industry who has been financially impacted by COVID-19.