Foos' future could be in concepts

The Foo Fighters want to make sure all their future albums are tied to strong concepts, says drummer Taylor Hawkins – but mainman Dave Grohl appears less ready to commit to the idea, even though it’s his own.

Last year’s Sonic Highways contained eight tracks, each recorded in a different US city, and each accompanied by a documentary about that city’s musical heritage, while previous outing Wasting Light was recorded using 20th-century equipment in a lo-fi setting.

Now Hawkins tells the NME: “It’s not enough to just make a fucking record any more. It used to be a simple process of writing a batch of songs, recording them and putting them out.

“You’d make three videos. If they were good MTV would play them and you’d sell some records. Now you need to do something different.”

The drummer says it’s all Grohl’s idea: “Dave wants every record we make from now on to have some sort of concept around it, whether it’s as large as Sonic Highways or as simple as, ‘Hey, let’s record Wasting Light to tape in my garage.’”

The bandleader previously vowed he’d never get involved in a project like Sonic Highways again – although he later said he’d only spoken through exhaustion. But he reflects: “The biggest challenge for us now would be to just load into a studio and make an album like any other band.

“I’m almost thinking that’s what we should do: go make a fucking record like everybody else does. At our studio, that we build to make albums in.”

Hawkins will support whatever Grohl decides. “He’s always known the best way forward,” he insists. “Even if me and Nate Mendel have a burger afterwards and say, ‘I don’t know about this,’ we’ve still got to have faith and ride it out.”

The Foos cancelled a run of European shows including an appearance at this weekend’s Glastonbury festival after Grohl broke his leg in a stage fall.

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.