Foo Fighters HBO musical travelogue series Sonic Highways next visits Washington D.C., and Rolling Stone has your exclusive preview atwhat Dave Grohl considers to be his homecoming. Having grown up in the Virginia suburbs outside of D.C., Grohl got his start in the citys influential hardcore scene performing with local acts like Dain Bramage and Scream before popping up on Nirvanas radar.
The experiences Ive had in this city, from the age of 14 years old, set this foundation for the rest of my life as a musician, Grohl says in the clip above. The community, the support, the love that was here in the D.C. music scene has carried over into what I do now. The way that Foo Fighters work now, were like a family, and we try to treat everyone that way.
Grohl also credits the D.C. hardcore scene for keeping him grounded and humble in the face of festival-headlining fame. The message wasnt We are rock stars and we are better than you. The message was We are people and were all in this together. I got that from Washington D.C., and it makes its way into our music, he says.
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The preview also features some of the D.C. artists thatll appear on Grohls hometown episode of Sonic Highways, including Minor Threat/Fugazi frontman and Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye, Bad Brains,Trouble Funks Big Tony Fisher and hardcore punk producer Don Zientara. It was at ZientarasInner Ear Studios where Grohl and the Foos recorded their D.C.-inspired Sonic Highways cut The Feast and the Famine, which the band unveiled late Thursday night in anticipation of their trip to the nations capital.
As with the Foos Chicago-inspired Something From Nothing,many of The Feast and the Famine lyrics are likely derived from interviews Grohl had with D.C. musicians, but well have to wait until the episode premieresto decipher who said what. The track does possess the citys trademark aggressive, hardcore feel and ruthless drums as Grohl sings of building a monument to faded dreams. Sonic Highways the album is out November 10th.
The song opens up with the line, Last night they were burning for truth, down at the corner of 14th and U, which is the primary location for the citys 1968 riots following the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. The location is also near thecitys iconic Black Cat venue where countless hardcore acts have made their name. Like last weeks gig at the Cubby Bear,Foo Fighters themselves will take the stage at the Black Cat for another all-star midnight showfollowing the premiere of theD.C. episode Friday night.