Foo Fighters barely stopped touring following the release of Concrete And Gold in 2017. When did you find time to write and record your new Coattail Riders album?
“I came up with a lot of my ideas for my songs while I was on my bike, and the album was just pieced together. I’m always in my studio recording. I would do demos every time I came home from tour. We’d have two weeks off and I’d spend a couple of days kissing my wife’s ass, doing everything she’d asked me to, then I’d go into the studio for a couple of days and record.”
There are a lot of guest appearances on this record. How did you coordinate them?
“I was just calling in favours, like Chrissie Hynde! I mean, how could I be so lucky to have Chrissie Hynde on my Foo Fighters side project? She’s really sweet and wonderful. Actually, she’s not – she’s tough as nails and she’ll kick you in the balls. I sent her a text and asked if she’d be interested in doing a duet with me. I sent her Get The Money, which also features the great Joe Walsh. She rented a studio in London for the day and sang on it. She’s one of my heroes and one of the greatest songwriters of the last 35 years, end of story. Perry Farrell, who’s one of my heroes, is on the record, too.”
Given you’re such a big fan, that must have been a fun day in the studio.
“Oh yeah! Perry is a good friend and one of my favourite singers and lyricists of all time. I helped him on his solo record [Kind Heaven]; I helped him write a song and played a few drum tracks. I was so happy when he guested on this.”
And you’ve come full circle by having Queen’s Roger Taylor sing on your cover of Shapes Of Things…
“I’ve known him for years. The original version was by The Yardbirds, obviously, but the song is on the Jeff Beck Group’s Truth record, too. We did more of a Jeff Beck version. [Former Sex Pistols guitarist] Steve Jones and Pat Smear played on that, too. Duetting with Roger was awesome. I’m really proud of this record. My voice sounds more confident than it ever has before.”
We suppose when you get out from behind your kit to sing in front of tens of thousands of people every night, it must hone your vocal chops.
“Like when I get up and do [Foos’ cover of Queen’s] Under Pressure? If you don’t learn at that point, you’re never going to fucking learn! I really enjoy it, I really do. It’s a very relaxing time, and it’s nice to hand the drumsticks over to Dave and go up front and shake my ass. It’s funny, Foo Fighters were just down in Costa Rica and one of my best friends was down there, because he’s a surfer. He was like, ‘Dude, you’re just getting really comfortable at that, aren’t you?’ I feel like my pitch is getting better and I’m getting better at handling a crowd, you know?”
This interview originally appeared in Kerrang! issue K!1796, published in October 2019.