“Steve was never one to cage a musician, impose any boundaries,” says Dave Grohl, recalling his long association with producer Steve Albini and the pivotal learning experience of their first encounter: Nirvana’s third and final studio album, In Utero, made with Albini and released in September, 1993. “His intention was to capture the sound and the moment that a song arrives.”
Grohl remembers the start of the album’s blitzkrieg genesis: “We loaded in, he miked everything up, we got sounds, and he said, ‘OK, what’s first?’ We said Serve The Servants. We played it once. He said, ‘OK, what’s next?’” The album was finished in ten days.
Kurt Cobain’s determination to record with Albini predated 1991’s Nevermind. Bassist Krist Novoselic remembered listening to Albini’s work on the Pixies’ 1988 LP Surfer Rosa in Nirvana’s tour bus. “Kurt made a proclamation,” he told MOJO's David Fricke in 2013. “He actually put his finger in the air: ‘This is the drum sound. Hear that snare sound? This is what we want.’ That’s how we got to In Utero.”
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When Albini died of a heart attack at his Chicago home in May, 2024, aged 61, the obituaries covered his history with seminal post-punk bands Big Black and Shellac but inevitably led with his most acclaimed productions: Surfer Rosa, PJ Harvey’s Rid Of Me (1993) and In Utero. “When [Nirvana] had their shit together, they tended to knock things out and not mess around,” Albini said. When Cobain overdubbed his vocals, “he sang the bulk of the album in one session.”
Recorded over a matter of weeks at Grohl’s small home studio, Foo Fighters made their forthcoming new album Your Favorite Toy with the same urgency (“If we got something on the first take, it was a trophy,” Grohl boasts) and attention was paid to Albini’s envied way with drum sounds. “Dave talks about making records with Albini all the time,” says engineer Oliver Roman. At one point, drum tracks were played back through a speaker in Grohl’s garage for that Albini depth-charge effect.
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Grohl remained a friend and fan after In Utero, featuring Albini in the inaugural episode of his HBO documentary series Sonic Highways. “We shared a sharp, dark sense of humor,” Grohl says, speaking exclusively in the latest issue of MOJO. “I would get texts from him asking if it’s true that all the punk bands in D.C. were inspired by Iron Maiden. I was heartbroken when he passed. I’ve never met anyone like him, and I’m sure I never will.”
“This was something we needed to do, because it saved us once before...”
Speaking to MOJO his first in-depth print interview for four years, Dave Grohl unveils a new chapter in his musical odyssey, previewing Foo Fighters’ incendiary new album, while still processing the fallout from Taylor Hawkins’ tragic passing four years ago. “Why do I keep doing this?” he asks David Fricke. “I don’t know the answer....” Get the latest issue of MOJO to read the interview in full. More information and to order a copy HERE!
