Current SPIN cover star Dave Grohl essentially forced his Seattle contemporaries Soundgarden into filming their latest music video, “By Crooked Steps.”
“We kind of made them make the video,” the head Foo Fighter admits in the above video interview with Fuse.
Grohl, who just helmed his first feature-length documentary, explains that he cooked up the idea for the Sons of Anarchy-esque clip after hearing “By Crooked Steps,” the third track off Soundgarden’s 2012 album King Animal. “It’s such an awesome Soundgarden song,” the former Nirvana drummer says. “I didn’t know if it was going to be a single or if they wanted to make a video.”
The Sound City Players leader then wrote up an outline for a short and sent it to Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who said he liked the pitch.
“For Soundgarden to do something like that — they’re not known for their ‘wicked’ sense of humor,” Grohl says. “Although, they are really fucking funny people. You would never know. They’re super dry and hilarious.” Well, SPIN did report that Chris Cornell and co. were cracking jokes during a recent Q&A at New York City’s Electric Lady Studios, but sure, they don’t seem like the most lighthearted bunch of dudes. “The idea of them on the segways,” Grohl adds, “I thought, ‘You know, it could work.'” That Deadmau5 cameo didn’t hurt, either.
The 44-year-old rocker/filmmaker summed up his can-do attitude on The Colbert Report recently, saying, “I think that if you’re passionate about something and you’re driven and you’re focused, then you can pretty much do anything that you want to do in life.” Or, as he more eloquently puts it in this Fuse footage, “I directed the shit out of that .”
Don’t miss SPIN’s in-depth, exclusive Dave Grohl coverage:
Read our current cover feature, Mr. Grohl’s Cabinet of Wonder
Flip through our photo gallery, Dave Grohl: The SPIN Cover Shoot
Check out the behind-the-scenes look at our cover story, Yes He Can: Inside SPIN’s February Dave Grohl Cover Story
And find out Fred Armisen’s five favorite Dave Grohl drum performances.
