At Austin’s South by Southwest Music conference this morning, Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl gave the annual keynote address.
Dismissing any state-of-the-industry somberness, Grohl offered his life story as a blueprint for kids who want to grow up playing music.
Grohl said his life was forever changed in the early 70’s, when he heard a record by Texas’ Edgar Winter Group: a song called “Frankenstein.”
“Interestingly enough, that song is completely instrumental,” Grohl said. “There’s no vocal. But what I heard were voices. The voices of each musician. Their personalities. Their technique. The sound of people playing music with other people. It made me want to play music with other people too. “
Grohl’s been using his week at SXSW to promote his new all-star film documentary spotlighting L.A.’s legendary Sound City studios. In an era of digital do-it-yourself music, Grohl keynote underscored that it’s the collaborative spark that still inspires.
