Now, producer Butch Vig fills in more details behind the project in a new interview with MTV News.
“[Dave] mentioned to me,” said Vig, “when they played Wembley [Stadium in the U.K.] at the end of last tour, they were like, 'Holy sh--, I can't believe how big we are.' ... And he was thinking what to do next, and so he said, 'I want to do something really primal sounding.' And had me up to his house, and when I got there — this was nine months ago — he opened up his garage door and went, 'I want to record the record in here.' And I said, 'Uh, OK ... '
"So, literally, we got a drum kit and put it in there, and he started banging on it, and I was like, 'Wow, it's really intense sounding,' because it's a small garage, just drywall, you know?" Vig continued. "And then he said, 'Cool, well, here's another thing: I want to do it on tape, 24-track tape. I don't want to use any computers.' And I said, 'Look, I totally understand this, [but] it's going to be a lot of work, because you guys have got to play really good.' Because you can fix anything with computers, Auto-Tune everything until it becomes perfect, and he said, 'I want the record to sound rawer and somewhat imperfect. As good as we play, that's how good the record will sound.' And, you know what? It sounds great. They're f---ing badass players. It's an honest record. It sounds real."
With a special guest appearance by Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, the new Foo album reunites Grohl, Krist and Vig after all these years.
"When Krist came up to Dave's house, we sort of sat down and it was like, 'Holy sh--, man, we hadn't been in a room together — the three of us — in almost 20 years,'" said Vig, who produced Nirvana's 1991 album "Nevermind." "So Krist did his bass overdubs, and he added a little accordion part at the start and end of the song, and then we just sat around and shot the sh-- for three or four hours. Dave and I were sipping on some wine, and Krist started drinking some bootleg whiskey, and it was great. ... One story would lead to another story, and it was an amazing experience, just to be there, to open up all these things you may have forgotten about. It was really a pretty special part of the album."
Read more of Vig’s interview at MTV News here.
Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench
Wembley Stadium – London, UK – June, 2008
See also:
VIDEO: Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl shows off garage studio
Foo Fighters documentary to be released alongside new album
Hear new Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters: This Video Sucks contest
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Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl to appear in Muppets movie
