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Hi Evan,
Yes, it’s true.
You can hear me tell this story on the Major Label Debut podcast with my old pal Graham Wright from Tokyo Police Club. We do a lengthy deep dive on the album Club Meds, recounting this turbulent period of my life. The Dave Grohl bit comes up around the 1:35:30 timestamp…
But here goes…
Back in 2013, with the help of known genius Jesse Zubot, I scored the film Hector and the Search for Happiness starring Simon Pegg and a wealth of wonderful actors. The director was a terribly charming Brit named Peter Chelsom.
The producers needed a Canadian composer for tax credit purposes, and Peter didn’t want a “traditional” one - he wanted a songwriter. I was recommended to him by one of his Canadian relatives… and an incredible opportunity fell right into my lap.
While working on the film, I played Peter a demo for a then-new song called Vessel. He loved it.
Listen to the Vessel Demo:
He asked me and Jesse to arrange an extended version that could run over the film’s final sequence, which we did.
Listen to the extended version of Vessel from Hector and the Search for Happiness:
I made it clear that Vessel would also appear on my upcoming album with my band. We had just recorded the bed tracks (drums/bass/guitar) in Vancouver. I had a working mix of the song which was instrumental and sparse but full of life.
Peter had recently become close with Dave Grohl because their kids went to school together and were buds. Celebrity play dates. We thought - wouldn’t it be great if Dave would sing on the film’s closing track?
We arranged to show Dave Grohl a rough cut of the film at his home in Los Angeles, which was vast and beautiful but unpretentious. He answered the door in a ripped Sears t-shirt and cargo shorts, half-way through a microwave burrito. He was lovely. Enthusiastic, friendly, and easy going.
After the screening in his TV room, he suggested we wander upstairs to his home studio. He was essentially like, “How can I help?”
I played him the Vessel demo, pointing at him every time the screaming bits came (“STOP! WAIT! UNHAND ME!”). After all, Dave Grohl is a legendary rock screamer.
And then it happened - the thing that neither Peter nor I expected…
He said, “Well, you gotta let me play drums on it.”
I was unprepared for this turn of events. The drums had just been recorded. I had a less than healthy (arguably co-dependent) relationship with my drummer Kenton, whose affirmation I was programmed to seek. I could not imagine telling him that his performance would be replaced by a rock star.
I quickly considered the potential outcomes of this conversation with a genuine celebrity, and the consequences it could have upon my emotional stability back in my normal life with my non-celebrity peers.
I was tangled between wanting to please Peter and Dave, and wanting to please Kenton, with whom I’d spent the previous four years on tour. I was also feeling very protective of my artistic vision for the album, and American radio rock was not on the palette.
Me:
“Oh man. Sorry. We just recorded the bed tracks with my band.”Former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl (noticeably surprised):
“Yeah, but… I mean, come on.”Me:
”…………………….”
I remember glancing at Peter, who shot me a look best described as what the fucking fuck are you doing right now.
And so I sent Dave the bed tracks. On his own, he recorded many layers of chunky electric guitar and vocals for the choruses. I tried to use his guitar tracks but they took the song to a place that just felt wrong. Of course, I kept his vocals.
We talked on the phone. I stumbled through a shitty uncomfortable explanation of how I was proceeding with the song. He genuinely didn’t care - he was very cool about it all. I mean, I’m just some unknown Canadian dude that doesn’t know how to rawk.
His management told us that, though we ought to put his name in the liner note credits, we could not include his name in the press release or promo for the album. The Foo Fighters had a new album on the way, and we were not to usurp any heat or ride any coattails.
But why didn’t I just record two versions of the song?
I could have recorded one with Kenton for the Club Meds album, and one with Dave for the Hector film. I was too caught up in my own fog to think clearly about the opportunity at hand. If I’d agreed, I would have spent a day with Dave, recording in his studio. We would have cracked jokes and gone to lunch. It would have been great.
I think there are ways that we can healthily indulge wild opportunities without getting too big for our britches. In the moment, it felt cool to sacrifice my own personal gain for the sake of my attachment to my bandmates (an ensemble that would dissolve within several years).
In the skin I wear now, at 43, I believe I could handle this situation with grace. I could maintain healthy relationships with my people and also show Dave Grohl how awesome I am. But I’m in a much better place now, in every way - mind, body, soul…
The lesson here is that middle age rules, and that life has chapters, and that this too shall pass. I’m actually happy I turned down Dave, for the learning and growth that has occurred since. I love who I am. I love the people in my life. I love the songs I’ve written since then.
It’s a fallacy to presume you could adjust some moment in the past but preserve what you appreciate about the present. Some call this “counterfactual thinking” - take it from Gordon Bombay and Charlie Conway in this memorable scene from 1992’s The Mighty Ducks…
QUACK, QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!
x
Dan