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CNN Live Saturday

Interview With Dave Grohl

Aired July 05, 2003 - 14:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Entertainment news now, and we will let you decide about the entertainment value. Fans of the rock group Foo Fighters will not get to see their newest video on MTV at least. The network has passed on it for now for its racy content. CNN's Kyra Phillips talked recently with lead singer Dave Grohl and got a peak at the video that MTV is refusing to play.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: I want to know first of all if you were surprised that your video got banned by MTV?

DAVE GROHL, LEAD SINGER, FOO FIGHTERS: Well, I wasn't entirely surprised. I mean, I realized that it was a little risque, more so than anything that we had ever done, but believe me that's the edited version. The version we gave to them, we edited out a lot, so we thought that we had cleaned it out to the point where maybe they would show it after 9:00, maybe they would show on MTV II.

PHILLIPS: Maybe you could buy it at the XXX store down the street.

GROHL: Maybe you can buy it at the sex shop, I don't know, but evidently it was just a little too hot for them, and so they didn't pick up on it.

PHILLIPS: So whose idea was it?

GROHL: Mine.

PHILLIPS: Really? Now we get inside your head, a lot of people have wanted to do that.

GROHL: We're lucky, because the way we work as a band, we have our own studio in Virginia where we make our albums, we do our albums on our own, we do -- all of the creative process is done within the band, so when it comes to making videos, it's not often that we will go to another director for treatment. So we always collaborate with the director of the video. And this time it was as simple as me going out to dinner with a friend of mine, Jesse Peretz (ph), who directed the "Learn to Fly" video, a a video for "Big Me" and the video for "The One," good friend of mine, and I said you know what would be hilarious? Imagine this -- and that was it, and that was the treatment, and we made it happen, and it was quick and easy, and we did it in a day.

But when you get me and Jack Black in a room together with a handheld video camera, it's like there's no director, you go nuts.

PHILLIPS: It's chaos.

GROHL: And we have like six hours of footage too. There's a lot to choose from.

PHILLIPS: So I have got to know are you and Jack kind of hanging back looking at all this raw video, going of my gosh, dude you are nuts?

GROHL: Oh, not really. Believe me I mean Jack Black is the funniest person in the world, there is no question. He is one of the funniest people you have ever met in your life, and nothing is off limits to that guy. He just takes everything 10 times farther than you think it could and so I mean, nothing really surprised us. It was hilarious. We had a blast making it. It was the editing that was tough. Should we put the sex toys in there? Maybe not.

PHILLIPS: Sex toys? Really?

GROHL: See, exactly, you got the PG version.

PHILLIPS: Oh my gosh, oh, boy. All right now, but to actually see this, obviously it's not going to be on MTV. You have got to buy the DVD, right?

GROHL: Yes, well, there are some Web sites that are showing it. Or you can get the DVD. The DVD has the low video and three different versions of "Times Like These" videos, but you can go to our Web site, foofighters.com, and you can check out the video thing. And there's a lot of other Web sites, radio station Web sites that have the video on it, so it's out there. It's just, you know, MTV -- it's not necessarily made for the specific demographic that MTV is catering to at the moment.

PHILLIPS: Quote/unquote demographic, I know we deal with that, too. I don't know if we would be able to put a video like that on. But you know, Dave...

GROWLS: You should.

PHILLIPS: Yes, really, our ratings probably would go up. Now, hey you just got engaged, right?

GROHL: I did. I got engaged last year, but I'm getting married soon.

PHILLIPS: So, what did she think of the video? Is she a little worried now?

GROHL: She was there. I mean...

PHILLIPS: She was shooting it, right?

GROHL: She's totally cool with it, and she was there and laughing hysterically, and she was helping me pick out, like, well, that top is not good, but those fishnets are great. So she helped out with that stuff, but the thing I worry most about is, like her family, OK, so I'm their future son-in-law, and here I am in this video, prancing around with Jack Black in a Strawberry Shortcake outfit.

PHILLIPS: And they are like, OK, this Dave guy, we knew he was a little wild, but this might be (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

GROHL: I hope he's going to be a great father.

PHILLIPS: They are thinking, OK, let's see, during the wedding is he going to be wearing the dress, or will he be wearing the tux?

GROHL: Doesn't go that far.

PHILLIPS: All right. I hope not. And your tour, how is it going?

GROHL: The tour is awesome, the tour has been great. We haven't done an extensive tour of America for a few years, because I mean, we tour internationally so much -- Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia -- we go as much as we can, and the reception in all of those places is so great that we usually don't do the American tours until the last. We save them for the last, like, three or four months of touring. And we have already been out for a year, and we still have got a couple more months to do. And touring is great, man, I mean, next year we are going to have our 10-year anniversary for the band, which blows me away. And it's great now because we are like a family on stage, it's not like a band or a group. We are like family. And so we look at each other like, let's go play and we experiment on stage with each other, and afterwards we have dinner and go to sleep. It's great. It's wonderful.

PHILLIPS: And here's your final chance, Dave Grohl, to come out and say, future mom and dad I promise I am not a cross-dresser, you are marring a really great young man.

GROHL: Believe me, they know, and I think they secretly kind of like it, too. I know my fiancee does.

PHILLIPS: All right, Dave. Foo Fighters lead singer. I know a lot of people are going to be calling about this. Thanks for being with us.

GROHL: All right.

PHILLIPS: All right, good luck.

GROHL: See you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 5, 2003 - 14:49   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Entertainment news now, and we will let you decide about the entertainment value. Fans of the rock group Foo Fighters will not get to see their newest video on MTV at least. The network has passed on it for now for its racy content. CNN's Kyra Phillips talked recently with lead singer Dave Grohl and got a peak at the video that MTV is refusing to play.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: I want to know first of all if you were surprised that your video got banned by MTV?

DAVE GROHL, LEAD SINGER, FOO FIGHTERS: Well, I wasn't entirely surprised. I mean, I realized that it was a little risque, more so than anything that we had ever done, but believe me that's the edited version. The version we gave to them, we edited out a lot, so we thought that we had cleaned it out to the point where maybe they would show it after 9:00, maybe they would show on MTV II.

PHILLIPS: Maybe you could buy it at the XXX store down the street.

GROHL: Maybe you can buy it at the sex shop, I don't know, but evidently it was just a little too hot for them, and so they didn't pick up on it.

PHILLIPS: So whose idea was it?

GROHL: Mine.

PHILLIPS: Really? Now we get inside your head, a lot of people have wanted to do that.

GROHL: We're lucky, because the way we work as a band, we have our own studio in Virginia where we make our albums, we do our albums on our own, we do -- all of the creative process is done within the band, so when it comes to making videos, it's not often that we will go to another director for treatment. So we always collaborate with the director of the video. And this time it was as simple as me going out to dinner with a friend of mine, Jesse Peretz (ph), who directed the "Learn to Fly" video, a a video for "Big Me" and the video for "The One," good friend of mine, and I said you know what would be hilarious? Imagine this -- and that was it, and that was the treatment, and we made it happen, and it was quick and easy, and we did it in a day.

But when you get me and Jack Black in a room together with a handheld video camera, it's like there's no director, you go nuts.

PHILLIPS: It's chaos.

GROHL: And we have like six hours of footage too. There's a lot to choose from.

PHILLIPS: So I have got to know are you and Jack kind of hanging back looking at all this raw video, going of my gosh, dude you are nuts?

GROHL: Oh, not really. Believe me I mean Jack Black is the funniest person in the world, there is no question. He is one of the funniest people you have ever met in your life, and nothing is off limits to that guy. He just takes everything 10 times farther than you think it could and so I mean, nothing really surprised us. It was hilarious. We had a blast making it. It was the editing that was tough. Should we put the sex toys in there? Maybe not.

PHILLIPS: Sex toys? Really?

GROHL: See, exactly, you got the PG version.

PHILLIPS: Oh my gosh, oh, boy. All right now, but to actually see this, obviously it's not going to be on MTV. You have got to buy the DVD, right?

GROHL: Yes, well, there are some Web sites that are showing it. Or you can get the DVD. The DVD has the low video and three different versions of "Times Like These" videos, but you can go to our Web site, foofighters.com, and you can check out the video thing. And there's a lot of other Web sites, radio station Web sites that have the video on it, so it's out there. It's just, you know, MTV -- it's not necessarily made for the specific demographic that MTV is catering to at the moment.

PHILLIPS: Quote/unquote demographic, I know we deal with that, too. I don't know if we would be able to put a video like that on. But you know, Dave...

GROWLS: You should.

PHILLIPS: Yes, really, our ratings probably would go up. Now, hey you just got engaged, right?

GROHL: I did. I got engaged last year, but I'm getting married soon.

PHILLIPS: So, what did she think of the video? Is she a little worried now?

GROHL: She was there. I mean...

PHILLIPS: She was shooting it, right?

GROHL: She's totally cool with it, and she was there and laughing hysterically, and she was helping me pick out, like, well, that top is not good, but those fishnets are great. So she helped out with that stuff, but the thing I worry most about is, like her family, OK, so I'm their future son-in-law, and here I am in this video, prancing around with Jack Black in a Strawberry Shortcake outfit.

PHILLIPS: And they are like, OK, this Dave guy, we knew he was a little wild, but this might be (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

GROHL: I hope he's going to be a great father.

PHILLIPS: They are thinking, OK, let's see, during the wedding is he going to be wearing the dress, or will he be wearing the tux?

GROHL: Doesn't go that far.

PHILLIPS: All right. I hope not. And your tour, how is it going?

GROHL: The tour is awesome, the tour has been great. We haven't done an extensive tour of America for a few years, because I mean, we tour internationally so much -- Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia -- we go as much as we can, and the reception in all of those places is so great that we usually don't do the American tours until the last. We save them for the last, like, three or four months of touring. And we have already been out for a year, and we still have got a couple more months to do. And touring is great, man, I mean, next year we are going to have our 10-year anniversary for the band, which blows me away. And it's great now because we are like a family on stage, it's not like a band or a group. We are like family. And so we look at each other like, let's go play and we experiment on stage with each other, and afterwards we have dinner and go to sleep. It's great. It's wonderful.

PHILLIPS: And here's your final chance, Dave Grohl, to come out and say, future mom and dad I promise I am not a cross-dresser, you are marring a really great young man.

GROHL: Believe me, they know, and I think they secretly kind of like it, too. I know my fiancee does.

PHILLIPS: All right, Dave. Foo Fighters lead singer. I know a lot of people are going to be calling about this. Thanks for being with us.

GROHL: All right.

PHILLIPS: All right, good luck.

GROHL: See you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com