Dave Grohl

[0] Hi, my name's Dave Grohl, and I feel somewhat conflicted about being Conan O 'Brien's friend.

[1] Back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, walking loose, climb the fence, books and pens, I can tell that we are going to be friends.

[2] Yes, I can tell that we are going to be friends.

[3] Hey there.

[4] Welcome to Conan O 'Brien needs a friend.

[5] We have a lovely show.

[6] I'm in a good mood.

[7] I wouldn't say I'm hitting on all cylinders.

[8] If I'm a six cylinder engine, I think four are working.

[9] But what I'm saying is for me, that's pretty good.

[10] I think you're six all the time.

[11] Sorry.

[12] Yeah.

[13] Sona, before we get into the show, I understand you have a bit of news that you'd like to share with us.

[14] About my dad's birthday?

[15] Oh, is it your dad's birthday?

[16] Yeah.

[17] Today's my dad's birthday.

[18] That's great.

[19] I love your dad.

[20] Your dad is Gil.

[21] I'm nervous.

[22] No, don't be nervous.

[23] I love your dad and I do a great impression of your dad.

[24] Yes.

[25] Your dad has a big mustache and my impression of your dad is I just put my finger under my nose.

[26] That is it.

[27] That's all I do.

[28] I take my finger and I put it under my nose and I say, I'm Gil.

[29] I'm Gil Mavsessian.

[30] How are you?

[31] And there's no attempt to match his voice.

[32] It's just a finger under my nose.

[33] It's childish and it's silly.

[34] But I do wish him a happy birthday.

[35] Oh, that's nice.

[36] You know, it's actually, I hate, I can't believe I'm going to tell you this right now, but it is one of two of his birthdays, because my dad did grow up in a village that was very poor.

[37] And so, uh, when they were born, the guy who did the birth certificate.

[38] Wait, now, which country was he living in the time?

[39] He was in, he was in a village in Turkey in this, in a village called Sivas or Sopostiaz, both.

[40] Um, but then.

[41] The village has two, I'm sorry to cut you off, but I need to get the fact straight.

[42] It has two names.

[43] Two names.

[44] Sivas or Sepastias?

[45] And he has two birthdays?

[46] He has two.

[47] So he was born in November, but the birth certificate guy doesn't come by all the time.

[48] And then he puts the birthday down for the day he came to the village, which was in February.

[49] So we lived our whole lives.

[50] And I think when my brother and I were in our 20s, my dad's like, you know, this isn't my real birthday.

[51] We're like, what?

[52] He's like, I was born in November, and we're like, what?

[53] Wait a minute.

[54] How does that even work?

[55] Wait a minute.

[56] Does he know what date he was born in November?

[57] No. No one recorded that?

[58] No, because the birth certificate guy didn't come until February.

[59] He was there February 5th, and he's like, his birthday's today, but he was like a four -month -old baby.

[60] Right.

[61] But the birth certificate guy, there's one guy, and he gets around, what's his mode of transportation?

[62] Do we know?

[63] I mean, come on.

[64] I don't know.

[65] That's a weird question And I feel like You want me to set you up For like, oh, the donkey Like I don't know what it was That's insensitive Why wouldn't do that?

[66] That's terrible I'm sure, no, I would not I'm sure he was not writing some beast And I, that's ridiculous I'm sure he was in a Hyundai You know, I don't know It doesn't matter to me What he was on I think you're the one You are so afraid That I'll say something insensitive about your culture That you're the one Creating all these insensitive stereotypes And now I'm And now I'm picturing the birth certificate guy who's got, you know, a bunch of birth certificates in his burlap sack on a donkey because of you.

[67] That's you that did that.

[68] So shame on you.

[69] My aunt, hold on, this one's an even better story.

[70] Well, it's not a better story because it's that.

[71] My aunt had a brother who passed away.

[72] So then they took his old birth certificate and just erased his information and put her information when she was born.

[73] But they didn't change the gender.

[74] So she was a boy.

[75] on her birth certificate.

[76] What?

[77] And then she came to this country and they were like, you're, or I think because you have to, like, it's mandatory military service at 18 in Turkey.

[78] And so they were like, you have to serve in the military.

[79] And she's like, I'm a woman.

[80] And they're like, your birth certificate says you're a guy.

[81] And she's like, that's a mistake.

[82] I'm a woman.

[83] This isn't, wait a minute, what year are we talking about here?

[84] You're not talking about, you're not talking about, this didn't happen in the 19th century, right?

[85] This happened in the modern era.

[86] Yes?

[87] Is that right?

[88] So my aunt is a much older woman.

[89] She's in her 80s.

[90] You mean he's in her 80s?

[91] Yeah.

[92] Let's get the pronouns straight here.

[93] They all came to this world.

[94] They made a much better life for themselves in this country.

[95] And, you know.

[96] First of all, we've all had.

[97] Amazing people.

[98] Yes, it's amazing people.

[99] And you know that.

[100] I've been to Armenia with you.

[101] I think the Armenian people are a beautiful, resilient people.

[102] And I have great respect for their culture.

[103] You shouldn't be nervous.

[104] Those things are all true.

[105] And then you come with these stories about a man on a donkey with a burlap sack and there's a bunch of passports.

[106] You're the one that said that.

[107] I didn't say that.

[108] You say that I floated to this country in a basket because my dad survived a goat attack.

[109] You did that.

[110] That's a joke I made 10 years ago that just happened to find its way into a major cover story on the in Rolling Stone magazine.

[111] God knows.

[112] These are the things that happen when you're at my level and things are happening fast and furious.

[113] Occasionally you say that you're...

[114] And look, we're living in an era of alternate truths, all kinds of crazy conspiracy theories.

[115] So maybe my idea of how you came to this country is just as legitimate as your idea.

[116] Who's to say what's the real idea, you know?

[117] Reality, actually.

[118] Who's to say what that is, man. Hey, it's 420.

[119] Let's blaze up.

[120] What are you talking about?

[121] Maybe we're in the cages and the animals are looking at us, dude.

[122] Oh, my God.

[123] So my point is, that's an incredible story.

[124] I identify with your dad, I feel for him.

[125] I was listed, my gender was on my passport was indeterminate because of...

[126] Still forming.

[127] Well, to be on it, to be fair, when I got my passport, which is later in life, it, I was a slow.

[128] I was a slow bloomer.

[129] Everything worked out, but for the first 18, 19 years of my life, it was still forming.

[130] It?

[131] What?

[132] It was still forming.

[133] The primitive penis that I was born with.

[134] Oh, God.

[135] But you know what?

[136] Thank God for those surgeries.

[137] Hey, and a shout out to Dr. Boutman.

[138] You know, that was nine surgeries, but we figured it out.

[139] Just foolishness.

[140] Just random foolishness.

[141] I was just trying to take the attention off of, I can't believe your dad has two birthdays.

[142] But you know what?

[143] He just, and came from a village that has two names.

[144] And probably no one can agree on what names.

[145] One is the Armenian name, and the other one, if you look up Sivas, that's what you'll see from like an English -speaking map.

[146] But the only question that I have for you, you say like, well, we don't know when my dad was born because the passport man wasn't there.

[147] You'd think someone would have written down on something, hey, Gill was born today.

[148] And then the passport people may get it wrong, but they can still know, yeah, it was November 8th.

[149] Remember, that was the day Gil was born.

[150] Well, my dad was one of six.

[151] I can't relate to that.

[152] At one point, they're just like, ah, it's another one.

[153] Like, whatever.

[154] There's another one here.

[155] And then they, you know.

[156] I know that's feeling.

[157] I was meeting siblings in the bathroom in eighth grade that I hadn't met before.

[158] It's like if you serve on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf, you sometimes don't meet other, you never meet the other person on the ship.

[159] You can, and that's what it was like in my family.

[160] My sister, Jane, we met when she was.

[161] 14 and I was 18 and she's lovely.

[162] I love Jane.

[163] I just didn't.

[164] We're rattling around.

[165] There's a lot going on.

[166] Potatoes are flying.

[167] I didn't know.

[168] A quick handshake.

[169] A hello.

[170] She seemed lovely.

[171] Haven't seen her since.

[172] There was a lot of confusion.

[173] There was a lot of going on.

[174] This reminds me of my favorite story about my mom.

[175] There was a lot of chaos growing up just because you know my mom was working.

[176] My dad's working.

[177] There's a bunch of kids.

[178] And my mother is very proud person.

[179] And I remembered her once telling me, I'm going to tell you something.

[180] I worked very hard to teach each one of you everything you need to know in life.

[181] I taught both your sisters.

[182] I taught them how to sew, how to cook, how to clean, how to do all the things they'll need to know.

[183] And I said to her, Mom, I honestly don't remember you teaching them any of that.

[184] And she went, because there wasn't time.

[185] And I'm like, well, which is it?

[186] She went on this whole thing I worked so hard I taught them everything I don't think there wasn't time that is the perfect Irish Conan O 'Brien story because it mixes grandiosity with defensiveness Mom I love you you know that but you taught us nothing did you did you introduce Matt Oh it's okay They get it by now Yeah I'm having a slow day Anyway you know what I actually think I took a Tylenol today, but I think I took a Tylenol PM.

[187] So I think I'm, I think I'm asleep.

[188] You didn't really pipe up much.

[189] And I noticed in the interview, I didn't hear you at all.

[190] So I think, and at one point I looked over, because we're on Zoom, you were wearing a Dickensian nightcap.

[191] Do you know, because you've mentioned that twice on this podcast, my wife got me one for Christmas.

[192] Great.

[193] I love that.

[194] It's packed away with the Christmas stuff, but it's red plaid, you know.

[195] Have you ever in the night heard a sound and you're wearing your nightcap and you light a small candle, a nub of a candle, and it's got a little holder and you go down and you see a little mouse in the corner of the kitchen and you guys share a wink?

[196] Has that ever happened?

[197] I'm wearing just a nightgown and my knees start knocking.

[198] All right.

[199] Well, I am very excited.

[200] Today my guest is one of the most accomplished voices in rock.

[201] He is the lead singer and guitarist for the 11 -time Grammy Award winning band Foo Fighters.

[202] their 10th studio album, Medicine at Midnight, is now available.

[203] And it's fantastic.

[204] I'm honored to talk to this gentleman today.

[205] I'm stunned by what this guy has accomplished in his career.

[206] Dave Grohl, welcome.

[207] Okay, Dave, what's the conflict?

[208] I think we could be great friends.

[209] I see no barrier.

[210] Actually, there is no conflict because we do have a mutual friend in our tour manager, Gus Brandt, who was once your tour manager as well.

[211] Yes, 10 years ago, I had a tour manager, Gus Brandt, and Gus's claim to fame, he made it very clear early on, was that he was also a foo fighter's tour manager.

[212] He would throw that at me constantly.

[213] So we had these big shows in big venues, not by your standards, Dave, but by my standards, these were massive venues, big crowds, big finalees, encores, hard rock ending and crowds going crazy and every night I would go up to Gus this was our running joke and say huh, Grohl?

[214] Can Grohl top that?

[215] You think Grohl can top that?

[216] And every night, Brant would be like, oh yeah, no, no, they get that every night and more so.

[217] And I'd be like, yeah, well, we'll see about tomorrow night.

[218] We'll see tomorrow night.

[219] And then we'd have a, you know, if we had a particularly big show, I'd be like, Grohl, does Grohl do that?

[220] And you go like, yeah, yeah, they do that every single night.

[221] And it's much bigger and better than what you're doing.

[222] I can't imagine that's true.

[223] That's not true.

[224] Come on, Carl.

[225] Oh, no. It was fun.

[226] It was really, it was a fun running joke that to this day, if I see him, he knows that within 10 minutes, because we still see each other, I will bring up how I am your nemesis.

[227] I gave you a run for your money.

[228] And I think you were sweating me the whole time we were out on the road.

[229] Always watching.

[230] Always watching.

[231] Always watching.

[232] Somewhere a girl is sweating.

[233] because O 'Brien's out there playing his three -cord rock.

[234] Now, was this, hold on, was this your first tour?

[235] Was this the first time you ever toured?

[236] It was the first, it was the, yeah, it was the first time.

[237] And I remembered Gus one time I was kidding, and Gus thought I was serious, but I told Gus that I wanted, I said, I need drugs and women.

[238] You've got to bring them to me. And Gus was like, I don't do that.

[239] I don't do drugs or women.

[240] I don't get drugs or women for people that I manage.

[241] Well, okay, so here's the thing.

[242] You're lucky that he didn't bring you either of those things because whatever you request from Gus, he not only gets it for you, he'll bring a map.

[243] Here's an example.

[244] There was once when we were in Australia.

[245] This is 10 years ago.

[246] We were on away to the gig and we pass a Kentucky fried chicken, right?

[247] I hadn't had a bucket of KFC since I was like nine at soccer practice.

[248] It would be so long.

[249] I love fried chicken.

[250] So I look at him and I say, hey, goose, is there any way that we could get a bucket of chicken for after the show he's like yeah sure what do you want you want uh original recipe i'm like just get original recipe so after the show we rock the place for two and a half hours and i'm walking off stage i got a towel around my neck and i could smell that stuff from a hundred yards away like i could smell it coming down the hall i'm like oh kFC this is amazing and i walk in and i plop down in a chair i'm in my sweaty clothes and there's the bucket i rip open the bucket and i mean i just sweat like five pounds out on stage for two and a half hour.

[251] So I just want salt.

[252] So I'm picking up pieces of chicken and I'm eating it like a raccoon in a dumpster.

[253] I'm just like, and there's nothing to drink.

[254] And I'm like, and I look, and to my left was a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice.

[255] And so I just pop the champagne and start drinking it.

[256] And then I take a bite of chicken and then I have some champagne.

[257] And then I take the bite.

[258] And I look at everyone, I'm like, you guys, you have to try this.

[259] This is amazing.

[260] So then, within two minutes, everyone's got a piece of chicken and a glass of champagne, and it became our thing.

[261] I could go into a long description of, like, the juxtaposition and mouth feel of what I was in the course.

[262] Of course.

[263] It's fantastic.

[264] I can imagine that tang, that almost tart tang of a really good champagne.

[265] Yes.

[266] It was amazing.

[267] So we started doing it every night.

[268] And within three weeks, I was like trying to go to sleep in my hotel.

[269] My heart's just like, ugh, ugh, oh, oh.

[270] And then I thought, you know, we should cool it with it.

[271] But that's the best thing when we would go on like these fancy planes, private planes, to go to a show.

[272] They would always ask like, like, catering would like to know what you'd like for lunch.

[273] And we're like, yeah, we need some KFC in Shamp.

[274] It was great.

[275] Does it have to be a good champagne or can be a kind of a low -rent champagne?

[276] I mean, you know, we usually go with Vuv.

[277] Oh, and actually, I'll listen to this.

[278] There was once on tour when we were in Paris and we had a day off.

[279] So I ride motorcycles.

[280] Me and a couple people rented motorcycles.

[281] We decided to go to the Champagne region just outside of Paris.

[282] And someone, the guy at the Harley dealership knew the people at the Moet Chandon estate.

[283] He's like, oh, I'll get you tour.

[284] So we ride up there, we're like zipping through traffic and we go.

[285] We get there.

[286] We get this amazing tour of the Moet Chandon estate.

[287] And like Winston Churchill stayed in this room and here's the caves.

[288] and like there's these bottles are 200 years old bottles from World War II and stuff and then the end of the tour we wind up in this garden for a tasting and there's this guy at a tuxedo white gloves and it's like me and our keyboard player you know it's like it's not they're not entertaining royalty we're just like we just got off of Harley Davidson so the guy like pops a bottle of the of rosé champagne and he goes this is good with salmon and fish and you know and so we take it we're just like we drink it then he like pours another one and right and he goes he opens another bottle and he goes this is good with this pasta and scallops and things and I said I said excuse me you know what's really good with champagne and he said what I was like fried chicken man he was like he was like like this right chigo like he's good he can get I kill you I kill you Dave Gron You insult me. That is fantastic.

[289] Gus Bratt.

[290] I absolutely love that.

[291] Brings the bucket.

[292] Gus Brandt.

[293] And Gus Brandt, by the way, one of the biggest fights I've had in my show business career, practically a screaming match, was we're playing some really big venue, and it's like, and they're playing up my music that I come out to.

[294] I'm ready to go on, and we're chatting backstage, and he's a comic book fan, and he mentions something about the Hulk.

[295] And he goes, yeah, you know, Dave Banner becomes the Hulk.

[296] And I'm literally headed out on stage, and I turn around and I said, Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk.

[297] And he was like, and he's like, no, no, no. He said, O 'Brien, I know you think you're smart, but it's Dave Banner.

[298] And I was like, no, no, no. And they're saying, Conan, you got to go.

[299] They've like, they're introducing you.

[300] And I'm like, no, fuck you.

[301] It's Bruce Banner.

[302] And we start screaming at each other.

[303] I am very delighted to speak to you.

[304] This is one of my most memorable experiences, and I've had many in almost 30 years of doing television.

[305] You came on the show.

[306] you were going to play, I think one, maybe two songs.

[307] You played an entire long set for our live audience that no one ever saw.

[308] It was just for them.

[309] And I thought, this is what differentiates, and I'll put you in their category, this is what differentiates a Springsteen from other people.

[310] This is what differentiates the greats is they want that pure copper -to -copper connection with an audience.

[311] and I could see it didn't matter to you if it was going out on television or not.

[312] You wanted to make those people see the best fucking thing they've ever seen in a studio audience and they did and it was a beautiful thing to see.

[313] I mean, we actually like doing this.

[314] We do.

[315] And it doesn't really matter if people are watching.

[316] We still enjoy it.

[317] You know, we rehearsed at our own studio and most rehearsals are just spent everyone just like talking shit and making each other laugh the whole day and time.

[318] It was like, oh, wait, we need to play ever long and then we play ever long get that over with and then we talk for like 15 20 minutes oh wait we need to play best to you then we play best to you things like that but we really do i mean there are times when i'm worried that we're too into it you know we're like we're three hours in to a stadium show i'm watching these people that have been standing there crushed against the barrier just waiting forever long i'm like okay we'll get there but i don't want to walk like I don't get warmed up until like two hours into the show so there are times where I walk off the stage I'm like damn man I want to do that again we love doing what we do you know I've been due I started touring when I was 18 years old so I've been touring for 34 years so when everything shut down last March I kind of freaked out I mean right out of the gate I'm like oh my god I have to learn how to make lasagna like what am I doing this but one of the one of the first things like Dave Krulls, three -hour lasagna.

[319] Three and a half month lasagna.

[320] So I don't need, I don't necessarily need some sort of like tangible face -to -face audience, like a connection like that.

[321] I just need to know that every day I'm waking up and making someone feel happiness or joy.

[322] And my kids are like, Daddy, will you call your booking agent and have him get you on the road?

[323] Like, you know, I...

[324] Why are your children very old men?

[325] Yeah, maybe that's not what they sound like.

[326] You're like, Daddy, Debbie, on the road, like that.

[327] Father, you will go on the road.

[328] I mean, I have people coming up to me. Strangers will come up and they'll say, Hey, Dave, when are we going to have concerts again?

[329] Like I'm the CEO of Live Nation.

[330] I'm just like, uh, I'm not, well, as, you know, as soon as they send me the ticket, I'll get on the plane and come play.

[331] But I, you know, nobody really has that answer.

[332] But I wrote this article for the Atlantic last year, probably in April.

[333] It was called the return of live music.

[334] And it was not so much just about like the logistics of when it's going to happen or how it's going to happen, but more why it will happen.

[335] Because as human beings, we need to experience that communal musical connection so that we remind ourselves that we're not alone.

[336] And so when we go out and play these shows for big audiences, you know, and I'll play a song like My Hero.

[337] Everyone's singing along to My Hero.

[338] But when they all come together in that chorus, that's something that doesn't just happen in life.

[339] You know, and it's incredibly powerful.

[340] It's really moving.

[341] And ultimately, it's reassuring.

[342] because you realize like, oh, I'm not alone.

[343] I'm a hopeful person.

[344] I would consider myself an optimist.

[345] So even in the most difficult times, I don't let the light at the end of the tunnel go out.

[346] I cannot imagine never getting on a stage again.

[347] I just can't imagine it.

[348] For me personally, I've always looked at you as someone who would appear to most of us is that you were a drummer who then magically revealed all these other skills, but that is not the case.

[349] You were always this person.

[350] Even as a young kid, you were someone who was making, you know, tape loops and different songs and playing different instruments on cassettes.

[351] This was part of you all along.

[352] It didn't look that way to the rest of us.

[353] We just knew you as the iconic drummer from one of the most iconic bands of all time.

[354] Well, you know, it's funny, the way I play and the way I write, I look at the strings on a guitar as pieces of a drum set.

[355] So I look at the low E string almost as a kick drum.

[356] And then I look at the A and the D string as like a snare.

[357] And then the high strings I'll like make chords.

[358] First of all, I can't read music.

[359] And I don't really know what I'm doing and I don't know the names of the chords I'm playing and stuff like that.

[360] But I do know that a song ever long is a good example.

[361] That song, the riff that do do do do dan -dan -dan -dan -dun -d -d -d -d -d -d -d -d - That's basically a kick -snare pattern.

[362] almost like a paradigdle, right?

[363] The way it's drummed.

[364] And then in the chorus, when everything starts ringing out, I let all the high strings sort of ring or chime, and those become my symbols.

[365] So it's like, you can, you could build the dynamic of a song with a guitar the same way you would with the drum set.

[366] But I started playing guitar for, I fell into drumming because I was in a punk rock band and the drummer wasn't good.

[367] And so I basically said, like, I have an idea.

[368] What if you, why do you play bass and I'll play the drums?

[369] Because I'd already like figured it out in my head.

[370] I just didn't have a drum set.

[371] And then once I started doing that, I just stuck with the drums until the food fighters.

[372] Well, it's so interesting because the whole time that you're in Nirvana, you possess these other abilities, but you kind of kept it to yourself.

[373] Is that, is that true?

[374] Yeah, I mean, you know the famous drummer joke.

[375] What was the last thing the drummer said before he got kicked out of the band?

[376] Hey, guys, I got a song I think we should play.

[377] Like, that's just not, you know, and listen, I mean, I got to be Kurt Cobain's drummer, you know?

[378] And so when Kurt comes in with Kurt songs, you don't bring out any of the Dave demos.

[379] You know, it's like, you're like, I think we're good.

[380] I think we've got this, you know.

[381] Gene Spirit's pretty cool.

[382] I'm going to forget about that thing I wrote in my basement yesterday.

[383] You know, so as a drummer, what an awesome band to be a drummer for.

[384] Nirvana was such an amazing band to be a drummer because it was basically like, I looked at it like I get to be in ACDC and a disco drummer all at the same time and just pound the fuck out of my drums as hard as I can.

[385] And I was inspired by the band, inspired by the music.

[386] And it was awesome.

[387] It was so cool.

[388] And then I would go back to my home and I had like an eight -track studio.

[389] And I was just like record stuff for fun, you know?

[390] It really was just an experiment for myself.

[391] Out of Seattle, of all places.

[392] My wife is, I married into Seattle.

[393] My wife's from Seattle.

[394] But out of Seattle, of all places, comes completely unexpectedly the way no one expected the big British band to be from Liverpool.

[395] That was the last place in the world that anyone, thought, no one thought a northern band was going to come into London and kick ass and take over the world.

[396] But in that way, I think you guys, you were the exact right band at the exact right time.

[397] That very rarely happens.

[398] Almost more than anything musical, those little revolutions happen.

[399] They start in an emotional place, right?

[400] So, of course, we loved, like, turning shit up and, like, banging the fuck out of the drums and smashing the guitars and stuff.

[401] And would be fun.

[402] and people stage diving and stuff like that.

[403] But there was some, for whatever reason at the time, people needed to feel that.

[404] That generation needed to feel that.

[405] I mean, it's not unlike what happened when Billy Elish became hugely popular.

[406] You know, that was like, of course, she's an amazing singer, and she makes brilliant songs.

[407] But there's the connection to the audience that has, it has to do with identity, right?

[408] So I have three daughters, and my daughters love Billy Eilish.

[409] I took them to a Billy Elyle's show at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, before Billy really blew up huge.

[410] And when I got there, I'm looking around, and honestly, before any music was played, I'm like, whoa, this looks like a Nirvana show in 1991.

[411] It's like, these are the same type of people.

[412] It's different times, different instruments, whatever.

[413] But I'm looking around and like, that's how these revolutions start.

[414] You know, they don't start with like the kick and the snare.

[415] They start with that emotional connection to the identity of the artist and, and that resonates.

[416] And then it becomes like this revolution.

[417] But yeah, I mean, at the time, you have to remember too, like, did we think about it this much then?

[418] Absolutely not.

[419] Absolutely not.

[420] We were kids.

[421] You know, we were 21, 22 years old.

[422] Looking back on it now and being a father and watching my kids go through these revolutions with like Billy Elish and stuff like that, it makes sense to me. It does.

[423] Like now it's, does make sense because also you have to remember like what was the what was the top 10 at the time I mean it was Wilson fucking Phillips you know what I mean like that that was that was music and then so we were I mean we didn't expect we were going to like edge in on the top five of you know we just thought like all right let's go break stuff for a while and then um I think I think people needed that and yes that was the correction that needed to happen I famously you guys knocked Michael Jackson off the top.

[424] And that was just, wait a minute, who are these guys?

[425] I remember it as sort of a guitar nerd, looking at Kurt's guitar and thinking, what the fuck is that?

[426] Like, you know what I mean?

[427] Like he was, and I think in the same way, I mean, in the same way that bands like The Clash or the Sex Pistols, I mean, you can listen to that.

[428] I don't read a note of music either, but I know what moves me. And I can still listen to, you know, never mind the ballics.

[429] I can still listen to God Save the Queen and a snob would say, as they did in 1976, 77, these guys can't play and you'd think, oh, no, no, no, they're playing exactly what they need to play and they're playing it with an intensity and an emotion that defies anything else that yes is doing, you know, or whatever, or air supply or whatever you want to come up.

[430] Yeah, absolutely.

[431] So when I was a kid, like I had Kiss posters, I had Rush Records and I loved the Beatles and stuff like that.

[432] But I had never seen a rock concert.

[433] And we used to go, my family, I grew up outside at D .C. and Virginia, we would take these family trips and my mom's Ford Fiesta.

[434] We would drive up to Youngstown, Ohio, and visit our grandparents there.

[435] And then we would drive from there up to Chicago because my mother's best friend lived in Evanston.

[436] So this one year, we would go over a year.

[437] This one year we go up.

[438] And my aunt Sherry, she's like, Tracy, my cousin Tracy, Tracy, they're here.

[439] Tracy's maybe like a year older than me or such a two years old than me. And I could hear her coming down the chair, it's like, and I look up, and she's a punk rocker, right?

[440] I think I was, I think I was 13 years old.

[441] I had these, like, engineer boots and, like, bondage pants.

[442] It was like, chains swinging and coming down to steps.

[443] And I'm just like, I'd only seen that on like chips or Quincy.

[444] And this is my cousin, Tracy.

[445] And I'm just like, oh, my God, just like, shaking.

[446] her head and uh i mean i was i get the chills still thinking about it i was like amazon guy hold on that's your cousin mad at you that you mentioned her okay can you just drop it in the gate see we're all dealing with amazon right now i love this i love this now wait a minute what is that that was an am we're going to use this that was amazon no fedex oh okay anyway so goosh goosh down the stairs i see her i'm like oh and uh of course of course It's Tracy.

[447] She's my cousin.

[448] I love her.

[449] She's great.

[450] He's like, oh, hi, how are you?

[451] I mean, she didn't, like, spit in my face and punch beer.

[452] It was like, hi.

[453] That night, she was going to see this punk rock band called Naked Raygun.

[454] They were playing at a bar across the street from Wrigley Field.

[455] This place is called the Cubby Bear.

[456] And I mean, it's like a Chicago corner bar.

[457] And I had already started playing guitar at this point.

[458] And I think my aunt Sherry was like, Tracy, will you please take David to the punk rock show?

[459] I mean, I looked like, what's this?

[460] face from 16 candles.

[461] Michael, what is the night?

[462] I was such a nerd.

[463] Anthony Michael Hall.

[464] Yes.

[465] That was me. I was like, this is a punk rock.

[466] I'm so hot.

[467] I'm too.

[468] I was such.

[469] Let me get my respirator.

[470] Such a dork.

[471] So she's like, oh, God, okay.

[472] So we go to this corner bar and like, I'm terrified.

[473] We take the L train downtown, whatever.

[474] I'm so scared.

[475] Because I've only seen this on Quincy and Chips and on those shows, the punk rockers are the bad guys.

[476] And we're the guys that, like, burn down houses and start riots and stuff.

[477] There's a famous episode of Quincy.

[478] And if you don't know what Quincy is, go look it up on YouTube.

[479] But he's a coroner.

[480] And there was a, he was out to solve crimes.

[481] And there's a famous episode where the bad guys are this.

[482] What are they?

[483] They're like a band of slam dancers.

[484] I can't remember his chips or quiz.

[485] There's a band called Pain.

[486] I remember the song was like, I need pain.

[487] There's got it in my brain.

[488] The crazy thing, just in.

[489] You know, the crazy thing, our guitar player, Pat Smear, is in those episodes.

[490] No, he's not.

[491] Yes, he is.

[492] He was a punk rock extra.

[493] There was a lady that would go round up punk rockers.

[494] Pat Smear also was with you in Nirvana.

[495] And he's from the legendary punk rock band The Germs.

[496] Anyway, we got off on a side thing, but please look that up because that's how what people thought about punk music in 1977.

[497] Anyway, continue.

[498] So we walk into this club and it's like mohawks and spikes, leather, and denim, and I'm just like, oh, my God, this is awesome.

[499] I'm just like, this is the most amazing.

[500] And then this band goes on, and, you know, I'd only seen rock concert stuff, like, on television, right?

[501] There's, like, pyrotechnics and lasers and dragons and shit.

[502] And, like, that to me was like, oh, a concert.

[503] So now I'm in this place.

[504] It smells like bleach and puke and there's broken glass everywhere.

[505] And this band, Naked Reagan goes on, and it's like, one, two, three, four, like right in my.

[506] my face.

[507] I mean, the singer was like three feet from me. People are stage diving all over me and stuff.

[508] That was my introduction to live music.

[509] And to this day, even if we're playing Wembley fucking stadium, I try as hard as I can to summon that same energy that naked Reagan had on stage that day.

[510] It changed my life forever.

[511] I mean, like, honestly, that was, that was like, take me to the river.

[512] That was like baptism by barf and mohawks.

[513] You know, I was just like, Like, this is the coolest thing that's ever happened to me in my life.

[514] And I will never forget it.

[515] And one of the great things about it, like you said, is that it seemed available to me. It's like, I wasn't going to become Eddie Van Halen.

[516] You know, I wasn't going to become Freddie Mercury.

[517] But I knew three chords and I could scream my fucking balls off.

[518] So guess what?

[519] I'm starting a band.

[520] Because evidently, that's all you have to do.

[521] So I was incredibly inspired.

[522] Like, that was the first day of the rest of my life.

[523] This must get otherworldly for you.

[524] I'm a Beatles fanatic, and I've had the pleasure of meeting Sir Paul McCartney on a handful of occasions, but you have worked with the guy.

[525] Now, here's someone who, when you look at what he's experienced and what he's achieved, at the age he's at now, there are people that say, well, you don't have to go out there anymore.

[526] And it's clear he's doing it because he needs it.

[527] He loves it.

[528] You have that same thing I think McCartney has, which is you, I think when you're 90, you're going to want to be doing this.

[529] can physically do it.

[530] Yeah.

[531] I mean, I think that, so that experience that I just explained to you, how that changed my life.

[532] I'm sure Paul had that same experience when he saw Little Richard on the BBC, or he saw Elvis on the BBC.

[533] Like, everyone has that, just as everyone has their Beatles moment, you know, I'm sure that he had the same moment with someone else.

[534] And so that becomes this, you know, this foundation that everything is built upon for the rest of your life.

[535] So like, If you, the few times that I've jammed with Paul, it's like, he doesn't just pick up a bass and go, all right, where do you want to just, you know, let's like it.

[536] He's like, he puts on the base.

[537] He's like, oh, let's get.

[538] And he'll like count in without even telling you what the song is.

[539] One, two, three.

[540] And you just go, like there was once where I played with him on the Grammys.

[541] He was, we played, I saw her standing there.

[542] So I was playing drums.

[543] And oh my God, it was so terrified.

[544] That was the first time I jammed with him, I think.

[545] And so I was like, I'm like, I was jamming Paul McCartney.

[546] And we get to the rehearsal space, and I know his band, and they're amazing.

[547] They're all the sweetest guys in the world, and they're great.

[548] But we were only going to play one song.

[549] So, like, what did we just rehearse one song?

[550] You know, he comes and he's like, oh, that's all right.

[551] And he was like, hey, Paul.

[552] And he puts on, I think, put it on a guitar first, maybe.

[553] And he just turned to the guys.

[554] He's like, ready?

[555] In A, one, two, three, four.

[556] And I'm just like, I had no idea.

[557] I don't.

[558] Like, I had no idea.

[559] I don't.

[560] I don't.

[561] I don't.

[562] I even know the song.

[563] I never heard it before.

[564] I was just doing this and everyone's like bopping around.

[565] Da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da.

[566] Like, all right, cool.

[567] Yeah, yeah.

[568] Then we did like some other thing.

[569] He was just trying to warm up.

[570] Then we did, I saw her standing there.

[571] Oh, geez.

[572] Which is the most iconic count -in, I think, of all time.

[573] Yeah.

[574] You know, I saw her standing there on the track.

[575] It's one of the most iconic.

[576] A one, two, three, four.

[577] Yeah, exactly.

[578] So we do that.

[579] And then it's like, all right, cool.

[580] Well, let's take a break.

[581] So we take a break.

[582] He's like, you want to try the song again?

[583] We're like, all right.

[584] And we do it again.

[585] And we do it And it sounds great.

[586] He's like, cool.

[587] If everybody's good, Dave, are you good?

[588] And I'm like, could we play Let Me Roll It really quick?

[589] And he's like, yeah, sure, you guys?

[590] And everyone was like, yeah.

[591] So we play Let Me Roll it.

[592] He's like, okay, you feel good?

[593] I'm like, can we do back in the USSR really quick?

[594] He was like, yeah, sure.

[595] I mean, it got to the point where he was like, Dave, like, are you done?

[596] And I'm like, no, but we can go.

[597] I want to do this for the rest of my life.

[598] It was amazing.

[599] But the thing that's most, the thing that inspires me the most about him is when he does put on an instrument, like he played drums on our last record.

[600] I know.

[601] It's crazy.

[602] He played drums for you.

[603] And I'm thinking, first of all, you've got to step outside your body and look at yourself in that moment and say, I got Paul McCartney to play drums for me. that's that's uh you got to have moments like that where you just say okay all the time that's it that's it that rings the bell well i like to i mean i honestly i've been i wrote about this recently you know you always hear about your life flashing before your eyes on your deathbed just before you die and there's some moments in life that you think oh i'm going to see that one like it could be a beautiful thing your child sitting in your lap as the sun goes down uh you know getting to meet your idol or whatever And you think, oh, that's, I'm going to see that one.

[604] That's what's going to flash before my eyes.

[605] I feel like that every fucking day.

[606] Every fucking day, I'm like, I wonder if I'll see this before.

[607] So it's almost like my life is flashing before my eyes as it's happening all the time.

[608] I'm just like collecting these moments where we're like, I can't fucking believe that just happened.

[609] I can't fucking believe this is real.

[610] And, you know, of course, I'm very grateful.

[611] Like, I just, I can't, it's fucking crazy.

[612] I think if your life is constantly flashing before your eyes, Dave, it means that you're constantly dying.

[613] Maybe it's that.

[614] Maybe it's all the LSD I took in high school.

[615] I don't know.

[616] Also, just like to point out, I know you mentioned LSD, but drugs have never been a big thing for you.

[617] You were never that interested in it.

[618] No. Your drug of choice is probably caffeine more than anything else.

[619] Absolutely.

[620] Dude, I had to go to the hospital.

[621] once for drinking too much coffee.

[622] There was a time where I was...

[623] Really?

[624] Yes, I was...

[625] That's so embarrassing.

[626] I hate to tell you.

[627] That's so embarrassing for a rock star and everyone's like gathered around.

[628] What happened?

[629] Well, he has three lattes.

[630] It was a very busy month.

[631] And so I just had another child.

[632] I was doing a Food Fighters record.

[633] I was working with this other band, them crooked vultures that I was playing with.

[634] And so I was like, I'd wake up at the morning after two hours of sleep and I'd drink a pot of coffee.

[635] And then I'd go to the first studio, drink a pot of coffee.

[636] Then I'd probably drink another pot of coffee.

[637] Then I'd go back to the next studio and I drink a pot of coffee.

[638] And then I'd come home and I'm like, God, why can't I sleep?

[639] And it's like, oh, right.

[640] I had eight pots of coffee today.

[641] And it was like that for two weeks.

[642] And then finally I was like, and I got the chest pains.

[643] I'm like, oh my God.

[644] And actually, it was right.

[645] We were about to go play the White House.

[646] It was, it was, it was, is it possible, is it possible that consciously that was playing a part in your heart attachment?

[647] Well, it could have been.

[648] But I thought like, okay, so of course, what do I do?

[649] I Google chess pains.

[650] Like, chest pains, what to do?

[651] And I'm putting like Excedrin in my wallet just in case.

[652] And I'm, you know, but I thought, I thought, okay, well, I'm not going to call my doctor because he's going to say, don't go to the White House.

[653] I really wanted to go to the White House.

[654] It was like Obama's first, Fourth of July party, and we were playing in the backyard.

[655] I was like, I'm not not going to this game.

[656] So I'm like, I'm thinking I'm going to die.

[657] But I thought like, okay, well, there's got to be a good doctor at the White House.

[658] Come on.

[659] Like, if I were to like drop dead having a heart attack right there, I'm pretty sure someone would be on me in like 10 seconds.

[660] They have very good equipment.

[661] I would imagine.

[662] So anyway, so I come back from that trip and I finally call my doctor.

[663] I'm like, Mel, I'm having chest pains.

[664] He's like, you are?

[665] So yeah, he goes, are you having them now?

[666] I go, yes.

[667] He goes, get in here.

[668] So I go down there and he's got me like EKG and I'm on the treadmill.

[669] It's like sonograms and all this crap.

[670] he's like, well, I don't really see anything wrong, but just to be safe, go to Cedars and get like a cat scan or something.

[671] I was like, all right.

[672] So I go and I get this cat scan.

[673] I come out of the cat scan and they're like, the doctor will be with you in a moment.

[674] And there's this readout screen.

[675] The guy comes in.

[676] He's like, how my name's Dr. Blah, well?

[677] He takes one look.

[678] And he goes, how old are you?

[679] I was 40 at the time.

[680] I said, I'm 40.

[681] He goes, okay, why are you here?

[682] I was like, I'm having chestphrase.

[683] I'm going to fucking die, man. Like, what's going on?

[684] He's like, your heart's fine.

[685] Everything's fine.

[686] Are you under any stress?

[687] I was like, yeah, a little bit.

[688] He goes, do you get enough sleep?

[689] I'm like, no, I had sleep like two hours a night.

[690] He's like, oh, okay.

[691] He goes, do you drink coffee?

[692] I was like, dude, you have no fucking idea.

[693] I am like the Tony Montagna of Folgers in a tin.

[694] I'm just like ridiculous.

[695] And he goes, okay, here's what you need to do.

[696] He goes, first of all, decaffeinate.

[697] I was like, yes, sir.

[698] There's absolutely no way.

[699] Then he said, you know, just play drums three or four times a week and have a glass of red wine before bed.

[700] Favorite fucking doctor of all time.

[701] I was like...

[702] What a great doctor.

[703] Right.

[704] I mean, the cascan cost $47 ,000, but I got...

[705] At least he told me I could go home and get hammered, which I did.

[706] It'd be great if that was his advice, even to alcoholics.

[707] I'm a recovered alcoholic.

[708] Yeah, just have some red wine and go to bed.

[709] Are you sure?

[710] I said, I tell you, this is my advice.

[711] I was never into the drug thing.

[712] When I was young, like I'd smoked weed and I took mushrooms.

[713] I took acid and stuff like that.

[714] But I was done with it by the time I was 19, something like that.

[715] So when I went up to, when I lived in Seattle, I just had nothing to do with any of that.

[716] And recently, within the last few years, I tried smoking pot again.

[717] I'm like, man, I used to be so good at it.

[718] You know, I was such a fun pot head.

[719] It was like, that was fun.

[720] And now every time I do it, I just wind up on YouTube watching, like Miles Davis interviews for four hours.

[721] I'm like, this is bad for my life.

[722] I don't know.

[723] This is just bad.

[724] Check out that Quincy again the next time you can't sleep.

[725] Check out that Quincy episode.

[726] Yeah, what is your, before you go on stage, what's your, everyone's got, I don't know why, because I'm a comedian, I do all these stretches and I've had people make fun of me backstage.

[727] Sony, you've seen me backstage.

[728] I'm constantly stretching.

[729] Yeah.

[730] And that's just, and that's just to talk.

[731] And I'm stretching.

[732] and people will be like, what the fuck are you stretching for?

[733] You're not going to run a marathon.

[734] You're going to go out there and be a wise ass.

[735] And I'll be like, I don't know.

[736] I don't know.

[737] This is just what I do.

[738] I don't do vocal warm -ups, clearly.

[739] I don't do tea.

[740] I don't need space.

[741] I don't have a steamer.

[742] Basically, I open up the dressing room to as many friends as can fit in the dressing room.

[743] I have a Coors Light and a shot of Crown Royal.

[744] I've probably taken some Madville at this point because I'm an old man. that hurts to run around.

[745] And now I'm delivering shots to everyone in the room.

[746] But you've got to do a shot with everyone you get over.

[747] So now it's like, Coors Light in, there's a shot of whiskey.

[748] All right.

[749] Now two shots of whiskey.

[750] Beer's gone.

[751] Now I'm on the second beer and on my third shot of crown.

[752] Gus Brandt is like 20 minutes.

[753] And we're all laughing.

[754] Now, this is the most important thing to me before walking on stage.

[755] Even if Gus says, you're ready to go?

[756] Come on, they're waiting for you.

[757] I will not walk on stage until everyone in the band is laughing hysterically.

[758] Oh, that's great.

[759] Like, we walk on stage smiling.

[760] It just happens.

[761] I mean, it's not something we have to force, first of all, but it's like, if I've had three chorus lights, three crown royals, and Pat Smir just said something that almost made me piss my pants, house lights, let's hit the stage.

[762] Like, let's go.

[763] And then the next two and a half hours is like, it's a dream.

[764] It's great.

[765] But I don't do, you know, we used to call it band prayer.

[766] Band prayer.

[767] Because, you know, some people are like, dear God, please give me the strength to rock this health tonight.

[768] I mean, whatever.

[769] I'm not a religious person, but I do find that to be kind of funny.

[770] Like, you could ask God for anything.

[771] Like, hunger, world peace.

[772] Like, the pandemic.

[773] Instead, there's someone like, God, gave me the strength to pop some of that booty tonight I want to hear booty crap.

[774] That kind of thing.

[775] I'm just like, okay, so we call the Crown Royal and the shot, it's like, that's Banpper.

[776] I love that those same people, it's like, I think it's in Madonna's Truth or Dare movie where there's a lot of like gathering around and give us the strength tonight to get through this show where I pretend to masturbate on a four -poster bed and sing a song, whatever.

[777] And I always thought this whole idea, it's exactly what you're saying, that there could be a tsunami headed towards Indonesia and they're like, should God stop the tsunami or should he help you rock tonight?

[778] I think it's more.

[779] Rock, I think is more important.

[780] I get it.

[781] And of course, you know, it's not my thing.

[782] I understand why people do it.

[783] But now, I mean, it's, I don't, there's, I like to make everything seem as informal as possible at all times.

[784] KFC on the G5.

[785] Banned prayer is a course light with a little bit of crown royal.

[786] It's like things like that.

[787] You don't go on stage and tell you guys feel like you're, you know, having your own little six -person cake party.

[788] That's kind of the way I like to do shit with the food fighters.

[789] I do have to ask you, uh, it's, this is very indulgent of me, but as a guitar geek, I know that you have reached the highest height of all heights when you have your own signature guitar.

[790] There's a Dave Grohl.

[791] It's like a Trini Lopez, right?

[792] It's a trini, yeah.

[793] It's basically a dumbed down trini.

[794] Comedians don't get their own signature line of guitars, but I never cared what a guitar sounded like.

[795] cared what it looked like.

[796] Pat Smear, our guitar player, used to go guitar shopping with a Polaroid, and he would walk into a guitar store with his girlfriend, and he'd pick a guitar up off the wall, and he'd go, all right, take a picture, and he'd go, it wouldn't even plug it in.

[797] Take a picture.

[798] And then he'd, like, sit there and like shaking the Polaroid, and he'd look at it like, no, I don't like it.

[799] And then he'd go to another guitar, and go, and he would sit there like, mm -mm, doesn't fit.

[800] Ooh, I like this.

[801] You know, it was like he was buying shoes or something like.

[802] Yes, that's how I've always felt about it.

[803] That is how I've always felt about it.

[804] Well, you know, God love you, you are the Swiss Army Knife of Rock, drummer, guitarist, singer, songwriter, frontman.

[805] You also have a wine opener that comes out of your side.

[806] I do.

[807] Remember the toothpick.

[808] There's a little toothpick.

[809] There's a little toothpick that comes out of your forehead.

[810] And you've got this new album, Medicine at Midnight, which I really love, I really love waiting on a war.

[811] I love that song.

[812] And I'm thinking I don't envy anybody being Dave Grohl's drummer, but Taylor Hawkins.

[813] Taylor Hawkins is absolutely amazing.

[814] He's amazing.

[815] I'll tell you exactly what it is.

[816] It's two things.

[817] Now, first of all, I have always wanted to be a tap dancer, my entire life.

[818] I've always wanted to learn.

[819] You're kidding.

[820] No, I'm not.

[821] That is what I studied as a kid.

[822] I told my parents, I want to be in show business someday, and I insist on being a tap dancer.

[823] And God bless my parents who know nothing about show business, they found me, this guy who had been the protege to Bill Bojangles Robinson, this very old black man in downtown Boston, I was the only white kid that went and saw this guy and he taught me to be a tap dancer.

[824] You are a tap dancer.

[825] That is my life dream.

[826] So I had the shoes, but I haven't taken the lessons.

[827] One of these days.

[828] Anyway, but there's this overdub that I did where I was like, oh, wait, wait, let me try this.

[829] And I go, I go, that's it.

[830] That's it?

[831] so if you put that thing that's exactly like on a wood floor just like if you put that over the drumbeat that's where you got that weird rolling loop so there was part of me and taylor were like it kind of sounds like tap dancing sort of and like let's put some guitars about it like let's let's load it up with guitars and i'll sing about something really depressing it'll be great freaks me out that you're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, obviously, for Nirvana, and now, like, you're eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Foo Fighters in a year, I think, which is insane to me. It's actually this year.

[832] Yeah, but I pushed it off till next year.

[833] Sorry, Dave.

[834] It just wasn't good timing for me to watch you get inducted into the Rock and Hall of Fame.

[835] But I remember very clearly, I'm sure.

[836] a lot of your fans don't, but I remember very clearly when you started foo fighters that there was almost a hostility towards someone, a member of Nirvana, going and starting something else.

[837] Oh, that hasn't entirely gone away yet.

[838] You know, that's just something that you kind of carry with you, you know?

[839] Yes.

[840] You know, when Nirvana ended, it was like, I didn't, starting this band wasn't so much a musical decision as it was just like a very emotional one, feeling like in the time between foo fighters and nirvana i was like i was pretty lost because i was young i was 25 and i was getting asked by people well hey we do you want to play drums with us do you want to come and join the band and i was like just sitting behind the drum set it was just i was like kind of traumatized i didn't it just made me sad you know and um even just listening to music turning on the radio it just made me sad and i eventually realized that like music had been saving my life my whole life And so now it was going to have to do it again.

[841] And when I went and recorded that first record thing, that was more just like some sort of like emotional exercise or some sort of purge or just to me it was all, it was like a continuation of life because I was not ready to stop.

[842] And I was not ready to be stuck in that place for the rest of my life.

[843] I was not ready to just like hang it up.

[844] I'm like, no, no, no, no. Music has always represented life to me. I'm going to do this.

[845] I don't know like for who or why or for how.

[846] how long, but I just need to do it.

[847] And then when we started the foo fighters, it was like, you know, we got in the van, we went around and we opened up for a friend's band.

[848] We played in clubs and theaters and stuff.

[849] And it reminded me of, it reminded me of why I love life and why I love music.

[850] And so to me, our band represents something like way more than just like t -shirts and downloads and, you know, stuff like that.

[851] To me, it really is a group.

[852] friends that chose life and a continuation of life.

[853] And I still feel that way every day.

[854] I think you pulled off a near impossible feat and creating this career, this second career, and then doing so much with it.

[855] So, and on top of it all, you're a class act and a very fine gentleman.

[856] So just thank you so much.

[857] Today, I was so looking forward to this chance to talk to you today and geek out a little bit that, uh, I was sort of revving all day long.

[858] So thank you.

[859] Thanks, Conan.

[860] Yeah.

[861] That means a lot.

[862] Thank you.

[863] And anytime you want a Gretsch, I have like 900.

[864] You know what?

[865] How about this?

[866] I'll trade you.

[867] You want to trade a Treeney for a Gretch?

[868] Pick a Grinch.

[869] I will.

[870] I pick a trini and then we'll do a swap.

[871] I would do that in a heartbeat.

[872] Me too.

[873] But hey, I don't want to keep you any longer.

[874] I know you've got packages waiting for you at the door.

[875] Amazon and FedEx and the cat hotels.

[876] It's been.

[877] a busy day.

[878] Yeah, thank you so much.

[879] Thanks, everybody.

[880] That was super fun.

[881] This is exciting because Sona, I think, maybe there's something you're okay with talking about on the podcast.

[882] You are?

[883] Do you want to, all of America is listening.

[884] And by that, I literally mean we're a very successful podcast.

[885] So in my mind, everyone in America is listening.

[886] Why don't you tell us what you have to say?

[887] I'm pregnant.

[888] Yeah.

[889] Thank you very much.

[890] That is so exciting.

[891] That is so exciting.

[892] I know.

[893] Thank you.

[894] I have known for a while, but of course, and I was proud of myself because you can't tell people.

[895] And you know what I love?

[896] I'm making this about me instantly.

[897] You were, you were, I think, the first person besides me intact to know.

[898] Yeah.

[899] Because I came to your house.

[900] to help you with something, and you offered me wine.

[901] And I said, no, I'm not drinking.

[902] And you're like, are you pregnant?

[903] You just immediately asked me. And I think we had found out the day before that we were.

[904] And you know, it was weird.

[905] It was 9 o 'clock in the morning.

[906] And I was drinking out of a bottle of wine.

[907] I wasn't even pouring it into a glass.

[908] And I was like, Sona, have some.

[909] And she said, well, I don't think, we're pregnant?

[910] What's the due date?

[911] And when is the birth certificate man coming around?

[912] That's right.

[913] It's six months after you give birth that you have to get the same guy who was four months late for your dad's birth certificate.

[914] You know what I'm going to do?

[915] I'm going to track that guy down and I'm going to fly him to the United States so that he can handle your birth certificate.

[916] Well, I don't think he came because of my dad.

[917] He came to the village and he's like, okay, what babies were born?

[918] And then people were like, my baby was born.

[919] And my baby, you're like, okay, all of you have a February 5th birthday.

[920] That's how they did it Do you think he did other things too?

[921] I get the sense that he didn't He sounds like a guy who came to the village To deliver mail Yeah Give you your birth certificate He probably had a soft serve machine You know, if anyone wanted ice cream He sounds like a guy who did a bunch of things Well we are also We're having twins Oh my God I know Oh I know As a tear rolled down my case That's four birth certificates Oh, man, good one.

[922] Gourley, you just hit it.

[923] That was the natural.

[924] You hit it out of the park.

[925] It hit the lights, and the lights exploded.

[926] I'm going on Tylenolp.

[927] Every day.

[928] You are so funny when you're jacked on Tylenolp.

[929] Oh, man. So, Sona, you're having twins.

[930] Can I ask more a question?

[931] Do we know the sex?

[932] Yes.

[933] Uh, they're both, they're both boys.

[934] Oh my God.

[935] Oh, my God.

[936] So, uh, yeah.

[937] So my, it's a lot.

[938] It's a lot out at once.

[939] Uh, I know.

[940] So we'll never, we'll never talk to you again in a couple of months.

[941] No. I don't think so.

[942] I, I, I don't think you will.

[943] I, well, I, so I'm due, due mid July, but they'll probably come early because twins come early.

[944] And, uh, yeah, you know, we spend a lot of our time just kind of sitting here in silence, just being like, what?

[945] Did we?

[946] What did we do?

[947] And TAC keeps asking if he has time to do his karate, which he does.

[948] Yes.

[949] Well, guess what?

[950] Let me explain something to you, Sona.

[951] There's a call the hierarchy of needs.

[952] Yeah, priority number one.

[953] And priorities.

[954] And so what's going to happen is TAC's karate, and I promise you this, is going to go away.

[955] Come on.

[956] I hope he has a sense that's going like, change diaper.

[957] And he teaches him wax the fence, but his baby stuff.

[958] Yeah.

[959] It's funny if his karate style is all based, like the way Mr. Miyagi's was on wax on, wax off.

[960] It's all based on changing two diapers at once with each hand.

[961] And that becomes like the most impossible, fantastic defense attack in karate.

[962] Oh, my God.

[963] This is insane.

[964] I'm so happy for you.

[965] Thank you.

[966] And for attack.

[967] Yeah, I know.

[968] It's very exciting.

[969] Yeah, we wanted it for a while.

[970] So this is exciting.

[971] It's a lot.

[972] I'm thrilled for you guys.

[973] Wow.

[974] And of course, I knew about this.

[975] And then you showed me a video of your mom and your dad being told.

[976] And you did a really cute thing.

[977] You had your nieces tell her.

[978] Uh -huh.

[979] Yeah.

[980] And they're really young.

[981] I couldn't believe that they kept the secret.

[982] Yeah, they're seven and five.

[983] And they were bursting to tell them.

[984] And, you know, my mom has two granddaughters.

[985] So she so badly wanted a boy.

[986] and then we told them we were having twins and then we were like, okay, guess the gender and my mom was just like, boy.

[987] Like, she didn't care.

[988] She willed it into half -dust.

[989] I'm going to back son it up.

[990] I've seen the video.

[991] Your mother does it with no joy.

[992] She's like really happy that you're having the baby.

[993] She's really happy.

[994] And you say, and then you say it's twins.

[995] And she's like, oh my God.

[996] And she's crying and she sits down and she can't stand up.

[997] And then you just say, guess the gender?

[998] And she just leans forward and she goes, boy.

[999] Like that's, I'm not asking.

[1000] I'm telling you.

[1001] It is boy.

[1002] I don't care what the other one is, as long as one is a boy.

[1003] Who cares?

[1004] Oh, man. Yeah.

[1005] And then, you know, my grandpa's 98, and he was in the video, and he's just eating, and he has no idea what's going on.

[1006] He just knows everyone's, like, chaotic.

[1007] That is incredible.

[1008] That's wonderful.

[1009] That made my day.

[1010] Yeah, isn't that fantastic?

[1011] It's very exciting.

[1012] You know, I remember.

[1013] Just to give everyone a sense of your mom, do you remember the first thing your mom said to me when I met her, which is now 11 years ago, when your mom came to the set of what was in the Tonight Show, and we hadn't even started the Tonight Show yet, and you brought your mother up to say hello to me. She said, you rock the USA.

[1014] She said, I said, oh, hi, how are you, Mrs. Movesestia?

[1015] And she went, Conan, you rocked the USA.

[1016] I was like, well, no, I don't.

[1017] But I never have, and I never will.

[1018] but that's a very sweet thing for her to sub -sad.

[1019] She doesn't like it when I call you a dick on TV.

[1020] That's something she brings up all the time.

[1021] She doesn't like that you disrespect me. Yes, she hates it.

[1022] How does she like that you're regularly doing a segment called Big Dick History?

[1023] She does not listen to the podcast.

[1024] Good.

[1025] Oh, my God.

[1026] I think she'd be horrified.

[1027] Well, this is exciting.

[1028] This is really exciting.

[1029] So I'm just so, and I check with you beforehand because I know I come across as an insensitive brute, but I do want to make sure that I'm not revealing or making you say anything about your life that you don't want to.

[1030] But this is, you were cool with talking about this.

[1031] It's really exciting.

[1032] Yeah.

[1033] I mean, we're, you know, we're, um, TAC doesn't like when we like post things on Instagram.

[1034] So we're not going to have like photo shoot and post anything.

[1035] So this is pretty much my only way of like telling people I forgot to tell.

[1036] So that's, that's, it's like killing two birds with one stone, I guess.

[1037] Oh, good.

[1038] Well, so we found a use for this podcast.

[1039] A baby announcement.

[1040] That's terrific, Sona.

[1041] That's great.

[1042] It's very convenient for me. Well, if anything else, you know, if you want to tell, tack what time is karate class starts.

[1043] Yeah, you can make that announcement too.

[1044] Well, I just wanted to get, I'm so glad.

[1045] I'm so glad that's out there.

[1046] What do they say in Armenia?

[1047] I mean, I know that like the Jewish people would say like, oh, Mazel Tov, or is there any way of saying, what do you say?

[1048] Achkutlis.

[1049] It means like a light.

[1050] To your eye.

[1051] Light to your eye?

[1052] Oachk.

[1053] Louis, like your eye, light in your eye.

[1054] What's going on over there?

[1055] Yeah.

[1056] I mean, birth certificates are coming months late and then the way you, and then the way you, you know, in this country, applying light to someone's eye as a neurological exam.

[1057] It's a way of telling if you've been injured.

[1058] So if you want to congratulate someone, you could theoretically just shine a flashlight in their face.

[1059] I guess.

[1060] I don't know.

[1061] Achk -Luis.

[1062] Achkut -Luis.

[1063] Achkut -Luis.

[1064] Yeah.

[1065] Achk -Luiz.

[1066] That's good.

[1067] No, not Lice.

[1068] Not Luce.

[1069] You said lice.

[1070] That was bad.

[1071] I speak fluent Armenian.

[1072] What are you talking about?

[1073] Oh, yeah?

[1074] Berev.

[1075] Inch Pasek.

[1076] Brevevich.

[1077] Bav M. Kavvork.

[1078] I forgot.

[1079] You just said a name.

[1080] Yeah.

[1081] And you guys repeated the same thing over and over.

[1082] No. R. B. Ekmchian.

[1083] I went to high school with her.

[1084] Yeah.

[1085] Share.

[1086] You know, it's funny, since knowing Sona and famously knowing Sona, everywhere I go, Armenian people are like, Conan!

[1087] And then I go, I go, B 'er, Winchpasek, and they go, love him!

[1088] And now I can say, what is it?

[1089] Light in your eye, light in your eye.

[1090] Achkut -Luiz.

[1091] And then I can say, share.

[1092] You don't have to say share.

[1093] She's Armenian.

[1094] She's Armenian.

[1095] You're just going to yell out Armenian people.

[1096] Well, I'm not going to mention the Kardashians.

[1097] Oh.

[1098] It's probably for the best.

[1099] I think so.

[1100] I think shares the better way to go.

[1101] All right.

[1102] Well, congratulations.

[1103] Very happy.

[1104] Thanks, guys.

[1105] That's really happy.

[1106] Really happy.

[1107] If that's not a segment, I don't know what is.

[1108] Conan O 'Brien needs a friend with Sonam Obsessian and Conan O 'Brien as himself.

[1109] Produced by me, Matt Goreley.

[1110] Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Joanna Solitaroff and Jeff Ross at Team Coco and Colin Anderson and Chris Bannon at Earwolf.

[1111] Theme song by The White Stripes.

[1112] Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino.

[1113] Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair And our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples The show is engineered by Will Beckton You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts And you might find your review featured on a future episode Got a question for Conan?

[1114] Call the Team Coco hotline at 323 -451 -2821 and leave a message.

[1115] It too could be featured on a future episode.

[1116] And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O 'Brien needs a friend on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever find podcasts.

[1117] are downloaded.

[1118] This has been a Team Coco production in association with Earwolf.