Foo Fighters: ‘We were all excited and ready to hit the road and then obviously all the plans changed’

The US sextet, fronted by Dave Grohl, intended to release the record last year and had planned a North American tour to mark their 25th anniversary, but everything was shelved due to the Covid pandemic.

Instead it lands today, a fortnight after Foo Fighters’ performance to celebrate the inauguration of US President Joe Biden.

Lead guitarist Chris Shiflett recalls a “relaxed, nice” mood in the camp at the time they were making the album, in the autumn of 2019. “The dynamic in the studio was great,” the 49-year-old says. “We rented this house, we put a bunch of gear in there, we had our crew and we had Greg [Kurstin, the album’s producer] and Darrell [Thorp, its engineer] hanging with the band. Everything was going smooth.

“We made the record and there was really no drama or anything, it was good. We were all really happy with the record and excited and ready to hit the road and then obviously all the plans changed.”

Grohl has suggested the band set out to emulate some of the “groovy, danceable records” of their youth, by the likes of David Bowie, Power Station and the Rolling Stones.

Shiflett says it was fun to explore new sonic territory. “I grew up in that late 70s, early 80s time period when all the classic rock bands were struggling to write disco songs, which is funny, because at the time rock music was changing and all these heavy metal bands were getting harder and more aggressive, and all the older bands were getting softer and poppier.

“At the time I kind of hated most of that – I was on the side of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest – but in hindsight I love it. It was on the radio all the time and on MTV all time, it was just like in the ether a lot of those songs, like Do You Think I’m Sexy? or Miss You or I Was Made For Loving You by Kiss, even stuff like Duran Duran and Bowie’s 80s stuff. It seeps into your bones just from hearing it all the time wherever you go as a kid.”

The 1940s house that the band rented in the Los Angeles suburb Encino was close to Grohl’s home. “Initially we set up a demo studio in there just to get some of Dave’s ideas down,” says Shiflett. “Then he liked the way it sounded so we wound up moving the studio gear up there and working on it up there. It was this funky old house, it was great but it was definitely in disrepair, it was almost like it was being reclaimed by the neighbourhood and nature. It’s almost like sliding off the hillside, there have been a lot of claims in the neighbourhood that it shifted.”

Opening track Making a Fire has a Sly and the Family Stone groove while Cloudspotter quotes Jimi Hendrix. Shiflett remembers his older brother having “one or two” Sly Stone records when he was younger but says Hendrix is the greater influence on him as a guitarist. “Any guitar player that exists after Jimi Hendrix is hugely influenced by Jimi Hendrix, you really can’t get away from what a massive impact that guy had on everything moving forward.”

Grohl has revealed that song Shame Shame is based on a dream he had when he was 14 years old, however Shiflett says songs’ meanings are rarely discussed within the band. “It’s funny when we got out to do interviews and people ask us about the record, I always get the sense that people think that what we do is much more organised and analytical in real time and it just kinda isn’t,” he chuckles. “We just start making a record and it just goes in whatever direction it goes in, there isn’t a whole lot of chin-stroking and discussion that goes on around it. We just make that stuff up after the fact.”

If No Son of Mine rocks like Motorhead, Chasing Birds has a lighter touch, with echoes of John Lennon. Overall, Shiflett recognises this is one of Foo Fighters’ most diverse albums. “There’s a lot of dynamics on it,” he reflects. “It seems like the narrative evolved that this is like our dance party record, and that’s true for some of it, I guess, but Chasing Birds and No Son of Mine definitely don’t fit that.”

Foo Fighters might have recently toasted their silver anniversary, but importantly Medicine at Midnight shows they are still capable of evolving. The problem Shiflett sees is the lack of live shows at the moment.

“When you make a record that’s a little different than what you’ve done before you never know how people are going to hear it and whether they are going to like it or not until you put it out,” he says. “The real feedback you get is from playing live and we’re not able to do that right now so it’s really hard to gauge.

“You make these things and you feel good about it and I hope people dig it but without the live show it’s really hard to get a sense of how people are hearing it.”

He admits cancelling their planned Van Tour, on which they planned to revisit cities where the band played 25 years ago, was frustrating, but appreciates the bigger picture. “We had a year and half or two years of plans ripped up and thrown away, but more than frustrating it was just bizarre and surreal,” he says. “We wouldn’t have expected to see that in the years this band has been together, so how do you even think about it? It’s very strange. But I think we’re dealing with more important stuff than whether the band can get on the road.

“You’re worried about your family getting sick, you’re worried that there might be food shortages, all these things that were popping up that were just freaky.”

Rather than touring, the band had to settle for releasing a short film on YouTube commemorating the past 25 years. Shiflett, who joined the group in 1999, says it was interesting looking back over their various phases. “When you see it all put together like that in a slide show, it gives you a sense of how much ground you’ve covered over the years, and for me, my life is so different to how it was before I joined the band, it’s unrecognisable in many ways.

“I’ve been in the band 21-plus years, that feels like a very long time ago, it’s a whole other lifetime ago, but it’s great, it makes you appreciate it. Look at all those stupid haircuts,” he jokes.

When it’s safe to hit the road again, Shiflett is looking forward to playing live. “When we get the green light I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he says. “Like everybody else, we’ve had this break forced on us. Once the thing that you do gets taken away it makes everybody appreciate it a little bit more.

“To be honest, I’ve enjoyed the time at home with my family a lot, but once things get back up and running, it will be great to be back on the road too.”

Medicine at Midnight is out today. www.foofighters.com