Ex-Foo Fighter suggests Dave Grohl blocked his band's album from release—UPDATED
UPDATE: DEC. 4, 3:07 P.M. EST
Earlier today, it was reported drummer William Goldsmith suggested Dave Grohl was preventing the release of a Sunny Day Real Estate record. Since then, a statement provided by former SDRE/current Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel alleges, “There is no truth to this story.”
ORIGINAL STORY: DEC. 4, 1:55 P.M. EST
It’s always pretty wild to realize the first live Foo Fighters lineup was literally half of Sunny Day Real Estate, the Seattle emo godfathers who gave Dave Grohl his beginning rhythm section in bassist Nate Mendel (who remains with the Foos) and drummer William Goldsmith. But while recording The Color And The Shape, the latter musician was axed. And, every now and then, he still rears his head to talk some seeming smack.
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Which, just like last year’s dig, paints a picture of Grohl as somewhat of a bully. And while the early Foo Fighters recruit once told The Daily Mail he felt creatively “raped” after the former Nirvana member re-recorded most of his drum parts on the Foos’ 1997 LP, he’s now indicating that an unreleased album by Sunny Day Real Estate was effectively kept from the public by the man who many would call the nicest guy in rock.
“Recently by way of objective ears I have been reminded of the fact that the greatest Sunny Day Real Estate record ever made remains silenced,” Goldsmith writes on Facebook, “abandoned and buried with the murkiest depths of Dave Grohls sock drawer.” Read the post from the musician, below.
Apart from the vague accusation, as noted by Theprp.com, Goldsmith’s post is accompanied by what’s apparently some unheard material from the purported Sunny Day effort. SDRE’s last full-length was 2000’s The Rising Tide, and in 2014 they finally dropped a fresh cut on a split release with Circa Survive. Here’s Goldsmith’s full message:
“Recently by way of objective ears I have been reminded of the fact that the greatest Sunny Day Real Estate record ever made remains silenced, abandoned and buried within the murkiest depths of David Grohls sock drawer. It’s both a shocking slap of reality and a swift kick in the balls.
“Gets harder to handle each time. Somehow someday – something has to be done. The tragedy of it is literally manifesting into physical pain. It honestly feels like someone has taken a part of me as a human being and locked it in a closet.
“My wife looked at me this evening and said ‘I am starting to understand what’s been haunting you for the past 6 years because it’s starting to haunt me as well.’ This is not the first time I’ve had my voice taken from me. But now This music hasn’t just been taken away from me anymore – now it’s been taken away from my children. Unforgivable.”
What do you make of Goldsmith’s post? Do you think Dave Grohl would actually keep a new Sunny Day Real Estate album from seeing the light of day? Sound off in the comments section, and let us know what you think about it!
