Dave Grohl Wants To Explain Himself

Dave Grohl has a few things he’d like to add to the acceptance speech he gave at the Grammy Awards last Sunday, namely that he and his “big mouth” don’t hate electronic music or acts like Deadmau5 and Skrillex.

The Foo Fighters went home with Grammys for best rock performance award for “Walk,” best rock album for Wasting Light, best hard rock/metal performance for “White Limo” and best long form music video for “Back and Forth.” Wasting Light was also nominated for album of the year.

Photo: AP Photo

54th Annual Grammy Awards, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.

Grohl is really proud of the fact that Wasting Light was recorded in his garage with only analog equipment to get the raw feel of the band’s earlier work and live shows.

In his acceptance speech for best rock performance the rocker explained that the award “means a lot because it shows that the human element of music is what’s important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do … It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct, it’s not about what goes on in a computer. It’s about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head].”

The speech has been criticized by some for seemingly taking a jab at artists who use computers to achieve their sound.

In a statement posted on public relations firm Nasty Little Man’s website, Grohl said he wanted to clarify something about his “lil’ ode to analog recording” in response to the “caps-lock postboard rage” the speech provoked.

The bulk of the statement, which was slyly signed Davemau5, is below.

“I love music. I love ALL kinds of music. From Kyuss to Kraftwerk, Pinetop Perkins to Prodigy, Dead Kennedys to Deadmau5 … I love music. Electronic or acoustic, it doesn’t matter to me. The simple act of creating music is a beautiful gift that ALL human beings are blessed with. And the diversity of one musician’s personality to the next is what makes music so exciting and … human.

“That’s exactly what I was referring to. The ‘human element”. That thing that happens when a song speeds up slightly, or a vocal goes a little sharp. That thing that makes people sound like PEOPLE. Somewhere along the line those things became “bad” things, and with the great advances in digital recording technology over the years they became easily “fixed”. The end result? In my humble opinion … a lot of music that sounds perfect, but lacks personality. The one thing that makes music so exciting in the first place.

“And, unfortunately, some of these great advances have taken the focus off of the actual craft of performance. Look, I am not Yngwie Malmsteen. I am not John Bonham. Hell … I’m not even Josh Groban, for that matter. But I try really fucking hard so that I don’t have to rely on anything but my hands and my heart to play a song. I do the best that I possibly can within my limitations, and accept that it sounds like me. Because that’s what I think is most important. It should be real, right? Everybody wants something real.

“I don’t know how to do what Skrillex does (though I fucking love it) but I do know that the reason he is so loved is because he sounds like Skrillex, and that’s badass. We have a different process and a different set of tools, but the ‘craft’ is equally as important, I’m sure. I mean … if it were that easy, anyone could do it, right? (See what I did there?)

“So, don’t give me two Crown Royals and then ask me to make a speech at your wedding, because I might just bust into the advantages of recording to 2 inch tape.

“Now, I think I have to go scream at some kids to get off my lawn.”