Foo Fighters Chat With Barack Obama, Willie Nelson in ‘Sonic Highways’ Trailer
Foo Fighters have shared a first look at the HBO series Sonic Highways – which chronicles the making of the band’s upcoming LP of the same name – set to begin airing on October 17th. “I really believe that the environment in which you write or record an album influences the musical result,” Dave Grohl says in the trailer above. That’s why, as the frontman explains, the group decided to record in different studios in different cities all over the country, where they worked with and met with a variety of guests. “You can tie all of these people and places together with these ‘sonic highways,'” adds Grohl.
The three-and-a-half minute preview shows snippets of interviews with the likes of Dolly Parton, Slash, Clive Davis, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, LL Cool J, Macklemore, Willie Nelson, Fugazi’s Ian MacKaye, Steve Albini and more, as well as non-musicians like President Barack Obama and Rolling Stone‘s David Fricke.
Grohl explains that the band traversed the origins of blues and the births of hip-hop and punk, as they explored the histories of each city. The preview also teases appearances by ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Jett, Kiss’ Paul Stanley, Rick Rubin and Public Enemy’s Chuck D, among others.
“This isn’t just the making of our most ambitious album,” Grohl says. “This is a love letter to the history of American music.”
Previously, Grohl told Rolling Stone that he wanted to make a record in studios around the world but realized it would be “financially impossible,” so he focused on the United States. But in making that change, he realized he could make something personal. “We’re an American band,” he said. “We wouldn’t be the band we are if it wasn’t for the cities here and their music.”
The group’s eighth album, Sonic Highways – which Butch Vig co-produced and is not a soundtrack to the series – is due out November 10th. It will contain eight songs and play out for 44 minutes. “This album is instantly recognizable as a Foo Fighters record, but there’s something deeper and more musical to it,” Grohl said about the album in a statement in early August. “I think that these cities and these people influenced us to stretch out and explore new territory, without losing our ‘sound’.”