Taylor Hawkins reveals what went on during the writing and recording of the new Foo Fighters album, and gives us a track-by-track breakdown of his favourite songs.
Recording our last record, One By One
was really fun, because we just went
in and did it. You can hear that my
drums were done in six days, but it
has that energy to it which is great. With
In Your Honor, though, we really did
our homework and, without over-thinking
things, we really thought about everything.
We spent last summer in pre-production
- honing the music down - working on the
arrangements and the drum parts so that
they complemented the song, and making
sure that the riffs and the bass drum
patterns fitted together well. We have
never been as prepared going into the studio
as we were this time round and have really
challenged ourselves, both musically and
as songwriters.
"The big difference for me on this record
was that I had drum tech, Gersh, working
with me in the studio. Gersh is a drummer
too and has been doing sessions in Los
Angeles for 10 years. He understands how to
tune drums and make them sound good. It's
a real art and meant that all I had to worry
about was playing. I'm the first to admit that
I am more comfortable on stage than I am
in the studio, but I felt like I had a great
support system around me this time. I'm
sure I will become more comfortable with
each record that we do, but when I'm in the
tracking room and all eyes are on me, I'm
just desperate to get it right! Drums are
tough because they are the first ching to be
recorded and they are the foundation of the
song. We used a click on most of the tracks
on The new record.
"Gear-wise, we have used a real mixture
of stuff. Gersh got a conglomeration of mine
and Dave's Zildjian and Tama stuff; and
some vintage drums, and we would mix and
match for different songs. Sound-wise, we
have experimented more on this record than
ever before, and we have tried to make every
song different.
"Doing an acoustic record has been really
fun, and we recorded it very quickly. We've
captured chat looseness and in a way it was
almost like doing demos. I did most of my
drum parts in about 20 minutes:and my
favourite drum performance on the acoustic
album is 'Razor'. I'll leave you to draw your
own conclusions as to why..."
IN YOUR HONOUR
"This is the coolest drum sound on
The record, and the drum rolls are very
Who-esque. As well as being a great
introduction to the rock record, it is
almost like a mission statement."
NO WAY BACK
"This is the first song that we recorded
drums on and I love the big, wide, open
sound, and the bouncy, upbeat tempo."
BEST OF YOU
"The dynamic of the drums, and the song
itself; is what I really like about this track.
It starts in one place, it keeps building, and
then it comes back down at the end. What's
even better is that I also get to do a bit of a
drum solo at the end.""
DOA
"We actually recorded this one rwice. First
time round it had more of a lo-fi, indie rock
sound, but we tried it again with a much
harder rock feel and the results are great -
it's a really strong song."
HELL
"Dave and I recorded this live in the studio
without a click, because we wanted the time
to fluctuate. It starts off in one tempo and
moves up - perfect for someone like me
who tends to speed up!"
THE LAST SONG
"This is a great track to play live. It's very
upbeat and I nailed the drums in two takes."
FREE ME
"Rhythmically speaking this is one of my
favoutite songs on the record, and is the
proggiest out of all the songs. It has a very
aggressive and interesting feel-moving
from 6/8 into three over four."
THE DEEPEST BLUES ARE BLACK
"Another one of my favourite tracks
and another that's in 6/8. There is just
something about it and I love the lyric
'The Deepest Blues Are Black', The
drum part has got a nice grace note
on the snare, and it came together
really quickly."
STILL
"I don't know if anyone else will agree
with me, but I think that this song
would be great for a science fiction
movie soundtrack..."
MIRACLE
"This was really cool because all I played
was a floor tom and snare. In true Ringo
sryle I put T-shirts on the drums to get that
dead, dry, dirty sound,"
VIRGINIA MOON
"Norah Jones is our special guest on this
song and I'm playing my best Brazilian jazz
- which I'm awful at! It's a real pastiche, but
was great fun to record."
COLD DAY IN THE SUN
"I actually wrote this track, so I sing and
Dave plays drums on it. I've had a rough
sketch of the song for a long time and Dave
has always liked it. It's got a real Southern
Californian feel and it was fun producing
Dave on drums. Most of the tambourines
that you hear are on the record are actually
Dave - I hate playing tambourine! - but on
this song it's me."
