The magic of Dave Grohl isn't just that he's one of rock music's great raconteurs, or one of its greatest drummers and frontmen of the last thirty-plus years. It's the sheer number of lives he's gotten to live within rock and roll.

Dave started out drumming for Scream, one of DC's great, underrated hardcore bands, running in the same circles as Ian MacKaye and the Dischord crowd. Then he joined Nirvana and more than made his mark in one of the most consequential bands since the Beatles, and an indelible piece of Seattle's music story dates all the way back to Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones.

And then, as if that weren't enough: Foo Fighters. Which Dave Grohl essentially built by himself — Prince and Stevie Wonder-style — writing and recording nearly every note on the debut alone, save for some guitar from Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs.

On today's episode Justin Richmond sits down with Dave at the Foo Fighters' studio to talk about their twelfth album, Your Favorite Toy. But they start somewhere unexpected talking about a song from a cassette-only solo record in 1992 he made under the pseudonym "Late!"

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Dave Grohl HERE.

Time-coded chapters:

(02:20) Recording first album, Pocketwatch

(05:58) Formation & collaborative spirit of Scream and the DC hardcore scene

(09:53) The Power of Live Recording

(20:07) Community in Music Today

(28:04) The Creative Process Behind Foo Fighters' New Album

(34:04) The Enduring Passion for Music

(36:15) Writing Through Life's Challenges

(37:48) Cooking as a Parallel to Music

(43:39) The Surprising Influences of Musicians

(48:42) Exploring Themes in New Music

(53:22) The Evolution of Musical Style

(57:21) Reflecting on Musical Journeys

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.