The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by: Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl’s memoir, The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music is a beautiful read. Like having enjoyed a casual catch up with an old friend over a few beers at a backyard barbecue. It was as if he was writing about my feelings also when he described his love and appreciation of music and musicians. Grohl really lets you in and the glimpse you normally get from a huge star feels more like a real invitation into an American childhood shot into rock legend. Especially touching and now heartbreaking was the special friendship he shared with his best friend, Taylor Hawkins. Having recently finished this book, the tragic news of Hawkins’ untimely passing feels all the more unreal if possible. Yet another loss for this loyal friend, my heart breaks for Dave Grohl and of course Taylor Hawkins’ family. The theme of friendship and loyalty in the book are themes that come to mind when I think of Nirvana and Foo Fighters. Just about a year out of High School I met a pair of best friends, Will and Kent. We met these friends when Brian moved into his apartment in Pacific Beach. Will and Kent lived across and upstairs in the same complex on Oliver Street. I bonded with them over their love of Nirvana and Foo Fighters and so many other bands. We used to stay up late sitting in front of the speakers in candle-lit rooms filled with wonderful and strange works of art they had made. I remember thinking had i known them when I was younger, I could have offered them a treasure trove of materials to work with from my giant Barbie doll collection ( they had many art pieces that incorporated the classic toy). A bit odd but not as creepy as a creation of Sid’s from Toy Story. Singing along to Nirvana for hours and then Foo Fighters and an occasional Sublime song thrown in, we were living great times together. Thinking back to these days and the friendships created, now all have gone their separate ways and the reunions come fewer and further between but the memories are still sweet and reading the book reminded me of some of our adventures together. Grohl had me laughing and crying out loud. I highly recommend this book. When it comes to memoirs and autobiographies I usually prefer the audio version if available. It is so special to be able to hear the author’s voice telling their own stories and in some cases like this one, I had to have both a physical copy and an audio one. The pictures and postcards are the perfect addition to the intimate peek into the life’s story of a humble genius.

My first special Nirvana memory, before the friendships made in the Pacific Beach apartment, came from the high school fashion show. I overheard one of the most beautiful and popular girls, also performing in our show questioning the song choice for my segment. She sounded almost disgusted when she asked why I had chosen “Lithium”. Not only was I absolutely loving Nirvana and every song on Nevermind but one of the clothing stores I would be presenting in my director’s spot in the show was No Fear and I thought it would be a perfect fit for my spot. No Fear was a store in every suburban mall during those high school years and there was definitely no shortage of flannel on those shelves and no shortage of the merchandise in my classmate’s closets. It seemed a very appropriate store choice for my contribution to this time capsule of a tradition. This moment still feels like a very important memory for me. I have long said I would love to be a director of music videos or documentaries, maybe even a movie someday and this event was a nice start and a first break away from the “shows” held in family garages where the folding chairs were carefully lined up for parents, tios and tias forced to sit and clap. I guess I can call this fashion show my directorial debut and it’s something I have been proud of since. I asked one of my skater friends if he would consider making a cameo appearance with his skateboard. There would be a ramp involved as part of the set and could he wrangle a few more skaters. I saw it all in my head and I was so excited. The ramp and skaters would be on stage, the lights would be down and just as the song started a strobe light would begin to flash and the skaters would do their thing on stage and include tricks on the ramp. I love the contrast from the intro with Cobain’s guitar strumming and velvety voiced verses, the first for just under forty seconds to the powerful intro of Grohl on drums in the more intense and loud chorus. Once that started with the loud “yeah, yeah”s the skaters exit stage as it was simultaneously flooded with heavy lights as the strobe was cut and models all walk out toward the audience in a powerful, high confidence march. Nailed it. Or at least in my memory we did, I should track down a copy of the video to be sure.

There was another segment I directed with the typical trendy teen clothing and I had fun with the choreography which I set to a cover of “Yesterday” by En Vogue. My cousin and her friends helped me as we strutted down our made up runway that was my Tia Evelyn and Tio Hugo’s upstairs hallway. As usual, it was a family affair with those practice sessions and the inclusion of my little cousin, Jordan, in another segment where we used little kids for models, Jordan was the cutest by far, hamming it up the whole time he was under the spotlight. 

Back to Dave Grohl and his beautiful book. Any fan of his knows he worships his mom, he’s an amazing and supportive dad, he’s a loyal and generous friend but when you read the book you really feel like you got to become a part of it all for at least a few sweet chapters. The stories of accident prone childhood and again in adulthood, first loves, trust to grow and take chances, risks, loss and ups and downs are entertaining and heart breaking. The DUI down under and the tender moments of fatherhood made me laugh and shed tears from one moment to the next. Highly recommend The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music.