Dave Grohl lied to me.
Last year, when Exclaim! spoke with the Foo Fighters frontman about the new album Medicine at Midnight, he repeated a story that had already begun spreading through the press, claiming that the band had experienced hauntings and supernatural phenomena during recording sessions at a spooky mansion in Encino, CA. It's a story that's suspiciously similar to the plot of Studio 666, the band's new horror movie (out in theatres February 25). When I bring this up, Grohl comes clean.
"It was a fucking lie!" he practically yells during a Zoom call from his childhood home in Virginia. "Nobody knew we made a horror film. So we were telling everyone, 'Oh yeah, that fucking house is haunted, there were ghosts everywhere, it was terrible.' And we were trolling everybody so that, when the album came out, we'd drop the movie."
Due to pandemic delays, however, the film didn't come out on schedule, and the band never admitted to deceiving everyone. Grohl says, "After a good year or so, we looked at each other, like, 'Are we still telling people this is a fucking haunted house? What are we doing?' And so now, we're having to come clean and tell everyone, 'Nah, it was a fucking lie.'"
Studio 666, directed by BJ McDonnell and featuring a story by Grohl (who stars in the movie along with his bandmates), brings the Foos' fib to life as an outrageous B movie full of next-level gore and meta jokes about being a rock star. What began as an idea to make a simple low-budget horror movie turned into a full-blown feature with Hollywood stars (Will Forte, Whitney Cummings, Jeff Garlin) and an acclaimed special effects designer (Tony Gardner of Zombieland renown).
Best of all, the film was made with the participation of the Horror Master himself, John Carpenter, whose touring band just happens to share a lighting director with Foo Fighters.
Grohl explains, "I was like, 'There's no fucking way he'll ever do this' — but I tried. So I emailed and I said, 'Hi, my name's Dave. I'm in a band called Foo Fighters. We're making a horror film. Would you want to be in our movie?'" And he emails back and says, 'Listen, 15 years ago, you took my son's band out on the road and treated them so well — not only will I be in your movie, but I'll also write the theme song.'"
Carpenter's eerie music sets the mood perfectly for the campy horror of Studio 666, in which Foo Fighters record a new album in a haunted mansion. It puts a blood-splattered spin on the tradition of band movies, à la A Hard Day's Night or Spice World, with the Foo Fighters playing exaggerated versions of themselves: guitarist Pat Smear is a naïve pushover, keyboardist Rami Jaffee is a randy Lothario, and Grohl plays against his nice-guy reputation by being a bit of a dick.
The sessions quickly go off the rails, as they uncover a curse dating back to the '90s and Grohl becomes fixated on recording a 45-minute stoner metal jam. It balances grossness with improv comedy — including a memorable running gag about a "Pearl Jam high five," a full-band high five like the one from the album art for Ten.
"I love Pearl Jam," says Grohl, his voice cracking with comic exasperation. "They're our friends! Now, I'm just like, 'Oh god, people are gonna start fucking Pearl Jam high fiving everywhere. They're going to kill me. What have I done?'"
In other words, Eddie Vedder can expect an apology soon. "The next time I see him, I'm gonna be like, 'I'm sorry Eddie! I'm fucking sorry! I was just kidding.'"
Hopefully Vedder has a good sense of humour, because Studio 666 is a lot of fun, as it takes the quirky sense of humour shown in videos like "Learn to Fly" and "Big Me" and turns it into a feature-length movie. "Nobody's going for a fucking Oscar here," admits Grohl. "I hope someone sees this and fucking laughs and screams and fucking bangs their head on their movie seat."
Last year, when Exclaim! spoke with the Foo Fighters frontman about the new album Medicine at Midnight, he repeated a story that had already begun spreading through the press, claiming that the band had experienced hauntings and supernatural phenomena during recording sessions at a spooky mansion in Encino, CA. It's a story that's suspiciously similar to the plot of Studio 666, the band's new horror movie (out in theatres February 25). When I bring this up, Grohl comes clean.
"It was a fucking lie!" he practically yells during a Zoom call from his childhood home in Virginia. "Nobody knew we made a horror film. So we were telling everyone, 'Oh yeah, that fucking house is haunted, there were ghosts everywhere, it was terrible.' And we were trolling everybody so that, when the album came out, we'd drop the movie."
Due to pandemic delays, however, the film didn't come out on schedule, and the band never admitted to deceiving everyone. Grohl says, "After a good year or so, we looked at each other, like, 'Are we still telling people this is a fucking haunted house? What are we doing?' And so now, we're having to come clean and tell everyone, 'Nah, it was a fucking lie.'"
Studio 666, directed by BJ McDonnell and featuring a story by Grohl (who stars in the movie along with his bandmates), brings the Foos' fib to life as an outrageous B movie full of next-level gore and meta jokes about being a rock star. What began as an idea to make a simple low-budget horror movie turned into a full-blown feature with Hollywood stars (Will Forte, Whitney Cummings, Jeff Garlin) and an acclaimed special effects designer (Tony Gardner of Zombieland renown).
Best of all, the film was made with the participation of the Horror Master himself, John Carpenter, whose touring band just happens to share a lighting director with Foo Fighters.
Grohl explains, "I was like, 'There's no fucking way he'll ever do this' — but I tried. So I emailed and I said, 'Hi, my name's Dave. I'm in a band called Foo Fighters. We're making a horror film. Would you want to be in our movie?'" And he emails back and says, 'Listen, 15 years ago, you took my son's band out on the road and treated them so well — not only will I be in your movie, but I'll also write the theme song.'"
Carpenter's eerie music sets the mood perfectly for the campy horror of Studio 666, in which Foo Fighters record a new album in a haunted mansion. It puts a blood-splattered spin on the tradition of band movies, à la A Hard Day's Night or Spice World, with the Foo Fighters playing exaggerated versions of themselves: guitarist Pat Smear is a naïve pushover, keyboardist Rami Jaffee is a randy Lothario, and Grohl plays against his nice-guy reputation by being a bit of a dick.
The sessions quickly go off the rails, as they uncover a curse dating back to the '90s and Grohl becomes fixated on recording a 45-minute stoner metal jam. It balances grossness with improv comedy — including a memorable running gag about a "Pearl Jam high five," a full-band high five like the one from the album art for Ten.
"I love Pearl Jam," says Grohl, his voice cracking with comic exasperation. "They're our friends! Now, I'm just like, 'Oh god, people are gonna start fucking Pearl Jam high fiving everywhere. They're going to kill me. What have I done?'"
In other words, Eddie Vedder can expect an apology soon. "The next time I see him, I'm gonna be like, 'I'm sorry Eddie! I'm fucking sorry! I was just kidding.'"
Hopefully Vedder has a good sense of humour, because Studio 666 is a lot of fun, as it takes the quirky sense of humour shown in videos like "Learn to Fly" and "Big Me" and turns it into a feature-length movie. "Nobody's going for a fucking Oscar here," admits Grohl. "I hope someone sees this and fucking laughs and screams and fucking bangs their head on their movie seat."