Dave Grohl Once Planned to Start TV Network
Dave Grohl said he once pursued the idea of launching his own TV network because he felt music wasn’t well-served by the programming that currently exists.
The Foo Fighters leader wound up in conversation with a former MTV boss, and that’s when he realized it wasn’t a good idea to continue with his plans.
“Years ago, I was hell-bent on starting my own network,” Grohl told Vulture in a recent interview. “I was out of my fucking mind: ‘I’m going to start my own music channel.’ I had this idea that music programming shouldn’t just be videos. It should be something that introduces the artist with more depth or substance, whether it’s live performance or mini-documentary.”
He added that he "got together with my old friend, Judy McGrath, who used to run MTV a long time ago. We sat down for dinner, and she was like, ‘I can get you a channel.’ I’m like, ‘Really?’ ‘Yes.’ Then she was like, ‘You really want to be a TV executive?’ I was like, ‘No, fuck that. No way. No fuckin’ way.’”
Grohl has put music on TV, however, with his documentary series Sonic Highways. “I fucking interviewed a hundred people for that series,” he said. “It’s a history of American music – not the whole story, but it’s a big part of it. … Because it needs to be heard so people will not only appreciate where we’ve been but have something to look forward to.”
He noted that the evolution of music, instruments, technology and creativity were important to him. “I’ve always loved the idea of these roots that grow into something that blossoms for years to come or seeds that are planted for the next generation,” he said. “I still believe this fucking crazy world of music we live in now is a community. If I’m standing onstage and there’s a K-pop band to my right and Alicia Keys to my left, we’re all in this together. The Foo Fighters might be, like, the Crosby, Stills & Nash at this fucking point, but we’re in this together.”