Foo Fighters have discussed the departures of drummer Josh Freese, and William Goldsmith.
Speaking about Freese's departure, the band insisted that it was a “decision that was best for all parties”.
Freese had joined the band following the sudden death of long time drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022. Having toured with them throughout 2024, Freese announced last year that he been let go by the band.
Prior to their interview with The Guardian, it was reported that frontman Dave Grohl would not be discussing Fresse's exit from the band, with other members asked about the decision to let him go.
“Yeah,” said Mendel. “We made a decision that it was best for all parties. To get into the personal details [with Freese] of why that didn’t necessarily sync up, just didn’t seem like it was going to benefit anybody.”
“Some things are OK to be like: this is what’s best for us, and we’re going in a different direction,” he added, also sharing that the band were still grateful for Freese for stepping in following the death of Hawkins, and “doing exactly what needs to be done musically to make it work”.
Foo Fighters also spoke about their dynamic, with bandmembers Nate Mendel and Chris Shifflet saying that they often make their own music outside of the band, but always work with frontman Dave Grohl's vision, while still insisting that they are happy with this structure.
“It produces great songs", Mendel stated.
“I’ll go and make a weird-ass record that no one listens to, and I’m satisfied,” he added, also revealing that Grohl has “some passive-aggressive ways of communicating things”.
It was at this point that Mendel referred to William Goldsmith's departure from Foo Fighters nearly 30 years ago.
Goldsmith, served as original Foos drummer from 1995 to 1997, but Dave Grohl was not happy with the drum tracks that Goldsmith did for the band's album, 'The Colour And The Shape', which Grohl later rerecorded by himself.
Upon hearing this, Goldsmith left the band, and was replaced by Taylor Hawkins.
“I didn’t like that,” said guitarist Pat Smear, when discussing the way Goldsmith's departure was handled. “Dave was just learning to be a bandleader; we could have handled the whole thing better. It left a bad taste".
Foo Fighters will release their new album, 'Your Favourite Toy' on April 24, via Roswell Records/Columbia Records.
Speaking of Hawkins, Dave Grohl recently said that his death "made me question everything about life". More on this from Nova here.
