In a new interview with Rolling Stone’s Brian Hiatt to promote his upcoming memoir The Storyteller, Dave Grohl talked about almost joining GWAR right before becoming Nirvana’s drummer. But current GWAR lead singer, Blothar The Berserker (whose real name is Michael Bishop), jokes to Consequence that Grohl remembers it “ALL wrong.”
“He used to hang around the track with all the other young punks jacked on gak. This is back before he lost all his teeth. We hired him and then called him back immediately and fired him. He was in the band for around 7 and a half minutes. He was holding us back,” says Blothar.
But out of character, Bishop confirms that Grohl was in serious talks to join the band. “Our guitar player Dewey (Flattus Maximus) was booking shows in Richmond at the time, and we had all seen Dave play with his bands Dain Bramage and later on in Scream,” he says. “He was already one of the greatest, hardest hitting drummers I had ever seen. He still is. Dewey called and started the conversation with him about joining GWAR. I was stoked because I played bass at the time, and I would have loved to jam with him. Just think, he could have been working his ass off playing drums in a rubber monster suit all these years. Boy did he make the wrong choice.”
It all worked out for the best, since Jizmak Da Gusha (Brad Roberts) has been with the band since 1989, but it’s still fun to think about what Grohl as GWAR’s drummer would’ve been like.
Grohl has yet to reveal what his alter ego’s name would’ve been, and what his band outfit would’ve looked like. However, he did say that he designed a costume that didn’t fully cover his face and allowed his arms to be free so he could drum easily. We’ll learn if he discusses his time almost joining GWAR further in his memoir once it’s out on October 5.