Foo Fighters’ ex-drummer slams Dave Grohl as ‘school bully’

He said he felt creatively 'raped' by Grohl

Foo Fighters‘ former drummer William Goldsmith has hit out at Dave Grohl, slamming him as a ‘school bully’ and saying he was left feeling ‘creatively raped’ after leaving the band.

Goldsmith, also formerly drummer of Sunny Day Real Estate, played with the Foos between 1995 and 1997, contributing drums to the recording of their seminal second album ‘The Colour And Shape’, before discovering that Grohl had largely re-recorded all of his parts himself.

“Apparently Dave was going to re-record a few of the songs,” Goldsmith told the Daily Mail. “I don’t know if the producer told him to keep going, or what. But the next thing you know, all of the work I had done was gone except for one or two of the tracks.”

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Claiming that he was left ‘creatively raped’, Goldsmith continued: “It was a way of describing how it felt – when you put that much of yourself into something, and then without you even knowing, it is completely destroyed from existence.

“Management, the producers and Dave, I think they all wanted Dave to play drums on that record. I would have been cool if it had been half me and half him. Or even if there had been some kind of communication about what they were doing. But they basically dragged me through the coals.”

Goldsmith added: “It was brutal and I think maybe the producer was hoping I would give up but I didn’t.”

Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl
Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl

“I found out he had redone all the tracks and got rid of everything, and then he still wanted me to be in the band and tour live. I was like, man, there are some people that are hired and session musicians and that’s cool. But that’s not why I set out to play music. That’s not what I did it for.”

Comparing Grohl to a school bully, Goldsmith added: “He was a bit like the kid who is popular but is mean and everyone likes them.”

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Claiming that he felt under-appreciated and underused, Goldsmith turned to drugs and alcohol before everything took its toll and he left the band in December 1997. At the time, he said it damaged his friendship with Foo’s Nate Mendel but they’ve since repaired their relationship – and Goldsmith as now much more at peace with his past.

” I remember once Dave said in an interview that touring with me was like touring with a punching bag,” said Goldsmith. “At the same time at that point in my life, my ability to set boundaries and my own self-confidence was lacking and I made it that much easier for him. As time has gone on I have gone through some experiences which turned me into a man.

“People aren’t allowed to pull bullshit with me any more. I am as much at fault for allowing myself to get treated like crap.”

He added: ‘The way I look at it now is if it hadn’t have happened the records I made afterwards wouldn’t have been made and I wouldn’t have had the children I have.”

Remembering the last time he saw Grohl in 2002, Goldsmith said: “I have been given the impression he feels bad about the way things went. If he feels bad about how things went then why hasn’t he tried to get a hold of me?

“All he would have to do is sit down and talk it out with me.”

Foo Fighters release new album ‘Concrete And Gold’ on September 15, and will play a one-off UK tour date at The O2 in London on September 19. Tickets are available here.

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