Premiering today (April 30th) via The Coda Collection on Amazon Prime Video Channels, is the new documentary, Dave Grohl’s What Drives Us. The film — directed by Dave Grohl and produced by Foo Fighters — is based around various bands' war stories of making their bones during their early days traveling together on the road.
Grohl has tapped a wide range of friends and fellow musicians — including such high-profile rockers as Ringo Starr, Flea, Slash & Duff McKagan, The Edge, Lars Ulrich, Brian Johnson, Steven Tyler, No Doubt’s Tony Kanal, Black Flag’s Kira Roessler, St. Vincent, Exene Cervenka of X, and many more
Dave Grohl said in the film's official announcement:
This film is my love letter to every musician that has ever jumped in an old van with their friends and left it all behind for the simple reward of playing music. What started as a project to pull back the curtain on the DIY logistics of stuffing all of your friends and equipment into a small space for months on end eventually turned into an exploration of 'Why?' What drives us?
Earlier this week Dave Grohl appeared on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! and went into detail about what the film says about musicians embarking on their journey: ["(Dave Grohl): "We sit down and we talk to each other about shared experiences. And what I found in talking to all these musicians is that it all really comes from the same place. Y'know, when you're a kid, and you fall in love with rock n' roll, you can't live without it. And then, eventually, you throw everything away, like, you leave your life behind, jump in a stinky old van with your friends, and, y''know, go share it with the world with no guarantee that it'll ever pay off. (Jimmy Kimmel): And in fact, the odds are against it."] SOUNDCUE (:25 OC: . . . are against it)
Grohl went on to shed light on his own story of first hitting the road: ["(Dave Grohl): When I was 18-years-old, the first time I went on tour was in a van, like that with six people — for months on end. And we didn't get hotels. We would, like, sleep in that van every night — on top of our equipment. So, if you found, like, someone who had a house you could crash in, then you could sleep on a couch, you were like 'Oh my god, it's like The Four Seasons! (Laughter) (Jimmy Kimmel): Yeah. (Dave Grohl): This is unbelievable, y'know? You're not sleeping on top of an amplifier anymore."] SOUNDCUE (:23 OC: . . . an amplifier anymore)