We didn’t plan this interview. It just happened.
One minute, we were sitting in a Portland dive bar.
The next? A familiar laugh. A flannel blur. A beer–already open.
“Did someone say groove collapse?” he asked, grinning.
A nod to the night he fell off stage and broke his leg mid-show. Or maybe just another clue that he allegedly played drums for Slide Whistle Down The Stairs (read our in-depth analysis here)— a band that only existed for three weeks, two basement gigs, and one emotionally loaded voicemail.
He appears unannounced.
During soundchecks. In bathrooms. In dreams that smell like cymbals.
We’ve tracked over 340 bands reporting unexplained Grohl interference.
Reports of replaced missing rehearsal footage. Drums tuned mysteriously well. Ramen delivered backstage with handwritten notes that say things like:
“You’re the heart of this band. Stop using quantize.”
— D.G.
The sightings are not limited to this era. The Evidence.
Formed in 1937 on the South Side of Chicago, The Soft Lamentations were known for their unhurried swing, deeply suspicious trumpet solos, and the persistent presence of a drummer who “wasn’t always there, but somehow always heard.”
The quartet played smoky backrooms, freight depots, and one legendary rooftop set that made five people cry and one man spontaneously remember the name of his first dog.
Their signature tune — “Don’t Mention Tuesday” — was banned from radio play for being “too emotionally suggestive for daylight.”
But Dave appears in a photo dated April 3, 1937, grilling brisket. When questioned, no one in the band could remember inviting him. One simply muttered:
“He kept time… and ribs.”
Another image shows him in a ‘56 American fold rock duo out of Detroit called Grohl & Garfunkel
Formed in a borrowed garage behind a hardware store in Hamtramck, G & G was one of the first bands to combine raw distortion, anti-authoritarian rage, and floral motifs.
Their sound?
Rusty reverb, busted snares, and vocals that sounded like a guy yelling into a tin can because he couldn’t afford therapy.
They claimed the band was inspired by “a girl, a carburetor, and the concept of time.”
Dave Grohl appears in one grainy photo, credited only as “air percussioninst”
Their only known single — “I’m Not Done Being Mad (But My Shift Starts at 5)” — charted for three days in a gas station jukebox before being banned for “emotional unrest.”
Seen in a 1973 promo shoot for psychedelic band Cinnamon Seizure
They only played four shows.
Two of them were in the woods.
One was a séance.
And one may have just been an extended soundcheck accidentally broadcast on FM radio.
Dave played drums and “emotional feedback.” The band’s only surviving EP is rumored to be pressed into a coaster at a bar in Tucson.
We’re not saying he’s immortal. But every decade seems to have a band that swears:
“We didn’t know who he was. He just was.”
Our intern created a map using Grohl sightings, Foo Fighters tour dates, and emotional feedback loops.
It forms the shape of a cowbell.
Coincidence? Or cosmic rhythm?
We reached out to musicians for comment:
“He didn’t play anything. He just nodded.”
— Flea
“I think he was my bassist for six months, but we never asked.”
— Someone in a Midwest band called GroanBox
“We didn’t book him. But he brought snacks.”
— Phoebe Bridgers (unconfirmed)
We asked him how he manages to be in so many bands simultaneously.
“I’m not in the band,” he whispered.
“I’m the reason they don’t break up.”
Then he screamed “One-two-three-four!” into a salt shaker and vanished into a cloud of compression.
We received a mini-disc labeled “Don’t Play Until the Breakdown” and instructions to wait until a full-band emotional collapse.
We did.
The disc played a four-second clip of Dave laughing, followed by 47 minutes of room tone.
We felt better afterward.
You won’t see him in your credits.
You won’t hear him in the final mix.
But if your band gets through a hard season, plays tighter than they rehearsed, or remembers why they started, there’s a good chance…
Dave was there.
This was Spinfork™.
And this month… we interviewed a drum fill.
