“I wanted to be Roger Taylor, I wanted to be in Queen, I wanted to play stadiums when I was ten years old” - Taylor Hawkins
When we think of musicians, we think of certain individuals who master a craft only some people can only dream of. People who in our eyes ‘live the dream’ every night, performing on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans. However, in the back of our minds we know and are aware of so many of these talents fall ill to substance abuse, alcohol addiction and mental health problems, only for these issues to be exacerbated by being in the public eye and constantly being expected to be their best selves every day. I would like to invite you to read about my experiences with the Foo Fighters’ music and how the late Taylor Hawkins inspired me to be a better musician.
Taylor Hawkins was 25 when he joined Foo Fighters in 1997. Before that he played drums for Alanis Morissette (currently residing in the ‘where are they now?’ file). It is now famously stated that the Foo’s went through the same growing pains many successful bands go through in their early years. However, their growing pains was for everyone to see, and Foo Fighters had to search through the rough to find their diamond in Taylor Hawkins. Playing on every album for the band from 1999’s ‘There is nothing left to lose’ to 2022’s ‘Dream Window’ Hawkins provided the enthusiastic and high energy style of drums that we have come to expect from Foo Fighters and is synonymous with the band.
So, where does this bring me in? In 2005, as a 5-year-old boy my family took me to see the now infamous concert ‘Noise and Confusion’ in the Principality stadium in Cardiff. A mammoth gig that contained bands such as The Coral, Razor light, Oasis and of course, Foo Fighters. They opened with ‘In your honour’. The moment Dave Grohl sang the opening line I was caught hook line and musical sinker. Then the drums came in. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing let alone seeing. It must have been how people felt in the 1960’s watching Muhammed Ali fight, a spectacle that no one had seen before. Such a unique presence. An awe-inspiring talent who defied what anyone had done before them.
I come from an extensive line of musicians. My grandfather is a pianist and has been since he was a child, another relative is a freelance accompanist who plays for the Royal Ballet and teaches in London. My father is a drummer and is the sole reason I ever learnt how to play a 4x4 beat and my late cousin was a founding member and original lead guitarist/vocalist of the London based band ‘The Ha’pennies’ and I myself have been drumming since I could pick up a pair of drum sticks.
Like many young musicians I learnt to play the drums by playing along to various songs such as ‘Chop Suey!’ by System of a down, ‘Billie Jean’ by Michael Jackson and ‘Breed’ by Nirvana. Knowing how to play along to a song is something Hawkins described as being imperative to being a drummer on BBC radio 6’s show with Steve Lamacq in 2019.
Now, Dave Grohl is considered to be one of the all-time greatest drummers. (a statement I wholeheartedly agree with) However, the one drummer I found hardest to emulate, to play like, to match the energy and speed in which he played was Taylor Hawkins. Eventually, the penny dropped, and I would play the songs along with the tracks with Taylor as if he was on a separate drum kit in my bedroom. I would spend whole summers playing along to tracks such as ‘Monkey Wrench’, ‘In your honour’ and ‘The Pretender’. Then once I had exhausted my arms practicing these songs I would sit down and watch interviews with Foo Fighters and especially interviews containing Taylor Hawkins in them. This started a trend that I still follow today. One could argue that watching the interviews with Taylor Hawkins in the early days introduced me to a whole new world of media. Watching how Hawkins would talk about music gave me an insight to what it means to be a professional musician. Where he would talk about his various musical influences ranging from Queen, Abba and the Beatles.
Every now and then I will scroll through YouTube and an interview will be recommended with Taylor Hawkins in it. The Howards Stern show, NME and 60 minutes are some of my favourite interviews to watch with him in it. Watching him talk about his love and passion for certain bands such as Queen and Tears for fears and even describing Black Sabbath as “Zepplin’s ugly cousin”, a sense of humour that shone through the screen and reached a young drummer such as myself in the heart of the South Wales Valleys.
But now whenever an interview gets recommended to me containing anything to do with Foo Fighters it will be marred with melancholy and a throwback to a time when I was just starting out and trying to keep up with the legend that was Taylor Hawkins as a drummer. As I grew up, I went on to play in various bands throughout my teenage years and going on to achieve a musical qualification from college. I credit my fast-paced drumming to a drumming great such as Hawkins. Whenever my school or college teacher would tell me to not play the drums so hard or loud it just never made sense to me! I would think “well, Taylor Hawkins never plays the drums quietly” because quite frankly the drums are not meant to be played softly nor quietly and that is something I first learnt when I was 5 watching Taylor Hawkins live for the first time.
When I woke up to the news that Taylor Hawkins had passed, I realised that I will never get the opportunity to see him perform live again. However sad this is, and it is devastating to think that Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo’s will never play again it is important to remember that in any death we must hold on to and remember the good times. Taylor Hawkins inspired a generation of drummers and reached out to multiple people across all ages. There are children today who are just discovering the music of Foo Fighters and the drumming capabilities of Taylor Hawkins and one day one of those children will carry on the mantle and will play just like Taylor did in front of thousands of people. To quote another musical great in Frank Sinatra, people will look back in years to come and say that Taylor Hawkins “Did it his way.”
Jacob Price