Previous to becoming a member of the Foo Fighters, drummer Taylor Hawkins endured six months of “torture” throughout his first main tour.
Hawkins, 50, was pronounced lifeless at his lodge in Bogota, Colombia, on Mar. 25. In tributes from musical artists world wide, it’s turn into clear simply how liked and revered he was.
However that wasn’t at all times the case, as Hawkins informed Classic Rock in a newly-republished article from 2014. Round 20 years earlier, the drummer defined, he was in a “sappy band going nowhere” and dealing in a music retailer when he heard that Canadian singer Sass Jordan wanted a drummer for her European tour with Aerosmith. “I used to be like, ‘Fuck! I’ll do this!’ Even when I by no means do anything,” he recalled. “I had a silly confidence. I assumed I used to be the very best drummer on the earth. I actually did. Lots of people stated I used to be nice on a regular basis. And people who didn’t, I assumed they have been simply silly. That was simply bravado.”
He secured an audition via Jordan’s musical director and guitarist Stevie Salas, identified for his work with Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, American Idol and extra. “I went there considering I already had the gig, so I used to be going to indicate them how briskly I might play the drums,” Hawkins stated. “I blasted via a few songs. Stevie Salas stopped me and stated, ‘Hey. Did you hearken to the tempo of those songs?’ I used to be like, ‘Yeah! I do know all of them.’ However he informed me I didn’t know them. He took me exterior and informed me to hearken to the music and take into consideration the way in which it was performed and the tempo, and to not play drum solos.”
Admitting he didn’t actually course of what Salas had informed him, Hawkins returned the subsequent week for his second probability. “He wasn’t completely satisfied. He stated I wasn’t prepared for this gig, however he stated he noticed one thing in me and gave me the job. He stated, ‘I’m going to bust your fucking ass,’ however I didn’t care… $375 per week, a bunk on a bus and journey to Europe. However that following month in rehearsals, he wore me out. There’d be occasions once I wasn’t positive if I’d be coming again the subsequent day. He’d be like, ‘Too quick!’ or, ‘Too gradual!’ … It was intense.”
The expertise of the Aerosmith tour was additionally intense. “Stevie Salas could be screaming in my face throughout the reveals, ‘This ain’t no highschool gig!’ and would inform me he thought I ought to in all probability go dwelling,” Hawkins revealed. “He tortured me! Fucking tortured me! For six months.” However he added: “And I nonetheless love him. He’ll at all times be one among my mentors, like Dave [Grohl]. He was the one man who beat it into my mind that I wasn’t the very best drummer on the earth, that I’ve work to do. However he stated I had one thing that couldn’t be taught.”
Hawkins famous that Salas “ripped my ego out of my physique and put it again the way in which it ought to have been,” reporting: “I nonetheless speak to him each couple of months. He involves reveals and I’ll get nervous.”
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