Dave Grohl Singles Out Neil Peart & John Bonham As Key Inpirations

Dave Grohl will forever be a drummer at heart and took time out on the Tiny TV webcast salute two of his greatest influences — Rush's Neal Peart and Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.

Ultimate-Guitar.com transcribed Grohl's interview, as he explained experiencing his first Rush album: “First of all I didn't have a (drum) set (when I first heard 2112), so it was just pillows in my bedroom. And I put a record on this pillow, that was my hi-hat, and this pillow was my snare. The first album that I really noticed the drums on was 2112 by Rush, someone gave it to me. That was the first time when I really listened to the drums. I couldn't play what was being played on the record, but it was the first time I thought, 'Wow, drummers do that? Oh my god!'”

He went on to say, “And then over time I think my biggest epiphany was when I discovered Led Zeppelin, and then that's when I really started listening to Bonham, and that's when I discovered how drumming can be not only powerful, but poetic, and that's what I got into.”

Dave Grohl has always felt the need to surround himself with music. He told us a while back that he once worked at the legendary and now-defunct record chain Tower Records: “I worked at Tower Records when I was 18, 19, something like that, in Washington D.C. It was pretty fun. I always looked at Tower as the place you could get a job if you had a really funky haircut. Maybe you could get a job at the construction warehouse, but you'd kind of rather be surrounded by music.”