“I was always encouraged to experiment and express myself”: Inside Violet Grohl’s debut solo album

Violet Grohl, daughter of Foo Fighters’ legend Dave, has announced her excellent debut album, Be Sweet To Me. Many music fans will be familiar with the 19-year-old’s talents thanks to her appearance on the track Show Me How from the Foos’ 11th album But Here We Are, as well as performing the song live on some of the world’s largest stages.

Now, however, Violet is going it alone with Be Sweet To Me, its title inspired by a phrase she and her friends employ to call time when their teasing becomes too much. Having already released the dynamic but dreamy single THUM in January, Violet is now preparing to share the other fruits of her labours from the past few years. This includes new single 595, a similarly captivating fusion of rock and dream pop; and Bug In A Cake, a rousing celebration of the enduring presence of her late grandmother, Dave’s mother Virginia.

She’s also having her first experience of the rigours of doing press. “It’s very new and it’s a little nerve-wracking,” Violet says of the process. “But at the same time it’s amazing to finally be able to talk about the music and to deep dive on some of the influences…”

Many will be familiar with your appearance on Foo Fighters’ last album, specifically the track Show Me How, which examines the idea of stepping up in the face of loss. How much did that experience, and exploring those ideas, help with your own songwriting?
“It had been solidified in my mind for a while that I wanted to pursue music as a career, but recording that song with my dad gave me a great deal of insight and confidence to give it my all and go into the studio, write and record. I had been demoing things for a while, in my room, and had worked with a couple of producers here and there, just to see how it felt.”

Your initial songwriting efforts were solitary but became more collaborative in the studio. Was that something you pushed for, to take you out of your comfort zone?
“Yeah, that was something I wanted. After a while of writing on my own, I started to get emotionally drained, as I was pulling from some very memorable places. That put me into a zone it wasn’t really easy to get out of, so it was fun to be in a spontaneous environment and really beautiful. A lot of stuff happens in those moments that you don’t really expect. Sometimes it might go wrong, but other times something even better comes out of trying. THUM was written and recorded the first day we were in the studio – I thought, ‘I didn’t even know I could do that.’ I had a lot of unfinished demos, so I hadn’t finished my own song before. It all fell together and lit a fire under my ass.”

Be Sweet To Me was produced by Justin Raisen, who’s worked with the likes of Kim Gordon. Justin has described you as "unapologetically [yourself]” – where do you think that quality has come from? You reportedly came home one day and announced you’d secured your own record deal…
“I was brought up in an environment where I was allowed to experiment – where I was allowed to express myself in whatever creative endeavour I wanted. Sometimes, you know, that creative endeavour might not go how I was expecting it to, but I was always encouraged to embrace things, whether it was dyeing my hair or getting my first tattoo. My parents were always very supportive. It also came from my grandmother, my dad’s mom [Virginia Grohl, who died in 2022]. She was able to move through life with this effortless essence and she was so knowledgeable. It wasn’t easy for her, but she made it through, coming out the other end, having this little community, a book [From Cradle To Stage: Stories From The Mothers Who Rocked And Raised Rock Stars] and show [From Cradle To Stage]. I think I’ve had some really good, strong female role models.”

You have your grandmother’s portrait tattooed on your arm. You’ve also written a song, Bug In A Cake, about living in her house now, and her continued presence there…
“She was such a massive presence, and when she passed it was really devastating. But her presence on earth was so strong and so vibrant that it feels like she’s still here and I feel very close to her all the time. Moving into her house was all I wanted to do. The thought of it being torn down and turned into some developmental property broke my fucking heart, so I couldn’t let that happen. Last year, I officially moved in. My grandmother had kept the most amazing family heirlooms, like my great grandpa’s World War II dogtags, and all the letters he wrote to my great grandma when he was serving in the navy. The song Bug In A Cake is about how the house is haunted, because my grandmother is still very much there. There’s a lyric, ‘Turn the TV off so it turns back on,’ about when I came home and despite switching everything off, the TV was on in the bedroom, with MSNBC on, which was my grandmother’s favourite channel.”

What qualities did Justin bring as a producer? Given your relative inexperience, what were you looking for from him?
“We both had the same feel for what we wanted to do. He’s pretty hands-on – he’d hop on the bass when he needed to – and wrote the bassline for THUM. He’s not overbearing – he has so much going on in his brain constantly and is like a mad scientist. It was very collaborative, and everyone was willing to listen.”

Speaking of which, you made inspiration playlists that you took into the studio. What did they provide you with?
“It was my first instinct to communicate what I wanted. There are so many sonic influences that I absolutely adore. With a lot of the songs, it wasn’t about them as a whole, but about what a guitar is doing here, or how a vocal is mixed there. It gave us a palette to pull from.”

Let’s talk about a few of the artists on those playlists and what qualities you were trying to emulate from them – starting with Soundgarden…
“Their guitar sound is so sludgy and so powerful. I love it because it can be angry one moment and very emotionally heavy the next. And I just love the melodic structures of Soundgarden songs. Plus, there is no man who can sing like Chris Cornell. I’ve never heard a guy do a good cover of a Soundgarden song – only women.”

What about the Pixies? You seem to share a predilection for surreal lyrics with Frank Black…
“Absolutely! I love how abstract his lyrics can be, but somehow beautiful and depressing. It feels like unfiltered expression of exactly what he wants to say, which is so fucking badass. Plus, their guitar sound and backwards drumming are so iconic and inventive.”

And what about PJ Harvey?
“PJ Harvey is just something else… the way that she’s able to translate her emotions in extraordinary ways, and her sonic choices are so tasteful and spectacular, and never obvious. I think I was 12 or 13 when I got my first PJ Harvey record, [1993’s] Rid Of Me, and it blew my fucking mind!”

There’s also a visual component to your songwriting. Tell us about your love of film director David Lynch, whose influence is apparent on the dark but dreamy 595…
“I’ve always had a very strong visual sense, so I found so much relatability in David Lynch’s work. I think I was 14 when I saw Blue Velvet and found everything I’ve ever wanted in a movie. I’ve loved horror since I was a kid, watching all the classics first, though my dad said I wasn’t allowed to see The Exorcist until I was 12. Then I discovered David Lynch’s films – I love Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me – because they’re real. They’re abstract, but very American and have an undercurrent to them, which I wanted in my music too.”

Justin, your producer, has also commended your “golden voice” – a voice that sounds somewhat from a different era…
“That is a huge compliment! I love jazz and for a very, very long time I was into female jazz vocalists like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington – who all had unique, very magical voices.”

Presumably there will be live shows… having performed on such massive stages with Foo Fighters, how does the prospect of a more whites-of-the-eyes experience strike you?
“I was so nervous doing that and had to get in a zone to be able to do that. But playing in front of smaller audiences is so much scarier. You can actually see the reactions on the faces of people, and how they’re responding to what you’re doing in an intimate setting. Will there be shows in the UK? You might hear something soon…”

Be Sweet To Me is due out on May 29 via Auroura Records / Republic Records / Island Records UK

Read this next:

• Chris Cornell’s 12 greatest vocal performances
• Frank Black: “When I get asked about Nirvana, I think, ‘Am I being validated because some other dude mentioned my name?’ Fuck that!”
• Every Soundgarden album ranked from ‘worst’ to best