Dave Grohl and Fugazi/Minor Threat legend Ian MacKaye go way back.
MacKaye, the co-founder of Washington DC's hugely influential Dischord label, and one of the most inspirational figureheads of the US independent rock community , first saw Grohl play drums when the Foo Fighters frontman was just 16 years old, and actually considered asking the teenager to play with him in an early incarnation of Fugazi, before learning that the drummer had joined DC area hardcore crew Scream. The pair have remained friends ever since, and last year, when MacKaye celebrated his 63rd birthday, Grohl arranged a very special surprise gift for his old pal, a personalised message from an unlikely MacKaye hero.
"Ian's an old friend," Grohl tells the Broken Record podcast, "and he's honestly one of my heroes in life. He's such an incredible person. So we've had long conversations about Ted Nugent. I'm like... are you fucking... really Ian? And he's like, 'Yeah, man!' I guess he and Henry (Rollins) went to go see him play. He's like, 'Here's this guy, he jumps out on stage with his guitar, it's loud as shit, he's wearing a loincloth and he's screaming his fucking brains out, and his hair is out to here.'
"And so last year, for Ian's birthday, I got him a Cameo [bespoke video message] from Ted Nugent. It blew Ian's mind. I don't even think Ian knew what Cameo was. And of course, like, you have to sort of prompt the Cameo. 'It's my friend Ian's birthday, he's a struggling musician, and an avid bow hunter...' [Ian MacKaye is famously vegan] Oh yeah, I went there! He was just like, 'How did you do that?' I'm like, Ian, it's an app. Blew his mind."
