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."
In 2021, talking to Rolling Stone, Ian MacKaye revealed that he and Henry Rollins saw Ted Nugent live three times in the '70s.
"[Nugent's 1978 live album] Double Live Gonzo was like our bible," he admitted, before agreeing that the ferociously right wing, conspiracy theory-loving, NRA advocate Nugent has become "kind of a tool".
"I think he’s always been maniacal, and his mania hasn’t always been well-placed," he noted. "Just recently I came across a video of him giving some guy a tour of his house and I was repelled by almost everything about him, except for the fact that he clearly has a deep and abiding love for music. He’s a pretty incredible guitar player."
Having once sat with Ian MacKaye in Dischord House watching live videos of Nugent from the 1970s, this writer can confirm that his affection for the 'Motor City Madman' is genuine and sincere.
