Straight Down the Line Melody Maker 2000 Dave Grohl calls up from the middle of a rock'n'roll fantasy tour with Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

How's the tour going?

"It's beautiful, the best thing that's ever happened. We've been on the road for a month now. I think we go on untill August. The way the Chilli Peppers tour, I don't think they actually like touring. They do three weeks on and then take 10 days off, so that's why it takes five months to do the whole of America."



Muse were on the tour. How did they do?

"They went over really well. We did one show with Muse in Paris with the Chilli Peppers. When I heard they were on this tour, I thought they might be kind of over everyone's heads. Americans are raised on convenience and Muse aren't something that's easy to understand, but they went over really well. The audiences were blown away by Matt's vocals and his guitar playing."



'Breakout' is the next single, isn't it?

"Yeah, it's for the Jim Carrey movie, 'Me, Myself And Irene'. He plays this motor cop who has a difficulty with confontation and eventually he kind of invents this new personality who can deal with conflict. It's fucking hilarious. In the video I play this geek and I take my hot girlfriend on a date to a drive-in to see the movie. I get picked on so much that I eventually have a schizo freak-out and become cool. There's some stupid little hijinks in the video. There's a dog fucking my leg, which is pretty funny."



You're alson on the soundtrack to 'MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2'. Have you seen it?

"No I've not seen it. But my first hardcore band was called Mission Impossible. Full circle, man! We recorded a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Have A Cigar'. I play drums and Taylor sings, Brian May plays guitar."



Why was he a special guest at your last Brixton gig?

"If we we're pretty much anywhere near London, we have to get Brian to play. He's fucking cool. We did a version of that song before, for a B-side, but we decided to record it over and really go for it. We went to Brian May's house in the country and did it there. You don't have to do much to make it sound like Queen if you're playing with Brian May."



Are you excited about Reading & Leeds?

"We're doing the Glasgow one, too. I'm looking forward to it, it will be fun. It wouldn't be summer without a Reading. I've probably been to that place more than I've been to my own home. It's us Oasis and Primal Scream. I like Primal Scream. I love their new album a lot. We've met Oasis a bunch of times before. I like those guys. It's funny that people see them as assholes because they're not. I think that might be the greatest rock'n'roll swindle, because they are actually really nice. Last time I saw Liam, he fucking showed me pictures of his kid. That's not exactly rock'n'roll, is it?"



America doesn't seem too excited about them any more.

(Groans) "Who gives a shit? They still sound good."



Have you still got the sideburns?

"I had to lose them for this video. My cool factor went down by five points."



How's Chris, your new guitarist getting on?

"We just had a great night out where we decided he's the perfect person for the band. We couldn't have found a better loser, we really hit the nail on the head."



Are you planning any more UK gigs?

"The last visit was pretty short. I'm sure we'll come over in the fall. We've got to figure it out, but we will never forget about you guys, that's for sure."



What about the next album?

"Not yet, but it will happen. We're constantly trying to move in another direction. We've gone from being a garage band to a hard rock band to whatever we are now. So the next one will definitely mix it up more. My five-year plan is to have Taylor become the lead singer and then I become the drummer so that I can quit, but those guys still go on. I would retain a percentage of the merchandising. Then I can go and sit and watch my own band play and sell T-shirts to the kids."



Is Foo Fighters still fun?

"This tour has actually been the most fun we've ever had playing. We used to dread playing, we get so nervous, Taylor and I do. But, oh my God, it's fucking fun. We can't wait to get up onstage, it's a rock'n'roll fantasy. By the end of the night, it's just out of control, it's just insane. Last night, I jumped into the audience and walked all the way to the T-shirt stand, jumped on the table and put a pair of Red Hot Chilli Peppers women's underwear and shook my ass at the audience. We had no idea the tour was going to be this good."



