Josh Freese has confessed that he never “really resonated with” the music of the Foo Fighters.
The 52-year-old drummer was dismissed by the Everlong rockers in May and has admitted that he didn’t share the same musical tastes as the Dave Grohl-fronted band.
In an interview with the New York Times newspaper, Josh said: “It wasn’t music that I really resonated with.”
The musician has since returned to Nine Inch Nails after leaving the Foos and reflected on how his two-year stint with the latter was a high-pressure situation as he had been drafted in following the tragic death of previous sticksman Taylor Hawkins in 2022.
Josh explained: “I’m coming in as Dave Grohl’s drummer, and the guy that’s supposed to save the day after the beloved Taylor Hawkins died.
“(I felt) like I had to be firing on all cylinders all the time.”
The Foos replaced Josh with Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin and Freese reflected on the bizarre situation of the pair swapping bands.
He said: “I couldn’t believe it.
“But Ilan’s a phenomenal drummer, a phenomenal musician. He’ll be perfect for the gig.”
Josh revealed how he was “shocked and disappointed” when told that his time touring with the Foos was coming to an end earlier this year.
He wrote on Instagram: “The Foo Fighters called me Monday night to let me know they’ve decided ‘to go in a different direction with their drummer’.
“No reason was given. Regardless, I enjoyed the past two years with them, both on and off stage and I support whatever they feel is best for the band.”
Josh continued: “In my 40 years of drumming professionally, I’ve never been let go from a band, so while I’m not angry – I’m shocked and disappointed. But as most of you know I’ve always worked freelance and bounced between bands so I’m fine.”
The musician later released a tongue-in-cheek list of 10 reasons as to why he was “booted” from the Foo Fighters, quipping that he had whistled the track My Hero too much.
From 10 to one, he quipped he “once whistled My Hero for a week solid on tour” and “could only name one Fugazi song”.
At number eight, he joked: “Two words: polyrhythms.”
He teased that his “metronome-like precision behind the kit” had been deemed “soulless”, and joked that he “demanded started every rehearsal with a 20 minute cowbell sound bath”.
Referencing Grohl’s iconic look, Josh quipped he “never even once tried growing a beard”, and that he “didn’t show up to the studio because Mercury was in retrograde”.