Dave Grohl recently was the guest on photographer-director Sam Jones’ interview series Off Camera, where he discussed the pitfalls of Nirvana’s quick rise to fame and his transition from drummer to frontman for Foo Fighters.

“Unfortunately, Nirvana became too big too quick,” Grohl said. “Bands are like families that go through uncomfortable growing pains, and if it happens all at once, it’s just too much to handle.”

He also noted Kurt Cobain wasn't the “tortured, depressed Gen X icon” he’s made out to be, but rather, “funny,” “light-hearted” and “easy to be around.”

While the prospect of launching Foo Fighters in the shadow of Nirvana was daunting, Grohl said following Cobain’s death he was motivated to move forward in spite of inevitable comparisons between the two bands:

When Kurt died, I woke up the next day and thought, "I’m lucky to be alive." So much that still, to this day, I feel that every morning when I wake up, because it’s so strange to think that person was just here and now they’re gone. And I’m still here? And maybe tomorrow I could be gone as well? It was a profound revelation I had the day after he died and it changed everything. It honestly changed so much of my life that I felt the most important thing was just appreciating being alive, good day or bad day. But after Kurt died, I really felt that way, like, "Okay, I’m gonna try this. What do I have to lose? I’m gonna start this band and then I’m gonna be the singer."

You can watch those segments of the conversation in the videos above.

Dave Grohl Albums Ranked in Order of Awesomeness

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