Grohl Tape Has Record Execs in Nirvana

The hottest cassette tape in town is by the. . . Foo Fighters?

That’s the name of Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl’s solo project, which has been described as “exciting” and “groundbreaking” by record executives who have heard the tape.

And don’t assume that the album will come out on Geffen Records’ DGC label, even though the West Hollywood-based company was the home of Nirvana. That’s because Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic were both granted releases from their Geffen contracts following Kurt Cobain’s suicide death last year.

Grohl’s free-agent status has led to a scramble by companies to get into the bidding, including Capitol, whose president, Gary Gersh, originally signed Nirvana at DGC.

An added factor in the bidding is talk that Grohl hopes to assemble a touring band with two members of the Seattle band Sunny Day Real Estate. That group, which has released one album on Sub Pop, was itself the subject of intense major-label interest in recent months. If all goes as planned, Grohl will hit the road with the Sunny Day rhythm section backing him in the spring.

Insiders call DGC and Capitol the front-runners to land the band, though Grohl’s management team wouldn’t comment.

On the album, Grohl plays all the instruments and does all the singing himself. It was mostly recorded over the last few months in Seattle, though Grohl is expected to add some finishing touches in L.A. with production help from Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, the Bongload Records team behind Beck.

“It’s more subtle in its intensity (than Nirvana), but that feeling is still there,” says Bruce Flohr, senior director of A&R; for RCA Records. “Nirvana changed the way we listen to music, yet Dave’s still got enough insight and passion to take it in a little different direction.”