Ben Gibbard Talks Kurt Cobain With Dave Grohl On 'Sonic Highways'

Death Cab for Cutie and Foo Fighters don't exactly mix, but that didn't keep DCFC's Ben Gibbard from contributing to a fellow Seattle-ish project this year. The singer helped out with Foo's "Subterranean," released earlier this month on Sonic Highways.

"We'd played some shows with them in the past," Gibbard told Rolling Stone. "I knew [Foo Fighters bassist] Nate [Mendel] before I knew Dave [Grohl]. We're not super, super tight. But running in musical circles and having this connection with Seattle, we were fortunate enough to play some shows with them at points. Everyone in that band, but certainly Dave, strikes me as someone who's very aware of what a charmed life he's been able to lead - in not only one, but two, of the greatest rock bands of all-time."

Gibbard was more than happy to chip in on the album's seventh track, even though his sound doesn't exactly fit in with the average Foo jam.

"It's a really beautiful song," he said. "It reminds me of Notorious Byrd Brothers-era soft psych with Beatle-y chord changes and stuff. When Dave asked me to sing on the song, I was like, 'Ahh, man, I have this tiny, reedy voice, and they're such a big rock band with a capital R. Is it going to sound like, 'la la la' on this wall of guitars?' But the song they chose for me to sing on was totally perfect, and we were able to do these Beatle-y harmonies on it. I'm really proud of it."

The Death Cab frontman also appeared on the recent Seattle episode of the HBO docuseries Sonic Highways.

"Dave totally Barbara Walters-ed me during the interview," Gibbard said. "He was like, 'Alright, let's talk about Kurt.' And I was like, 'Ahh, f---, man.' It still feels like it was yesterday. I remember being a kid, like 16, 17, and having my mom come in my room before school and be like, 'Sit down, this just happened.' Even talking about it now, I'm trying not to cry.

"It's probably what people my parents' age felt like when John Lennon was killed. This person you think is always going to be there and who you're looking for to musically make sense of things in life. When they leave, it's devastating. People don't feel that way about other entertainers."

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Ben Gibbard, Sonic Highways