Josh Freese Talks Foo Fighters/Nine Inch Nails ‘Drummer Swap’
Freese opened up about the so-called “drummer swap” between Foo Fighters and Nine Inch Nails earlier this year. The switch saw Ilan Rubin leave Nine Inch Nails to join Foo Fighters, with Freese rejoining Nine Inch Nails after departing Foo Fighters. He discussed the situation with Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation.
Freese has a long résumé with Nine Inch Nails, along with credits with Guns N’ Roses, Weezer, A Perfect Circle, Sting, and Devo. Rubin had previously stepped into Freese’s role when Freese left NIN in 2009.
In August, Freese performed with Nine Inch Nails for the first time in nearly 17 years. He was also asked about rejoining Trent Reznor as NIN’s drummer.
“I didn’t see it as an intentional swap,” Freese told Trunk. “When Trent needed a drummer after Ilan split, he called me. I said, ‘Hell yeah,’ because I missed working with Trent. The last time I did it was between 2005 and 2009. It just happened to be coincidental that the drummer who was leaving the other band also needed a replacement—so it lined up that way.”
Freese’s Trunk Nation interview also touched on his time with Guns N’ Roses during the Chinese Democracy era. Full episodes of Trunk Nation air daily at 3 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s Faction Talk.
Listen to Freese discuss the FF/NIN drummer swap and his GNR tenure in the clips below:
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