"Having been raised by a former D.C. political speechwriter and a former public speaking teacher, it’s practically written in my DNA zipper that I should feel the insatiable need to stand in front of a room of total strangers and bullshit them."  That’s Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Nirvana, keynote speaker of SXSW.

Grohl’s speech delivered on Thursday night on the topic of what he knows about music. He needles Pitchfork, touches upon recording Nevermind and In Utero, why Nirvana found success they did, his love of Gangnam Style and how when your bosses leave you alone to do your thing, it means you are doing something right. (Of course, eventually, "We weren’t Nirvana anymore. We were ‘Nirvana,’" he said. "Now you had to fucking leave us alone.")

But he primarily focuses on his belief that the musician comes first and not arbitrary notions of quality or commercial success. Artistic output should be life’s passion, not a guilty pleasure: "Fuck guilty pleasure. How about just pleasure!"

It’s really fucking amazing. And well worth watching all 49 minutes. 

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