Chris Shiflett, lead guitarist for Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters, has spoken about the difficulties of going solo and learning how to be a frontman.
Shiflett first joined Foo Fighters in 1999, after the band sought a guitarist through open auditions. Since then, he has played guitar on nine Foo Fighters records, including their most recent offering, But Here We Are, released earlier this year.
Alongside his contributions to Foo Fighters, Shiflett began a solo career in 2010. Since releasing his debu, Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants, the guitarist has released four more full-length solo albums, but he found the shift “challenging,” according to a recent interview with Classic Rock, via Music News.
Deeming guitar playing as his “comfort zone,” Shiflett revealed that he initially struggled to adapt to the crowd-facing role of the frontman. “But to be the singer and then also have to talk to the crowd,” he explained, “I had to work at that.”
Furthermore, Shiflett only began to lean into the role when he thought about his responsibility to the audience. “What you realise is that people want to have a good time,” he explained, “They’ve hired a sitter, bought tickets, bought a few drinks, maybe bought a t-shirt, they’ve invested in the evening.”
“So that’s my job up on stage, to provide them with a good time. Once I figured that out, things got a lot better,” he concluded.
Shiflett is set to hit the road again in 2024 in support of his latest record, Lost At Sea. The Foo Fighters guitarist will take to stages across the UK and Ireland next year, including dates in Manchester, Dublin and London.
