Dave Grohl announced Play, a two-part documentary that culminates with him performing a new solo 23-minute song on seven different instruments.
Grohl created the immersive Play project, arriving August 10th, to showcase “the rewards and challenges of dedicating ones life to playing and mastering a musical instrument.”
“Watching my kids start to play music and learn to sing or play drums, it brings me back to the time when I was their age listening to albums, learning from listening… and when I take my kids to the place where they take their lessons, I see these rooms full of children that are really pushing themselves to figure this out,” Grohl said in a statement.
“And even now, as a 49-year-old man, I’m still trying to figure it out… it’s not something that you ever truly master. You’re always chasing the next challenge, and you’re always trying to find a way to improve on what you’ve learned.”
Grohl blueprinted Play alongside Sonic Highways collaborator Mark Monroe, with Grohl performing the entire 23-minute instrumental on one instrument at a time and then merging the videos of each take to create a seven-piece one-man band. In a video that accompanied Play‘s impending arrival, Grohl previewed how the work, filmed by Brandon Trost, was constructed:
The first part of the Play documentary focuses on the behind-the-scenes preparation for the performance, which is unveiled in the second part. “The film is intercut with young musicians from the Join the Band music studio in the San Fernando Valley practicing their craft, working relentlessly to get it right, and always coming back to the conclusion that, in Grohl’s words, ‘just like any kid, the reward is just to Play,’” Grohl’s Roswell Films added.
Play will be released to streaming services on August 10th, with a limited edition vinyl to follow on September 28th; the vinyl and digital formats are available to preorder now.
An online interactive experience for Play will also allow the viewer to focus on one instrument for the entirety of the performance as well as downloading the Play sheet music. “The online version of Play also includes a list of organizations where time, money and instruments can be donated to the cause—and places where musicians young and old alike can have the opportunity to play live music,” Roswell Films wrote.
