Freese: Foo Fighters stint was high-pressure, not fit, back with NIN

Josh Freese, the veteran session and touring drummer who was dismissed from the Foo Fighters in May, said in his first extended interview since the split that the role had become a high pressure assignment and that the band's music was not something he "really resonated with." Freese, who has since rejoined Nine Inch Nails and is playing with that band on its North American tour, told the New York Times he felt he had to be "firing on all cylinders all the time" after taking on the Foo Fighters' drum seat following the death of Taylor Hawkins.

Freese described stepping into a role that carried emotional and public expectations. "I am coming in as Dave Grohl's drummer, and the guy that's supposed to save the day after the beloved Taylor Hawkins died," he told the Times. He added that, in retrospect, his dismissal was "probably more an issue with their management" and reiterated that it simply was not music he connected with.

The moves that followed his departure produced an unusual drummer swap. Longtime Nine Inch Nails drummer Ilan Rubin left to tour with the Foo Fighters, and Freese returned to Nine Inch Nails, a band he had toured with from 2005 to 2008. Freese said he...