Chris Shiflett has to work not to “let the devil get in [his] head” when he’s on stage.
Chris Shiflett tries not to get distracted
The 52-year-old musician – who is best known as a guitarist in the Foo Fighters – admitted one of the most difficult things when he is performing is not to focus on the one or two audience members who may not be responding the way he hopes.
He told Guitarist magazine: “I think most musicians are battling insecurity on some level.
“It’s funny because musicians are all narcissists too. It does take some ego to say, ‘This is my idea, listen to it!’
“The hardest thing with performing is not letting the devil get in your head.
“It can be the best f****** crowd and there’s one guy at the back laughing – and that f**** up your whole thing.
“It’s nuts, y’know.”
Chris finds it particularly tough when he’s performing his alt-country solo material because it doesn’t garner the reaction he is used to when playing in bands.
He added: “The thing that f**** me up the most was in my younger years playing in No Use For A Name, where the barometer for whether it was a good gig was how hard the crowd danced and how wild the pit was.
“That ruined me for the rest of my life because I don’t play music that garners that reaction.
“You just try to keep the dark thoughts out when you’re on stage.”
The rocker has stopped trying to make too many career plans.
He said: “I want to get back over to the UK before too long.
“With Foos, we’ve got touring. Beyond that, it’s like, I’m a f****** musician – so who knows what will happen?
“I gave up trying to even think about it because after these last two years, it’s like the world has a funny way of changing your plans.”
Tagged in Foo Fighters