Dave Grohl on Studio 666, Coldplay's 'stupid' split talk and why Foo Fighters aren't quitting

Dave Grohl has a reputation as one of the nicest men in rock and roll. In the Foo Fighters' first feature film, Studio 666, he plays something else entirely: a possessed, menacing frontman who turns on his own band. Grohl told The Irish Sun it is the maddest project the group has ever taken on, and that he makes a convincing villain.

The film is a spoof horror comedy, pitched somewhere between This Is Spinal Tap and Quentin Tarantino. The band arrive at a Hollywood mansion looking for inspiration for a new album. They learn that the last band to use the house died in mysterious and bloody circumstances. Soon they notice a change in their singer, who becomes obsessed with their sound as an evil spirit takes hold of him. The story then has him knock off his co-stars one by one, in gory but comic fashion.

The cameo that surprises most is Lionel Richie, who appears as an angry vision of himself, scolding Grohl for trying to rip off one of his most famous hits. Grohl says the casting began as a joke by the scriptwriter. He knew Richie, so he texted him asking whether he wanted to be in a horror movie, and the reply was a single word: "Absolutely." The two met in the year the Foo Fighters were due to play Glastonbury but Grohl had broken his leg. Richie was on the bill too, and although they had never met, he sent Grohl a basket of muffins to say he was sorry the band could not make it.

Grohl describes the whole project as an accident. He threw out the idea, and his manager and team, who have worked with him for years, simply set it in motion. He says he is always complaining about being too busy, and they reminded him it was his idea and nobody forced him. His answer to the question of why: "Why not?" He also joked that most lead singers have considered murdering their bandmates at least a couple of times, so the premise may not be as ridiculous as it sounds.

His bandmates took to acting unevenly. Drummer Taylor Hawkins was the most reluctant, turning up with no intention of learning lines and inventing dialogue as he went, which Grohl thinks worked. Keyboard player Rami Jaffee, he says, basically plays himself.

The film arrives while Coldplay's Chris Martin has been saying his band has just two albums left. Grohl admits he is baffled by this. After 26 years he loves the Foo Fighters as much as ever, he says, and the band has never come close to quitting. His advice to every band: do not announce a breakup. If you are going to break up, do it, and then stay broken up.

He also revealed a joke plan he once had, in which each member would write a memoir trashing the others, all published the same day. A press conference would follow saying the books had convinced them they hated each other, and a couple of weeks later they would announce a reunion tour. They never did it.

Studio 666 opens in cinemas this Friday. Grohl says a documentary is also being made, but that the band's next steps are albums and touring. Records and shows, he says, are what they are about, and he hopes it will not be long before they are back at it.