Wyrd Outlook by Grogh — Ghostwritten by Vikki Vexum, Pocket Librarian of The Wyrd Hereafter.
GWAR, Dave Grohl, and the Grammys: Who Gives an Award to the People in the Mud?
Dave Brockie had a question for the music industry, and naturally, he delivered it with all the grace of a blood-soaked alien barbarian.
The GWAR frontman, better known as Oderus Urungus, was asked about the band’s Grammy nomination. He took the opportunity to unload on award shows, celebrity self-congratulation, and the idea that people already showered with attention needed another trophy.
Then he took a particularly filthy swing at Dave Grohl.
Behind the obscenity was a question worth pulling out of the slime: Why do we celebrate the people at the top so loudly while barely noticing the people whose work helped them get there?
Two Daves, One Unexpected Tribute
Grohl could have treated the insult like the opening shot in a rock-star feud. Instead, he brought it up onstage at a Foo Fighters concert in Richmond, Virginia, in 2014 and paid tribute to Brockie, who had died earlier that year.
Even better, that concert came about through a fan crowdfunding effort. As SPIN reported, the audience helped make the night happen before the band had agreed to play it.
There’s another wrinkle: Metal Hammer explored how Grohl and GWAR came through the same regional punk orbit, and how a young Grohl nearly joined the band. Before one Dave became a Grammy regular and the other became an intergalactic menace, their worlds weren’t so far apart.
From the mud, different stars rose.
Can Metal Build Its Own Awards?
If Brockie questioned the ceremony, Nik Nocturnal offers another part of the conversation.
His Nocturnal Awards celebrate heavy music through categories chosen for the community, with fans voting on winners. Alongside album and song awards, there are awards for individual musicians, breakthrough bands, and metal content creators. There’s even an animal-noise category, because metal understands that some artistic achievements require a good guttural BLEGH.
The fans have opinions about that, too. In one Reddit discussion, a commenter called the Nocturnal Awards more legitimate than the Grammys. In another, a fan questioned whether Nik’s audience favored certain kinds of metal. Both views belong in the conversation: a fan-voted show can bring listeners closer to the celebration, while still leaving us to ask whose favorites get heard.
And sometimes recognition does more than crown a winner. One fan made playlists from the nominations to help people discover music. A list of names became a trail of breadcrumbs.
Who’s Behind the Curtain?
The stage has a spotlight. The mixing desk, loading dock, and costume workshop usually don’t.
In an r/audioengineering discussion, one commenter wrote: “I’ve got more than a hundred songs I mixed that I’ve received no credit for.”
Another person described working on a Grammy-winning project but needing months of outreach to get credited and receive a certificate. They also said that, after years in the business, they were still struggling financially.
Some engineers and producers do receive Grammy recognition, depending on their contribution and the award category. But these accounts show how easily work can disappear behind the name people know.
And the work doesn’t stop in the studio. A local stagehand on Reddit pushed back against being treated as lesser by touring personnel. The people loading equipment, setting up the room, and keeping a show running aren’t decorations around the main event. They help make it possible.
The Ghostship Has a Captain. It Also Had a Crew.
In Ghostship Groggy, the captain gets his name on the ship. That’s a mighty fine place to put a name—and a convenient way for everyone to assume the captain did all the work.
But Frankie Frankly was keeping things moving, and the crew had jobs of their own. You might have to hear it through word of mouth, because the legend has Captain Grogh Agorhi standing at the front of it.
And what did the captain leave behind? A ship stranded in the Agorhi, possibly collecting a bazillion parking tickets.
Give that man an award. Better yet, give Frankie the credit—and somebody please help the crew with those tickets.
That’s the view from above and below: the star shines, the crowd cheers, and somewhere outside the spotlight, people are still hauling the equipment.
The applause doesn’t have to stop at the front of the stage. It can travel all the way back to the people in the mud.
