Dave Grohl’s ‘Sound City’ documentary is compulsive viewing – read the JOE review here

Dave Grohl's Sound City documentary tells a purposeful and vivacious history of one of the greatest recording studios in the world, Sound City

by Genna Patterson

Sound City is Foo Fighter Dave Grohl’s personal revival of the history of the epic recording studios, Sound City in the San Fernando Valley, California. Having started his music career by recording with Nirvana in Studio City in 1991, Grohl explores his connection with the studio over the years. When the studio closed in 2011, Grohl purchased the infamous custom-made Neve console, the analogue board that recorded countless greats of the music business.

The documentary charts the bursting success of the analogue recording studio from 1970, the bands it attracted and the hits recorded there. The story starts with the studio opening in 1969 and struggling week to week to pay the bills, recording any artist that could pay the bills.

In 1970, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham came to record there, and lived with the owner of the studio. At Sound City, they met Mick Fleetwood, and joined his successful band, Fleetwood Mac. The rest they say is history. The Sound City studio became a thriving hub for famous names such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Neil Young, Elton John, Cheap Trick and many more. The studio then signed a young Rick Springfield and kick-started his career.

The 80’s brought a new host of stars like Foreigner, Barry Manilow, Santana, Fear and Ratt. Part of the success of the studio was due to the quality of the recording by the Neve 8028 Console from studio A, and partly due to the ‘anything goes’ atmosphere and ‘family run’ feel to the place.

The story of Sound City became personal to Dave Grohl, when as a 22 year old broke musician, he and his Nirvana bandmates drove from Seattle to record their breakthrough album Nevermind for 16 days in 1991. The band’s hit revived the studio’s reputation, and once again famous bands rolled into the place such as Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Johnny Cash and more.

Unfortunately, due to the introduction of computer technology in recording, the studio suffered financially and eventually closed its doors in 2011.

Grohl interviews many of the great names that recorded at Sound City, who describe the dive-like surroundings of the dated studios where carpet on the wall was the norm, and the love of the sound created in the recording studios. The first half of the documentary focuses on the history of the Sound City studios and its relevance in music history, while the second half sees the introduction of the Neve console to Grohl’s own studio and his jamming sessions with Rick Springfield, Stevie Nicks and Paul McCartney.

Grohl also interviews the heart of the studio, the owner, the administrators, producers and sound engineers, hearing how Sound City helped them move their career along and provided a learning curve from the ground up.

While at times, the documentary is a tad too American touchy-feely with musicians exclaiming how ‘awesome’ everything is (with Grohl being the worst culprit), it does present an incredible story of a studio that changed many peoples lives and made dreams come true. Each musician interviewed brings interesting stories about the place, thrown in with old photos and an amazing soundtrack. Quite simply, even after two hours viewing, you wont want it to end if you are in any way a music fan. Sound City is a quality, fascinating documentary that gives the viewer a healthy education in music history. Definitely recommended viewing.

Top Tip: Keep watching it right until the end, as some by-product video is shown.

Playing exclusively in the Light House Cinema from 15th March.